NYC ♥ NYC

Keep Calm and Read On

2013-05-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is the New York Public Library's Gift Shop on Fifth Avenue. The store carries books and objects that represent the library's collections and its building's architecture. Other items being sold are fine jewelry, maps, calendars, books about New York, children's books and related toys, logo-embedded tacks, magnets, bookmarks, pins, and pens.

When it rains...

2013-05-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some sights in midtown Manhattan this rainy weekend. The images were captured on Sixth Avenue, Times Square and Third Avenue.

Dream Yosacoy Festival

2013-05-18T18:26:00.001-07:00

The Dream Yosacoy Festival Committee held "DREAM YOSACOY MATSURI" in Times Square last month. It's a Japanese dance festival, and performers danced in traditional costumes and music. Also part of the festival was audience participation with "naruko" (clapper), a symbol of the festival.

Street Art

2013-05-17T17:48:00.002-07:00

These are two of the art installations at Mulberry Street in SoHo as part of the IDEAS CITY festival. IDEAS CITY explores the future of cities with the belief that arts and culture are essential to the vitality of urban centers. One installation is a video projection on a wall, and the other is a light installation built with materials normally used for traffic control and construction safety. The exhibition was held on May 4th.

The Ukrainian Institute of America

2013-05-16T04:11:00.000-07:00

This magnificent building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan houses the Ukrainian Institute of America. It is situated diagonally across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the southeast corner of 79th Street and Fifth Avenue. The history of the Fletcher-Sinclair mansion dates back to 1898 when Isaac Fletcher, a banker and railroad investor, commissioned the renowned architect C.P.H. Gilbert to build a house using William K. Vanderbilt's neo-Loire Valley chateau as its model.

Splendor In Central Park: The Lake

2013-05-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

The Central Park Lake is a picturesque 18-acre lake that opened for its first winter of ice-skating in 1858. Until 1950, the Lake was used for ice-skating during the winter months and boating in the summer. After closure of the skating rink, wildlife inhabitants flourished again. The lake is the second largest man-made body of water in Central Park.

Pell Street

2013-05-14T03:55:00.001-07:00

Pell Street is in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown on the Lower East Side of the island. Chinese restaurants, beauty salons, barber shops, a travel agency, the First Chinese Baptist Church, insurance company and flower shops can be found along this colorful street.

HIVE (BLEECKER STREET) - Leo Villareal's LED Light Installation At Bleecker Street Subway Station

2013-05-13T04:26:00.001-07:00

Last year, artist Leo Villareal created LED art called HIVE (BLEECKER STREET) now installed at the Bleecker Street subway station. Made of LED tubes, custom software, electrical hardware, aluminum and stainless steel, the LED sculpture takes the form of a honeycomb, above the stairs that marks the new transfer point connecting the IRT and IND subway lines. Bright colors, outlining each hexagonal honeycomb shape move across the sculpture. Villareal created an unprecedented art experience for transit riders who use the station, in its use of technology and LEDs. Hive (Bleecker Street) has a playful aspect in its reference to games. Riders will be able to identify individual elements within a larger context and track this movement. The work explores the compulsion to recognize patterns and the brain’s hard coded desire to understand and make meaning. The patterns also take inspiration from the research of the mathematician John Conway who invented the Game of Life, the best-known cellular automata program. Hive (Bleecker Street) speaks to a diverse audience - it is abstract and evocative and can have many different meanings. It creates an experience for riders through changing patterns presented in randomized progression. Overall, the piece resonates with the activity of the station, transportation network and the city itself. The work was fabricated by Parallel Development. Information from the MTA website.

Armenian Grape Hyacinth

2013-05-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

These beautiful flowers are Armenian grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) blooming beneath the lilacs at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They were in full bloom during the last week of April.

Red, White and Blue

2013-05-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is an old apartment building in Manhattan's midtown west side located at 42nd Street between Eight and Ninth Avenues. The facade of the brick building just above Kaufman, one of the oldest army-surplus store in the country is painted red, white and blue.

