Summer Afternoon Downtown

A picture today of some people relaxing on a summer afternoon in downtown Manhattan. Speaking of relaxing, I'm about to go away for a short vacation. I'll miss seeing all of your photos, but I'll see you back here on August 2!

South Street Seaport Boats

Some boats today from the South Street Seaport. It is mostly a mall there now, but there is also a museum at the Seaport and some interesting looking ships too. You can also get a beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the South Street Seaport. I'll have to show some bridge pictures soon!

Conservatory Garden

Here is another photo from the Conservatory Garden in Central Park. I hope the week ahead is a good one!

Water Tower

Water towers are a distinctive part of the New York City skyline. This is one I can see from my window. Many new buildings now are trying to hide them behind facades, but I like the way they look. Here is a paragraph about water towers from the "how stuff works" website:

In a city, tall buildings often need to solve their own water pressure problems. Because the buildings are so tall, they often exceed the height that the city's water pressure can handle. So a tall building will have its own pumps and its own water towers.

Enjoy your weekend and see you Monday!

Golden Statue

This is a picture I took a while ago, but forgot I had. This is the top of a statue in memory of the sailors who perished on the Maine. The statue sits at the entrance to Central Park at the corner of Central Park West and Central Park South. (The sign you see in the background is for the Essex Hotel on Central Park South.)

Boating in Central Park

Here's another fuzzy picture taken after I broke my camera. (Sorry, I haven't had time to go out and use my new camera yet!) This was boating in Central Park, near the Bethesda Fountain, which was such fun. It was the first time I've ever done it, after all the years I've lived in New York. It was a lot of fun on a hot day. Sorry for the quality of the photo!

Giacometti Bronze

This is another photo from my recent visit to the Museum of Modern Art. It's a work by the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) and is called City Square. The figures here are actually quite small, though they look lifesize in the photo. His works often have that distinctive stretched-out look.

River View

Another Manhattan view from Long Island City Queens. It looked like a nice place to relax for a bit. Have a nice week!

Hot Weather!

We've had terribly hot weather here this week, with temperatures in the upper 90s. I guess this guy was wiped out by it. Luckily today it has cooled down quite a bit. I hope the weather is nice wherever you are for the weekend. See you Monday!

Hispanic Society

This is a shot from the Hispanic Society of America. It is a free museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain, Portugal and Latin America. It’s located at Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets and it's a real gem in New York. It doesn't seem to be as visited as it should be, which is a shame. I’ll show a picture of the building from the outside some day. P.S. Today is my 100th post!

Summer Roses

Just some summer roses for today from The New York Botanical Garden. In the photo you can see that I've broken my camera. I dropped it and the top edges of all of my photos are fuzzy now (and the zoom doesn't work). But I've gotten a new one (thanks Mom and Dad!) and am learning to use it now. So hopefully some new photos soon!

Love Statue

This is the "Love" statue by Robert Indiana on Sixth Avenue at 55th Street in Manhattan. It seems to be a popular spot for photography. This woman was photographing some sort of figure in front of it. Here is some information from Wikipedia about the statue.

"Indiana's best known image is the word "LOVE" in a square with a tilted "O". This image, first created for a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in 1964, was included on an 8 cent U.S. Postal Service stamp in 1973, the first of their regular series of "love stamps." Sculpture versions are on display at Sixth Avenue in New York, the Pratt Institue campus in Brooklyn, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and in the so called "Love Park" in Philadelphia, among others.

Riverbank State Park

This is a picture I took at Riverbank State Park in Harlem. It's a great park and has lots of facilities like baseball fields, a pool and an outdoor ampitheater. It was built on top of a residential waste water treatment facility and is quite a unique place with great views along the Hudson. This is from the parks department website:

Riverbank is the only park of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Inspired by urban rooftop designs in Japan, this 28-acre multi-level landscaped recreational facility is a state-of-the-art park facility. Rising 69 feet above the Hudson River, Riverbank offers a wide variety of recreational, athletic and arts experiences for all ages, interests and abilities.

P.S. It was from this vantage point that I took the photo looking south along the Hudson in my previous post.

Looking South on Manhattan

This is a shot I took a few weeks ago looking south on Manhattan. I'm not all that happy with the photo (it was much more majestic in person!) but I'm showing it any way. I'll have to go back when it is not a hazy day. This is looking south on the Hudson river along the west side of Manhattan. I won't be around tomorrow, so I will wish everyone a happy weekend in advance! See you Monday!

Flags on 42nd Street

Happy Fourth of July!! Enjoy the holiday (if you celebrate it!).

Angel's Trumpets

This is a photo I took last weekend at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. These are Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansia) small trees from the mountains of South America. These plants have trumpet-shaped flowers that are intensely fragrant, especially at night. Angel's trumpets are in the same plant family as familiar plants like the tomato, potato and petunia. Although some members of this family produce edible crops, many are poisonous, including these. (Information from the New York Botanical Garden). They have lovely greenhouses at the New York Botanical Garden filled with interesting plants.

Untermyer Fountain

Here is a photo today of Walter Schott's statue Three Dancing Maidens found in Central Park's Conservatory Gardens. Here is some information about the gardens from the park's website:

The six-acre Conservatory Garden is Central Park's only formal garden. It takes its name from the huge glass conservatory that once stood on this same spot, built in 1898. In 1934, when maintenance of the facility had become too costly, the conservatory was demolished and replaced with the present Garden, which opened to the public in 1937. The Conservatory Garden is in fact three gardens representing different landscape styles: Italian, French, and English.

Have a nice week!