Tractors

Fort Worth.
These were all taken within a few minutes of each other, but the light came out very different depending on how I pointed the camera. Too close to the sky and camera made everything dark. Too much foreground and the camera burned the sky white.

America

Times Square Station

Cool Ice Cream

I'm hoping to do a series of ice cream man photos this summer. I've got a few others already.

Reflecting pool

Madison Square Park

Bread basket

I love the windows at Amy's Bread in Chelsea Market. These are ceramic baking dishes for the bread.

Meat room

This was through a really grimey window, so I'm pleased it came out as well as it did. I like the piece of meat just flopped over the edge of the garbage can like that.

Another color truck

Meatpacking district. I should put all these truck photos in one spot.

Life imitates art

Well, what did they think would happen to a huge white wall with bricks making it like lined paper?

Yellow

I know the pier posts photo has been done a million times, but I liked it with the flower in the foreground and the yellow kayak way in the back.

Vallet

I keep meaning to process my second batch of Ft. Worth photos, but since I don't seem to be able to make enough time for that I'll just put them out in pieces. Old abandoned building next to (as far as I know) the one luxury restaurant in the Stockyards district. Vallet like this was no uncommon. There didn't seem to be a lack of parking though. I wonder if it's because it's so hot down there. Or else it's just an easy extra service.

Stop and check the map

Houston St. station.

Got Tires?

Lost in Queens. This is somewhere near Northern Boulevard, but honestly, I have no idea where I was and couldn't find this again if I tried.

Too damn hot

Il Mattone

Greenwich & Hubert. They went with open doors instead of AC, but we got the table under the ceiling fan so it was nice. Good food. Glad we finally tried it.

Pomodoro Pizza & Planet Gyro

For some reason I feel like the last place was Lord's Deli and Lord's Pizza, so it seems odd that they gave the front of the place Bravo Cafe and the other two different names. As a point of note, the back used to be a gift shop, so Planet Gyro is the only really new thing about the remodeling.

Ground Zero characters

The Times recently had an article about the new visitors' center at Ground Zero and how it'll be nice to have real tour guides instead of crazy people:

"So much for the homeless-looking character who leads groups of gullible tourists at ground zero, loudly declaiming his completely bogus eyewitness account of the five airplanes that supposedly crashed into the World Trade Center and of the 20,000 people who supposedly died there. (It was two planes, and 2,749 victims.)..."

That made me think that one day we might be nostalgic for the days (years) when there was no official tour offering and the regulars were a bunch of characters.

Crazy flute guy. I used to feel bad thinking of him as crazy just because he can play Amazing Grace on the flute for 8 hours straight. No other song, just that one. Then I took one of the pieces of paper he is always handing out and sure enough, he's crazy. Space ships, aliens caused 9/11 kind of crazy.


Crazy artist guy. I don't think he's crazy, just gregarious. Usually he's wearing a fancy construction helmet. I never got too close, but I think his schtick is that he carries around that huge canvas for people to sign, the way visitors to the site used to write their names on every possible surface befor hanging a t-shirt on the fence around St. Paul's.

Crazy tour guide guy. I didn't think he was crazy, but he's the only one I can think the Times article is referring to. To draw an audience he shouts, "It's history, don't let it be a mystery." Every time I've heard him he's been reciting statistics about the buildings, how many floors, how many steps, how many windows... I always thought he was the best thing there because otherwise people just try to take a picture into the hole and go away not thinking about what used to be there. Hopefully the Times article was talking about someone else.


Not pictured, but I hope to collect them all to win, the "9/11 was an inside job" people who stand in front of the PATH on weekends, and the guy who illegally sells the photo albums and "dia del terror" books. I haven't seen the photo guy in a few weeks though, so he may have been chased away.


The Tribute Center, previously here, now has a banner and appears to have some construction going on.

UPDATE: Got the 9/11 guys.

I don't know what's up with the little umbrella stand.


ANOTHER UPDATE: The illegal photo albums and "Dia Del Terror" book guys.

Camo

This is a photo of a sculpture outside the Ritz Carlton at Battery Park. It's the kind of thing you want to take a picture of but you know it'll never look like anything when you do.

Battery balls

Stables

First Precinct police horse stables. I imagine they put a light behind the flag like that on purpose.

Holey Donuts opens

Holey Donuts! is the ultra low fat shop previously mentioned here and anticipated for the last couple months. I tried the original glazed and the raspberry jelly. They're regular sized. I thought the texture is breadier than other donuts. Interestingly, they don't leave the kind of heart-burny donut aftertaste that Dunkin' Donuts leaves. While they're not as crack-fiend yummy as Doughnut Plant, they're a still quite good. And at 1.50 each, they're cheaper than Doughnut Plant and also cheaper than the organic doughnuts at Coffee Klatch around the corner.

Speaking of coffee, I was surprised to find that the Alaskan Ice Roast coffee (I had it iced, not hot) is outstanding. I had thought, how good could it be? Damn good, and I drink it black, so I'm not talking about prettying it up with syrups and sugars and junk. I look forward to trying their other coffees now.

UPDATE: I completely regret ever posting about this place as I am now the subject of spam campaigns about it. As you can tell from the totally fake comments all left within minutes of each other below (including some personal information I'm sure that woman wouldn't want to share on a blog), someone clearly has an obsession with how Holey Donuts appears on this blog. Rather than be intimidated by legal threats from the proprietor or burdened with the job of constantly deleting the spam I'll make this one note so the few people who happen upon this entry can be aware of what they're seeing. Even though it was more than a year ago, I continue to be burdened by spam and badgering about Holey Donuts.

Bravo's new awning

They look just about ready to go in there. Pretty much the same as it used to be only cleaner.

Handbags

Broadway/Soho

Fly

This is a fancy SoHo shop window display. Not part of the display is the fly on the nose of one of the heads. HA! Gross. :)

Buttons

I usually hate when people (and me) take pictures of their own feet, but for some reason I don't mind this one.

Ghost family

Church St.

New BPC ferry terminal coming?

I might have missed seeing mention of it in the Downtown Express while I was away, but it looks like work has finally begun on the new/old ferry terminal so they can finally get rid of the temporary one that's been a little farther up river for the last few years.

Missing man

At first I thought the guy looked a little old to be on a missing child poster. Then I read the words (you might have to click this to see the bigger version). Funny stuff.

Dream Machine

West Broadway. Too bad it wasn't parked just a little closer to the word Dream in the window on the left.

David Bouley

In front of his new establishment.

Park n Read

Three Card Monte

I haven't seen these in a while. All four of these people are in on it.


When you let someone win, make a lot of noise to draw more lookers.

This girl was either in on it or was convinced she could win money. They took 20 or 40 bucks from her and then wouldn't play with her anymore.

Beyond the woman in green stripes, an Asian tourist gave up what looked like 80 bucks.

We have a winner! Play for free! Show me you got it and you win it! Put your money down!