My Ride With André

I loved My Dinner With André. This award winning film is a two-hour conversation between two individuals in a restaurant in New York City. On the basis of the premise, it might appear that such a film would be boring, but quite the contrary. I found it very engaging and at times, even riveting.
Good conversation is often overlooked as an activity or reason to get together, even by those who greatly enjoy it and engage in the most impassioned interactions imaginable.

When I was in college, invariably someone would interrupt a very animated discussion with "So what are we doing?" meaning, of course, What are we doing tonight? Where are we going?, etc. He or she would get little response as the rest of us would be completely immersed in conversation. The question would come up again and again, sometimes others joining in the mix, round-robin style. There was a nagging quality to the desperate plea, the asker irritated that no one was listening to the question, everyone was wasting time, and no decision as to the night's plan was being made. Yet no one appeared to see the irony of the situation. Our impassioned conversation(s) were likely more interesting than anything we would find outside.

(read more...)

Amorino

I have walked by Amorino numerous times. Its beautiful interior led me to believe that it would be very overpriced and more likely selling the decor rather than the product. I learned otherwise. I recently was with a friend, also a nearby resident, and neither of us had yet ventured in. So, both ice cream lovers, we went in on a whim. Given the decor, our first surprise was that the pricing was in line with others like Cones, not more - reasonable by current standards for a gourmet gelato. And the flavors looked awesome, so sampling was de rigeur. And the quality was, let us say, extraordinary.

(read more...)

A Sharp Focus

I once was expressing my interest in traveling to Singapore to a friend, born in Taiwan and knowledgable regarding Asia. It seemed to be a beautiful destination - both tropical and pristine. However, said friend said that she would never go to any country that did not have an art museum (there is at least one art museum now). This reminded me of conversations in my early days in New York City - an echo of the sentiment against the well-manicured lawn and gentrification.

(read more...)

Sundey

I was a vegetarian for decades and quickly learned that for good vegetarian food, it is better to find ethnic cuisines that have large concentrations of vegetarian dishes than to eat at vegetarian or natural food restaurants. Historically, the establishments of these restaurants are driven more by what the food is NOT than by the desire to offer great cuisine. Of course, taste is a consideration, but not the primary raison d'etre.

(read more...)

One-Trick Pony

Not everyone is blessed with the depth and breadth of the Renaissance man. Often, a person may only have a singular talent, skill, idea, or gimmick which is clever but, like the one-tricky pony of early America, is not enough to build a world around. A circus needs more than one act.
However, in New York City, with careful husbandry and aggressive marketing, one can cultivate even the most singular ideas and make a splash. In some cases, entire careers can be built around one trick, like the Naked Cowboy. Others, who are less ambitious, more interested in casual fun, or just want to enjoy the occasional limelight and ego boost can enjoy a degree of notoriety. Characters often frequent regular events or become neighborhood institutions - the proverbial big fish in the small pond. People like Spike or André, for example, are household names in the Village.

(read more...)

Bergdorf Holiday Windows 2011

The Bergdorf Goodman holiday window display is nothing short of SPECTACULAR. There is absolutely no contest in New York City. I have featured selections from their windows - for a complete gallery of this year's photos, see here. Window displays wrap around three sides of the building - Fifth Avenue, 57th and 58th Streets. The windows must be seen and are a worthwhile destination, even for those who must travel. It is a yearly ritual for me, and I am never disappointed. For those who would like to stroll with me, see the video below. Happy Holidays, and thanks to the staff of Bergdorf's!



Related Posts: Bergdorf Holiday Windows 2010, Bergdorf Windows 2009

Room With A View

I recently attended a community board meeting regarding a very hot-button issue for Village residents: the Parks Department's enforcement of new “expressive matter” rules, created to limit artist vendors in parks in 2010, applied to musicians and artists who take donations. The rules prohibit vending within 50 feet of a monument (includes the fountain) or 5 feet from a park bench, effectively making the park off-limits to performers. The impact of this is huge. Attorneys Norman Siegel (formerly of the ACLU) and Ron Kuby were on hand and poised for litigation.

(read more...)

Santa's Corner

It certainly is spectacular, isn't it?

On Sunday, after my excursion to the Garabedian House on Pelham Parkway North in the Bronx, I decided that I would again go all the way to Bayside* to see what has been said to be the finest example of Christmas illumination and ornamentation of any home in Queens and, to some, the finest in all of New York City. The house is located in Bayside/Whitestone at 166th Street and 23rd Avenue, an intersection sometimes referred to as Santa's Corner.

