While in New York, we had the good fortune to catch Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts at the Housing Works Bookstore on Crosby St.
It's a beautiful old bookstore with ladders going up the walls and a balcony. They sell used books and the profits go to the homeless and those afflicted with AIDS. Their "Live @ Home" series has artists donate their time and music for acoustic evenings in support of those causes.
Joseph was great. I got to speak with him after the show (enough to say "can I have one of those?" to his chest and then run away). The show was a run through of their new album Temporary People which came out on September 30th and is fantastic. Go buy it.
D80 - Tokina 11-16mm@11 - 2/5s - f2.8 - ISO100 - handheld
This is for Caitlin.
Relax Caitlin, it's a crab.
American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
D80 - Tokina 11-16mm@11 - 1/640s - f3.5 - ISO100 - handheld
Ah Bryant Park, a place we totally stumbled upon. The grassy area was closed because of recent rainfall. I'm pretty glad the rainfall happened before and after we were in NYC, because we had absolutely gorgeous weather the entire time we were there (ok, the second Friday wasn't so hot, but we were leaving anyway).
We didn't spend much time here (we didn't spend much time anywhere, really) but I can definitely see the appeal on a sunny day. Tables and chairs, places to buy tummy-fillings, a carousel, a magic show with small children gleefully excited, men playing bocce ball... people write books about places like this. Or, they get books from the New York Public Library, which is right there. Only, we couldn't see it because New York decided to renovate every building during the week we were there.
Interesting things you may not know about Bryant Park:
- it used to be a potter's field in the 1800s.
- in the 30s, the park was neglected and considered "disreputable"
- in the 70s, it was sometimes called "Needle Park" because of the prevalence of drugs, prostitution, and the homeless.
- according to wikipedia, it now has a "Parisian feel", which I can't say myself, since I've never been to Paris, but I believe it.
- it was in Ghostbusters, when the Ghostbusters came running out of the library.
I fully intend to spend a morning drinking tea in Bryant Park when I return. Hopefully by then the grass will be open and the scaffolding will be removed.
D80 - Tokina 11-16mm@16 - 1/160s - f2.8 - ISO100 - handheld
The Flatiron Building, found at Fifth and Broadway, just a little bit south of our hotel for the first five nights we spent in NYC.
Our flight in was beautiful, almost no cloud cover, and we were on the perfect side of the plan as we flew around the southern tip of Manhattan and into LaGuardia. I got to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time from the air. The only other time I was in New York, we didn't go see it. I don't have much inclination to see it either, but I am satisfied with seeing if from the air (and later from the Brooklyn Bridge.)
So the Flatiron. Originally called the Fuller Building and completed in 1902 in the Chicago style, one of the first skyscrapers in NYC, and now one of the oldest surviving.
The Flatiron is not unique and Canada actually wins with the Gooderham Building which was built in 1892. Copycat Americans. But yeah, the Flatiron is bigger.
Happily for me, the Flatiron was one of the building not under some sort of renovation or construction while we were there, so my pictures are scaffold-free. This photo was taken when we first arrived and of course, does the beautiful architecture no justice.
[thanks wikipedia and nyc-architecture.com for schooling me]
She's The Cat. She also despises when I follow her around shoving a camera in her face.
Don't you just want to blow raspberries at her? Yeah, me too.
In honour of my upcoming trip to New York City, have a picture of Toronto. Specifically, the Royal Ontario Museum. Shortly after this picture was taken, I walked through a taping of Degrassi: The Next Generation. I saw it's "stars" sitting in their little actors chairs, smoking cigarettes and talking about how great it is to be famous. You think I'm kidding, don't you?
I can't WAIT to go to New York. Two more sleeps. I'll probably take the equivalent of four years worth of photo-a-days there. I just want to prepare you, and hope that you like pictures of cities, because there will be a lot here.
Posts
All Comments
