Category: I♥NY

On the Street: Herald Square Subway Station

today

I don’t know why this graffiti in the Herald Square subway station made me laugh. Maybe the chalk-on-black-wall medium reminded me of Keith Haring’s early subway drawings. I’m not even sure whether this gadget is meant to be a cash register or a cell phone or something else. Is it a warning against commercialism? Is it a statement about our 24-7 plugged-in mentality? Is it a private message left by one individual for another? Is it just some contemporary form of “carpe diem“? One thing is for certain: I can’t depend on it being there when I return tomorrow.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

Brooklyn Bridge: 130 Years!

Marin-Brooklyn_Bridge

Today is the 130th anniversary of the dedication of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of New York City’s iconic structures.

My favorite depictions of the Bridge are the watercolors and prints created by artist John Marin in the early 20th century. Here’s an etching from 100 years ago, from the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Image: John Marin, Brooklyn Bridge, 1913.

On the Street: I. Miller, “The Show Folks Shoe Shop” of Times Square

shoe shop

When I’m walking through the streets around Times Square, I tend to keep moving as quickly as I can, while focusing on my destination rather than my actual surroundings. If you’ve been anywhere near Times Square over the past decade or two, you’ll understand.

One afternoon, however, I was forced to wait for a traffic light to change, and as I stood on the corner of Broadway and 46th Street, I did something that New Yorkers often forget to do: I looked up.

Continue reading “On the Street: I. Miller, “The Show Folks Shoe Shop” of Times Square” →

Quick Reads: C. O. Bigelow in The Wall Street Journal

Bigelow Sign

The Wall Street Journal has just published an article about C. O. Bigelow, “the oldest apothecary in America,” in honor of its 175 years in business. The article gives an enjoyable overview of Bigelow’s history, including this line:

Civil War generals frequented the shop, according to old ledgers, and store records from 1905 show Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, strolled the aisles alongside Clarisse Coudert, aka Mrs. Condé Nast.

You can read it here (at least, until some paywall shuts us out).

Continue reading “Quick Reads: C. O. Bigelow in The Wall Street Journal” →

Things That Make You Go Hmmm: Kim Kardashian at the Met Costume Institute Ball

met-gala-kim-kardashian-h724

There are many things I could say about outfits worn by various guests at last night’s Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The title of this spring’s Costume Institute exhibition is “PUNK: Chaos to Couture,” and invitees were encouraged to dress accordingly.

Kim Kardashian, who is the very first person I think of when I think of art, culture, and fashion history, showed up wearing a floral gown designed by Givenchy.

Not very punk, you might say. Not at all transgressive or deconstructed or what have you. And then again. . . .could she possibly have been making an obscure allusion to a costume worn to the Met by another risk-taking visitor, some twenty years ago?

Continue reading “Things That Make You Go Hmmm: Kim Kardashian at the Met Costume Institute Ball” →