(read more...)

Don't We?

After touring Dyker Heights at Christmas time, it is reasonable to feel that one has seen it all regarding holiday light displays, ornamentation, and animation. On Sunday, however, a friend and native New Yorker asked if I was familiar with "the house" in the Bronx. I was not, and she assured me that it was a must see. If this house was how she represented it, I imagined that an online search with only a vague description would return my query, and it did. That research led to an article describing the various top holiday house decorations in the five boroughs in New York City.

(read more...)

Not Chewing Gum

Many of the things I pursued as an adult were things that, lacking money and adequate knowledge, foiled my efforts as a child - kite flying, juggling, photography, and eating enough marshmallows.

It was summer, sometime around 1960, and I found myself in a backlot in Bristol, CT, with a couple of friends. We had built a makeshift campsite. Everything we did was makeshift. We had dug out a shallow foxhole (I don't know why) and had fashioned an A-frame tent-like structure which we placed over our dugout. The tent was made from corrugated cardboard, the scrounger's building material of choice - ubiquitous and free.

(read more...)

Dyker Heights, 2011

As this website has evolved, I have added more video. I have created a YouTube channel for New York Daily Photo where all the videos can be seen in one place. Looking into the future, I intend to create more videos and short documentary films of New York City.
Recently, I took another excursion to Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, with a friend. Although the displays are relatively the same from year to year, I enjoy the ritual, as I do the Christmas window displays on Fifth Avenue.
This year, I shot and compiled a short video of my tour of 84th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues - see below. This block is literally the show stopper, with bumper-to-bumper car traffic during the holiday season. Recommended to all who have not toured the area. Enjoy Dyker Heights 2011 !



Related Post: Simple, But Effective

$57.50, Part 2

Driving back into Manhattan at night, a friend and I decided to drop into a local cafe on 8th Street, just a half block from my parking garage. However, it was cold, the street was virtually empty, and parking was legal - it was after 10 PM and one no longer even had to pay for metered parking. So, why not park right in front and drop the car at the garage later?

I examined and reviewed the signs. The upper sign, Special Night Regulation, made no impression. Unlike the white backgrounds typically used for signs (in the two center signs--see Part 1 here), this one was like a graphic black hole - the sign used white type on a dark red and black background.

(read more...)

$57.50, Part 1

I need to brag just a little so that you fully understand the impact of an episode which occurred on December 10, 2011.

I drove a taxi for about one and a half years and have owned a car in NYC for most of my life. I understand New York City parking regulations and signs. I have street parked for years. I interpret signs and help others understand them whenever possible. I even did a story on the logic of parking regulations and signage.

And, most importantly, I DON'T GET PARKING TICKETS (the only parking ticket I recall receiving was over 30 years ago). I rarely stand in No Standing or stop in No Stopping zones. I check parking signs religiously and read and reread them if necessary. With the exception of momentary loading or unloading (while double parking), I never leave my car illegally parked and unattended for more than a moment.

I park within 12 inches of the curb. I never park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or in front of a driveway. And I garage my car, so my street parking within New York City is limited. I use the vehicle primarily for excursions to the outer boroughs or out of the city entirely.

(read more...)

Keep It Fresh

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the annual event SantaCon, the sight of groups of Santas, large and small, carousing the streets of New York City, is extremely perplexing.

After rereading a story I wrote on December 10, 2007 called Surly Santas, it is apparent that at that time, I, too, was not aware as to the reason why a group of Santas was walking the streets and being naughty. I certainly was perplexed until 2009, when I finally was told about SantaCon and did a story involving New York City's participation in the event.

(read more...)

ATM $10 Bills

This was somewhat a replay of my experience in Harlem visiting the churches known for gospel singing. People, places, and things are not zoo specimens for the voyeur. I always feel conflicted when visiting areas where I am clearly the outsider. Worse with a camera. I am sure that even my sincerest efforts to be part of another's world for a short time is perceived as slumming. And to some extent, it is.

(read more...)

Easy As ABC

New York City prides itself on offering the best, and when it comes to Christmas, it certainly will not be outdone. The Christmas season is one where New York literally shines. Look at the many iconic images known throughout the world:

Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. the Rockefeller Center Mall, and THE TREE - many consider it to be our national Christmas tree. Macy's, the Miracle on 34th Street, and their Santaland. Fifth Avenue and its neighboring flagship stores with their extraordinary store window displays: Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's, Cartier, Saks, B. Altman, Lord and Taylor, FAO Schwartz, Barney's, Bloomingdale's. Ice skating in Central Park, Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center. The lights of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. The Nutcracker with the New York City Ballet.

