I traveled with my family to Virginia for the Thanksgiving holiday to visit with my parents–separately–as has been necessary since their divorce a long time ago. Extended sit downs with one parent or the other are to be avoided since they usually, unfortunately, turn painful. My mother reminisces about my growing up, remembering things as […]

Delancey Street (4×5 film) Another Lower East Side photograph. Garishly photogenic Delancey Street between Suffolk and Clinton. This one is the 4×5 version seen in an earlier post.

Clinton Street It’s four in the morning, the end of DecemberI’m writing you now just to see if you’re betterNew York is cold, but I like where I’m livingThere’s music on Clinton Street all through the evening. – Leonard Cohen (Famous Blue Raincoat) Houston Street a man lay dead on Houston streethe’d been dead for […]

The Bowery and Houston Street There will be a short period of history in which many of the cabs in New York were seen stickered with flowers. It’s an art project involving children from schools and community groups who colored the decals. Here’s the official website if you’re curious. Previously, such momentary cultural expressions might […]

Leaves and flags on Bleecker Street Without comment.

Richmond, Virginia, early ’70s I got my first camera when I was a teenager, a Nikkormat 35mm with a 50mm lens. I had bought it with my savings and hid it away for a year because my parents were not enthusiastic about my “hobby.” I surreptitiously shot black and white film for a while and […]

Silodam apartment, Amsterdam designed by MVRDV architects When the glass Richard Meier towers on the Hudson in the West Village appeared a few years ago, they were heralded as a new phenomenon. At least in New York. Having lived much of the last 15 years in Europe–the last few behind double height windows overlooking Amsterdam–I […]

Midtown, somewhere in the 50s Without comment.

Brendan and Renée taking a hayrideSaturday was Fall Festival at Brendan’s school–a seasonal fund raising event coming right after Halloween, which is an all day extravaganza at school followed by trick or treating and the Village Halloween parade. It’s fun, but all a bit over the top for me. As part of the festival, we […]

Take what may be called “the” typical tenement house district, the triangle or rather trapezium, bounded by Fourteenth Street, the Bowery and the East River. This district comprises the even numbered Assembly Districts from the Fourth to the Sixteenth, inclusive, and the population of it is just short of half a million, 480,626. It is […]

Mad Scientist on West 22nd Street. Brendan joined the throngs of kids and parents to trick or treat in Chelsea. We tried catching a glimpse of the big Halloween parade, but couldn’t get near it. Watched a bit of it on TV at home.