We Care About New York

Public service announcement created to bring attention to the city's rat problem. Frederick Elmes was the director of photography for the ad. 1991.

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MANHATTAN STREET CORNERS

A surprisingly engaging collection of photos of street corners - 11,000 of them!

Richard Howe - THE MANHATTAN STREET CORNERS

"Manhattan’s street corners are our village squares. Almost anything that takes us out into the public space of our neighborhoods will take us to or through at least one street corner. Street corners are where we go whenever we go out to buy groceries, do laundry, see a movie, go to church, catch a bus, eat out, visit a friend, get a paper, go to school, get a haircut, find a taxi, have our nails done, go to work, take a walk, come back home. Jane Jacob’s human comedy of the urban street reaches its pinnacle on Manhattan’s street corners."

Above is the building in Chelsea where we rented an apartment recently.

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Swoon

New York City Street Artist: Swoon

I Smell New York

Smells of New York City - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

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NYC Grid

NYC Grid is a photo blog dedicated to exploring and discovering The City of New York block by block and corner by corner. Updated every weekday, each post covers a new block with a focus on the mundane and ephemeral.

This is the area in Chelsea where we stayed on a recent NYC visit.

S'MAC

I wish I'd known about this place when I was in NYC last month! Check out their menu! And they deliver!

Short for Sarita's Mac & Cheese, the restaurant in New York City's East Village specializes in just one thing--but this is not your mother's macaroni. From the Cheeseburger (ground beef and macaroni smothered in cheddar and American cheese) to the Parisienne Mac (brie, figs, mushrooms, and a certain je ne sais quoi), Sarita and her husband, Caesar , take this favorite to new heights.

Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese
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Strolling around New York on Saturday

There is nothing I like better than to wander aimlessly on a beautiful sunny day.
Bought a couple of things at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market - the Mao poster below and a French enameled address plate for the front door.







We strolled down to the Bleecker St. Festival where I found a copy of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach for a rock bottom price. Had a lovely Italian brunch with Bloody Marys at Grano in the Village (recommended by a fireman brother of Mr. Nag) then listened to some excellent jazz at Washington Square. I fell in love with the eclectic vintage decor at ABC Home; it felt like heaven to me. We also hit the Green Market at Union Square but it was a real zoo and we rushed right through - I loved the bouquets of peonies they were selling there.

We trundled back to the apartment to change shoes and chug a screwdriver then off to wander around the Chelsea Art Galleries and along the Hudson. Mr. Nag showed me the NYC fireboat where he stayed when he attended firefighters' funerals after 911.

We circled back through Tribeca and then absorbed a little bit of the action at the clubs in the Meatpacking District. Then home via the Chelsea Historic District with its lovely row houses. No fancy dinner out - too tired. Got a takeout pizza and had it with a good bottle of wine while watching Bette Davis in The Letter. That, my friends, was my idea of the perfect day.

The Nag Does The Big Apple

Here are a few photos of NYC:

Marilyn/Spock

A charming bear

A touching memorial to a cyclist killed by an SUV in the Bowery

A cake that looks like meat.

The view from my bed at night. Yes, that's the Empire State Building.

Chumley's, gone alas for now

We were exhausted after a day of walking and looked forward to relaxing at Chumley's, Mr. Nag's favourite New York bar, and were puzzled when we couldn't find it after walking in circles for a bit. Eventually we figured out that it now looks like this:

Apparently a wall collapsed in April but they hope to get it up and running again. No Chumley's this trip. I hope they'll be able to recreate the original ambiance but with sturdier walls.

Sand painting in chelsea

I'll be staying in Chelsea in June. Too bad this art will just be dust in the wind by then.

I was walking around Chelsea today with my friend Michale when we saw Wayne Coe on 22nd st, across the street from the Chelsea Museum, sand painting on the sidewalk. It was sort of windy but the sand he's using is a heavy sort (the one they spray on buildings) so it wasn't flying away, but it's obviously ephemeral, it will probably be completely gone by tomorrow.

juliettemerck.blog: sand painting in chelsea
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Peter Funch photographs of New York

Danish photographer, Peter Funch's Babel Tales. Strange images of New York.
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