Photo by myself at 58th Street and Lexington Avenue, on the Upper East Side.
The tilted glass facade of Cesar Pelli's building at 731 Lexington Ave, above, surrounds an outdoor atrium for cars and people. The Bloomberg offices are located here, as are some fancy stores and restaurants, and over 100 luxury condominium apartments.
This is a great shopping area, just a couple blocks away from Bloomingdales and other clothing stores. I was here the other day at the A&D Building across the street, which houses tons of showrooms for designer appliances and furniture.
Related posts: Cooling off, in Midtown, The Spray of Summer, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and Summering in the City.
Photo by myself at Dey and Church Streets, downtown.
Closer up to the Freedom Tower, is the delicate white spines of the new transpiration hub by Santiago Calatrava.
The new 4-billion dollar station will soon open, serving as the Path Station for commuters from New Jersey. The project is about two months behind schedule and 2-billion dollars over budget (!) The structure has been criticized heavily by the press.
The space below the sculpture is not open to the public yet.
By the way, La Guardia airport is scheduled to completely rebuilt soon, with some of its airstrips lengthened. (Completely means being demolished to the ground). The cost of that renovation? Also 4-billion dollars. Hm.
A few steps away, you can get a better sense of the overall shape.
Related posts: Remembrance, at the World Trade Center Memorial, The Freedom Tower, at Dusk, and Remembrance, at the World Trade Center.
Photo by myself around MacDougal Street, in the Village.
Though the side street is in mild disarray, it has a nice view of the Freedom Tower.
As usual there are tons of repairs going on in the city. Either the streets are being torn up for the cables or sewers below, or the buildings are under scaffolding. Never a dull moment.
Related posts: Remembrance, at the World Trade Center Memorial, The Freedom Tower, at Dusk, and Remembrance, at the World Trade Center.
Photo by myself around 40th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown.
Embedded in the ground at an urban plaza, display engravings of buildings in the neighboring area. Above, a plaque showing the Pan Am Building roosting above the sculpture at Grand Central, just a couple blocks north.
The plaques were installed in 1996, as part of the Grand Central Partnership. Most NYC neighborhoods belong to 'partnerships', where businesses contribute money, used toward creating a neighborhood identity. Special signage, art or trash bins might be commissioned, for instance.
The plaques were created by Gregg LeFevre, a New York City sculptor. To check out more of his work, click here.
Above, the entrance to the New York Daily News building, on 42nd Street.
Related posts: Remembering Memorial Day, I *Heart* New York, on the Sidewalk, and En Route to a Peaceful Protest, Downtown.'
Photo by myself on Fifth Avenue around 18th Street.
This stretch of Fifth Avenue, between Union Square and Washington Square Park is lined with tall, stately buildings. On the ground floor are larger stores, mostly higher-end clothing. On the upper floors are office spaces.
Above, the view west down 18th Street, toward the sunset.
Related posts: Looking Up, at 240 Centre Street, Living Large, on the Upper East Side, and All Aglow, on 57th Street.
Photo by myself at Fifth Avenue and 12th Street, in the Village.
The courtyard of the First Presbyterian Church is just steps away from Fifth Avenue, but it is its own little quiet world. I'm sure people come here to reflect or just rest their weary feet.
This is not a noisy neighborhood, but it is jam packed with large pre-war apartment buildings and smaller stores. The church dates back to the mid-1800s and is done up in the Gothic Revival style.
Related posts: Sunday, in Brooklyn Heights, Rainy Day, Outside Trinity Church, and All Lit Up, on the Upper West Side.
Photo by myself on East 10th Street and Fifth Avenue, in the Village.
A gorgeous brick building with intricate hand carvings was once a private residence for a wealthy shipping family. It is now the Center for Jewish Life for New York University students.
All the wood is teak, a hard wood that can withstand our terrible winters. With its beautiful detail that hails not just another time but another world, this building dates back to the late 1800's. Wowee!!!
NYU purchased the building for a mere 2.5 million back in 1994. I can't imagine what the cost would be now, with real estate prices as crazy as they are.
For an article about the building's history, see this article in the New York Times, here.
Related posts: A Dash of Color, Below Union Square, A Dash of Charm, in the Village, and Taking Stock, on Wall Street.
Photo by myself, around 67th Street and Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side.
High above Central Park, around the 20th Floor, you can see quite a bit of Central Park South. Whew, it's a long way down. I was at this location helping a friend measure parts his apartment project.
The square-ish white building to the left is the Plaza Hotel, located at the south east corner of the park. On the far right, the twin glass towers comprise One Central Park, at the south west corner of the park.
The super tall, glass modern building standing at the midpoint was erected only recently, and houses some extremely posh condominium apartments as well as the hotel Park Hyatt. Called 'One 57', for its addresss at One West 57th Street, it is 90 stories high, which is gigantic compared to its pre-war neighbors.
'One 57' is the first in a series of tall towers planned for 57th Street, which is also called 'Billionaire's Row'. These towers will have a crazy view of Central Park, and will make a serious impact to the city as we know it.
The interiors at One 57 are super modern, and apartments cost as much as $30 million.
For more about the building, check out a New York Times article here.
For the building's snazzy website, click here.
Related posts: Bird's Eye View, Above Central Park, A View of Spring, from Central Park South, and The World Above Central Park.
