à la Chien

The health department in NYC does not allow dogs in restaurants except in very special conditions. Federal Law under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that restaurants allow service and guide dogs at indoor and outdoor dining areas - beyond that they make recommendations only - states govern restaurant health laws (there recently has been some abuse of new rulings regarding pets needed for "emotional support"). Sidewalk cafes where no cooking is being done have been the only spaces where patrons can dine with their dogs. In France, where dogs abound, there are no such restrictions and even the finest of restaurants allow them, even welcome them. Small dogs frequently sit aside its owner or in their lap. Waiters will play with dogs and their toys. Many new visitors to France are actually quite shocked when first exposed to these customary practices. There are a few new dog friendly restaurants such as Fido Cafe where the special conditions of separation of dining and cooking areas have been created. There are several hundred thousand dogs in Manhattan, so any accommodations for dogs will be well met by the myriad of owners in the city. The large dog in the photo was observing the fine dining of his owners at Cipriani in SOHO - he (or she) seemed to be quite well behaved while doing his poor, hungry dog routine. Click here to see him being rewarded for his patience ...

Scrap Yard

Until recently, I did not know there was a retail graffiti business. I assumed the purveyors of the activity availed themselves of the various supplies from art and hardware stores. Like anything else, however, if there is a demand, someone will provide a supply. This small shop, the Scrap Yard at 300 West Broadway in SOHO just north of Canal Street, is owned and operated by Mark Awfe. It carries the requisite materials (paints, spray caps etc) and many other items such as T-Shirts, hats, DVDs, books, magazines, mixed tapes, fat caps, video graff, collectibles - all related to graffiti. Click here for a peek inside. In reading about graffiti, I found a world with its own language/grammar, images and culture. All of it foreign to me - the conversation on various graffiti sites was essentially unintelligible. There are many famous graffiti artists like the mysterious Cost and Revs whose work has appeared citywide. There are websites such as 12ozProphet (originally a magazine from 1993), akanyc and fourthehardway. Although the term graffito (plural graffiti) means to inscribe or scratch and goes back to Roman times, the term graffiti now generally implies vandalism - art done on a public surface without permission of the owner. I am seeing references in reading to legal graffiti, a strange concept since the essence of graffiti has been its outlaw rebel element. It will be interesting to see if this activity will morph in some way to become benign and more commercial ...

Rats R Us

Everyone knows rats are living among us - in the parks, the subway system, buildings and restaurants. But we don't expect to see hordes of them scurrying in plain view in a restaurant as recently witnessed at the Taco Bell-KFC in Greenwich Village. This was a major news item for all the local networks and papers on February 23, 2007. Click here for the Gothamist coverage - they had numerous articles spanning several days. And if you have the stomach for it, here's the video clip of the rats in action - this was run over and over on the day the news broke. Since this episode there have been many similar stories regarding other restaurants. I decided to stroll by the location last night and see the status. The place was completely closed of course. The only things of interest were the two Department of Health notices on the windows with an accumulation of comments written on them (click on the photo or this link to view a larger image for better reading). New Yorkers are extremely tolerant and adaptable. Very little really shocks us or for very long - even then, we bounce back rather quickly. And we have a good sense of humor, as evidenced by the comments on the notices. However, many doubt that Taco Bell will reopen at this location - how many would want to eat here? Tolerant or not, even New Yorkers can draw the line ...

W Hotel Union Square

This is the W Hotel Union Square at 201 Park Ave South and 17th Street. This Beaux Arts marvel is probably the most architecturally notable building in the Union Square area, with its granite and limestone exterior and mansarded roof. The structure was built in 1911 to the designs of D'Oench & Yost for the Germania Insurance Company. The company name was changed during World War I to Guardian Life. In 2000, it completed its transformation as the W Hotel Union Square. The W Hotel chain was launched by Starwood Hotels in 1999 as a "fun, hip" place - the "W" stands for their slogan "Whatever, Whenever." The hotel renovations were designed by the firm of starchitect David Rockwell. The coffered ceilings, mosaic floors and vaulted marble hallways were restored - the rooms themselves have been modernized. There is a grand mahogany and limestone staircase in the lobby, a Rockwell signature. Greenery has been added in the way of large topiaries and wheatgrass planters in the lobby. There is a streetside living room for hanging out...

