Manhattan - Day 53

Hiked over to 7th & 18th this morning with a large box of clothes on my shoulder. After dropping it off at UPS - destination Dana Point California, I headed down to the village where I had a large coffee and a equally large doughnut that I had no business eating. Walking home up Washington, I spotted this mostly worn away ad on the side of a building.

And the colors just keep coming.  Later I turned up 20th toward the gate at GTS and was greated by this view. Just had to snap a pic.

Manhattan - Day 52

Autumn, Glorious Autumn

This morning I pulled on a jacket and scarf and strolled out into the wonderfully crisp autumn air, bathed in the clean early morning light of fall. Off through the West Village, I walked all the way down Bleecker Street, ending up on Bowery. I decided to continue on, all the way over to Tompkins Square Park. After spending some time in Tompkins Square, I made my way back to Washington Square Park where I sat and soaked up the morning sun. There is nothing better than a warm fall day.

Manhattan - Day 51

Will Barnet at 100

This morning I traveled uptown to The National Academy Museum, to take part in the day-long symposium on the Art and life of Will Barnet. I was there to introduce my film on Will and to enjoy the rest of the program that include various lectures and a panel discussion. Will joined us for the afternoon and, as always, it was wonderful to see him. The film was well received and the kind comments from those in the audience were of course, as always, much appreciated.

Will Barnet, Self-Portrait, 1981

Manhattan • Owls Head • Manhattan - Day 42 - 50

Just to catch everyone up, on October 27th we boarded Mega Bus and were off to Maine. We planned a little R&R, a little business for myself, and readying the house for the upcoming winter. It was a busy nonstop flurry of house work, meetings and visits with friends. On our final morning in town our friend Mike Dworkin picked us up and shuttled us off to catch the bus back to New York, with a stop for breakfast at the Home Place Cafe in Rockland.

Breakfast at the Home Place Cafe

Back on the bus

Manhattan - Day 41

All day just kicking around town with Mary Ann. Started it off with breakfast at the Cook Shop, followed by a walk through Soho, a movie in the afternoon at Angelika. While I liked, Martha Marcy May Marlene I'm not sure I get all the hype. As usual, with a movie that gets this much attention, I with I had seen it earlier.

after the movie we headed off back through the village with a stop for coffee at Jack's on 10th.

This evening we had a quiet dinner back in Chelsea. Tomorrow off to Maine for a week.

Manhattan - Day 40

Back to Manhattan yesterday afternoon after a night New Jersey visiting Mary Ann's family. We dropped off the bags here at GTS and set off on a walking tour of my NewYork. First stop Doma for a coffee and then a walk down Bleeker Street ending up at BareBurger for a bite to eat.

A beautiful night for a walk, and the need to do such after the dinner we ate, we strolled back through the village before calling it a day.

Today we kicked around the village, starting with breakfast at the Bus Stop Cafe (loyal readers do we see a pattern here?) then toff to check out the Occupy Wall Street encampment. On the way down I snapped this pic of Mary Ann on the train.

Tonight it's off to Greater Jamaica Development Corp's annual Gala.

Manhattan - Day 39

Fall in the air. This morning up for my walk which took down through the village as usual. The air had that crisp feel that was a sure sign that the cool nights of fall are her to stay. As I turned the corner from Bleeker and onto Hudson, there was the Saturday morning farmers market at Abington Square. I snapped this shot of these cauliflower which seemed an apt symbol of a fall day.

Manhattan - Day 38

Life Underground

It was my friend David who first pointed out the sculptures in the 14th Street & 8th Avenue subway station to me. I was certain that these whimsical little characters had been there for years but in reality "Life Underground" was created in the nineties by American sculptor, Tom Otterness  and installed in 2000.


Otterness credits 19th century political cartoonist Thomas Nast's depiction of Boss Tweed and the corruption of Tammany Hall that was ongoing at the time of the subway's initial construction as his inspiration for the sculptures, hence my thought that they were from a bygone era. Regardless, they never fail to bring a smile to my face and when you think about today's political climate and the Occupy Wall Street movement, many of them seem particularly relevant.