West Broadway and Duane Street

I don’t know what this is except a sign of what isn’t. Or a wish?

Franklin Street and Church Street

Tribeca smelled like soft rolls and coffee. Office towers from the seventies stood tinted pleasant green. All the scaffolds dripped on Broadway. Squares had been torn to let a sapling through. A bush on Franklin held a plump melodic sparrow. A woman smiling at someone behind me waved in case I’d misunderstood. I turned up White but can’t remember it. I don’t remember Church except for the clapping sound of pigeons’ wings. At Canal I dropped into the art-deco post office thinking Union Station L.A. I asked a clerk where to find passport applications.

              — from Ten Walks / Two Talks by Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch

Ninth Avenue and 15th Street

Overheard on the street, before going into Chelsea Market: “It shouldn’t be too hard to find the pumpkin tortellini. Now we need the vodka.”

Broadway and Cedar Street

A bit of Joie de Vivre in the afternoon.

Reade Street and West Broadway

Custom cocktail at Ward III. (This is what I got after requesting something refreshing, floral, and champagne-based. Raspberries and mint and who knows what else: the server delivered the drink, but she didn’t know what the bartender put in it.)

Broadway and 10th Street

A fragment of Grace Church, a ”French Gothic revival masterpiece,” with water tower.

Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street

Evening juxtaposition (mixed media) with Jim Dine’s version of Venus towering over taxis, leading men up the avenue. (There’s a nice walking tour of the entire length of Sixth Avenue here, if you want to get out of the cab next time.)

Centre Street and Worth Street

A breath of fresh air upon leaving the courthouse. Freedom for six years (from jury duty).

Centre Street and Chambers Street

Blog is going on a semi-break next week while I’m on jury duty. We’ll see how things work out. Perhaps there will be lots of lovely stuff to photograph in Foley Square. (But I doubt it.)

Broadway and Canal Street

Sign of optimism off Canal Street.

Broadway and Spring Street

Old sewing machines on display in AllSaints Spitalfields. (A bit of England in Manhattan, except that the huge store feels more Soho than Spitalfields, or so it seems to me.) Inside: a scattering of sequined items and steampunk jewelry.

Union Square

A burst of spring at the greenmarket and overheard on the street: “Are you telling me you don’t see those frilly black bottoms showing through your flimsy yellow dress?”

Broadway and Wall Street

Taking pictures of pictures on the street reminded me of this series of pictures of NYC as seen on TV (available for sale here).

West Street and Murray Street

Whenever spring comes to New York I can't stand the suggestions of the land that come blowing over the river from New Jersey and I've got to go. So I went.

            —from On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Broadway and Wall Street

The white shape of Alexander Hamilton’s gravestone in the cemetery at Trinity Church blots out the current city, for a moment. (He arrived here from Jane Street, where he died of wounds received in his duel across the river with Aaron Burr.) The inscription says he was 47.

Wooster Street and Grand Street

Nice touch: silver mustache. (A few months ago, the cats were blank.)