Exactly Empire

An overcast day in the Empire State.

Apartment Compartments

Manhattan type people live here.

Farm Farmers Farming

Pumpkins and a wide variety of apples at the Farmer's Market in Union Square on Wednesday afternoon.

I bought some apple cider ($2.50 half gallon). Plans to make hot apple cider are in the very near future.

Does Whatever A Spider Can

Spiderman in the Sony Arcade at Madison Avenue and 55th Street. No sign of Tobey Maguire.

Rainy Tuesday

Today is a good day to wear your boots and carry an umbrella.

Everyone Loves an Angry Clown

You might think that if you wake up in the morning, decide to dress up like a clown (right down to the bright red shoes) and then walk around the streets of New York, that you would want to bring smiles to the impoverished kids of the city. Nope, not in the Big Apple.

Keeping with the tradition that Manhattan has the friendliest clowns in the world, "Peter" lives up to his name.

Purple and Pink Underground

I saw these two girls earlier in the day on 57th Street and then ran into them again in the Prince Street subway station in Soho later in the afternoon. It's kind of hard to miss two girls with bright purple and pink hair.

I meant to ask them where they were from, but I had a couple bags in my hand and the subway was arriving and I was probably just totally overwhelmed by their buoyant and colorful personalities. Let's just pretend they are tourists visiting the city from Chicago, land of purple and pink hair.

Killing Joke - Saturday Night

One of my favorite bands from the 1980s, Killing Joke, played last night at the Fillmore (formerly Irving Plaza).

In my opinion, it's no fun to see a sold out show if you aren't right up against the stage in the front row jumping up and down (and taking pictures, of course) which is right where I was.

Bargain Bananas

Bananas are sold on the street corners in Manhattan - available at the bargain price of only 4 for a $1.

Colorful Sunglasses

A selection of sunglasses on Friday in Union Square.

Second Seats Go Missing

Anything can go missing in NYC, even the second seat on your tandem bicycle. Park Avenue in front of the Istituto Di Italiano Cultura.

Junk To Some, Treasure To Others

People throw out all kinds of stuff in New York City. Just put it right on the sidewalk for the taking.

Here's a "Good Sofa." Featuring a special guest appearance by Mame. In case you are wondering, the sofa was gone within the hour. No doubt it was picked up by a group of couch-deprived NYU students.

Graffiti Truck on 56th Street

A vivid green graffiti truck double-parked in front of Uncle Jack's. The driver was inside getting an enormous Kobe beef steak aged 21 days, and served at the absolute peak of flavor and tenderness, cooked to perfection, and served in its own juices. $100.

Protect Yourself in Times Square

Tuesday night at 8PM in Times Square.  

An ideal place to sell Governor Sarah "When Abortion is Not An Option" Palin condoms is on the corner of 48th Street and 7th Avenue.  She also had Barack Obama and John McCain condoms.  

Stock up before the election.  

Manhattan Street Still Life #2

Chairs, curbside.  The stiff wooden straight-backed model with the empty seat is in the lead.

Crimestoppers

Two special police jackets on 5th Avenue.   

FAO Schwartz

Random tourist in front of FAO Schwartz.  The look on the doorman's face is a good one.  Don't you think he gets tired of posing for pictures all day long?

West Coast

Styling and posing in front of a typical 24 hour deli on 57th Street and 10th Avenue.  Fall colors in full effect.  The rubber band on the left wrist is all the rage.

Salad Days

Two guys tearing down 7th Avenue in a very colorful grafitti truck.  They were blaring Minor Threat at full blast.

Goblins & Ghouls

Halloween is coming. The supermarkets in NYC are selling colorful pumpkins. I've never seen them give pumpkins hair before. This particular store has all sorts of candy from around the world at the cash registers. I never buy it, but these penguin packages (no idea what is in them) look intriguing.

Landmarc

Dinner.

Landmarc.

They have blue cotton candy. It's not on the menu. Cotton candy is underrated. I think it is delicious.

Pile o' Bikes

A pile of bikes in midtown early in the morning.

Later in the day these bikes will be dispatched throughout the city to bring Chinese takeout food to the starving people of Manhattan.

Personally, my favorites are Szechuan Gourmet, Wu Liang Ye, and Grand Sichuan.

