Brooklyn Bridge

Phone booth wisdom

Walked past this pay phone and saw this little piece of paper from the corner of my eye:
'Jesus Christ is the answer to all your problems: Matthew 11:78"

I wonder why someone felt the need to write this and glue it to a phone booth?

A small park in the middle of the city. Beautiful flowers, a waterfall and chairs with tables. All open to the public.

I like this about New York, all of a sudden you stumble upon such a beauty in the middle of the city.
Everybody always seems to be in a hurry, after all this is the city that never sleeps, but we all
like to have some peace and quiet every now and then as well.

This piece of art is made by Roa, he is from Ghent in Belgium and he has painted in many cities in Europe and the US.
(I stole the information about Roa from CaT over at picture/day in Boston, check out her photo of a Roa painting)
 A giant squirrel on a wall in Brooklyn. It's a huge installation and I really liked it.
It seems like Roa doesn't have a website, but you can see more of his artwork on his Flickr photostream.

Go to Oakland Daily Photo for more Monday Murals.

I totally forgot about this photo. I took it in Williamsburg, Brooklyn some two weeks ago. It is nothing special, but it made me laugh when I saw it.
What is up with Tom Selleck? Why would anybody want to make a sticker with his head on it? I have absolutely no idea. (Good chance there is some hype that I have no knowledge of)

When I was young I didn't watch Magnum P.I. (I wasn't even ten years old when this was on tv). But after I researched a bit
on Google about Tom Selleck I learned that part of his fame came from his mustache. There is even an Facebook page that is dedicated to Tom Selleck's mustache....
And this is not the only sticker that has been made of Tom and his mustache, there are plenty to be found, everywhere.
If there is someone who knows more about Tom's mustache feel free to enlighten me!

Next week I have a party to attend and I was in desperate need of some black heels.
I thought that buying black heels would be a piece of cake. It turned out not to be, or I am just too picky (that could very well be a big part of the problem, haha).
We (me and my husband, who joined me on this shoe hunt) spent a lot of time going from one shoe store to the other. In the end we found them, in a store we would never had looked hadn't we been sort of desperate (ehm I was getting a little bit desperate).
Now my new favorite heels are on display, on top of the box, in the living room. Whenever I look up from my laptop they are all shimmer and shine in front of me. Next week I will wear them for real, can't wait for that!

Spring in the city.

Walking around in Chinatown, there are so many different colors, they sell all kinds of interesting looking stuff
I could eat Chinese food everyday, that is how much I like it (which I actually did when I worked very close to Chinatown)
I made this photo because of all the colorful candy in front of the store, at the time I had no idea that the lady inside was eyeing me, haha. (I only saw that when I came home)

Friday I went to the New York Botanical Garden to see the Orchid Show.
I love orchids. Since I am not able to take care of orchids myself (I have tried many, many times, but they always die on me) this show
was on my wish list.
The show is beautiful, I have never seen so many orchids in one place.
I found it difficult to make good pictures because there was so much light in there, the show is being held in a conservatory.
But I am very happy with this photo. I am pretty sure I will see this show again before it ends, April 22.

You can find this mural in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
This mural is a little bit bigger than you see here, but I wasn't able to get it all in one photo.
 Here you can see a photo of the complete mural. (photographed by Joanna_Pan)
As you can see it is very colorful and has a lot of detail, it must have been some job!
The name of the artist is  R. Nicholas Kuszyk.
For more murals go to Oakland Daily Photo

A sidewalk drip painting made by Paul Richard. I found this also in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 

I came across this building in Williamsburg Brooklyn last week when I did a walk with Street Art Walk. 
David, from Street Art Walk, knows everything about all the street art you can find in Williamsburg and he walked with us for more than two hours to
show us around. I had such a great time! Later this week I went back there because there were some things I wanted to see again
and get a better photo of. Like this building here. All abandoned, but once the home to all kinds of people who were very creative
and the Secret Robot Project (art gallery & performance space).
Last year their landlord made them leave, because he/she had sold
the building. As a big thank you to the landlord they 'paint dumped' the building. 
I had no idea that excisted, but as you can see above they threw
some paint down from the roof. I believe the building will be demolished some day.

I have taken this photo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn this afternoon.
Shoes dangling above the street, it's a common sight, at least in Williamsburg.
I have no idea why people feel the urge to swing their shoes over a powerline.
But it makes for a fun photo, don't you think?!

