very simple

According to Manhattan Block-by-Block by John Tauranac (a great map and guide for anyone living or visiting NYC), while all blocks are of “roughly” equal size, the distance between sixth and seventh avenues is by far the longest distance between avenues. Anyone who has worked in a particular section of midtown west on the 50s has always known about the “secret” passageway through a series of buildings halfway between the two, because it was just too much of a pain in the *** to go all the way to the corner if you had to go from, say, midblock on 53rd to midblock on 56th. So the thoroughfare, cutting through public and semi public spaces including a pedestrian passageway behind the Hilton, City Center, the Parker Meridian hotel (among others), led to a constant stream of people playing frogger with midtown traffic.

A few years ago, the city decided enough was enough. No, they didn’t try to force people to cross at the corners – that would have been asking too much. They turned the entire “secret passageway” into an official street.

By the police, no less. These guys were doing some very mild crowd control, but mostly just letting tourists pet their horses, on the plaza near the Rockefeller center tree. But one of them clearly noticed me trying to take a picture. Oops!

rockefeller center.

As noted before, I didn’t walk up fifth avenue as much this holiday season for…reasons. I did try to brave it once or twice to grab shots of the tree, but didn’t get any post-worthy ones due to the size of the crowds and the traffic that kept getting in the way in unfortunate ways. But I did grab this nice angle of rockefeller center one evening despite the jostling.

closeup detail of a random window grate in my neighborhood.

Taken in late November, when the leaves in New York were at their maximum “falling off of trees” stage

beacon theater marquee mere seconds before the skies opened up in a torrential downpour.

I love walking up fifth avenue, particularly during the holidays (and yes, even with the tourists). There’s a great energy, with the people and the lights and the beautiful holiday windows that not only try to top each other, but themselves year-over-year. But I’ve been largely avoiding it this fall due to the security nightmare created by our new (ugh) president-elect, who thinks running a reality show competition for cabinet posts from a building situated on one of the busiest street corners of the world is somehow a good idea and not a sign of abject sociopathic narcissism. But I digress.

Atlas is one of the many Art Deco sculptures forming the campus of Rockefeller center.

I finally went to the new Whitney in Chelsea this past October. One of the lovely features is an outdoor space on each floor where you can see sculptures and also take in various views of the city. Here, you can see the High Line (normally everyone’s favorite spot for elevated skyline viewing) from high above itself.

marquee for the Joyce Theater in Chelsea.

I was just amused by the juxtaposition of these two police cars. And wondering who gets stuck driving the tiny car.

Also, yes, they’re totally parked in the new bike lane on Amsterdam.