What's that saying about life being like a bowl (or carton) of cherries?

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A Green Space in Manhattan

Bryant Park is located on the same block as the New York Public Library in Manhattan. It has a lot of diversity for its size, sporting several cafes and eating spots, a football field-sized lawn where weekly movies are shown during the summer, sculptures of famous New Yorkers, a carousel, and hundreds of chairs, tables, and benches for sitting and relaxing.

in Bryant Park, New York City

Gertrude Stein, sitting cross-legged rather like a Buddha, is one of 5 statues in Bryant Park. It’s prominently located on the terrace, on the park side of the New York Public Library. The cast was done by Jo Davidson in 1923, long before Stein had become famous as a literary figure and supporter, and was installed in the park in 1992. Amazing to me, this was the first public statue of an American woman placed in the whole of New York City, and that was done only 17 years ago.

reflections of a summer's day

I walked to the New York Public Library, one of 150 buildings on the favorites list of the American Institute of Architects, but it is undergoing extensive renovation and was cloaked in plastic and canvas. Not able to see except for the pair of lion statues at the massive front entrance.

According to an informational sign in the park on the architecture on the square, this is the Home Box Office Building designed in 1985 by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Walking the Sidewalks of New York

I had big plans when I decided to go to New York City. See the museums. See a Broadway show. Visit a few restaurants. I did go to a museum, The Guggenheim, to see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the museum and celebrating the many works of Wright. We squeezed in more restaurant stops than originally planned. We happened to be visiting the city during Restaurant Week, and participating restaurants offered a three course dinner for $35.00, a fraction of the regular price. One night we splurged (calorie-wise) on sushi, cold lobster and chocolate, a second night the menu included tamales wrapped in plantain leaves, tequila-marinated steak and caramel flan. We nixed the theatre. Tickets to a couple of the shows I’d considered – Billy Elliott, Blithe Spirit, or The 39 Steps – were way too expensive to rationalize. So while my husband attended a conference, I spent the better part of each of the five days we were there strolling the streets with my camera.

I photographed a few of the more famous buildings – architectural standards like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, newer gems like Time-Warner Center and Hearst Tower, and buildings adjoining Central Park – the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Dakota Apartments. I walked past a few of the classic hotels, (The Regis, Waldorf-Astoria, The Plaza) and ornate cathedrals (St. Patrick and St. John the Divine) and I even studied the lines of the glass Apple Store on 5th Avenue. Lots of photo opportunities. And as usual, it will take me a while to get everything sorted and a few posted.

But most especially I enjoyed wandering the neighborhoods, seeing older brick apartments, the brownstones, the tiny shops only a doorway or so wide. The above photo is of a brick and stone building on Columbus Avenue that caught my eye. I like how the windows on the different floors all present a different style – flower pots, blinds, shutters. And even the lamp post surrounded by the blown background intrigued me.

Now if only the hours of walking each day had balanced the offerings from the restaurants, all would have been quite splendid, indeed. Wishful thinking on my part, that.