Grand Central to Herald Square

Above, glare bounces off a rooftop west of Grand Central on 42nd St.  Below, first-light seeps into Herald Square.

Top 'o the Woolworth

Likely the clearest picture I will ever take of the Woolworth Building.

Winter Exhaust

Above, a cold day in Chelsea from the Flag Foundation on 25th St.  Below, a slightly warmer day on Library Way (41st St.) near Madison.

Bright Day Helmsley Building

The rest of the building looks a little unreal because of the light, but the top, above, looks unreal because it's plastic.

Caught My Eye

Above, in the window on 6th Ave. near 32nd St., ties for the itinerant preacher -- just add fervid faith and soup stains.  Equally sacred at Penn Station on Christmas, below left, a large temporary electrical outlet disguised in ribbons and a synthetic snow hula skirt.


Above right, an unusual mannequin at Cheap Jacks on 5th Ave. at 31st St.  Just as interesting is the sign behind her that threatens to confiscate any photos taken in the store, and to hold the perpetrator liable for "theft of service."  By "service" they mean the headlock the security guard puts you in while the assistant manager erases your camera?

Much less sensitive was the woman minding the store below, Viver on 37th St. near 6th Ave.  She watched intently as I got ready to take a picture of the window, so I asked if she minded.  She said no, but seemed depressed; no doubt she'd sized me up as just another rube drawn the tropical fish tank-like display, and not a high class photographer about to make her fashion line world famous.

Architectural Hardware

A few cases where functional hardware is a design element.  An obvious one, above, is the pint sized chemical plant on top of the Penn Station LIRR entrance on 34th St.  Left, an apparently permanent crane (like a windshield wiper) at 18th St. & 7th Ave.

Below left, on Allen St. near Rivington, ventilation pipes for the place next door -- so its exhaust doesn't foul the cheesy stallion medallion on the new hulk?  Below right, on 23rd St. off 3rd Ave., some proudly exposed pipe.


Below left, a headband of small HVAC units above Lexington Ave. in the upper 20s; below right, one big HVAC perched like a tiny head on a robot at Purves & Jackson in Long Island City.


And below, one of my favorite pieces of hardware headgear -- at once functional, futuristic, and vaguely fascist -- on Warehouse 11 in Williamsburg.