One of my favorites bits in Times Square can be found on West 40th Street between Broadway and 6th. It’s two blocks from the main Times Square action, and you can feel the frantic energy vanish as soon as you turn onto the street. If you look closely at the building to the left, you’ll…
I was in midtown today scouting around East 48th Street, an area with a ton of archetypal New York hotels (The Waldorf-Astoria, The Intercontinental, The Benjamin, The Marriott East Side, etc., etc., etc.). I happened to notice something on the W Hotel at 541 Lexington that I haven’t ever before: elephants! They’re actually somewhat difficult…
For the first year or two after I moved to New York, I became one of those people who smugly criticized tourists for “looking up.” “Looking up” to ogle buildings as you walked down the street (causing you to inevitably bump into real New Yorkers like me with places to go) was about the greatest…
I love that thousands of New Yorkers go about their business every day unaware of the countless eyes watching from the skies. Case in point: this building I noticed while scouting a rooftop near Wall Street: They’re virtually impossible to see from the street, but lining the top floor is a row of fish. Maybe…
I was scouting a location in Sunnyside, Queens, and I happened to notice the fountains in a nearby apartment courtyard. Someone must have left the water running… It was very pretty to see up close – I have no idea how water could freeze this perfectly. On the other side of the courtyard was this…
As the MTA rehabilitates subway and train stations across the city, about 1% of its annual budget is allotted for installing permanent art installations intended to “raise the quality of the ride.” It’s a fantastic program that means you could enter the 4-Train station at 167th St & Jerome in the Bronx… …and see this…
Merry Belated Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Holidays/Etc.! I was grappling with two enormous backpacks on my way out of the city on Tuesday when I noticed this great cast-iron (?) clock on the Schwarzenbach Building at 470 Park Avenue South btw. 31st & 32nd Street. In my pictures it looks prominent, but this is something you’d almost assuredly…
Nothing is better than driving through a neighborhood I’ve never been to and stumbling on something like this: You can find this amazing art-moderne building at the corner of Beverley Rd and Bedford Ave, and when I say Bedford Ave, I don’t mean a stretch in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, or Bed-Stuy. Some of you might be surprised…
This isn’t a secret or anything, but Hook & Ladder #8 has been dressed for the season and looks great, especially in the snow storm that hit today (click the picture and look at the biggest size on Flickr for the full effect). You probably recognize this iconic Manhattan firehouse from a number of films…
Note: this is now gone. This is probably familiar to anyone who drives down Flushing Ave off of the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, but I’ve always loved the exterior of the Navy Yard Lounge, which looks like what I imagine a lot more bars were like about 20 or 30 years ago. Doesn’t this look…