Lilac Season

It's lilac season right now and these very fragrant flowers are available in small bouquets at all the Korean delicatessens across the city. Technically, it's part of a shrub or bush known as Syringa (Lilac) which prodces pale purple flowers every year, at least according to Wikipedia. In the language of flowers, lilacs symbolize love. I like to think that tulips are my favorite flower, but then I'm reminded of how much I like the smell of lilacs. They only last a short time and right now they are in bloom and they're the best.

My sister and I used to drive to New Jersey every spring around this time when she still lived in the city. We'd go shopping at the mall on a Saturday afternoon and have a great lunch at Friendly's and then we'd drive around until we would find a lilac patch on the side of the road where they grow wild. After locating an especially bountiful patch, we would jump out of her car and run and grab as many as we could possibly carry in our arms. We would rush back to her car after picking what seemed like enough lilacs to fill her entire trunk. Since my sister doesn't live anywhere near New York any longer, I would appreciate it if anybody reading this who knows anyone in New Jersey to please tell them to fill up their car with lilacs and deliver a boatload of them to my apartment. They make everything smell so nice. They used to have lilac soap at Neiman Marcus that my mother would get me for Christmas. I'll take a case of that too!

Lobster Lunch

Less than a block away from a shoeless man boldly eating out of a trash can, I spotted a bright red lobster suit handing out flyers to a well-dressed man wearing a Burberry coat and scarf directly in front of the Thomas Pink shirt store.

Trash Can Lunch

It's hard to know what's going on in Midtown and you don't really want to ask barefoot people who are eating out of the trash exactly what they're doing. Plus it's never a good idea to disrupt someone's lunch. My guess is that this is either a really hungry homeless guy or it's another one of those avant-garde performance art pieces on Madison Avenue.

No Smoking Sign

What's worse than a completely redundant No Smoking sign? I think everyone knows by now that smoking isn't kool. Additional bonus of buying el cheapo sign is that they've ruined the granite.

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

Taking a stroll down 6th Avenue near the New York Public Library.

42nd Street Couple

Standing on the corner of Bryant Park at 42nd and 6th.

Waverly Inn

I was waiting in line for the men's restroom at the Waverly Inn the other night. After we were waiting what seemed like an inordinately long time, I said to the guy in front of me, "It makes you wonder when guys take a long time in the bathroom." He looked around and kind of shrugged his shoulders agreeing with me while also expressing his impatience. When he came out he said, "It's the mirror." I'm still not totally sure what he meant. You be the judge.

Best awkward Waverly Inn moment for Donny Deutsch at 6:20 here. It almost seems he's angling for a date, doesn't it? Nice job on making the girl cry. Probably not the best way to ask Ashley for a date, Donny.

New York City

Everyone feels this way from time to time in New York City.

Burger Mania

Manhattan has gone burger crazy the last couple years. I've never been to this place right in the heart of Times Square so I can't vouch for their burgers, but I like the sign. HB Burger is part of Heartland Brewery which isn't the most well-respected eating establishment in the city, but who knows maybe they make a good burger.

Missing Presumed Missing

Does this sign strike you as really strange too? I saw this in the subway at 42nd Street. She's been missing since 1995! Why put up this sign now? Obviously someone thinks these Church of Scientology members didn't do a very good job of taking care of Lisa McPherson because there's a lot more to this story.

Oranges and Tulips

I told you we would check in the with the Park Avenue tulips. They are coming. While you're waiting, enjoy an orange.

Poland in Grief

Mourners came to light candles and leave flowers late on Saturday night at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland on Madison Avenue and 37th Street in Manhattan after the tragic plane crash that killed the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and dozens of other high ranking Polish military and government leaders.

