photographs and random miscellaney from my brain
Missed yesterday, so you get two today to catch up. Ended up having to go in to work this afternoon (it happens), but we weren’t in our office – we were back at another office down the street with great views. Here’s the bounty.
As part of a daily ritual, my admin and I go downstairs to starbucks every day. Today, we encountered…this. You can’t really get the full flavor of this feathered headdress contraption without seeing the front, where it has scarf-like arm appendages that fall down to one’s knees, but as I am a coward, you only get the back.
As a bonus, here’s a picture of this morning’s snow as seen from our offices that was originally going to be my daily pic. It got superseded.
Not fun: getting stuck at work all day Sunday.
Fun: neon radio city music hall signage without a giant touristy crowd in the way because it’s late on Sunday night.
This was the first building I worked in when I moved to New York City as a lawyer. Back then it was the home of both my first law firm (Thelen, Reid & Priest) and the Howard Stern show. Celebrity guests made for some interesting mornings attempting to get to work – although I do have the experience of literally walking into Ringo Starr in the lobby when he was a surprise guest. As in, not watching where I was going because I was digging around my purse for my building ID, and crashing into him. Only realizing once I looked up to apologize that he was, you know…a Beatle.
In any event, Thelen eventually moved out, I moved on to another firm, and I only pass by when on my way to other things.
My most recent engagement has me working in the Helmsley Building. Otherwise known as the classic building that sits astride Park Avenue north of Grand Central Terminal that is NOT the horrendously ugly MetLife Building. While I have no view to speak of (sitting in an internal cube), I sometimes sneak into one of the offices to take this view in.
One of my favorite things to note about the grid plan in NYC (and something I learned watching New York: A Documentary History by Ric Burns), is that, despite the tall buildings, we almost never feel claustrophobic in Manhattan because you can stand at almost any intersection and see for miles in at least three, if not all four directions. The prescience of such a decision made over 150 years ago, when few could have foreseen the elevator, much less the skyscraper, is astounding.
Took this last night (on the right day). New bar in my neighborhood. Happy it’s open as its better than the boarded up space it replaced, but I still miss the excellent Indian restaurant that was the previous enterprise.
They’ve started naming snowstorms now, which is generally stupid, but does make for easier blog post naming. New York City got spared the brunt of nemo, which hit most of the northeast with 2-3 feet of snow. But we still got about a foot. My goal was to wake up bright and early to take pictures before the melting/shoveling started in earnest, but thanks to the diligent efforts of the workers in my building last night, I didn’t get much sleep. Don’t get me wrong – I totally appreciate their efforts and wouldn’t have it any other way, but the all-night shoveling wasn’t exactly…quiet. I was finally able to get a few hours of sleep when they switched to the snowblower – for some reason the constant drone was easier to block out. So I got late start.
In any event, traditional snow day jaunt into central park to see it before it all turns into a slushy mess. First picture is the “official” 365 photo, the rest are just, well, the rest.
One of the newer buildings that has gone up in recent years. I like the sign.
My neighborhood has gotten significantly swankier in recent years, with our wine bars and apple stores, but this corner remains the same as ever.