I enjoy the nice weather we are having here since last week. It's not cold at all and not too warm either, I love it.
It is amazing what a little sunshine can do. Most people seem happier and nicer in this weather.
Restaurant employees run down to their basements to get the tables and chairs out of their wintersleep so that we can enjoy the outside terraces again.
I photographed the above last week on the Upper East Side on Madison Avenue, I thought the flowers looked so pretty against the crisp white tablecloths and couldn't resist to make this photo.

This is a small piece of the Berlin Wall.

While living in Holland I easily could have gone to Berlin to see the Wall, but I never did.
And now, 2 years after I moved to New York, I find out that there is a small piece of the Berlin Wall on display here.
Tucked away in a pedestrian plaza between two buildings it is very easy to miss this.
If you didn't know you would walk by without seeing it.
The East German Government sold this piece to Jerry Speyer (of Tishman Speyer, a real estate giant) that owns the plaza. Speyer installed it here in 1990.

This mural/piece of the Wall can be found at East 53rd Street between Madison Ave & Fifth Avenue in New York City.
(And it turns out that this isn't the only part of the Wall in the city, there are three other parts as well, see here)

This is my contritbution to Monday Mural, for more murals from around the world visit Oakland Daily Photo.

Yesterday was another beautiful day in New York. This is a photo of the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park.
The elegant, white building in the back is the luxury Plaza Hotel.

Via the Central Park website: The Gapstow Bridge was originally designed by Jacob Wrey Mould in 1874,
the then-wooden bridge with cast-iron railings suffered great  wear over 20 years.
It was replaced with the current stone structure in 1896, designed by Howard & Caudwell. Built of Manhattan schist,
Gapstow stand 12 feet high, spans 44 feet of water, and stretches 76 feet in its full length.


{taken with iPhone, processed in Instagram}

Today was such a beautiful day here in NYC. It felt like spring (temperatures in the lower 60's), my wintercoat was definitely too warm.
In Bryant Park, photographed above, it was hard to find a seat that wasn't taken yet. Lots of people were enjoying lunch, a book, the sun or their phone.  On days like this it is always interesting to see what people wear. This girl above made sure she wouldn't get cold. Later today I saw a girl wearing only a tank top and a pair of jeans.  Friday we will have some rain again, so in the meantime I will enjoy this spring-like-weather!

Word on the Street: LOVE

I found this in an alley that was covered in grafitti. This was so elegantly written and out of place, I loved it instantly.
The photo below gives you an impression of the alley:

All Your Dreams Belong to Us by D'face

Photo taken at corner of West 13th Street & Washington Street in NYC.
This corner is known for its street art. I was drawn to the bright colors and the eyes. What I liked the most is the little crown over the right eye. (of course this wasn't part of the original, as you can see here.)
This mural has been here at least since 2008, so I am not surprised people are starting to put up some new stuff. 


For more Monday Murals you can visit Oakland Daily Photo

While driving around in Florida last weekend we passed this sign. I cannot believe they named a gentlemen's club 'cheaters', I actually find that very funny.
At the time I didn't quite understand the word cabaret,  I always thought that cabaret had something to do with comedy, but that's apparently not always the case. Wikipedia told me that it can also refer to a bar with tables and women who mingle with and entertain the clientele. Ah well, you learn something everyday, haha.

Taken with my iPhone at the Kennedy Space Center parking lot last weekend. I love those palmtrees.
(processed on my iPhone as well)

About two weeks ago I stumbled upon this beautiful car in Greenwich Village, NYC. I turned out it stood there because they were using it while filming a movie: 'Inside Llewyn Davis' directed by The Coen Brothers.

The movie is set in the 1960's New York City folkscene and tells the story of a singer/songwriter.

It was interesting to walk around and see they had changed storefronts and subway signs to make it look like the 60's. There were also a whole bunch of old cars (like this Ford) lined up to drive around.

Below some photos of the filmset. Here in NY you are free to walk around and photograph as long as you are not in the direct area where they are filming.

Cars waiting and a actor-cab driver who had a lot of fun with the tourists

Actor waiting for his cue, next to the "old" subway signs

I took this photo this weekend in Cocoa Beach, Florida. 
There is nothing really special in this photo, but I do like all the colors, the pier, the guys playing volleyball and their audience sitting in the sand.  
It represents, in my eyes, what a beach scene in Florida looks like .