Secret Society

I am fascinated by the places that are prominently located yet rarely mentioned. The plaque at 77 MacDougal Street says Tiro A Segno, New York Rifle Club. This address is just south of one of the most touristy, trafficked blocks in the city - the Figaro Cafe and Bleecker Street are within eyeshot. This very exclusive, members-only club occupies three entire brownstone row houses - 3 flags hang in front - one American, one Italian and one brandishing Tiro A Segno - which literally means "shoot the target" - (Tiros date back to eighth century Italy's bow-and-arrow groups). This is the oldest private Italian-American club in the US, founded in 1888 and in this location since 1924. And private is the operative word - you won't find much about this place - I had to really dig for this one. Visit their website and you will get the idea. Prospective members must be nominated by a current member and there is a quota on non-Italians. Members have included former mayor Fiorella Laguardia, Enrico Caruso, and Garibaldi. What goes on in there? Wine, fine dining (dining hall seats 110), conversation and rifle shooting in the basement gallery with three wood paneled ranges and a choice of targets. And charitable work is done e.g., in 2000, the Tiro a Segno foundation donated $500,000 to establish the Visiting Faculty Fellowship in Italian-American Culture at NYU. Apparently any vestiges of former members like convicted politicians Biaggi and Esposito are long gone ...

Spike

Here we have the classic NYC character - the city well tolerates this type of emboldened eccentricity, perhaps even encourages it. Frequently seen parading in full regalia, this baroque individual is an amalgam of goth/punk symbols and icons. He's got it well covered - iron crosses, medieval cross earrings (Noctis?), British flags, piercings with studs, a Clash patch and the requisite black leather jacket and boots (I learned a lot about these accoutrement this morning by visiting this British site - Gothic Style ). And don't miss that standout hair spire - his signature pièce de résistance. His militaristic persona was enhanced by his standing at attention for lengths of time. I have seen him a number of times before and this weekend saw him two days in a row. On this second occasion, a number of photographer friends and I were gathered in the park - our increasingly bolder and more obvious photo taking of the subject was not met by resistance. We agreed that perhaps he was a bit of an exhibitionist, n'est-ce pas?

Street Cuisine

One of the great joys of living in the city is the street life - this offers the type of experiences virtually nonexistent outside, such as sidewalk dining. The are over 10,000 food vendors in NYC selling from street carts. Most vendor's fare is quite ordinary - pretzels, hot dogs, ice cream and/or beverages. But there are those vendors that rise above the pedestrian and make really excellent food - many feel that some of the best, authentic cuisine can be had on the streets from these vendors, some of whom have achieved near celebrity status and are known throughout the city with individuals making trips to sample their food. In fact, street food now has its own culinary prize: The Vendy Award. This annual award is a fundraiser sponsored by the Street Vendor Project - it takes place in the courtyard of St. Mark's Church in the Bowery in September of each year. Visit the website where you can read about their goals/efforts and the award with past winners. One of the finalists for 2006 was Sri Lankan chef, Thiru Kumar who for the last 6 years has run a cart called NY Dosas (seen in the photo) with vegan cuisine, on the south side of Washington Square (he has received many execllent reviews and won numerous food awards apart from the Vendy nomination). His specialty is dosas, a south Indian type of crepe, which he cooks on site. In addition to the dosas he makes uthappam, idly, vada, sambar soup, ponidcherry masala, pattu and many other exotic sounding specialties. On a busy day there have been as many as 60 people waiting in line, many of whom are students from neighboring NYU. I found Thiru to be extremely avuncular - part of his popularity is the feeling he is taking you under his wing, making suggestions and helping those unfamiliar with his food decide what to order. He is open M-F and occasionally on Saturday. Thiru even gives out a card with his cell number and email for those wanting to check his schedule ...

Union Square

This is Union Square at night from 14th Street looking north. Union Square is the nexus of Broadway, Park Avenue South, 4th Avenue, 14th & 17th Streets, University Place, Union Square East and West - with Union Square Park as its centerpiece. It is a major subway station with 8 train lines (note the pagoda entrance bottom center). Union Square is its own neighborhood/district with a breadth and depth of services that are hard to match. On the photo left, we have Union Square West - there you find various retailers and several notable restaurants such as Republic, the Coffee Shop, Blue Water Grill and the Union Square Cafe (16th Street). The open area also on the left is the home of the famed Union Square Greenmarket which operates three days a week. On the north side (photo top) there is the city's largest Barnes and Noble superstore (occupying the entire 6-story, restored, former Century Building) and the W Hotel at Union Square. In the Park itself, we have the restaurant Luna Park, the Gandhi statue, dog runs and playgrounds Just out of the frame on the far right is the first big development on the Square - Zeckendorf Towers. On the south side, from where the photo was taken, there is the Virgin Atlantic Megastore, Filene's, a new behemoth Whole Foods market and the public artpiece Metronome. A myriad of other retailers, services and street vendors (such as Joe Ades) dot the perimeter of the park and the sidestreets. In this blog alone, I have done 9 posts which involve Union Square - note the links throughout this posting ...