Cast-Iron Historic District

2013-05-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

SoHo is also known as the Cast-Iron Historic District, as it was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Ornate cast-iron facades were originally used to beautify pre-existing buildings, but was later used in new construction as well. Most of the cast iron buildings in New York City are in SoHo and mostly dating from the mid to late-1800′s. SoHo has also become a popular destination for shopping in Lower Manhattan. Most of the images above were captured in Crosby Street and Broadway.

Alexandre Arrechea's Elastic Sculptures of Iconic New York City Buildings

2013-05-09T18:28:00.001-07:00

Sculptures of iconic New York City buildings are on display along the Park Avenue Malls from 53rd Street to 67th Street in "No Limits," Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea’s first ever public art exhibition in New York City. The monumental sculptures feature "elastic architecture as a metaphor for the challenges and opportunities of shifting conditions and new realities." The buildings represented in the exhibit include the Chrysler Building, Citicorp Center, Empire State Building, Flatiron Building, Helmsley Building, MetLife Building, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, Seagram Building, Sherry Netherland, and US Courthouse. The exhibit continues through June 9, 2013.

Giant Dollhouse in Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall

2013-05-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

Target promoted their "Threshold" collection by displaying furnishings, decor and housewares in a giant seven-room "dollhouse" installed at Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall for two days. The event was open to the public. As part of the promotional event, there were also "beauty experts" doing free five-minute hair and make-up touch ups.

Brooklyn Rite of Spring

2013-05-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

The annual celebration of cherry blossoms and Japanese culture took place a week ago at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Cherry blossoms (sakura) had become the celebrated spring flower at the garden where visitors can enjoy over 200 Japanese flowering cherry trees of over 30 different species and cultivars. In addition to "hanami" or flower viewing, visitors of all ages can enjoy music, workshops, and crafts that celebrate the culture of Japan and cherry blossoms.

At The Stagedoor: Two-Time Oscar Winner TOM HANKS Making his Broadway Debut in Nora Ephron's "Lucky Guy"

2013-05-06T03:22:00.000-07:00

Two-time Academy Award winning actor, Tom Hanks makes his Broadway debut in Nora Ephron's final work, "Lucky Guy." Hanks plays Mike McAlary, a gutsy New York City newspaper columnist who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing that a Haitian immigrant had been sodomized by police in 1997. “Lucky Guy” has been nominated for six Tony Awards, including best play and best leading actor for Hanks. "Lucky Guy" plays the Broadhurst Theatre located at 235 West 44th Street. After the matinee show yesterday, Hanks greeted his fans and signed autographs outside the stagedoor.

2013 TD Five Boro Bike Tour

2013-05-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

The 2013 TD Five Boro Bike Tour, America's largest cycling event took place today in New York City. More than 32,000 cyclists participated in this event. The tour started in Lower Manhattan's Battery Park and went through Central Park, Harlem, back down the FDR to Queens and Brooklyn, finally taking the Verrazano-Narrows to Staten Island for a festival. These images were taken on First Avenue, York Avenue and the FDR Drive on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Art Meets Fashion

2013-05-04T03:43:00.003-07:00

The Andy Warhol x Uniqlo Spring/Summer 2013 'UT' collection pays homage to pop art and the graphic t-shirt. Uniqlo produced 20 different t-shirt designs for men and women in the collection. Each tee is distinct and comes with its own color palette and vivid imagery. The sensational line-up of tees mix a combination of Andy Warhol self-portraits and his infamous art works including the black and red Campbell's soup can adorned tee, the red/blue/black swirl t-shirt with Andy's infamous disheveled portrait on the front and a plain white tee with a split image of Andy's face and his notorious multicolor cow paintings. In its window display at the Fifth Avenue flagship store, the art of Keith Haring is also prominently featured.

