Photo by myself at the Union Square subway station.
Based in New York, The Tin Pan Blues Band performs extensively throughout and under Manhattan and Brooklyn.
A large crowd of onlookers surrounded the group as they jammed at the Union Square station. It was impossible not to smile - the group's energy is pure enthusiasm.
From where we stood, you could hear the trains come and go on the tracks below. Rush hour traffic was in full swing, yet you could tell people did not want to leave.
Then the music wound down and the sound of trains whooshed in. Suddenly the crowd was gone.
For the Tin Pan website, which offers a free download of their music, click here.
Related posts: On the Subway Platform and Late Night TV, All That Jazz and Music While You Wait.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Singing the Blues, Below Ground
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Free Food, Washington Square Park
Photo by myself in Washington Square Park.
Someone left a container and a note saying 'Free Food'. The note was held down with a small branch.
When I showed the above photo to Mark, he expressed doubt that someone would actually eat the food.
'I've tried giving food to homeless guys. They turned me down!'
I have to side with Mark. The container is probably still sitting there.
However...I have noticed more acts of generosity and hopefulness during my recent walks around the city. The signs are subtle. I can't say that people are handing out wads of cash, but it's there, a genuine concern for others.
New Yorkers continue to contribute to street musicians and homeless folks on the sidewalk. We're still eating out and renovating apartments and buying fancy shoes. I have a feeling the fancy shoe shopping will be a tough habit to stop.
And we're leaving food out for those who might need it, instead of throwing it away. Maybe the food goes uneaten, but it's a gesture that's real.
Related posts: City Portrait - Washington Square Park, Worthy Causes and Homeless Man, Central Park.
Read more...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Scooby Doo, in the West Village
Photo by myself in the West Village, around Charles Street and Waverly Place.
Poor Scooby Doo was held hostage by a moving van in the West Village.
Usually you will see captive stuffed animals like pink bunnies or Elmos on the grills of grimy garbage trucks. This moving van decided to follow suit.
As you can see, the streets are relatively narrow in this neighborhood. Good luck to anyone on the other side of this truck!
I was tempted to post a photo of someone sleeping on a front stoop, but then stopped myself.
Sometimes gritty reality can be a bit too much. The New York Jets failed to make it to the Superbowl, I had to zap another mouse in our apartment, a big one this time, which probably left some baby mice orphaned....yadda, yadda, yadda.
I'll take Scooby Doo anytime.
For more about my urban mouse zapping, click here.
Related posts: Tied Up, Smile, It's Happy Hour and The Jazzman, 34th Street.
Read more...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
All Aglow, on 57th Street
Photo by myself on 57th Street and 6th Avenue.
The warm glow of lights draw you into the stores along this popular street.
The area is known for high end bookstores and galleries. Carnegie Hall is located on this stretch, steps away from The Russian Tea Room.
Related posts: A Warm Glow on the Upper West Side, The Apthorp, Upper West Side and Dusk at 72nd Street Station.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Village People, in Sheridan Square
Photo by myself in Sheridan Square, in the West Village.
'The Bus Stop', by American artist George Segal, was installed in 1980. The figures were cast from life, created in bronze and patinated white, to resemble plaster.
For some embarrassing reason, I never noticed this sculpture before, perhaps because they are treated like neighborhood fixtures.
I don't often post photos from the Village, and here's why: first, we often visit the East Village because there are more parking spaces. Second, Rupert loves the big dog run in Tompkins Square Park.
But really, I am directionally impaired, and a directionally impaired person in a neighborhood of diagonal streets is a sad sight. Within an hour I am a disoriented, dehydrated, grumbly person with sore feet.
I keep telling myself that all I need is to get lost more, and I'll know the neighborhood. Ha, fat chance!
Related posts: Art, for Public's Sake, On Public Art and Other Freebies and Public Art at the Lever House.
Read more...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Guiseppi Logan, Performing in Tompkins Square Park
Photo by myself in Tompkins Square Park, around 8th Street and Avenue A.
The other day I was walking about Alphabet City. I hadn't hadn't much luck with taking photos of people, and Mark and I were about to go home. Then I heard the sound of a saxophone.
A man was hunched over, improvising in Tompkins Square Park. I asked if I could take his photograph.
The man was friendly and played rapidly, the notes tumbling forward. He said he's played in New York and Philadelphia but didn't have any gigs at the moment. He carefully spelled out his name and asked me to look him up on youtube.
