I took these in the dark, and rather than try a long exposure that would have come blurry because I didn't have anything to set the camera on, and rather than switch to a higher ISO, which is often too grainy, I kept a pretty fast setting and basically leaned on the brightening features in Photoshop. I'm pretty pleased with the result. It looks almost painted.
We primarily patronize Val Diano for our pizza needs, largely because it's the kind of family business we want to have in our neighborhood, but to my taste, Italy Pizza farther down Manhattan Ave. makes a tastier product overall.
Remember that liquor license for 61-77 Wythe Avenue/104-122 N. 12 St. and I couldn't figure out what building had that address (http://testofwill.blogspot.com/2007/03/where.html)? It turns out it's really the entire half a block all the way through to the loading dock/parking lot on Berry. That's could be a really big club if it goes through.
I like how busy this is, but I don't like that there's no real focus. It's not a picture of anything.
It looks like the surface of the finger building will be brown terra cotta-looking tiles. These photos are from Monday, but given the glacial pace of construction on this building it probably doesn't look too different today. I didn't see any stacks of the tiles themselves. It seems like a heavy/brittle material to use on a facade so I'll be interested to see what it really is.
Some of the context is lost in the cropped version, but nothing that has any meaning in the photo so I think the tighter one is better.
A while ago there was a plywood construction here that looked like one of those rock climbing walls. Turns out it was, as some guessed, a cement form. More interesting now is seeing them construct a building over the high line with this as one leg.
I love the organic tree versus the linear fire escape but boy did I wrestle to get a composition I like. I think the black and white version is the better one but I also like the one with the street signs.
With regard to the Times Squaring of Bedford and N7th, last weekend they put up that little TV screen. It took me a few days to get a night time "after" shot.
I must not understand Real Estate because the Ikon still doesn't look anywhere near finished. I'm surprised party goers didn't have to wear hard hats. This is as close as I got. My pizza was getting cold.
If the umbrella had some color I'd go with the color shot but with the shadows and the clear umbrella I like the black and white version better I think.
Penn Station Monday after the Nor'easter. A few late trains and one cancelled one on the board. Judging by overheard cell phone conversations most people were dealing with cancelled flights.
Doing taxes at the post office there on the left.
If you don't think it's fun to stand on long lines and see the people running around freaking out and trying to figure out the post office the secret trick to it all is to find one of the scales on the tables. There's almost no line, maybe two people, to weigh you envelops. Make a note of the cost of each, then buy stamps from the machine. Again, almost no line for some reason even in this packed house. Then there's this room, pictured above, where there's still no line and they'll stamp your stuff with a postmark and you're on your way. I stood on the regular line for about 15 minutes before leaving it to try the new automated machines which crashed after I'd stood there for a frickin' long time. (Actually, they didn't crash, they shut themselves down for some kind of database check, but that didn't make anyone on line feel good.) So I left that line and did the stamp trick. Ten minutes later I was out the door.
I asked the guy what's coming in here.
A bakery.
When do you plan to open?
About a month.
Ah! They're protesting global warming. The swim and snorkle gear is about flooding.
The dog's wearing a life jacket.
Yet another for my "couples wearing the same thing" set.
The organizer explains how it's going to go down.
This also explains why I saw a group of gals dress like octopi down on N12th St.
The pencil is definitely fun and that little figure on the left with the flower in her hair appears to be done with the same marker. I can't make anything of the signature box though.
These bottom two are wood cuts. The figure is several pieces assembled on the wall with "ahead" for the head.
According to one of those random local old guys who come up to you on the street and answer questions you didn't ask, this formerly brick corner is going to be all glass windows like a store front to feature the metal art being produced in this building. With the John Pomp glass studio next door with its new glass storefront, this could end up being a pretty little arts block.
I'm really pleased with the depth of these. They're a little boring, but seeing all the way into the back garage is pretty good.
I thought this was going to be of their row of sneakers but in the end I couldn't cut them.
It turns out, not only will the new condos next door be taller than our 3 story row house, it'll also be deeper in the lot than our building so we're losing some of the view out our back window. This is less tragic than the loss of the view of the Chrysler Building from our bathroom window, but still, I really liked this view.
Walking through Soho on Saturday I came upon a huge crowd outside the Mercer Hotel. Famous people stay there all the time so I figured I was in for a celebrity sighting. At first people kept saying it was "Christina" and I thought it was an unexpectedly large crowd for that Spanish-speaking talk show host. Turns out it was Christina Aguilera. She had a concert on Long Island and lots of fans had come to the city to see her leave the hotel to go to the show.
Here it is, your moment of celebrity sighting:
That's her in the white. She zipped so fast from the hotel to the limo, even with the camera on rapid fire I only got this one shot. Needless to say, probably the biggest anti-climax for a lot of people who thought they were going to get a little more to write home about.
Cool creepy camera phone ad in the upper left, given the context.
Later I saw this pair:
This is down on Broadway in Brooklyn. All the way over on Kent. That first one says 1887 on the face.
I'm not sure what that means exactly. The permits are for a range hood and other cookware, so it's not just a coffee station. It'll be interesting to see what it becomes.
This one from an angle to show the thickness of the wood used:
I haven't seen anyone show this one yet. I'm almost positive it's an aborted effort. In other people's 27 streams there are characters with this face. It's near others he did, so I think he must have been interrupted. Maybe a return?
It's moving to N9th between Bedford and Driggs. I'm thinking it must be the empty space next to the pet store and the new Grace interiors store.
I like this one for the woman coming around the corner, but obviously I had a bit of a struggle with light.
And this is the big camera with a 28mm lens from exactly the same spot:
This is Berry and N11th by the way.
When did that happen? You can't see it here but the windows are papered over. Funny that Triple Crown just started selling coffee. Fix Lounge last summer: 
Great signs
I didn't have time but I'd love to go in this place. What a great row of seats at the counter. I'd like an inside shot.
This is down under the JMZ.
