September 28th, 2016
Category: september 2016
Authorized persons only
At the New York Life Insurance Company Building.
Every now and then I get the urge to step inside an interesting looking lobby. I am amazed by the splendour every time. 
Bronze, marble and elaborate coffered ceilings on view, at 51 Madison Avenue.
September 28th, 2016
Chasing waterfalls
In the heart of Manhattan.
September 28th, 2016
Meeting points
Flatiron
September 28th, 2016
Three Jerks and A Lazy Lady
A little game I like to play in big supermarkets or delis – look for products with funny names and make up silly stories like this:
Miranda washed in Absinthe, her perfume subdued by the exquisite fragrance of a 300 day Gorgonzola, a perfume so intoxicating, so maddening, it was enough to turn the Three Jerks of the House of Croxetti against their once beloved cousins of the House of Corzetti. The epic fight that followed brought only grief; it was left upon poor little Jersey Girl to comfort the grieving Lazy Lady of Vermont, offspring of a secret union between the two Houses. To aid her in this unpleasant and troublesome task, she summoned the Honorable Sweet Lady Apple, who promptly came to the rescue making a hasty – but grand – entrance surrounded by a full basketload of Red Globe Grapes.
The cheese section in Eataly is rife with such potential, but I usually end up leaving with some good old trusted Compté or Swiss Gruyère. And I like my Absinthe with a sugar block on the side please, no cheese.
Eataly, across from the Flatiron Building
September 28th, 2016
A Gallic touch (with a little help from the Greeks)
This magnificent gilded bronze relief graces the entrance of La Maison Française, part of the Rockefeller Center. A token of friendship between France and the United States, it depicts the two Cities – Paris and New York – reaching towards each other, showered with the gifts brought by the Three Graces, underneath.
According to Greek Mythology, the Three Graces were daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid (daughter of the Ocean) Eurynome. They were:
Aglaia – representing elegance, splendour
Thalia – representing youth, beauty
Euphrosyne – representing mirth
For the purposes of said friendship they became Poésie, Beauté & Elégance, an unwittingly apt transformation judging by their strategic location, watching over Saks Fifth Avenue right across the street.
Sculpture by Alfred Janniot, ca. 1934 (more reading here & here)
La Maison Française
610 Fifth Avenue
New York
September 28th, 2016
Jonah in the belly of the beast (the hypnotic effect)
Inside Oculus
September 25th, 2016
The Other One (the Calatrava effect)
One World Trade Center & Oculus
September 25th, 2016
The Other One (the dusky effect)
Hudson River Greenway, Pier 34
Lower Manhattan
September 25th, 2016
The One
Westbeth Artists Housing at 55 Bethune Street, West Village
Westbeth Artists Housing is a nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations in New York City.
September 25th, 2016
The Humble Fabulist 