Streetnoise

I love living in New York, but the noise....

Most of the time I don't really mind the noise in the city, if I did I should have moved to another city. But there are days it seems like everyone is making noise and I get the urge to scream at them from my window, haha. (I never did though, screaming from my window, but it seems like a fun thing to do)

New Yorkers are not very patient, especially not when they are in a car. If they think that they might have to slow down, or even worse: they have to stop for a second, they start honking. If the honking doesn't help they lower their windows and start screaming. And if that doesn't help they even might get out of the car and start screaming louder. Most of their frustration has to do with the fact that they don't drive very well (at least not to my standards) and that leads to all kinds of congestions and traffic jams, they don't care about anyone else in the street, they all think they should be the one to cross the street first. Of course I exaggerate a little bit, but they make lots of noise, that's for sure!

In the street where I live (and many others) there is a street sign that says: 'don't honk penalty $350,-'. 

I have never seen anyone getting a ticket for honking, and I can tell you for sure this sign doesn't impress anyone in my street. I made a video once from my window, it's a bit long, but you can hear quite some honking (starting at 30 sec mark) and even a bit screaming if you wait around until the 1.10 mark. 
In short: I won't miss the noise in my street when I move to Belgium!

Laundry

There is one thing that I absolutely won't miss when I leave New York City and that is doing my laundry at the laundromat. When I lived in Holland I had my own washer and dryer at home (like most people there). That means that you can do your laundry whenever you want, put it in the machine and continue doing what you were doing. You can even forget all about the laundry and get it out of the machine hours later if you want. And most important: you don't have to carry all your laundry down the stairs and go to the laundromat at the next block. 

The laundromat where I do my laundry could use a little bit of tender loving care, but the machines work just fine. And Rosa, the lady who runs the place, is very nice and we always chat a lot while the machines do their work. So it ain't all that bad, but I sure won't miss doing my laundry this way once I have my own machines again. 

Memories

It's been a long time since I did some serious blogging. It has also been a long time since I took photos. I had no inspiration, at all.
But this morning I decided that it is time to start taking some photos again. The reason this came to mind started when I put on some perfume and I realized that this perfume reminds me of our time in our first apartment here in NYC. (On an unrelated note: for some reason the smell of a coffè-latte with sprinkled cinnamon on top from Starbucks always reminds me of San Francisco....)

You might start thinking "and yes, where comes the actual part that made you think about photography again?" 
Well, that all has to do with the fact that I will be leaving New York City in January. Our new hometown will be in Ghent, Belgium. So this morning when I put on some perfume the idea came to mind to make photos of everything that means New York to me, what I will be missing when I move back to Europe and what I won't be missing from New York. Let's see what I can come up with for the next month or so. To start off this series I think it is appropriate to begin with my perfume bottle:

Idole by Armani - reminds me of our first apartment in NYC

Taphophile Tragics #4

It's been a long time since I posted my last {Taphophile Tragics} post. But this past weekend I visited Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, mostly because I wanted to photograph the beautiful fall colors, but I did see a grave that caught my eye.

It wasn't just the sun that I liked here, but this family grave/headstone looked very beautiful to me. When I took a closer look I also saw that three members of this family died in the same year (1996) and that's what I thought was worth looking up. 

Doing some searches on Google gave me a bit more information:
On August 16, 1996 there was an car accident and that was what killed Jeanne Lagano (mother) and her children Joanne (18 yrs) and Joseph Jr. (16 yrs). They were coming home from a family reunion in Nova Scotia, Canada. The father, Joe Lagano, returned home a day earlier for business and therefore was not involved in this crash.

A sad story.

Marina City

About a month ago I was in Chicago for one weekend. One of the things we did while we were there was taking a boat tour with the Chicago Architecture Foundation. During the 90 minute tour you get to see the many, many buildings along the Chicago River and the very knowledgeable volunteers tell you everything you always wanted to know about it! I am very much interested in buildings and architecture, this tour was really one of the highlights!

And until we passed the buildings in the photo by boat I had no idea they were Chicago based. I knew these building from photos and maybe from tv, but had no idea were I could find them. What I like the most about it is the round shape it has.