Calvin Klein's window display on Madison Avenue also shows how art influences fashion. Calvin Klein Collection's Francisco Costa partnered with artist Ellsworth Kelly to create an updated version of a dress designed by Kelly in 1952. In its window display, the Calvin Klein window display features the updated dress and "Untitled (Red)" artwork by Kelly (2005).

There's No Business Like Shoe Business

2013-05-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

This is the shoe shine stand at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Forty-seventh Street in Manhattan, just south of the headquarters of Fox News. The successful shoe shining business is run by "Don" who was featured in an article in the New Yorker.

One World Trade Center Reaches New Heights

2013-05-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

The final pieces of the 408-foot spire were hoisted atop One World Trade Center earlier today. When bolted into place at a later date, the spire will make One World Trade Center the tallest building in the western hemisphere. With the spire as its crown, One World Trade Center soars to a symbolic 1,776 feet in the air – a reference to independence of the U.S. from Britain in the year 1776. The building is slated to officially open for business in 2014. The memorial building sits on ground zero, the site of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, which were destroyed by terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Restoration of the Historic Corbin Building

2013-05-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

The Corbin Building is an eight-story time capsule at 192 Broadway and John Street in Lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site. Completed in 1889, this building is home to architectural details that simply do not, or could not, exist today. It has intricate red terra cotta facade, bronze-plated cast-iron and mahogany spiral staircase, marble wainscoting, and other fine features that make the slender tower unique for any era. The historic Corbin Building has now been beautifully restored, next to the Fulton Street Transit Center that is still under construction.

Olek's Crocheted, Wearable Sculptures and Performance Art Installation at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

2013-05-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

During last weekend's Cherry Blossoms Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a performance art installation delighted visitors. The two participants wore artist Olek's crocheted, wearable sculptures made of multicolored, crocheted camouflage. They sat on a colorful crocheted blanket on the lawn while reading a book, relaxing and occasionally sipping from a crocheted wine glass. There were other crocheted objects around them including wine glass, gloves and fruits.

Olek (Agata Oleksiak, and known professionally as Crocheted Olek) is a Polish-born artist living in New York City. Her extensive works include sculptures, installations such as crocheted bicycles, inflatables, and fiber art. Her best known piece is probably the apartment in which the contents, including the residents, were covered in crocheting as featured in my previous post. Olek's art generally includes members of the public crocheted directly into the suit without traditional fasteners.Olek has also exhibited abroad.

Inside Out New York City: Artist JR Decorates Duffy Square Ground With Black-And-White Portraits

2013-04-30T02:36:00.001-07:00

The French street artist known as JR launched a new project called "Inside Out New York City." JR installed a photo booth truck in Times Square where anyone can create poster-sized self-portraits that people can keep or paste on the ground in Duffy Square. In this latest installation in Times Square, the first set of black-and-white portraits were taken ahead of time in the roaming photo booth truck in neighborhoods affected by Hurricane Sandy. The aim of this project is to show an inclusive image of New York City. The project runs through May 10.

Duct Tape Pop-Up Store

2013-04-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

A duct tape pop-up store set up shop at 1411 Broadway between 39th and 40th streets for 10 days recently. The store sold Duck Tape printed with dozens of patterns, from local sports teams to One Direction, SpongeBob SquarePants, and tie-dye and floral prints. The store also displayed duct tape flowers, purses, shoes, as well as dresses constructed from duct tape by "Project Runway" contestants. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Autism Speaks' "Light it Up Blue" initiative.

Tulips In Bloom At The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Annual Border

2013-04-28T04:05:00.001-07:00

Tulips are in full bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Annual Border, two long beds located on the western side of Lily Pool Terrace. Each year, in April, the Annual Border offers a display of thousands of tulips lining the pools and a burst of beautiful colors in this area of the garden. Above are photos of some of my favorite blooms captured yesterday.

She Hearts NY

2013-04-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

She's one of the countless buskers in Times Square who poses for photos with tourists. And she loves New York.