The Power of Words

The Morgan Library and Museum is a wonderful and mostly overlooked institution in the New York cultural landscape. It's located just a short walk east from the Empire State Building in an area of the city that doesn't really have a name (West Murray Hill? North Madison Park?). Nevertheless, there are often great exhibits there and one of current ones got me to make it all the way over there for a late Friday night visit. In case you were wondering, admission is absolutely free on Fridays from 7pm to 9pm; other times it's $12 for adults. As far as I'm concerned, I think all museums should be open until 9pm every night of the week. And while I'm making random suggestions, I also think every book and magazine store in the city should be open until Midnight (a few are...if you know where to go!)

The exhibit that inspired my visit is a small trove of ten letters from J.D. Salinger to his friend Michael Mitchell who designed the cover to "The Catcher in the Rye." Four of the letters were on display in two glass cases when I visited. The rest are scheduled to be exhibited in the coming weeks. It was a very unique experience to wait in a short line and then crowd around the display cases in a large and dark book-lined room to read his one and two page personal typewritten letters from the 50s and 60s. My favorite line in the letters was this one: "It's a big shitty world, and it gets shittier by the minute." I am glad to see that Salinger was so optimistic after all his literary success. No wonder he never published anything after 1965.

Color Coordination

I am not sure how he managed to find a tie to match the shirt or vice versa, but this is a significant accomplishment.

Tribeca Twins

I ran into this pair in the window of the New York Academy of Art in Tribeca. They seem very happy perched here in the window.

Tulips on Park Avenue

I've been monitoring the tulip situation on Park Avenue and it's only a short while before fields of my favorite flowers will be blooming. We've had some excellent growing days this week. More to come.

Uptown on the Bus

Headed uptown in the rain. Madison Avenue near Hermes.

Not Her Week

Sandra Bullock sure had a tough week. Luckily, it seems her philandering and soon to be ex-husband isn't getting a dime. Makes you wonder, what's wrong with Elin Woods?

Unseasonably Warm

The weather has been really topsy-turvy lately. One day it's cold and then the next it's 90 degrees. People don't know what to wear. Some people are wearing shorts and t-shirts in April (see background), and others choose to steadfastly hang on to the winter and wear their cold weather gear: down coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. If you like winter like I do, this is a great way to capture my attention and I'm also very likely to take your picture. She yelled at me after I took her picture.

54th Street Scream

Slicing Nova Lox

Nova or Nova Scotia salmon, is sometimes called Nova lox and is salmon cured with a mild brine and then cold-smoked. It is beyond delicious on a bagel with cream cheese and the guys behind the counter at Zabar's slice it as good as any place I know.

Shopping for Cheese

Zabar's on the Upper West Side has an enormous cheese department. It sure was crowded on Sunday afternoon. It almost felt like going to a concert because people kept bumping into me.

Making Bagels

If you ever wondered how they make bagels, here is how they do it. Making bagels at H&H on Palm Sunday afternoon.

Bagels Delivered Fresh Overnight

If you like bagels and you need them overnight, this would be the place to get them. H&H Bagels on the Upper West Side. This is the largest bagel maker in New York City.

Be a Good Neighbor

This is just another excellent reason to not want to have a dog in the city.

Family Owned and Operated

Yes, New York City has grocery stores that deliver. D'Agostino way up on the Upper East Side.

Team Hulk or Team Frankenstein

It's so hard to decide if I like Edward or Jacob more. What a tough decision.

I spotted these exceptionally collectible boxes of sugar-filled Twilight: New Moon Sweethearts candies at Duane Reade. Totally guaranteed to rot your teeth and make you even more brain dead than you already thought you were.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Graffiti Truck

I was getting a bagel and coffee for breakfast this morning and I spotted this truck grabbing a parking spot on 6th Avenue. I got a little closer and the driver was none other than Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. He may be sleek and high tech in the movies, but he plays it low key when he doesn't want to be recognized driving around the Big Apple.

Have you noticed that a lot of celebs driving around Manhattan are opting to go with the somewhat smaller graffiti van rental? They are a little easier to park than their larger cousins, the much in demand graffiti trucks.

