Balloon Ride

I spotted this balloon over Central Park over the weekend. I have no idea why it was up there (an advertisement for something I suppose) or who they were taking for rides. I wouldn't mind going for a ride in a hot air balloon someday. Happy Monday!

Update: Both Wayne and Olivier tell me that the balloon is there to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Central Park. I think it will be taking people on rides for the next month. Thanks to them for finding this fact!

Flower power

Just a photo of a local flower stand today - nothing very descriptive to say about this one. I do love to pass by all of the flowers for sale in the markets. Maybe I'll buy some today! I wish you all a terrific weekend!

Stock Exchange

I hadn't walked by the New York Stock Exchange in quite some time until recently. It seems they've got it all decked out in flags. I'm not sure if that was for the 4th of July, which was around when I took the photo, or if it is a permanent fixture. Hopefully the patriotic theme will bring the stock market some luck these days!

Castle Williams

This is another photo that I took on Governor's Island. This is Castle Williams, constructed in 1807 and named after its designer Jonathan Williams. It was the first fort of its kind in the U.S. and its circular shape helped to deflect cannon balls. To test his design, Williams had Navy ships fire cannons into the fort, as he stood inside. Apparently it was very sturdy. During the civil war it was used as a holding facility for confederate prisoners. In 2001, the fort and its surroundings on Governor's Island became a national monument.

Random Street Scene #2

I'm always happy when I still see small buildings with character interspersed among the skyscrapers in New York. I came across this street downtown and these buildings seemed like a reminder of a different era and were nice to see. They had a very European look to them, I thought. Anyway, that's all I've got to say about this one.

Random Street Scene

This scene on the street caught my eye and I thought it would translate well in a photo. Unfortunately the whole thing turned out a little fuzzy. (I need to keep practicing!) I still liked the colors and the motion though. Hope you have a good start to the week.

David Byrne exhibit

I have a few more Governor's Island photos to show, but I think I'll show those next week. Today I felt like showing a picture I took at an exhibit called "Playing the Building" by the artist and musician David Byrne, which is at the Battery Maritime Terminal this summer. It was very cool and I can't describe it very well so here is a description excerpted from his website http://www.davidbyrne.com/.

Playing the Building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to produce sound.

So if you visit the installation, you can even take a turn playing the building yourself. (It's operated by that console you see. Very cool!) Have a nice weekend everyone.

Waterfalls

Governor's Island was a nice place to get a close-up look at one of Olafur Eliasson's "Waterfalls." You've probably heard about this public art presentation which is situated at four spots in the East River. Here is a description from the New York Times. "The New York City Waterfalls" is a public art project of four man-made waterfalls rising from New York Harbor, some as high as the Statue of Liberty. Organized by the nonprofit Public Art Fund and the city of New York, it is being billed as the city's biggest such project since "The Gates," the $20 million effort by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 2005."

They make a really beautiful and soothing sound up close and I enjoyed sitting for a while near this one.

Governor's Island

As I mentioned before, I visited Governor's Island last weekend and it was lots of fun. It's only a 7 minute free ferry ride from lower Manhattan and offers some gorgeous views of the City. There's lots to do, including renting bikes and taking a ride around the island. You can even rent a bike for a group!

I read this description in an exhibit in one of the buildings on the Island: "Governor's Island, situated at the intersection of the East River and the Hudson River between Brooklyn's Red Hook and the tip of Manhattan's Battery, is an unexpected twilight zone, 172 acres of public land on which only a few have ever set foot. For the most photographed city in the world, one that we locate through its images and films, it is remarkable how unfamiliar Governor's Island remains to the inhabitants of New York. That will change soon as the Island, once the exclusive domain of the U.S. Coast Guard personnel and their families will open to the public for the first time in over a century."

Statues on Parade

I'll get back to my jaunt to Governor's Island tomorrow...but in celebration of tonight's Baseball All-Star game, I'm showing some of the "Statues on Parade" that have popped up around the city. There are 42 replicas of the statue of liberty all around New York and the statues have the names of major league teams on them. (I guess it's the same idea as the cows on parade from several years ago.) I've only seen three of them, so I've made a collage. This is the last all-star game that will take place in the old Yankee stadium before they move to a new stadium next season. Play Ball!