All Oreos

The supermarkets in New York are packed with stuff just like everywhere else in America. Plenty of Oreos to choose from: Oreo Fudge Rings (Fudge Striped Cookies), Double Stuff Peanut Butter Creme, Reduced Fat, Double Stuff Cool Mint Creme, Golden Oreo, Halloween Oreo, Double Stuff Oreo, and just Plain Oreo.

Driving around Midtown

A totally graffiti bombed truck in Midtown East parked in front of Artisanal. I've never been, but I want to eat there. If you are ever driving around in one of these trucks, this is an appropriate song by the Frantix to play...loud.

The Staples' Art Collection

I've been trying to take more positive pictures of the city, since I only seem to notice the homeless people, trucks covered in graffiti, abandoned bicycles, etc.

But then the other night on the way over to see the David Blaine extravaganza in Central Park, I noticed all this beautiful Staples trash. Beauty is in the eye...so they say, right? So you can decide for yourself if it's just a pile of trash or a beautiful collection of boxes temporarily assembled on the sidewalk. I like the colors and the boxes and the the way they are all stacked up so high. It's semi-reminds me of the artwork by the french artist Arman who is best known for his great accumulations/assemblages.

For the non-New Yorkers out there - since there aren't that many alleys in the city, all the trash sits on the sidewalk after being placed on the curbs late in the evening. Noisy garbage trucks come by and pick it all up after 11PM making it hard for the residents of New York to sleep soundly. It is a very loud city!

High and Low

Leaders from the one hundred ninety-two members of the United Nations gathered in New York this week for the new General Assembly. There were parties and events all over town. Traffic was a mess and many streets were closed and cars and pedestrians redirected.

One of the events may have been at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) the other evening. The important people ate at nicely appointed tables upstairs in the beautiful museum while the caterers ate the same food a few feet away in the loading dock.

A large green Andy Warhol "Flowers" painting hangs above the museum information desk. A large overflowing coat rack is situated in the loading dock area. If you really think about it, the coat rack is perhaps a slightly more interesting piece of art. Andy once said, "Art is anything you can get away with." I'm calling the "Coat Rack (found jackets, uniforms, and two coat racks, 2008)" art. Consider it a temporary installation.

Deli Rules

Typical Manhattan Deli.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Sitting on a box. 11:30pm. Radio City Music Hall subway station.

David Blaine in Central Park - 2AM

One of my favorite things about living in New York is that there is always something going on. Even at 2AM.

It's typically not a very smart idea to walk thorough Central Park in the middle of the night (knife-wielding muggers, raccoons, fire-breathing dragons, etc.), but after seeing this on CNN and reading about it in the news, I set off early this morning to go to Central Park and witness David Blaine's latest endurance challenge. It also helps if you live within walking distance from the park. I've been to most of his other stunts in the city and I wanted to go see this one for myself. These performances are really amazing to witness in person and this one was no exception. It's even better if you get a chance to talk to him. The woman in the bright yellow coat was a English reporter doing a live interview for a morning show in the U.K.

The complicated rigging is set up in the middle of Donald Trump's Wollman Rink which is near the south end of the park. You'll see from my pictures that there is a harness set up so that he can rest his head which means he is not always as totally upside down as you might imagine, but close enough.

There was a small crowd assembled around David and he seemed like he was in a pretty good mood, smiling and answering questions. There were only about 20 or so people there so I walked up and asked him if his legs fell asleep and he said "Continuously." I also asked him if he planned to go to sleep and he replied, "I don't know how."

This is one of my favorite fake David Blaine videos.

Al and Bob

Saturday night at the Zeigfeld Theatre, the largest movie theater in Manhattan. It seats 1,100 people, but there were only about 30 people there for the 9:30 show. It's much, much bigger than my lame picture makes it appear. Cleaview Cinemas needs to fix their outdoor signage. "Righteous Kill," the latest Al Pacino and Robert Deniro movie (terrible title, terrible movie) is currently playing there.
It looks like they have a lot of surplus Indiana Jones-themed M&Ms to get rid of. This is what happens when a movie bombs - extra M&M's.

I used to love the Zeigfeld, but they haven't had any good movies there for a long time. now I prefer the Paris Theatre which is the only other single screen movie theater in New York that I can think of right now.
Adam and the Ants were cool. What ever happened to Ant Music?