Concert on the Street

I saw these musicians the other day, but I walked by just as they were finishing their concert. Too bad because I liked their music. I hope I see them again some day!

Fleet Week

This past week was Fleet Week in New York, an annual event where about 3,000 sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members came to the city for a weeklong visit. This year the ships were docked in Manhattan and Staten Island. This is a photo of the USS Wasp, which was docked at Pier 90 in Manhattan and which leaves today. Unfortunately I got there too late to take a tour of the ship. Maybe next year!

Some sailors from the boat, enjoying New York.

Cloisters Photo #2

Today I am showing another photo from my trip to the Cloisters Museum a few weeks ago. This is the Saint-Guilhem Cloister (late 12th century) and comes mostly from the French monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault). I loved the stone work here.

Bryant Park Night Scene

This is a view of Bryant Park in the evening. The tall building on the right is the Radiator Building, a New York landmark that is now the Bryant Park Hotel. It was the subject of a 1927 Georgia O'Keeffe painting. Here is a link to some information about it.

http://www.aviewoncities.com/nyc/americanradiatorbuilding.htm

Enjoy the long holiday weekend (for those in the U.S.!) and see you on Tuesday.

Abandoned Statue

I saw this propped up behind a building in the East Village. It made me wonder what it was. Perhaps an artist was making a statue and gave up on it? I guess I'll never know.

Above Times Square

I went to a seminar last week at the Marriott Marquis Hotel and while I was there I took some photos from the hotel. They have a nice lookout on Times Square. Happy Wednesday!

Peace Fountain

Today I am showing a picture of the Peace Fountain on the grounds of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Amsterdam Avenue between 110th and 113th streets). It is by the artist Greg Wyatt. Another time I will show you some photos I have of the inside of the cathedral.

Next to the cathedral is a pretty garden and here is a picture of the peacock who lives there.

Ninth Avenue Food Festival

This weekend was the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival. There were lots of delicious things to eat! Here are a few photos from the festival.

West End Avenue

Just a picture of my street today. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Croquet Players

I've passed the croquet fields in Central Park many times but I've never seen anyone playing there before. This weekend I went by and there were players there! So, I took some pictures. I don't know if wearing white is required. I haven't played croquet since I was a kid, but this looked like fun!

Hearst Tower

I walked past this building yesterday and the sun seemed to be hitting it just right. It is the Hearst Tower and I read that it is New York's first "green" skyscraper. Apparently the grids you can see on the outside help to save energy, and it has special windows that reflect the light in summer to keep it cooler. The building also has tanks to collect rainwater and they've used recycled furniture and carpets inside. A good idea!

A Window from The Cloisters

I took this photograph in The Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum devoted to the art of medieval Europe. I have lots of photos from the Cloisters which I will show you over time. The stained glass in this window comes from France. For people who haven't visited before, this museum is in Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan. It's a beautiful museum.

Boat Basin Cafe

Yesterday some friends and I celebrated the birthday of our friend Mary Beth (she's standing on the left) at the Boat Basin Cafe. I promised them I would put this photo on my blog. Happy Birthday Mary Beth!

The Boat Basin Cafe is along the Hudson and is a great place to spend time in the summer.

This is the view. Have a nice week!

Columbus Circle at Night

Since Greg said yesterday that New York at night scares him, I thought I'd show you a night scene today. See it's not so bad! :)

Manhattan View

Right now there are lots of apartment buildings going up in Long Island City, along the river with this view of Manhattan. I am jealous of the people who get to live there! I'd like to go back and try to take another photo at night.

Lower East Side

I took these pictures the other day during a walk on the lower east side. The man in the window slicing lox is in a store called Russ & Daughters that specializes in smoked fish and specialty foods. I think it has been around a long time.

Seventh Avenue

A view of Seventh Avenue taken a few weeks ago.

5Pointz

This weekend I was in Long Island City, Queens and I passed this building covered in graffiti. It is called 5Pointz and apparently graffiti artists come from around the world to work here. I read online that it is the only nonprofit organization in the world dedicated to graffiti art. I never heard of it before! It was pretty amazing in person.

Police Cars at Lincoln Center

The other day I came upon all of these police cars parked at Lincoln Center. I wonder what they were up to?

I think it was just a drill.

Cherry Blossom Festival

People enjoying the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Sunday.

A performance of Japanese music inside the tent.

A concert with Shakuhachi flute players (one of them works in my office!).

Train Yard

The train yard in Corona, the last of the pictures from my visit to Queens.

New York Panorama

Even though these pictures are not very good, I thought I would show the Panorama of the City of New York, which I saw last weekend in the Queens Museum and thought was so interesting!

This is information from the Queens Museum website - Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair.