Week 17
May 2, 2016
Greenwich Village
Union Square
Train In/Out: Fairfield Metro, CT
Miles walked: 7.5
Subway: E (a new one for me!)
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1, m.Zuiko 17mm f1.8, m.Zuiko 8mm fisheye
Today was supposed to be the East Village with a friend of mine who wanted to join me on a Magic Monday. But a last minute work thing prevented her from being able to join me, so I had to quickly figure out Plan B. And I ended up at Plan C. Plan B was to head up to the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) but when I got there around 11:30am there was a big line and I wasn't feeling much like walking through a musuem. It was cloudy but a nice temp and I do prefer to be outside. Also, I'm not much of a museum person although I do want to go and see MoMA's photography exhibit at some point. I remembered that my prints from the pinhole photography workshop from Week 16 were ready to be picked up. So I jumped on an E subway and headed down to Greenwich Village. I love the subway app I have on my iPhone, and the fact that I now somewhat understand the subway system as long as it's running normally. Don't make me understand those confusing signs posting subway changes, I'm not that good yet.
A few pics as I headed to MoMA first...
The logo for Travelers Insurance is a red umbrella but I never knew anyone to carry a real Travelers umbrella. This guy came walking by and I noticed his red umbrella had a Travelers logo on it! It was snappy. I want one. :)
I'm even skinnier in this one than the one from Week 15! Ha ha.
Inside out and upside down? I cannot keep up with the fashion trends in the city.
This pics shows you what the one above really is. “Looking Up” by Tony Friedman. Made from crushed aluminum foil roasting pans, it's 33.3 feet tall and will be at Park & 53rd Street until July 2016.
And now I've ditched MoMA and headed to the E train. I liked the subway tunnel here.
Never Rest Umbrellas. Um, ok?
Leaving the Washington / 4th St. subway. How cheerful!
My wandering in Greenwich Village takes me to Bleecker Street Records.
I was never a KISS fan. They always scared me.
I have been the this record store only once before, 6 years ago, but I remembered there was a gray cat. Of course I immediately sought out the cat. Voila! The sign said there was another cat at the foot of the stairs in the basement.
Fail. No kitty.
Now I'm dating myself, but I think I remember this album cover from when I was a kid.
Back upstairs, had to pull out the fisheye lens for this place!
Likely my last tulip of the 52 week journey, they're about done for the season.
Taco Taxi.
If you've been following along with my 52 week journey, then you know I don't like walking on these grates. Here's a spot where they are putting in new grates.
New. Old. I don't like them.
I've been wanting to visit this place for a while. Around 2010, the owner put keys all over the outside of his building. It's quite the work of art.
The narrowest house in Manhattan. 75 1/2 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village. It's 9 feet 6 inches wide. Not too exciting, but I can check it off my list. :)
I asked him if I could take his picture. And yes, this week I had some fun with selective color manipulation. Pulling out one color in digital photos was popular a few years ago, but then people overdid it...I'm on a mission to overdo it, too! Not really. But come on, the duck screamed to be the standout.
OK, no. I beg to differ. Kittens are not a "great holiday gifts". Ugh.
Here's another non-exciting but interesting building on my to-visit list.
Palazzo Chupi, 360 West 11th Street in the West Village section of the Greenwich Village. It’s a residential condo by artist Julian Schnabel and it’s built on top of a former horse stable. Schnabel uses the lower four floors, the former stable, as a studio. Apparently there is also a parking garage, art gallery space and swimming pool. The owner says that he built the Palazzo "because I wanted more space, and because I thought I could sell two or three apartments to pay for that space, and I built it because I could.” It was finished in 2008, despite protest from angry neighbors. The pink certainly does stand out. I thought it was rather nice. Twist my paw, I would live there. Great location! A block from the Hudson River.
Here's an article on it from the New York Times in 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/garden/13schnabel.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
Along the walking path by the West Side Highway and Hudson River. Dreary day so no amazing pics along the Hudson to share.
The green dumpster is full of dirt and rocks (I peeked). Decent sized rocks, baseball to melon size, mixed in with the dirt. I'm watching this guy for a minute thinking, well, maybe he needs a rock? People dumpster dive for all sorts of reasons. But no, he seemd to be the Dumpster Rock Organizer. He would pick up a rock of whatever size, and then throw it to a different area of the dumpster. Hmmm...
Perhaps I should have waited for the pigeon to leave.
Pretty sure I could have a snagged the guitar, he was sound asleep. But really, I liked the white building in the background.
Hi, I'm Megan and I have a tote bag problem.
It was really difficult not to walk into this store and walk out with something I definitely "needed". That orange tote is awesome, love the wide sides.
I met the nicest girl working in this store. Born and raised in Poland. We chatted about the store, photography, she even knew about Lomography and the Diana camera I used for the pinhole class last week! I took her picture but it didn't come out great and I would never put an unflattering picture up of someone. Perhaps I'll stop by again and take a better portrait. :) Great store! 47 Greenwich Avenue.
Awww. Chicago was the first rock concert I ever went to. April 20, 1985 at the Hartford Civic Center (I looked it up!) Peter Cetera and the band all wore white head to toe. I think I swooned a little.
After wandering Washington Square Park for a while with nothing super interesting to report, I headed out only to notice another to-visit place on my list, the Washington Mews.
The Washington Mews is a private gated street just north of Washington Square Park. It was first developed as a mews. What’s a mews? A row of stables. Since the 50’s this area has been used as housing and offices for NYU.
The second half still had cobblestones. I like walking on those about as much as those subway grates.
Strolling along heading north towards Union Square I spot ANOTHER place on my to-visit list. I wasn't even trying to find these places but I've researched NYC so much that I have a lot of places I'll recognize as places I've read about. This is the Kiehl Building. Notice anything unusual about it?
There's a penthouse cottage on the roof. I think it's seen better days, at least on the right side. Looks like there was a fire. But there's a patio, shrubs, etc, up there.
People teaching chess at Union Square.
The guy in the suit was asking all sorts of questions.
She's awesome and gorgeous...but HE wins best backpack of the day...
I spy with my little eyes...
Two Saint Bernards! Not your typical NYC dog. This one was friendly and very into the camera.
Obviously you can't tell from the photo, but the dog is howling at sirens! So cute. He was totally quiet, then some sirens started up and he started howling right along with the sirens. That must be really fun at 3am.
The droopy clouds were a challenge today, thick overcast skies totally affect my mood, but all in all Plan C worked out pretty well and I definitely checked off some architectural places off my to-visit list. I'll admit that it's getting a little harder to keep things exciting and original, but that's part of the challenge of a 52 week project! If you made it this far, thanks so much for taking a look at today's journey. Drop me a note to say hi below.
Until the next Magic Monday!
xo,
~MC
