where's the fire?

I don't know, but I really hope it wasn't serious, 
considering how long it was taking 
these fire trucks to get through the midtown 
Manhattan traffic.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and
Our World Tuesday.]

Thursday Challenge—"close"

I happened by as they were planting
these hydrangeas one morning,
 and I decided to go back for a close-up.

 They're decorating a planter between
two rows of benches (with
dividers so you can't stretch out on
them) on Third Avenue.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

where did it go?

I took this shot when I was on my way
to work one day last summer. 

When I passed by one rainy morning
recently, I noticed that things
had changed.  I wonder why.

[Linking back to Monday Mural at
Oakland Daily Photo.]

Christmas in the City

There are still some interesting buildings in
Manhattan—and I like this one even better with the
big and little trees in the courtyard all 
covered in blue fairy lights.

[Linking back to Blue Monday and Monday Mellow Yellows.]

Red Flying Group

That's the name of Ann Gillen's 1970s sculpture,
which has been in front of 909 3rd Ave. for about 20 
years.  She says, "I build sculptures that suggest
movement in marble, stainless steel, aluminum,
wood and slate. I work with the aesthetics
of Constructed Sculpture with its analytic Apollonian 
rigor that combines with emotional Dionysian outbursts."
I have no idea what analytic Apollonian rigor is, 
but this certainly does suggest movement, don't you think?

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Con Ed: letting off a little steam
at the corner of Lex and 45th.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Pi in the Sky

Because you do know what tomorrow is, don't you?
That's right, math geeks—but not only is it Pi Day (3.14 ...), 
it's the once-in-this-century Pi Day (3.14.15 ...)!

[And today is Skywatch Friday.
To see more Skywatch pics, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Anyone who's been coming to this blog for a while
knows that I suffer from terrace envy.
But when there's snow every few days, temps 
are in the teens and twenties, and 
wind chills drop them to single digits and even 
below 0°F . . . you can have your terrace—
now I have a case of fireplace envy.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.
Also linking back to the B&W Photography Project at PODcast.]

pretty planters

Whoever owns this place in Manhattan's
Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side has
taken a fairly nondescript doorway and
given it some major curb appeal.
I don't think they need to worry about
anyone absconding with those planters, do you?

[To see more Mandarin Orange Monday posts, go here.]

Looking up . . .

at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 53rd Street.
The building on the left is Philip Johnson's
so-called Lipstick Building.  Its most
infamous tenant was probably Bernie Madoff,
whose Ponzi scheme cost so many so much
($65 billion!) and landed him in stir until 2159.

[Linking back to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.]

The Weekend in Black and White

A few weeks ago Mother Nature gave us a
beautiful, warm, sunny weekend—then
she hit us with more cold and snow.
(You can't see it in the fog, but
at the end of this block is the U.N.)

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] 

Skywatch Friday

One afternoon this week, NYC was under a
tornado watch.  The view from my office
looked like a rerun of the IMAX film I saw
at the Museum of Natural History.

[To see more Skywatch, go here.] 

ABC Wednesday—N is for "NOT afraid of heights"

Like yesterday's photo, this one
is also not for acrophobics.

To put those guys in perspective,
I took these shots from my
24th-floor office and they're
even higher up than that.

[To see more interpretations of
the letter N, visit ABC Wednesday.]

Skywatch Friday

I spend my days on the 24th floor of a
Manhattan office tower, poring over words
on a page (or a computer screen).  It's all good,
but I am grateful for the view over Midtown,
a small patch of the East River near the 
U.N., and the occasional spectacular sky.

[To see more Skywatch pics, go here.
And on the 1st of the month, I also 
post to my Paris blog.]
  

Tower of Flowers

And this isn't even the only 16-tiered poinsettia 
tree  in the lobby of this midtown skyscraper.  
I just love the city all decked out for the holidays!

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.]

New York at Night 20

A gray night—but I loved the way it
set off the midtown skyline.

[It's Skywatch Friday. To see more, go here.]

Skywatch Friday

Today I'm in a place that should be good
for Skywatch Friday—a cloud forest!
I'm sure you'll be seeing it soon. Meanwhile,
here's the view I'm missing back home.

[To see more beautiful skies, go here.]

Blue Monday

Here in NYC, you won't find sidewalk dining
on every other corner—but this place in
Midtown looks very inviting, don't you think?


To see more Blue Monday, visit Smiling Sally.]

Thursday Challenge — "light"

I was happy to see a continuation of last week's
challenge.  There's no lack of light here in
NYC, and even more so at this time of year.
Frankly, I wish they'd leave these lights (on
3rd Ave., near where I work) on all year long!


[To see more of this challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday —W is for "waterfall"

This is a little pocket park near where I work. 
You can pull up a chair and enjoy this 
waterfall while you eat your lunch.  But you're 
not supposed to do what I did (surreptitiously, 
with my cell phone): There's a sign placed very
prominently at the entrance that says
"Photography strictly forbidden."  Really?


[To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]