Cigar Store Indian

The wooden cigar store Indian is still found in front of cigar/tobacco shops in NYC. Because Indians had introduced Europeans to the use of tobacco, Indian figures soon came to be used as an emblem of the tobacconist (the first ones appeared in England in the early 1600s and were referred to as Virginie Men). Visual emblems for shops were common at the time - e.g. barber poles for barber shops, gold balls for pawn shops, scissors for tailors and Indians for tobacco shops. Many reasons have been cited for this, among them illiteracy of the populace and immigrants unable to read English. It's surprising to still see these in the city, since some find this icon racially offensive in nature, similar to the black lawn jockey. I found this group in Western Spirit, a large Western Shop at 395 Broadway. There is an active trade in these in the antique market with some fetching as much as six figures ...

Extreme Camping

This photo was taken in front of Grace Baptist Church on Broadway and 10th Street - click here for second photo. At first glance, this looks like a typical homeless scene, but on closer examination of the photos I think not. Many of the clothes and bedding look newer and cleaner than people who have been living on the street. Also, note the relatively new looking backpack. It is also unusual to see the homeless as couples like this. So my conclusion - they are travelers passing through. In the summer one can see the occasional camping out of vagabonds in the parks. I have not seen this type of thing in the winter on ice in freezing temperatures. Staking out territory like this in front of a prominent church on Broadway is quite a brazen act. Homelessness and vagrancy are very politicized issues in NYC - views are seen differently of society's responsibility to its citizens and an individual's responsibilities to make reasonable efforts to provide for themselves. Attempts to get individuals off the street has to be done legally and carefully - homeless shelters have improved, but many reject them for a variety of reasons. And the cost of housing continues to soar ...

Equinox

This blue and green lighting at the Empire State Building last night was to celebrate Earth Day, which marks the exact moment of the Vernal Equinox occurs (the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere). This was last night at 8:07 PM EDT (on the equinox, night and day are the same length anywhere on earth). The idea of an international Earth Day was introduced in 1969 by John McConnell and in 1971, UN Secretary-General U Thant signed a proclamation to that effect. There are actually two Earth Days - yesterday's was the equinoctial Earth Day. The other Earth Day is on April 22. First celebrated in 1970, it started the environmental movement. The fact that there are two Earth Days can be somewhat confusing - if you would like to sort it out click here for the equinoctial and click here for the April 22nd. The Empire State building has a sophisticated lighting system with hundreds of lamps and fixtures - you can read about it here. The building is lit in different color themes to celebrate various holidays, seasons, celebrations and causes (it is lit white between color themes). Many wonder about the specific meaning of these themes - the official website maintains a schedule of tower light colors and their explanation - click here. This photo was taken from 14th Street overlooking Union Square. I love night photography, tall buildings, blue and springtime - this was the perfect photo op...

Winter Prospect

This is a view of Sullivan Hill from the Long Meadow in Prospect Park (click here for second photo of Lower Pool). The park, a 526-acre urban oasis located in the heart of Brooklyn, was designed by famed landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also designed Central Park. This park and its Central Park kin are much more than just green oases - they have innumerable specialized environments and activities. Prospect Park features the 90-acre Long Meadow, the 60-acre Lake, the Nethermead, an Audubon Center, the Prospect Park Zoo, playgrounds, Children's Corner, the Carousel, Lefferts Historic House, Concert Grove, the bandshell (home of Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival), Dog Beach, ponds. Areas have been dedicated for baseball and other ball sports, tennis, ice skating, fishing, boating, horseback riding, barbecuing. One can bike, run or skate on its drives which are closed to vehicles (except during rush hours0. Here we have Brooklyn's only forest, with walking trails, streams, waterfalls and the Ravine. It also hosts many activities and events - click here for the official website. Also, for a free download of a color map, click here. Prospect Park is a world unto itself, heavily used, yet large enough to easily absorb all its visitors on a busy day. For NYC residents, parks are very important - they function as essentially the only real green outdoor spaces apart from leaving the city itself. The streets and parks are our backyards ...