Photo of the Day: Better the Sax Man Than the Tax Man

Yesterday, having paid my debt to Uncle Sam, I happened to be in New York’s Duffy Square when I came upon the fellow you see here.

In contrast to the costumed characters that have come to populate (or, if you prefer, litter) this center of the Manhattan entertainment world, this musician was intent not on sight but on sound, blowing sweet notes into the rapidly warming air. 

It felt like such a blessing and relief, amid the high temperatures and the annual presence of the IRS, that I just had to take his photo.

Photo of the Day: ‘Heart of Hearts,’ at Duffy Square, NYC

The other morning, walking through Duffy Square in midtown Manhattan, I came across this new installation—a ring of 12 golden, mirrored hearts. It’s the winner of an annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design curated by the Center for Architecture.

The inside of the ring seems made for selfies—and, perhaps, more: diamond-shaped spaces form  six “kissing booths,” with the activity, as you can see, mirrored out to the great throngs in midtown.

Photo of the Day: Shooting in the Blizzard of ‘15

No, I’m not talking about me taking this photo, but of the beleaguered film crew (a local news operation?) taping a segment on the Blizzard of ’15 in New York City's Duffy Square. Granted, this was in the afternoon, well before the worst of the storm was supposed to start. Still, not very pleasant at all. I hope they at least got some dramatic images from standing there amid the wicked cold and swirling snow…

Photo of the Day: Yoga on the Summer Solstice

Late yesterday afternoon, on the first day of summer, I passed by Duffy Square in midtown Manhattan and beheld the largest crowd there since—well, since Brad Pitt came out to promote World War Z.

At this particular event, someone named Colleen Saidman Lee led the throng you see here—and more—in various Yoga exercises.

I have to say that I tried these on another occasion. Once. Boy, did it hurt…

But all that stretching of parts of my body I never knew I had was nowhere near as arduous and painful as what I was about to endure on my commute home through the Lincoln Tunnel—the second time in less than a week that exhaustion and frustration have been inflicted on thousands of commuters like myself, going in and out New York.

Photo of the Day: Star Wars, Nothing But Star Wars…

Star Wars!

Nothing but Star Wars!

Gimme those Star Wars...

Don't let them end!

The “lyrics” that Bill Murray’s lounge lizard Nick Winters sang in a classic Saturday Night Live skit are, if you ask me, better than anything that came out of George Lucas’ typewriter. (Yes, that was the machine used nearly 40 years ago.) But the trilogy that started it all possesses an enduring hold on the imagination—yes, even mine—as I discovered at the start of this Memorial Day weekend, with a promotion to hype the Cartoon Network premiere of LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles.

Even before 9 a.m., an hour when many tourists in the Big Apple are lucky to be functioning, people were milling around Duffy Square to gape at the item in this photo: LEGO Starfighter Set #9493, only 42 times the size. In fact, it's even a bit bigger than the X-Wing dogfighter that Luke Skywalker and his fellow rebels used against the Evil Empire.

In any case, when I walked by the same spot in mid-afternoon on Friday, even more people came by to marvel at this technological model. As you can see from this shot, it’s an impressive beast, promoted as the world’s largest Lego model, containing more than 5.3 million bricks, with a wingspan of 44 ft. and sporting a full range of sound effects--proving once again that for so many people, Star Wars won't ever end.

Photo of the Day: Collective Self-Portrait in Gotham

A week ago, passing across midtown Manhattan’s Duffy Square, I was startled to come across what is being called “participatory public art.” Last week’s issue of Time Out New York included the “Inside Out Project” among the city’s examples of “outdoor art.”

What was happening was this: At a specially designed photo booth in Times Square, passersby could have their pictures taken, then have these black-and-white self-portraits overlaid on a backdrop created by the artist JR. (Question: “JR? You mean the guy in Dallas that just died?” Answer: I don’t know if this artist is into hats, but he’s French, so my guess is the Texas city is not his style.)

These posters, I had read, would be on display through May 10. Yesterday morning, I wondered if the project had come to a premature end, as I saw street cleaners mopping up the remains of these posters. Why were they sweeping these up? Because of the rain beginning to fall? Because new portraits needed to be made? Or because they couldn't last?

But this afternoon, I saw a whole new set, ready to replace the old images.

It’s almost Whitmanesque, this celebratory Song of Ourselves. Sadly, though it might be public art, it’s also, at heart, ephemeral art, too. The black-and-white posters seen here are already history. The image you see on your screen now is the last evidence of their existence.