The Statue of Liberty, in Midtown

Photo by myself, in Midtown.

Nothing is immune to graffiti, round these parts. Not even Miss Liberty herself.

Related posts: Posing with Miss Liberty, on Central Park South, Lady Liberty, in the Distance, and Statues of Liberty, in Midtown.

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Posing with the Statue of Liberty, in Midtown

Photo by myself, somewhere in Midtown.

There are mini Statue of Liberties sprinkled throughout the city, for the occasional photo-op. This one stood outside a souvenir store in Midtown.

Related posts: Lady Liberty, in the Distance, Statues of Liberty, in Midtown, and Greetings from New York.

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The Statue of Liberty, on Madison Avenue

Photo by myself at Madison Avenue and 61st Street, on the Upper East Side.

You'd think one Statue of Liberty would be enough for this city, but no.

A mini-Statue of Liberty stands in front of an office building on the Upper East Side. This mini statue was cast from the original plaster model made before the big one. It is exactly 1/16th the size of the statue standing in the harbor.

This replica cost more than $1M US, and was installed last October. A developer named Leonard Stern brought her over from France.

-- Mark and I were lucky enough to catch part of 'Treasures of New York' on PBS, the other night. The show tells the story of Costas Kondylis, an architect who has built dozens of high rises in New York City.

Kondylis' work includes many of the Trump buildings and the towers near Riverside Drive. He is known as a 'developer's architect'.

The documentary is a fascinating look at Kondylis' success in New York. There are some wonderful aerial views of the city from a helicopter, too.

You can watch the entire one-hour show online! Just click here.

Related posts: Posing with Miss Liberty, on Central Park South, Lady Liberty, in the Distance, and Way Off in the Distance, Miss Liberty.

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The Watery View from Battery Park

Photo by myself, in Battery Park.

Battery Park is at the very southern tip of Manhattan.

From there, you have a view of the Statue of Liberty and parts of Brooklyn. The structures in the distance are actually immense cranes that are used to load cargo onto ships.

This is another photo from the stash. In actuality, we were besieged with a rain storm that lasted almost the entire day on Sunday.

-- By the way, thanks to everyone for all your good wishes! The jet lag is less terrible than I thought. Going to work again, is another matter. (Cue funeral music).

Related posts: Lady Liberty, in the Distance, The View of Liberty, and Sunset View from Battery Park.

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Lady Liberty, In the Distance

Photo by myself in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

As we all know, Lower Manhattan looks very different now without the World Trade Center.

All of the taller buildings in the Financial District are modern. If you walk around the neighborhood, however, you will notice many small, older buildings.

To the left, the silhouettes of the Statue of Liberty and shipping cranes are in the distance. In the foreground, the new field at Brooklyn Bridge Park is perfect for soccer and ultimate frisbee.

Related posts: The View of Liberty, From the Sidelines and Playing Ball, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

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Statues of Liberty, in Midtown

Photo by myself in Midtown.

Hm...seems like there's a few versions of this lady New York icon out there.

Happy Monday and Valentine's Day, everyone!

Related posts: Greetings from New York, The View of Liberty and Way Off in the Distance, Miss Liberty.

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On South Ferry and Shelter Island

Photo by myself at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Fishermen had cast their lines into the ocean and were waiting for the first nibble. Beyond, the Statue of Liberty.

--
Mark and I are off for a long weekend in Shelter Island, for a friend's wedding. I'm looking forward to the trip. Shelter Island is one of my favorite places and we're bound to have a nice, relaxing time.

On the eastern end of Long Island, Shelter Island is not directly accessible by car. We'll have to drive, then board a ferry. The island is covered with pretty lawns and quiet country roads and old houses.

Shelter Island a popular summer spot for New Yorkers, but not nearly as crowded a scene as the Hamptons. I'll take some photos while I'm there.

Meanwhile, I'll be bringing my computer and I'll continue posting here. Happy Friday, everyone!

Related posts: The View of Liberty, Gone Fishin and Greetings from New York.

