Who's Making the Donuts?

When you go to Dunkin' Donuts at 2AM on Canal Street you kind of half expect they might have some donuts for sale. After all, it is a donut shop. Can you believe that they had zero donuts? None. Nada. Munchkins and bagels don't count. Especially not when you have your heart set on a donut. While I'm at it, I might as well tell everyone that I prefer the alternative spelling: doughnut.

Pixie Taxi

Isn't this what you would call a classic pixie cut? They seem to be coming back in style.

It's always a little awkward to hail down a taxi cab. You can't really pose or look great doing it. You just flail your arm out there and hope for the best. She seems to be doing a good job looking good and getting a cab.

Traffic Cone Hair

I love colorful hair when it's done correctly and this fashionable New Yorker seems to be doing it right. It's not super ideal when your hair semi-closely matches the traffic cone like things, but what can you do? It kind of intriguing the way the barrel is cut in half so that it fits around the pole from the scaffolding. What's going on there?

I also took notice of her nice colorful flats which fit well with her hair. Maybe she needs a Paul Smith toothbrush or two (see below)?

Brushes of Teeth

They always have great displays at Paul Smith. I feel pretty strongly that with your toothbrush it's better to go with quality over style. Don't screw around with oral hygiene.

I'm sticking with a Spinbrush (now curiously owned by Arm & Hammer) or an Oral B because they're the best. But if I was deciding on style alone I'd go with one of these colorful brushes. I should get a few spare ones for the country house or the private jet for guests who forget their toiletries.

Quick Getaway Vehicle

I found the perfect ride for the next time you are either going to a Young Jeezy concert or want to blend into the scenery while robbing a midtown bank branch. Here it is rounding the rotary at Columbus Circle late today...the perfect pink stretch limousine.

So Long, My Friend

Many, many years ago, Mr. Orange (or OJ for short) was rescued from the streets of New York. He was found in a light rainstorm, hiding behind the back wheel of a parked car on a nondescript side street. Faced with an unpredictable future scurrying under cars and noisy city buses or living a harsh existence as a deli cat catching mice and eating scraps of food from empty tin cans, he moved into my apartment for a few days. He needed a home. At first glance, you immediately noticed that he was an exceptionally scrawny cat, terribly malnourished and had deep gashes on his neck that needed to be medicated with some sort of sticky ointment. He had a wild look in his eye and was extremely skittish. But as the days went by, he found a name, he calmed down and he recuperated from his brief, harsh life on the street. In no time at all, he quickly became accustomed to having a home and being properly cared for. It was hard to let him go and he decided to stay. He ate enormous portions and he grew and grew and grew into a large, healthy and loving cat. A few days visit somehow turned into sixteen years and Mr. Orange had found a home. More importantly, I found a lifelong friend.

Living in a busy city like New York, it's often easy to forget the important role our furry friends play in our lives. But there they are, day after day, week after week and year after year. Every time you open the apartment door, they run to greet you or turn over from their napping place and give you a knowing glance, happy that you are home to give them some attention and affection. They gladly return the loving feelings and brush up against you or meow affectionately at the door. Our pets are a constant in our lives, an important part of the family, and a reminder of a quieter existence behind closed doors that is far from the hustle and bustle of the quick pace in this busy metropolis.

Mr. Orange was a very independent and super feisty cat. This attitude perhaps came from his early life on the streets or maybe it was just his natural strong-minded spirit. He never liked to be restrained or held for long periods and would always squirm free from any attempt to hold him down. That's not to say he wasn't friendly. In fact, it was quite the opposite with OJ. He would always come right over, no matter who you were, in order to know what was going on and see who you were. He loved to jump up next to you or climb on you, provided of course that you didn't try to prevent him from making a prompt and easy getaway. He was extremely curious, endlessly interested in whatever was going on and eager to prove that he was rightfully the center of attention. He liked to crawl in boxes and shopping bags and climb on the highest thing he could find in the apartment. He loved loud music and always jumped up on my desk whenever I played a song that he seemed to like. There are many, many wonderful memories of OJ that make me happy. He met all my friends, either in person, on the phone meowing in the background, in pictures or even via webcam. He was very much a multimedia cat and he excelled at using all types of technology.

It's only been a few short hours since he died this afternoon and already I am reminded of both his presence and his absence. His bowls are no longer in their place near the refrigerator. He is no longer here waiting for me in his favorite place on his soft cashmere blanket or running into the kitchen. When I came home tonight, I realized that the first thing I would always do when I entered the front door is to call him by one of his many nicknames and look for him to see what he was doing or where he was hanging out. It's very sad to realize that he will no longer be there for me. I'm very sad he's gone and I'll miss him a lot.

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.