Half Moon

 

A half moon nestles in-between the United Nations and the Chrysler Building.

Window Sitings

 

Heading south on Lexington Avenue from 85th Street after church today, I was dazzled by the beautifully designed window displays showing off amazing clothing, shoes and jewelry. My husband liked this display--an impressive Coca-Cola bottle collection in the window of The Luncheonette. This is just half of the display; there are two windows of it. An internet search told me you can get a true old-fashioned fountain Coke here where the syrup and soda are dispensed separately.

Traffic

 

This is the traffic jam on Broadway Saturday night around 10 pm. No one in a car is moving in this scene. In fact, the taxi in the front of the picture has the green light, but he isn't going anywhere for a while.  It was nice to be on foot.

Woman in Heels with Instrument

 

What sort of life do you think this woman has? She's dressed to the nines in her 5" heels and is walking the streets of New York with her base violin (?) slung over her shoulder. I just had to take this shot even though my husband was fussing at me to get into the cab he had just flagged on a busy Saturday night in Midtown.

911 Tiles Memorial

 

If you take a wrong turn in NYC, you often run into something interesting which makes the extra walking worth the effort.

I came upon the 911 Tile Memorial yesterday in Greenwich Village as I was headed in the wrong direction. It is simply a chain link fence with thousands of small individually decorated tiles attached. Apparently the original ones made shortly after 911 were stolen, but thousands were sent from all over the country to replace them.

Last year each one of tiles was hastily, but carefully, removed to preserve them from Hurricane Irene.

Raw Emotion on the Streets

Yesterday after church, my husband and I were walking along Lexington Avenue looking for Best Buy when I glanced to my left and saw a man in a wheel chair. The guy was alone. Both his legs were gone from the knee down. And he was crying.

I could tell he was trying to not be seen and also trying to stop crying. He wiped at his red face to stop the tears, but I had caught this man in the very moment of his grief whatever it was. I was very sad for this man.

When we were headed back we ran into him again. This time his wheel chair was placed at an angle toward the walking crowd. He was in front of the Home Depot and talking to people who were ignoring him. It was noisy, and he really couldn't be heard, but people assumed he was begging.

As we approached, my husband realized he was wanting someone to open the door for him. That was all. We did, of course, and I said to him "God bless."

I have learned to keep $1 bills handy as I walk through Manhattan. I frequently come upon musicians on the street or in the subway with instrument case open for donations. I would have given this man something, but he wasn't begging. He was crying. What could I give him, but "God bless?"

Don't Miss Your Stop

 

The other day I accidentally stayed on the subway so long that it actually came out from underground. My usual train home was out of service so I had to use a different one that dropped me off further north but still fairly close to my Queens apartment. 

I must not have been paying attention when we arrived at my stop. When the light of day started coming through the windows and the buildings displayed more and more graffiti, I knew I was out too far. This is what it looked like when I got off to turn around.