(read more...)

Only Silver

My best friend was very excited and asked if I had a small glass jar. When I asked why, he said that a number of conveyer systems had been thrown out behind the local supermarket and there were mercury switches in them. "So what?" I responded. He said that this was a rare window of opportunity to collect mercury. By breaking the glass vials in the switches, he was able to collect a substantial amount of mercury. He appeared to have been more interested in the adventure than the goods, and he gave me the entire jar. And so this is how, as a young boy, I came to own a jar of pure elemental mercury.

Playing with it always produced wonderment to observe the unique properties of a silvery metal which was liquid at room temperature. I would marvel at the effect the mercury would have while rubbing it on a coin. The jar was left behind when I left my family's home, and sadly, I believe it was discarded long ago.

Perhaps not so sad, since I later learned that playing with mercury is not the most prudent past time. Silver would be a much better candidate for elemental curiosity, and later as a young adult, I became intrigued with silver - here was a precious metal that was affordable and attainable, and although it was not as much fun as mercury, it was at least non-toxic.

(read more...)

I Am a Liar

I have written many times about my feelings regarding the good old days and how, often, fond memories of people, places, and things are really only that - fond memories. If one really examines the subjects of these memories and can be brutally honest, the reality was often not that great at all. And yet we hang on to and lionize scraps of the past, bemoan the loss of old retail shops, and express dislike for the new retailer in its place or perhaps a radical change in decor or operations of an old establishment. The realist, like Joe Plourde, looks life squarely in the face and judges strictly on merit and not on nostalgia. Read about Joe here.

(read more...)

Ask Tommy

Were it not for this website, I certainly would not have interacted with the many homeless whom I have in my travels throughout New York City. And I would have concluded, as most have, that their state is a product of lifelong misdoings, drug use, or sheer laziness.

However, many homeless are quite ambitious, and many of the features I have done here illustrate that very clearly. Others, like Hakan Onor, whom I plan on doing a documentary on, have extraordinary stories and backgrounds, often which beg credibility.

Recently, on a short subway ride, a man entered our car and, like others, proceeded with a rehearsed solicitation, something that most regular commuters find particularly annoying. Not only do most feel such diatribes to be audibly disturbing, the spiels are also typically viewed with extreme skepticism, with claims and representations dismissed as just being part of another flavor of a New York City hustle or scam for money.

(read more...)

Three-Toed Smoth

The elephant looms large in the lives and minds of children. After all, children do naturally gravitate to the big, and what suits that better the world's largest living land animal? Here, at Union Square, we have Gran Elefandret by renowned artist Miquel Barceló.* I'm sure many a child and parent have been enjoying Barcelo's 26-foot sculpture.

(read more...)

Wild Ride

Wednesday night, returning from Brooklyn, I was feeling a little wild, as is sometimes the case when I find myself driving in New York City and life is GOOD. Then the city just ELECTRIFIES me - I can feel its high voltage coursing through my body. Everything is RIGHT and I know I am in the world's most exciting city.

With no prior plan to do so, I suddenly just decided to pull out a camera and video record a leg of my journey with stream of consciousness narration as I drove. See the NYC skyline from the BQE. Cross the Manhattan Bridge with me and then cruise the streets of Lower Manhattan, NoHo and the Village. The footage is raw, jumpy and a little out of focus at times. It's not reality TV - it's the REAL DEAL while on a Wild Ride >>>

(read more...)

Frontier

It pays to be informed, otherwise you might, like I did in the 1960s, believe you "discovered" a little known, non-touristy area like Times Square (see story here) or that more recently, think you discovered a lesser known structure in Coney Island.

On a recent excursion to Coney Island, my exploration took me a little off the beaten path. Many good things can happen when one Goes West. As I did so, past all the well known attractions and landmarks - the New York Aquarium, the Wonder Wheel, Luna Park, Nathan's, the Cyclone, the area started to feel much like the frontier with abandoned lots and structures. It was at 21st Street and the Boardwalk that I happened upon a building which became more intriguing the more closely I examined it, thinking that I had made another secret "discovery." Only today did I happen upon the photos I had taken and decided to investigate the structure, and I was soon to learn that 2102 Boardwalk was about as obscure as the Times Square of my youth.

(read more...)