City Hall Park

Pyramid by Sol LeWitt in City Hall Park, where there is currently the “first outdoor career survey” of 27 of his “three-dimensional works he called structures.” Pyramid I found especially pleasing, with its sharp angles among the greenery.

Front Street and Peck Slip

Looking out from Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee (home of an amazing oversized homemade Oreo). Across the street, an inscription in stone turns out to be a quote from Moby Dick:

Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, north-ward. What do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pierheads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep.

Enjoy the long weekend!

15th Street and Eighth Avenue

Late afternoon in Chelsea and almost a rustic vibe (except for the window grate).

South Street Seaport

“Now I am curious what sight can ever be more stately and admirable to me than my mast-hemm'd Manhattan”— from “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman. (It’s the beginning of Fleet Week.)

Broadway and Broome Street

This is my fantasy: to live in a sprawling, ancient (but entirely renovated) arched-windowed loft with views of the city and the river (this building probably has neither) and undecorate it to my heart’s content. But really, any room will do.

Orchard Street and Broome Street

A vignette at Little Giant, which I ducked into for a late dinner one rainy evening, randomly. (Not entirely randomly, because I had remembered reading about it years ago and kept it in the back of my mind as a place to try.) And so: a satisfying dinner at a quiet corner table, with the storm outside and truffled asparagus and roasted trout. (And I have to admire a restaurant that offers three kinds of rosé by the glass.) Plus, their recipe for sangria sounds promising.

Walker Street and Church Street

On Walker Street recently, looking for the new Ted Muehling shop, which turned out to be nothing to get excited about, photographically—at least on the outside. (So I snapped a shot of these scribblings instead.) But inside the shop: such perfectly simple and beautiful jewelry. (“What …you would” make if you could.) Plus, there’s a book, for portable inspiration.

Greene Street and Canal Street

In the window at the Blue in Greene men’s store: mannequin suggesting masculinity? The terrain outside is rather rugged (what with the cobblestones).

14th Street and Broadway

One of those moments when you look up and the city seems foreign, all of a sudden, maybe Greek, maybe Roman.

Lexington Avenue and 60th Street

After standing in line to get into the first NYC outpost of Sprinkles cupcake shop, I was impressed with their minimal Damien-Hirst-dotlike designs. Plus, the cupcakes were pretty good (especially the coconut), and they offer up a tiny, non-chocolate treat for dogs.

Somewhere on the FDR

A glance from a cab window, by the river. A ride up the eastern edge of the island and a trip that never loses its tinge of excitement. Reminds me of these “blurry oil paintings of drunken cab rides,” also kind of thrilling.

Canal Street and Broadway

Blogger is having some technical difficulties and deleted my post from yesterday, but I liked it so much, I'm putting it back up. This traffic-jam assemblage inside the subway station made me laugh as I listened to the horns of pent-up desire right outside.

54th Street and Seventh Avenue

One lovely (lonely) raviolo, stuffed with lobster and salmon, from the small-plates section of the menu at Maze by Gordon Ramsay, at the London Hotel. And so there are some British touches on the menu, but I was glad to see coffee service was American-style (with dessert, rather than after). Because it was nice alongside that chocolate pudding with stout ice cream and peanut butter powder. (Here's the cookbook.)

Sixth Avenue and 45th Street

This sidewalk silhouette looks like some of the blue glass jewelry with bird designs (among other animals and leaves and things) from artist Sunny Scarlett—just up the street at the gift shop of the Museum of Arts and Design.

11th Street and West Fourth Street

This block in the West Village, between West Fourth and Bleecker, is one of my favorites. It’s always quiet (though close to the cupcakes and handbags of those cross streets) and you can almost feel the happiness of people living in their lovely townhouses. (Check out more city blocks at the NYC Grid blog.)

Murray Street and Church Street

Really lovely (subtle) cherry blossom macarons at Takahachi Bakery are here for only a few weeks, for the cherry blossom season. The matcha version (also delicious) might be more permanent.

13th street and Seventh Avenue

Urban tulips in aubergine, a color somewhere between Studio Purple and Chelsea.

12th Street and First Avenue

Dinner at the bar at Hearth looks like a detail from a dark Dutch genre painting, doesn’t it? (Those are some amazing roasted mushrooms—recipe here—with a bottle of red wine.) There’s also a cookbook, which I haven’t read, at Amazon.

Church Street and Barclay Street

A crowd of news vans yesterday, among the crowd of USA fans, in front of the World Trade Center site.

Mott Street and Grand Street

Stumptown coffee at the Nolita Mart and Espresso Bar: a nice stop. For a break. From the clutter and color outside, on the edge of Chinatown. Plus: extra friendly service and a mini-mart of local products—pickles, chocolates—in the back.