Photo of the Day: Christmas Carolers, Rockefeller Center, NYC

Venturing into Rockefeller Center at this point in the holidays can be enough to make you say, “Bah! Humbug!” at times. The closer you get to the fabled tree, the worse you are jostled—probably one of the reasons I try not to walk in that direction from my office.

But if you stay inside—well, there are compensations. One of the most unexpected—and delightful--ones for me came inside, at noon today, when I stumbled upon this group of carolers. It wasn’t just their Victorian garb that caught my attention, but their harmonies.

I hope that, like me, you will come across something in the next week or so that you failed to anticipated but that still makes you smile. Merry Christmas, my friends!

Photo of the Day: ‘Paparazzi Dogman’ and ‘Papparazzi Rabbitgirl,’ Rockefeller Center, NYC

Last week, I finished 19 years in 1221 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center. During that time, however, I normally entered and exited the building from the north and south sides.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I came upon these two statues. Paparazzi Dogman and Papparazzi Rabbitgirl were created by “Gillie and Marc” to promote “diversity, love and acceptance.” I’m not sure why the building management these sculptures where they did, in the passageway to the west. But they still caught my eyes even here enough to make me want to snap this picture.

Photo of the Day: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

I took this photograph on November 29, the night after the world-famous tree had been lit for the first time this year, on the televised holiday special.

Photo of the Day: Fountain, Rockefeller Center, NYC

Early Wednesday night, after a 2 pm matinee performance at Lincoln Center, I headed down to Rockefeller Center. That’s when I came across this scene. Now, I work in the area, so under normal circumstances one would expect me to come across this. But I never get out on this side of the building, so I didn’t usually come across this. 

But now, with the nights coming on earlier—and the lights reminding me of the season to come—this setting practically implored me to take out my camera. I didn’t mind obliging in the slightest.

Photo of the Day: Chess Board, Rockefeller Center, NYC

The onset of warmer weather, as I indicated in a post the other day about an outdoor food festival, has brought with it a slew of activities to enjoy in the open. Rockefeller Center, where I work, is no exception. There are Friday morning concerts on the Today Show and Fox and Friends.

Outside my building today, on the way to the subway or subway concourse, I beheld a different sign of summer leisure: a chess board. Its pieces were not the small kind that rest easily on a table, but oversized. They need to be on the ground. 

At the start and end of my lunch hour, when I took the image accompanying this post, the size of these pieces clearly attracted onlookers. They couldn’t wait to try their hand at moving the pawns, knights, rooks, bishops, king, and queen.

New York is all about making one’s move when lighting upon an unexpected advantage—not unlike chess, played for lower stakes but far more fun, outside in this sunlit space today.

Photo of the Day: ‘Grown-Up Flower: Jack,’ at Rockefeller Center, NYC

This image is a counterpart to my blog post from the other day about the “Grown-Up Flower” series of art installations now in Rockefeller Center. As with the “Rose” picture I wrote about and photographed, the work you see here is the product of Playlab Inc.