It turns out that Giuseppi Logan was something of a figure in the free jazz world in the late 60's. According to Wikipedia, Logan is 75 years young. He's made records. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Sadly, Logan's story is one that movies are made of - a precocious youth, loads of talent, drug use and a mysterious disappearance from the music scene. There were queries on messageboards about Logan's whereabouts and rumors of his death.
Guiseppi Logan once lived near Tompkins Square. He was born in Philadelphia.
There are loads of talented people in New York. Why was I so surprised by Logan's history? I must say it was a little like stumbling upon Bobby Fischer playing chess outside in Washington Square. I could have easily walked by and missed the opportunity.
Here's a page devoted to Logan by one of my favorite radio stations, WFMU.
Related posts: All That Jazz, Performing Free in Bryant Park and On Music and Elephants, Underground.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Grains of Sand, in Union Square
Photo by myself in Union Square, at Broadway and 16th Street.
An artist named Joe Mangrum drew a small crowd last week as he created a large piece of colorful art on the ground.
Made entirely of brightly colored sand, this large design took the greater part of the day. As he added more to the artwork, Joe talked about how each of us was like a grain of sand in the larger context of the city.
Luckily for all of us, there was no wind that day. For more of Joe's work, click here.
The size of Union Square makes it a popular location for performance art. There are often jugglers, musicians and mimes there, doing their thing. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the square is filled with a Farmer's Market.
Folks from upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania drive over to sell organic produce, honey, meats, eggs, baked goods and even fish. For New Yorkers who appreciate fresh food and love to cook, it is heaven.
Artists and vendors often set up booths on the same days, selling their paintings, pins, t-shirts, photographs and all else. It's a delight to tour around the square, browse around and watch people.
Related posts: Union Square is Where it's at, Sound the Horns in Union Square and Painting by Numbers.
Read more...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Street View at The New Cooper Union Building
Photo by myself near Cooper Union in the East Village, around Bowery and East 6th Street.
At street level, all you see is the splayed legs of the new Arts and Sciences Building of Cooper Union, a college in New York. The painted sign for The Bowery Bar and Grill, a well-known hangout, is in the background.
Founded by Peter Cooper in 1859, Cooper Union offers degrees in the arts, architecture and engineering to its students free of charge. It is exceedingly difficult to get into the school, as you might imagine.
The new Arts and Sciences building, designed by LA architect Thom Mayne.
How appropriate then is it to have this new sculptural building added to a progressive urban campus? We don't often have such modern architectural statements here. Most buildings conform in some way to the street, or resemble the older buildings.
This building seems to want to leap up and move around. You wouldn't think that concrete piers would splay out and seem to dance. Its metal mesh facade resembles a skirt ready to be flung off.
I can't say I fell in love with it at first sight, but the building takes risks and encourages you to try to figure it out. Its elaborate construction draws you in.
For the Times review of the building, click here.
Related posts: A Pedestrian City, Fixing Flats in the Streets and Taxi Drivers Wanted, Brooklyn.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Big Green Monster, in Midtown
Photo by myself, in Midtown.
Everyone has a gimmick, methinks.
A Teletubby was seen handing out fliers for a deli in Midtown. I suppose the Teletubby wasn't too busy lulling young children into submission.
I was going to write that Teletubbies are an American phenomenon, except they aren't. According to Wikipedia, these guys originated in the UK and have been seen all over the place.
For more about Teletubbies, click here.
Related posts: The 2009 New York City Marathon, Welcome to New York and Cow Appreciation Day, Fifth Avenue.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Making a Splash, at Lincoln Center
Photo by myself at Lincoln Center, around 63rd Street and Broadway.
The new fountain at Lincoln Center is up and running. The fountain is elegantly designed - the sculptured granite top is elevated on legs and lit from below. The building in the background is the Metropolitan Opera House.
The polished surface of the fountain looks like it's wet but don't be fooled. You can sit on it and enjoy the view.
When I recently read about the design and construction of the new fountain at Lincoln Center, I knew I had to visit it soon.
There's a great article in the New Yorker describing the powerful new water pumps installed below the plaza. A fountain expert from LA was brought in, who designed fountains for fancy casinos in Las Vegas. The new technology out there in fountain design are fascinating.
I'm sorry to say that my link is to the summary of the article. Unfortunately the article can be viewed by subscribers only, but isn't that the greatest excuse to subscribe to one of the best publications out there?
Here's a link to another article in the Times, which at this writing, is still free of charge. Be sure to check out the supercool animated movie of the entire design on the left sidebar, showing the renovation plans for the entire complex.
Related posts: Up With the Arts, at Lincoln Center, City Portraits - The High Line, Chelsea and A Modern Icon, in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Read more...
