Eighth Avenue, July 2006

The new headquarters for The New York Times is rising on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st streets. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the building is scheduled for occupancy next spring. The 52-story structure is a big change from the Times' current home, a 15-story building on 43rd Street dating from early this century. (The Times will occupy only the lower half of the new building; the rest will be rental office space.)

Thousands of ceramic rods make up the exterior sunscreen. When the sun hits them just right, it creates an interesting arc of light.

Upper East Side, October 2006

I'm not much of a "car person." I often don't notice them at all, and I'm hopeless at identifying them. (Unlike my brother, who even as a child could identify a car in the dark by its oncoming headlights alone.)

But as I was walking on Second Avenue this weekend, this particular parked car caught my eye. That minty green was such an unusual color, and the light on its surface was interesting.

As I stopped to take some photos, a doorman came out of the building behind me. "Nice car, huh?" he said. I agreed it was.

"You know whose it is?"

No, I said, feeling like I was about to get in trouble for something.

"Geraldo Rivera's. He's in that restaurant right over there."


The doorman identified the car as a '55 Jaguar before going back inside.

I didn't wait around for Geraldo to materialize.

Every once in a while I see an actor or TV personality in New York - I saw Woody Allen and his wife Soon Yi in Central Park a couple of years ago, I saw Natasha Lyonne in a deli, and just last night I saw Kieran Culkin in Starbucks. But this was probably the first time I noticed a "celebrity car."

Grand Concourse, Bronx, July 2006

Here's another photo from the Art Deco wonderland of the Grand Concourse. This is a very well-maintained building, which makes it stand out from some of its neighbors. For more Grand Concourse, click here.

I saw a darkly funny sticker in the Times Square subway station yesterday: "Osama bin Forgotten."

Upper East Side, October 2006

Reflected light is so different from direct sunlight - it's whiter, more ghostly. This reflection came from sun on the window across the street, in the east 80s near First Avenue.

Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, June 2006

Because I featured a dog yesterday, I think it's only fair that I offer a cat today. This is from a mural painted by school children on the barriers around a construction site. The scaffolding seems to be caging this dangerous lion!

NoLIta, July 2006

The New York Times on Sunday had an article about this building, a vacant hulk at the corner of Spring and Elizabeth streets. A magnet for street artists, it's been plastered with all manner of poster art and graffiti, and is apparently the subject of much speculation in the neighborhood. (Steven Kurutz, who wrote the article, called it "the New York equivalent of the spooky suburban home with the chipped paint and the weedy lawn.")

Turns out the building went up in 1888 as a carriage house and horse stable, and as a result had interior ramps instead of stairs. A theatrical set designer bought the building in the 1970s and kept lighted candles in the upper windows - just to freak people out, I suppose. In 2003, the building was sold to Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert, who planned to live there, but then returned to Australia instead.

It's been sold again, and will be turned into - of course - condos. The new owners say they are "sensitive to the street art issue," but who knows what that means.

Hell's Kitchen, October 2006

I was walking through the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, off Ninth Avenue at 39th Street, when I saw a vendor selling these metal stars. I loved the colors and the way they'd been arranged. But I didn't want to just walk right up and start snapping pictures of her stuff, so I browsed around and bought a couple of old postcards for $2. Then, having ingratiated myself, I asked if I could take a photo. She said, "Sure!"

I probably could have taken it for free, but hey, I got some great postcards and a cool photo, and she got some dough. So everyone's happy!