Pipe on the Avenue

It's amazing that I never even have to leave a two block radius of my house and I can pretty much take a year's worth of photographs. You don't often see people walking around smoking a pipe. I pretty much need to work on holding the camera steady when I'm stealing a shot, but I like the loose blurry effect all the same. You get the point, don't you?

Where is Brianna?

It seems a lot of people disappear just like Brianna. It happens all the time. They seem to plain vanish into thin air. Just like that. Weird.

Making Your Way

Navigating through the lunchtime shoppers and throngs of pedestrians on 6th Avenue near Herald Square and Macy's.

Manhattan Problems

Either these are a few of the typical problems faced by residents of the city or new ICANN domain name designations. Anyone looking for a .bedbugs URL?

Sunday Afternoon Mid-Stream

Sunday afternoon on West 57th Street.

First Place

I have no idea what they could have won, but a huge group of kids were walking along Central Park South carrying these enormous glittery trophies and they were screaming, "We won first place!"

A block or two later another group of kids were claiming out loud to anyone in the immediate vicinity, "We won first place!" Both groups of these red-shirted-screamers can't have won first place or was this one of those postmodern contests where everyone wins a first place trophy of some sort?

Riding Dirrty

On an unseasonably warm day, a lot of motorcycles seem to come out of the garages and zoom around the corners of the Village. I liked the way she worked her heels around the foot pegs.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

The sign of a good art opening is when your gallery sells a lot of artwork. The sign of a great opening is when the New York City Fire Department shows up to shut it down early.

Nearly 1,000 people showed up for Ryan McGinley's latest photography exhibition early on Thursday evening. Fueled by dozens of cases of free Budweiser, the truly enormous crowd was dispersed by the fire and police department after Team Gallery and the streets of Soho were overrun by nude photography aficionados.

Pictured above: Ryan McGinley and a Fire Marshall as his opening gets shut down due to who knows how many fire code violations.

Sunglass Shuffle

Just shuffling across 56th Street with a sack on your back.

Laundry Night

Waiting for the laundry to dry on Thursday night at 10:00PM.

St. Patrick's Day Traffic

The traffic department sure knows how to get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day by towing your car away and charging you a huge fine.

Spring Flowers

Spring is almost here and the delis all over the city have a wide assortment of colorful flowers for sale. A fragrant bouquet is always a wonderful way to brighten up your apartment especially when you are in the middle of a boycott.

Times Square Mural

Times Square Mural is a massive artwork by Roy Lichtenstein that is installed in the 42nd Street Subway. It's 6 feet tall and 53 feet long. If you're a fan of his work, tere's also another enormous Roy Lichtenstein artwork on 7th Avenue around 51st Street installed in the lobby of the AXA - Equitable building. There's actually a lot of public artwork installed all over New York City. You could spend a whole day looking at it all for free. I ought to develop a free artwork tour of New York City. I could charge $20 a person. Of course there are plenty of museums that have great collections and if you know when to go, you can get in for free or next to nothing. Friday night at MoMA and the Whitney are Pay What You Want nights and you can go to the Metropolitan as their admission is a suggested donation at all times. If you don't mind getting a dirty look from the person who sits behind the counter you can give them a nickle or a dime or whatever you think is appropriate. The Guggenheim doesn't offer any sort of discount ever. Some smart corporation that appreciates art ought to sponsor a free Thursday or Friday night at the Guggenheim.

It's really hard to believe that nearly a half a million people come through the 42nd Street subway station every day. That's a lot of people.

The Most Fun on Broadway

Broadway is really having a tough time if this show is the most fun on Broadway. I have no interest in this whatsoever. "Cats" played here forever. That's another show I never saw. I'm not really a big fan of Broadway musicals.

This is the back side of the Winter Garden theater.

Party Like A Rock Star

There was a massive rain storm that blew through town on Saturday night. Despite the rain and hurricane strength winds, I ventured out to see the new Matt Damon movie "Green Zone" in Times Square.

