Camera shy.

I followed this poor sap for a good five minutes. It was not a proud moment for either of us.

Umbrellas, sunglasses, and gyros.

All for $5.


Other city staples that cost around $5:

Pashmina's

Gray's Papaya's Recession Special

Two rides on the subway (like you're ever going to hold on to the card and its remaining oddball change)

Sunday editions of the Big3 papers (Times, Post, Daily News)

100 postcards (if you shop correctly)

Good dog.

I doubt this dog owner was actually trying to shield her pup's eyes from something, but the look is adorable nonetheless.

Tastes like victory.

Red, please.

Happy Mother's Day.

The K's were in town today for a little taste of downtown. Another walking tour moseying through the Lower East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown. Pickles included, frog lets not.

Windy weekend.

Much of the day was spent people watching in New York's premier PW spot - Union Square. The square's proximity to NYU, the East Village, and Brooklyn via the L train provides an ever-changing crowd of individuals to gawk at. The downside to today's lazy afternoon was the wind. To call it strong would be nice; $%*#ing awful is more accurate. Artists struggled to keep their works weighed down, and I squinted to keep Union Square's finest dust out of my eyes.

The kite guy, though - he was having a blast.

What's scarier?

So what's scarier? This cell phone picture of a building in Central Park or the fact that I'm training* for a half-marathon in a month and half?


*Training is a loose term.

Drive by.

Midtown parking garage.

Unmentionables.

17th street, a block west of Union Square.

Sadtrombone.com

This is what a burst housing bubble looks like:

Brooklyn sunset.

South Bronx memories.

I took a trip up to the Bronx to see what's left of the original Yankee Stadium. Rather then imploding the icon and giving the neighborhood the park it is still owed, Uncle George and Co. are picking it apart piece by piece.

Sure, Yankee Stadium was a decrepit excuse for a stadium. The hallways were cramped with Big Bob's from Brooklyn and one too many Dip 'n Dots carts. Bathroom lines were long and the upper deck was cramped. But you know what? That's the way baseball is supposed to be. You, me, and Freddie, squeezed too tightly together in a beer stained arena watching today's Yankees playing on the same field as the Babe. Santana pitching on the same mound where Lou Gehrig made his proclamation. The right field corner that Paul O'Neil defended with such ridiculous strength. Fights breaking out acround the stadium on some idle Tuesday night when Boston is in town.

Enough of that. What's done is done. But I don't know if I'll ever get used to exiting the 4 train and not turning left towards Stan's and the bleacher entrance.


More pictures here.

A sweet taste of New Jersey.

Sure signs that warm weather has arrived:

1) Bug bites
2) Later and later sunsets
3) Roadside sundaes.