Category Archives: around town

Village Cigars

They’ve preserved the triangular corner and signage but it’s a coffee bar now. Although today when I wanted an espresso, their machine was broken.

I have a memory of being with Burt here at the Village Cigars corner and our friend SB, don’t remember the details

Christopher Street houses the pizza emporium l’industrie. It spills out west to show off other eateries and stores.

Art in subways is a refreshing sign of cultivation.

At Christopher Street
Christopher/Sheridan Sq
Christopher Street/ Stonewall
W 42nd Street
Ditto W 42nd

Near the 59th St Bridge

The 59th Street Bridge, renamed for former Mayor Ed Koch these many years, will always be 59th to me.

The tram heading for Roosevelt Island was packed today.

This cinema marquee, boldly marking I know not what now, caught my eye as I passed.

Still not sure what the marquee advertises. [That’s disingenuous, it’s a fitness place. I even looked it up ex-post facto.]

Shots In Twos

This is the cutest ice cream truck I ever saw.

Preparatory stairs, the frame is set for the ascent.

Comedy and Tragedy

A Jacob Lawrence painting that, I am told, is not his famed work, although he was prodigious and worked in a variety of styles.

A view from the corner of 86th and York, facing East

Doubling up on sunsets.

Pigeon prancing and preening

High ? Alerts

In addition to these threats or are they warnings, to bus passengers, there was a recurring message on a screen. We were told that Fares are Required. MTA officials and the NYPD would make sure we paid up.

We have come to shrug off the  Transit Watch alert.

The reminder that assault on a bus driver might be a felony seems superfluous. I believe any assault is considered felonious.

I assume the security cameras are there to enforce the warnings.

There, that covers that!

Introduction

Jacob Lawrence

There is a gallery off the main drag at the Guggenheim which is displaying a variety of artists. You will find Picassos you had never expected.

The Jacob Lawrence was also a surprise to me. In fact, I had not seen his work before. Thanks, S, for sending me the link to Jacob Lawrence’s Great Migration: An American Story.

Madison walk

Three traditional houses on Mad Ave
Martha and George Whitney lived here
I think GENTILE’s [which is now on 84th] was somewhere on 67th years ago. When Burt and I bought pears, the patrone helped us pick the ripest.
Torn up roadways waiting for tar. Interesting frieze on this building.

The devil is in the…

This is a row of details on the south side of 23rd Street. I am standing at the beginning of Madison Avenue. It’s starting point is here at 23rd Street, with Broadway to its west. Madison starts here, but Broadway goes on forever, slowly edging east til it crosses 5th just about here.

Madison Square Park starts here, too, rising two blocks up to 25th Street. This weekend was the end of the NoMad Jazz Festival in its 1st year. It boasted a brilliantly packed schedule. We stayed for Arta Jēkabsone, who, with a nine piece band, presented Searching for a Song and The Brandee Younger Trio. There were harps in both; in The Brandee Younger Trio, she leads on the harp. Wow.

To borrow a theme from Paul Krugman’s Substack, I will leave you with music. It’s jazz, too.