No Times Square for me

I'm getting on a plane at o' dark-thirty

and heading several states away from

the place!  BTW, that's the Verrazano

Narrows Bridge down there.

I may be Internet-less while I'm away,

so I'll just put up some things I like

(and hope you do too).

Happy New Year! I'm wishing you all

the best in 2009, and hoping to meet

even more of you.

"Lunchtime Atop a Skyscraper"

That's the name of this piece of sculpture

by Sergio Furnari, which he based on this

famous photo by Charles Ebbbets (which

is also depicted on the side of the pickup

truck).  You can find this parked at various

places around the city (if you're lucky)—

I caught it on Spring Street, in Soho.

festival of lights

Yesterday was the last night of Hanukkah, and

friends had their annual party—complete with

fabulous latkes and babka, adorable small

children, and candle lighting.  This is part of

their collection of beautiful menorahs.

39th & Lex.

You can stand here and look north 

to see the Chrysler Building,

 then turn about 45 degrees to
face west—and there's the Empire State.
A person could get whiplash on this corner!

The Gentleman Peeler

This elegant fellow is Joseph Ades, British expat and
salesman extraordinaire, who hawks his vegetable peelers
(one for $5, five for $20) around the city. This shot was
taken at Union Square on a Greenmarket day.
He's been featured in Vanity Fair, and business must
be good: Apparently, he lives on Park Ave. and drinks
Veuve Cliquot.

Brooklyn in blue & gold

Thanks for all the holiday wishes yesterday.

Hope your celebrations were filled with 

family and friends and good cheer.

(This photo, of the tree under our version 

of the Arc de Triomphe at Grand Army Plaza, 

is courtesy of my daughter Lila.)

Happy Christmas* . . .

. . . from me to you!

(*or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa—whatever you're 

celebrating, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday~)

Oh Christmas Tree

They had a nice selection of cute little

New York apartment–sized trees at the

Union Square greenmarket. 

On the other hand, here's mine.

Are all your presents wrapped? (I'm on it.)

the best store

It's ABC Carpet and Home, the most eclectic design store

in town. Check out their holiday windows: they 

have Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Buddha, Ganesh, angels, 

crystals, even a polar bear—something for everyone.

yet more proof . . .

. . . that anything can be decorated for the

holidays. Can't imagine how to put

Pan and Christmas in the same sentence.

But if he happens to be built into 

your fireplace, I suppose you just have to go

with it—as my ever-festive friends did.

holiday parties

There's been one pretty much every night this

week, two tonight, another tomorrow. Not a

great time of year to be on a strict diet, is it?

This shot was taken at an annual party here

in Brooklyn: free wine, beer, and fab food,

and my brother's band provides the music. It's

such a great deal, and I don't think they ever

advertise it. But there are still more people

there every year.

(If you live here, you might be able 

to guess the venue.)

let it snow

Which it did. I admit I'm cheating—I was home nursing

a cold and did not take this picture of Central Park

today.  But I'll bet it looked exactly like this.

No problem getting around though, because they keep

this mountain of salt under the Manhattan Bridge, 

just waiting for a day like today.

Christmas in Little Italy

Caught these girls (part of a marching band from 

one of the local schools) twirling these flags along 

Mulberry Street.  They were rockin'!

who is this guy?

He's the Poetry Man (no, not Phoebe Snow's).

He sits down at his portable typewriter and bangs

out a (good!) poem in a matter of seconds,

then stands up and reads it to you. How cool is that?

Ho Ho Ho

Just one of the hundreds of Santas to be

found around the city right now. This one

hangs out on 6th Avenue (aka Avenue of the

Americas, but not by the locals), just

being jolly and posing for pictures.

where the buffalo roam

And this one can be found at the Rodeo Bar,

where my brother's band played Saturday night.

Proof (if you needed it) that absolutely

anything can be festooned for the holidays.

sunrise

Took this from inside the Time Warner Center,
looking east at Columbus Circle and across
Central Park South.

Rockettes!

The glamour, the excitement, the . . . costume changes!

Oh, to be a Rockette, especially at this time of year.

Keep on kickin', ladies!

Saturday morning, 3 A.M.

If anyone noticed, I'm posting this about 9 hours
later than usual. That's because I spent the night
here, in the ER that never sleeps. We were well-
entertained while there—by cops and detectives,
several women in advanced labor, and a guy who
was shot in the hand.
All was well in the end, but my cousin gave us a
bit of a scare when she passed out cold and went
down hard in the middle of Radio City Music Hall.
She remarked as we were leaving the emergency
room 8 hours later, "The show was a knockout!"

Let there be light shows

Was passing through the main concourse in

Grand Central tonight, when all of a sudden

music began playing and the walls started moving!

We all just stopped and looked around at the cool

images that were playing all over the walls and ceiling.

This light show was created by the projection

artists from Artlumiere (who are very talented).

It gets shown every half hour from 11am until

9pm—and it runs through the 1st of January.

on the other hand . . .

. . . while the Christians are preparing for Christmas and the

Jews for Chanukkah, Muslims recently celebrated as well.

It's good to keep up with the world's largest religious sect, and

fortunately, I have Muslim friends who are willing to explain

this to me (it commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice

his son—apparently, here they sacrifice a goat).

This story looms fairly large in the Christian Bible, so I wonder

why we don't acknowledge it in some way too.

I second that emotion

Here are two more stores on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  They chose
a similar theme for their holiday decorating—but interpreted it in their
own imaginative way.  I think they're equally charming.

multi-tasking

John works with me, and today he brought

his 5-month-old daughter to work.  I caught

him staring at the computer with phone in

hand, bottle on desk, and baby on lap.

We all fell in love with the lovely, sweet-

natured—and sleepy—Emily Elizabeth.

(She had just come from her first photo shoot

for our magazine, Parents—you gotta love 

a baby who pays her own way!)

no bling, just sweetness

I'm sure Betty baked and decorated her window decorations

herself.  Her little bakery is on Atlantic Avenue, here in

Brooklyn.  Betty also makes an amazing Chocolate Devil's

Food Cake (with fabulous French Valrhona chocolate).

c'mon—smile!

This guy's wife tried and tried to get him

to smile—but he wasn't having any of it.

Maybe he doesn't realize he's posing in

front of the world's most famous tree.

window shopping

One of my favorite things about the

holidays in NYC.  These windows belong

to the Anthropologie store at Rockefeller

Center, and I think they're fabulous—

how about you?

Christmas market

There are several Christmas fairs around the city:

in Central Park, Bryant Park, Union Square—and

this one in Grand Central Terminal (near my office,

and the only one that's indoors.  Most of the

vendors offer original, handmade wares, like

these colorful ornaments.

woof!

Poor pink pooch! I might dye my own hair,

but would I do this to my dog? On the

other hand, how cute is this puppy?

I'm torn.

where's the beef?

It's SO free-range, it managed to

free-range its way right out of the case!

This PC beef can be found (or not) in

a charming little grocery in Ipswich, Mass.

home again, home again

NY skyline, taken from the Triborough Bridge—

still one of the best views ever!

Had a great time, but still good to be back.

greetings from Boston

. . . where we spent a rainy but fun day—

walking through Boston Common,

admiring the architecture,

  doing a bit of Christmas shopping on Newbury Street . . .