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Taking a Break at the Statue of Liberty

Photo by myself on Fifth Avenue.

Some visitors took a breather outside a souvenir shop, Wednesday afternoon.

--
Sorry I haven't been posting much recently, or visiting many blogs. Life has been busy (but fine).

More later. Happy Thursday everyone!

Related posts: Way off in the Distance, Miss Liberty, The Throngs in Union Square and Lost Near Macy's.

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Way Off in the Distance, Miss Liberty

Photo by myself from the southern tip of Manhattan.

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I discovered Tuesday that the thing about being at the edge of an island is that you can't see what's behind you. In my case, I was standing in a park, with all of lower Manhattan at my back.

It was overcast but the sun was peeking through the heavy clouds at the end of the day. With the Statue of Liberty way, way off in the distance, I thought it was a nice image.

Related posts: The View of Liberty, Life's a Beach and The Cycle of Decay.

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Greetings from New York

Photo by myself in downtown Brooklyn, Saturday.

Mark and I were stopped at a red light when we spotted two people dressed up as Lady Liberty, most likely working for a tour group soliciting new clients for an accounting firm.

One of the costumed 'Statues' noticed my camera and waved a friendly hello.

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Mark and I drove out to nearby New Jersey Saturday, to visit some family. While shopping for sandwiches at the local supermarket, Mark scored cane sugar and two huge jugs of laundry detergent.

'The sugar is two dollars less here!' he said excitedly. 'Oh and we should fill up on gas.'

New York, meet New Jersey.

There are houses and lawns in New Jersey, and monstrous supermarkets to feed everyone. We have supermarkets in NYC, but nothing like the ones in the 'burbs. After all, most New Yorkers are on foot and can only drag a couple bags of stuff home and up three flights of stairs.

Real estate is also expensive. In New York, goods seem to be priced in terms of shelf space. I'm struck by how people in other cities can drive around to compare prices. We don't have that luxury.

Many New Yorkers are limited to a five block radius for the essentials. So within five blocks, you can usually find a dry cleaners, a laundromat, a grocery store, a shoe repair shop, a liquor store and a 24-hour deli. Oh and of course at least two Starbucks.

On the other hand, that saying about how you can get anything at anytime in New York is true. You can get just about anything here....provided you're willing to pay the price.

Related posts: The View of Liberty, Finally Home and Step Lively.

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The View of Liberty

Photo by myself from Red Hook, Brooklyn.

In Brooklyn, parts of the water's edge are being developed into pricey condominium buildings, while other parts are in need of cleaning up.

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Our first full day back home from vacation was spent running errands - unpacking, doing the laundry, picking up the dog and shopping for groceries.

Fairway, a large supermarket in Red Hook Brooklyn, was one of our stops for food. The sky looked bigger than usual and was layered with wispy, expressive clouds. In the distance, you could see huge cranes, the kind they use to haul cargo off ships.

And across the flat surface of the East River, there stood the Statue of Liberty.

Here's another photo that I took of the Statue from the same area, earlier this year.

Related posts: The Mother of All Supermarkets, Food on the Brain and Meat.

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Finally Home

Photo by myself of the Statue of Liberty from the edge of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

--
I apologize in advance for my brain deadness tonight. It's been a long week and I'm in need of rest!

It's wonderful to have Mark back from his business trip. He was away for nearly two weeks in Buenos Aires, for work. The return trip took 11 hours on two planes, and he has to be in the office tomorrow. Fortunately the weather was sunny and wonderful, since it's late summer in South America.

Mark found Buenos Aires cosmopolitan and the people friendly, but in the end, he was a little homesick. Meat plays a big part in the Argentine diet, which we're trying to eat less of, and there isn't a whole lot of variety to the food.

There were also two strikes going on: one with the farmers, affecting all the restaurants, and one with the major Argentine airline, which canceled his initial flight home.

The cat and I are just happy that he's back. Hooray.

Happy Monday, everyone!

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