RED, YELLOW, and BLUE

RED, YELLOW and BLUE by Orly Genger - sculptures of layered rope. Madison Square Park, Flatiron District, Manhattan

Buckyball

Buckyball, an electronic, illuminated sculpture by Leo Villareal, currently on display at Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. The sculpture features ever-changing colors and intensity. Looking north towards the Empire State Building in the background

Central Park West - San Remo

From October - a view from Central Park looking towards the towers of the San Remo apartments on Central Park West with a sliver of lake in the lower right foreground

The High Line Park, New York City

A doctor's appointment-gone-wrong left me with about a hour to kill yesterday between appointments. I decided to take a walk on the High Line, a relatively new park that is a creative transformation of an abandoned elevated rail line into a beautiful open space.

Short history - the High Line was originally built in the 1930s as part of Robert Moses' West Side Improvement Plan, which eliminated dangerous at-grade railroad crossings along Manhattan's west side (which was mostly industrial) by raising the rail tracks into the air, like elevated subway lines. By the 1980s the line was abandoned and eventually became an eyesore overgrown with weeds.

These photos show just some scenes of the park itself - the creative use of the space to create seating areas, lawns, plants, trees and pedestrian paths. You'll note that there are some rails embedded into the pedestrian paths. I'm assuming these are original to the structure. For more information, including historical photos, visit The official website of the High Line and Friends of the High Line. For more information about Robert Moses, I recommend The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro. It's over 1,300 pages, but it's a fascinating read

Old Railroad Bridge

I recently came across what remains of this old railroad bridge in the Hudson River at Riverside Park near W. 69th Street. The bridge was formerly a transfer bridge on the New York Central Railroad, allowing rail cars to transfer onto barges to cross the river. This site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Neighborhood Garden

Garden at the Seward Park branch of the NY Public Library, Lower East Side, NYC

Splotch 15

Splotch 15 - by Sol Lewitt ("Structures") - on display at City Hall Park, along with many of Lewitt's other works

Echo

Echo, by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, towers above the sunbathers at Madison Square Park.

City Harvest

City Harvest at work "rescuing food for New York's hungry"- pedaling past Union Square Park. Taken thru the window of a bus.

Corlears Hook Flags

Trying out a new camera at Corlears Hook Park, where the U.S. flag is flying above the flags of New York City and NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

Trees

Walking in Greenwhich Village, I came across this tangle of tree trunks and branches - bare just a few weeks ago, now filling out with color

Police Plaza

The plaza that separates NYPD headquarters from the court buildings on the other side of Park Row.

Williamsburg Bridge x2

Here are two photos of the Williamsburg Bridge (connecting Lower East Side, Manhattan with Williamsburg, Brooklyn) that I don't think I posted here yet. The first is from about 4 weeks ago on a day with unusually heavy cloud traffic. The second one is from about 6 weeks ago, taken around twilight from a higher/closer vantage point.

Sara D, Roosevelt Park

Near Chinatown - at Forsyth Street & Hester Street

Industry & Nature

This weekend I walkd thru the newly refurbished East River Park. At its northern end, the park environment (and new landscaping) abruptly turns industrial thanks to the neighboring Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) power plant. I came across these two scenes with contrasting elements of both environments

Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Sara D. Roosevelt Park - a 7.8 acre park in the Lower East Side with areas for soccer, basketball, gardens, playgrounds and more. This is at its northern end, looking towards Houston Street. The park is named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mother.

Seward Park

Both the park and the apartments beyond share the Seward Park name

Stuyvesant Town Ups & Downs

Every building at Stuy Town has two entrances, at opposite sides of the builidng. One is at street level while the other is one floor higher, with the grounds on that side of the building built up higher. This makes for some interesting landscaping with stairs and ramps throughout the property to get you to the different levels.

Hamilton Fish Park

Hamilton Fish Park and pool at Pitt and Houston Streets, Lower East Side. The park's Olympic-sized swimming pool was the training ground for the U.S. Olympic team the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

Bowling Green

Nothing green at Bowling Green this time of year. At the far end of the park is the stretch of Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes" (between here and City Hall) where "heroes" are sometimes honored with a ticker tape parade. Maybe this year will be the New York Mets' year to win the World Series and parade up the Canyon of Heroes? C'mon Mets!