Photo by myself at the Lotos Club, at 66th Street and Fifth Avenue.
The stunning interiors of the Lotos Club, a private literary club, were decorated for the holidays. I was lucky to have been invited to a party held there, last week.
The Club is located inside a building constructed in 1900. One can just imagine how it was when first built, with people walking about in historic dress.
The floors were oak in a herringbone pattern. The fireplace was ablaze. There were waitstaff milling about with champagne flutes, wine and hors d'oeuvres. Tables were set up, laden with cheeses, oysters, shrimp and all else. Needless to say I felt underdressed!
The immense fireplace in the library was festooned with garlands. Books line the walls and are accessed by rolling ladders.
A bar was set up below a stunning staircase.
To visit the Lotos Club website, click here.
Related posts: Filming Outside Grand Prospect Hall, in Brooklyn, Inside the Park Avenue Armory, and City Portraits - The Williamsburgh Bank, in Brooklyn.
Photo by myself somewhere around West 4th Street, in the Village.
Many of the townhouses around West 4th Street are well kept, with ornamental metal work and pretty stoops. The townhouse above had a pretty, wreath on its door, suited for the season.
Photo by myself, on the Upper West Side.
At one of the many townhouses on the upper West Side, a pretty bay window is decorated with a Greek key pattern along the lower edge and a scalloped underside. Even the protective window grilles are ornamental.
Photo by myself at Lincoln Center, around 66th Street and Broadway.
Lincoln Center is timeless. A little hard around the edges, perhaps, with all the travertine stone and only the fountain in the middle to soften the vibe.
Related posts: Around the Fountain at Lincoln Center and Humans of New York, A Look at the New Lincoln Center, and Up with the Arts, at Lincoln Center.
Photo by myself, around 23rd Street and Broadway, in the Flatiron District.
A striking metal sculpture stands at the foot of the Flatiron Building, at the moment.
A large stainless steel replica of the Met Life Tower looks like it's coiled up like measuring tape. The real Met Life Tower is just a block away, just beyond Madison Square Park.
The sculpture is part of the 'Park Avenue Project' by Alexandre Arrechea, a contemporary Cuban artist. Other parts of the project are installed along Park Avenue, each showing a different New York building.
Other buildings featured include the Empire State Building (coiled up at 64th Street), the Chrysler Building (wiggling at 66th Street) and the MetLife Building (balanced on a giant top at 67th Street).
A more straightforward view shows the MetLife Tower in context. As you can see, it's quite big!
Click here to see the other buildings represented in the project.
For a little more about the sculpture outside the Flatiron Building, click here.
Related posts: Genesis Mural, Soho, Mural, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and 'Zodiac Heads', Outside the Plaza Hotel.
Photo by myself around 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.
There is some major renovation work going on on the exterior of the Plaza Hotel, near Central Park South.
The entire east side of the building is covered with an architectural drawing showing what the building should look like. The drawing is printed on a fine mesh, so that people inside the building can still look out their windows.
Behind the drawing must be a whole wall of scaffolding, keeping the mesh in place. The Plaza Hotel is part hotel, part condominiums.
I think people who live there full time have use of room service too, so they can be pampered year-round. There are separate entrances for guests and residents. The hotel entrance is on this side.
I took this photo while passing by in a cab. (Just tell a cab driver to go to 'the Plaza', and they'll know what you mean.)
Related posts: On a Winter Day, at the Plaza Hotel, Deck the Halls of the Plaza Hotel, and The View from New York and the Plaza Hotel.
Photo by myself, around 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.
An event was held at the main branch of the New York Public Library, Thursday night.
A red carpet lay at the very top of the steps.
Related posts: Random Graffiti, on Second Avenue, Graffiti, Williamsburg, and Ruff Ride, in the East Village.
Photo by myself, at 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, in Midtown.
New York Times Building was lit up, Tuesday night. The elegant tower is located just steps from Times Square.
This building is sheathed in white porcelain tubes, which create a screen. The real windows are set back behind the screen. All sunlight is indirect and the air conditioning doesn't need to work as hard.
We've been having really lovely weather these days - coolish and sunny. All the flowering trees in Central Park are heavy with blossoms. Spring has sprung!
Related posts: Dusk, in Bryant Park, Washington Square Park, at Dusk, and The Empire State, at Dusk.
Photo by myself on Sixth Avenue around Perry Street, in the Village.
Looking South down Sixth Avenue, you get a clear view of the Freedom Tower, at One World Trade Center.
The exterior is nearly done, and the building is scheduled to open later this year. Designed by the architectural office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it will be the tallest building in the US, at 104 stories.
In the foreground is the canopy for the Village Vanguard, a well-known venue for live jazz.
Photo by myself, on the Atlantic-Pacific Street subway platform, in Brooklyn.
Perhaps one of the coolest tattoos I've seen.
I noticed a young woman with her legs crossed on the commute into work, Thursday. She got out at Atlantic-Pacific to change trains, and for the split second that we were on the platform, I asked whether I could take a photo of her tattoo.
Of course, a moment later, the train arrived. And I completely forgot to ask what I really wanted to know - how long did the tattoo take to create? and...why that building?
Though I might not ask the second question, since I love the Chrysler Building, too.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Related posts: The View Down 42nd Street, in Midtown, 42nd Street, and Working Under Bright Lights, at the Wooster Street Social Club.
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