This is 'Marina City' and this is a residential/commercial building. It was designed in 1959 by architect Bertrand Goldberg and completed in 1964. What you don't see in my photo is that this building has parking space on the lower floors. Besides residential space (that also includes dry cleaners, grocery store, package room and valet parking) this complex also houses the House of Blues concert hall and Sax Hotel as well as an upscale bowling alley and a bank.

TWA Flight Center II

I made tons of photos at the TWA Flight Center this past weekend. Mainly because I fell in love with this building. Endless lines, round shapes everywhere, I wish I could live there, haha.

The terminal seen from the bridge or balcony (or whatever you want to call it),
 a real good spot for people watching

Even the stairs and banisters have round shapes

TWA Flight Center

This past Sunday I had the great opportunity to visit the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, here in New York City. Some of you may know this terminal, or maybe even travelled via this terminal when it was still in use.
Trans World Airlines (TWA) went bankrupt in the 90's and this terminal ended operations in 2001. The terminal has been closed ever since. And that's a shame, because it is the most beautiful airline terminal I have ever seen. 
Luckily for me we have 'Open House New York- Weekend' once a year. Open House New York (OHNY) makes it possible for the public to visit places that are usually closed to the public, such as this TWA Flight Center. 

The form of the TWA Terminal represents a huge bird in mid-air with its wings spread ready for landing

Not only do I love the outside of this building, but the inside is unlike any flight terminal I have ever seen. This building opened in 1962, in a time when travelling by airplane was not for everyone. When flying was maybe even an glamorous event. This red lounge seems to me like it could be from a movie, just amazing.

In 1994 the City of New York designated both the interiors and the exteriors of this terminal as a historic landmark. In 2005 the National Park Service listed the Trans World Flight Center on the National Register of Historic Places. The Port Authoritiy of NY and NJ funded the $ 20 million dollar renovation that has been conducted over several years. 

Dutch New York

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to join a walk through the Financial District to learn about the Dutch Roots in New York. Me, originally from Holland, thought this would be very interesting and it was! 

In this photo you see a small part of a larger three-dimensional bronze relief of the town of New Amsterdam that is mounted on a small granite rock. It shows roughly how the Southern tip of Manhattan looked back in 1660.

Peter Minuit Plaza, State Street at Whitehall Street, New York City.

Here's a link to a photo on Flickr where you can see the complete bronze relief.

Enjoying the view

I absolutely LOVE this!
This is an art installation that is temporarily on view along the Hudson River in Riverside Park, NYC. Her name is: "Watching upon the present", the artist is Sequoyah Aono.
Courtesy of the Arts Students League of New York. Model to Monument (M2M), Creating Art for Public Spaces. 

Shadow Shot Sunday

Along the Hudson River in Riverside Park, New York City.

Summer is almost over. But for now we are enjoying these last days of summer. Temperatures are great: 27ºC/76F, a cool breeze and hardly any humidity, that's how I like it! And it's great weather to go out for a run.

Today I'm linking with {Shadow Shot Sunday}

Ten on Ten {September Edition}

It's time for {Ten on Ten} again!

Ten photos over ten hours on the tenth day of the month. Today I started my ten on ten in Chicago, IL (where I was for the weekend) and ended it at home, in New York City.

I always like doing ten on ten, to see what fun and beautiful things I can find to photograph this time.
Enjoy!

Wakey, wakey! It's 4.30 am and we have a flight to catch at 7.30 am. 

We're almost ready to check out of our hotel room and make a run for the train to the airport.

We are definitely not the only ones at the airport this morning. 

(Almost) ready for take off

Spying on my fellow travellers. This beautiful woman was in our row as well, reading a book

And we're back in New York, now only a cab ride away from home

Home sweet home. It's such a lovely day, sunny, not too hot, and a cool breeze 

My desk stuff

We also like to photograph with old fashioned film. These films are all from this past weekend and ready to be developed

It was very early this morning. I'm already looking forward to an early night tonight!

Weekend in Black and White #8

While I was waiting for the ferry to Governors Island last week I spotted this water fountain. I love the water droplets.