The rain also didn't discourage the four guys standing in the door way of Embassy Electronics from trying to drum up a little business for themselves. The intrepid young African businessman with his back to the camera (who for obvious reasons didn't want his picture taken) asked me in a very thick accent if I wanted to "party like a rock star." He then told me he had free samples of cocaine and marijuana.

Cracks in the City

Earlier this week the German artist Jan Vormann came to the city and plugged all the cracks up with his wonderfully inventive Lego sculptures. But by the time I got there, someone had taken all the art. (You'll need to click this link to understand what I'm talking about) This was very disappointing. However, now that I think about it, this guy in the picture kind of looks quite suspicious, doesn't he? Is it possible that he could have a small cache of Lego art hidden in his bag there?

(On a side note, thanks to Bess for my lone blog comment yesterday. I was expecting to hear from you after my tale of broken elbows. So no thanks goes out to you comment deadbeats in Hawaii, France, Germany and at the University of Washington. You know who you are!)

St. Patrick's Day Cookies

You can never get prepared early enough for St. Patrick's Day. Better stock up on some green "Kiss Me I'm Irish" cookies now before they are all grabbed up by those cookie loving Irish girls out there.

Oh No, It's The Naked Cowboy

How I managed to take this picture after I broke (ok, it's fractured) my elbow I have no idea.

I thought he got a ton of money from M&M's and didn't have to walk around in his underwear anymore? It would actually be much cooler if he dressed up like an M&M.

It looks like TNC needs a hot oil treatment for his hair. Maybe he can get a sponsor a little bit better than Icon Parking Systems, don't you think? I hope they're paying for that prime real estate on his guitar.

Sofia Ristorante Italiano

It's hard to imagine how some of these restaurants in Times Square stay in business, but it's all about location. I've never eaten here and the food probably really sucks at Sofia, but my little sister loves this place for some reason! I think she must like the way they bring all those huge trays up and down the stairs.

Look Mom, No Hands!

The friendly bicycle repair man.

Usually I have pretty good luck, but this week it took a turn in the wrong direction. I was riding home late the other night up 8th Avenue and my bicycle got a flat tire. Somewhere around 38th Street a small metal spring with a very sharp point got lodged in the rear tire and all the air came hissing out. I had to walk it home about 20 blocks. The next day I hiked over to 9th Avenue where I found a great bike shop that fixed my bicycle in about five minutes flat (no pun intended). They were quick, inexpensive and friendly, I had the brakes adjusted, the flat repaired, the tires inflated and everything was just great. Or so I thought.

About 10 minutes later on my way home, I was stopping right in the middle of Times Square and I hit the brakes. I guess I really wasn't totally prepared for the brakes to work so well. I went head over heels right over the handlebars and landed flat on my right arm in the middle of the street. My newly fixed bike came tumbling down right on top of me. I hopped right up and told the few people who asked, "I'm fine, I'm fine." Turns out I wasn't so fine. After a very painful night's sleep, I called the doctor first thing this morning and spent a very long day at the doctor's office. I waited at the radiology department downstairs getting four or five x-rays and then there was, of course, a very long wait for the orthopedist as well. I was smart to anticipate that you always have to wait at the doctor's office and I brought along Peter Hedges excellent new book, The Heights. After hours and hours of waiting around I found out that I have a fractured right elbow. It's not the worst fracture in the world, but it sure hurts like hell. It looks like I won't be riding my bike very much in the near future.

Ouch.

(I think it's time for a roll call. How about some comments from some of my regular blog readers. If you haven't spoken up before, now's your chance. Surely someone looks at these posts.)

L’ambition d’une idée Nr. 1

There were so many great piece of art at the Independent Art Fair on 22nd Street this past weekend, but one of the my favorite pieces was presented by Mitterrand + Sanz, an art gallery located in Zurich, Switzerland. The small and very provocative artwork pictured above is constructed of blue neon tube and is by the talented Chapuisat Brothers. I didn't ask how much it was going for, but I'm sure it was snapped up right away because a lot of people seemed to take a great deal of interest in it. I'll take two of them.