Linking with {Weekend in Black and White}

Times Square

You don't see me very often at Times Square in New York. It's too crowded, noisy and lots of annoying people who try to sell you tickets to a comedy or Broadway show. This weekend I did end up on Times Square and I must admit it is absolutely a great place to watch people (and make some photos).

This girl is excited to be in Minnie's arms!

Smurfette here wants to make sure people don't forget to give her a dollar or so
 after the photo opportunity (see her little bag)

Say "cheese"

The Naked Cowboy, also one of the attractions in Times Square.
What you don't see here is that he has a guitar
and he sings songs, in between posing of course, all day long.

I'm not sure if this guy is actually crazy or a little bit crazy and just likes the attention a lot.
I see him all over town, on his bike (the little pink bike you see behind him).
Always wearing revealing outfits, waving at people, ringing his bike bell for attention and poses for photos.

Pretty trash

I passed this trash can and thought "well, that looks kinda pretty" ha ha.
Happy Tuesday to you all.

Ferry Ride

This past Friday I was on the ferry from Manhattan to Governors Island. It was very quiet on the ferry and I could take lots of photos. Of course you can always take photos, but this time nobody was walking into my frame, and I actually liked that, I'm very happy with this set of photos!

Weekend in Black and White #7

Time flies when you're having fun. Can't believe that time goes by so fast! Before you know it it's Christmas again...
Today I found a chestnut outside, I guess fall is on it's way as well.

Earlier this week I was in Central Park and photographed the skyline you get to see on the east side of the park overlooking the Jacky Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (now, that's quite a name for a pond, don't you think?) But it's one of my favorite spots in the park, especially because there is a 1.5 mile jogging track around the reservoir that I sometimes use when I go for a run.

I wish you a wonderful (Labor Day) weekend!
{Weekend in Black and White}

Morning light

I can't resist making photos when I have this beautiful morning light in my apartment.

Reading Sunday's newspaper

My husband spotted this cute couple yesterday and I am so glad he did! Aren't they the loveliest couple you've ever seen? 
This is at South Street Seaport/Pier 17 in New York City. Actually one big tourist attraction, but it has some great views over the East River and you see Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge. And apparently they also have these lounge chairs where you can sit and, for instance, spent your afternoon reading the Sunday paper.

{Rose ~ from Oz found an even better website for South Street Seaport}

Left over

Left over drinks at the New Amsterdam Market, NYC

Weekend in Black and White #6

Earlier this week President Obama visited New York City. He also attended a fundraiser in my part of the city. This is the 2nd time the President has come to "my part of town" and I always find it interesting. But don't think you'll get anywhere close. He (the President) was supposed to arrive around 7PM, but fences and barricades were already up by noon that day and the police seemed to be everywhere. (which is a good thing I guess) 

Linking to {Weekend in black and white}

Fence Friday #5

I recently visited Roosevelt Island. It's a small island in New York City and is located between Manhattan and Queens. You get to travel there by aerial tram, which is a nice thing to do. On the island itself there is not much to do or see. They do have a small visitors center, many apartment buildings and a view of the ugly east side of Manhattan.  But I managed to find something nice to photograph, a fence!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Linking with {Friday Fences}

Sitting around

Central Park is a great place for many things: walking, jogging, biking, boating, sitting, reading, sunbathing, people watching, you name it!
The great thing about the park is that you can find benches everywhere. And as you can see below, people make good use out of those benches.
A lot of New Yorkers (like me) go to the park to enjoy the nice weather because they don't have a garden or terrace at home. And of course tourists make good use out of it as well, walking around the city all day makes you tired!

Central Park

A quiet moment

This photo was taken in 'The Ramble' in Central Park. 
The perfect place to have a quiet moment.

Scavenger Hunt, Edition August 19, 2012

And again I decided to join in on the Scavenger Hunt.
The items for this week are:

• Forest
• Morning Light
• Touch
• Newspaper
• Coffee or Tea

Forest ~ 'The Ramble' in Central Park, reflected in a puddle

Morning Light ~ in my living room

Touch

Newspaper ~ it just isn't the same as a real newspaper

Coffee or Tea ~ definitely coffee, with lots of milk