Today is the last day of 2008. In less than 24 hours, it is estimated that over 1 million revelers will be congregating at Times Square to celebrate the arrival of the new year. I, on the other hand, will be going to the movies.
This building is located on Broadway Avenue between 45th and 44th Street, right in the middle of Times Square. I was standing across the street in front of ABC-TV's studio when I looked up and saw the clock face on the top. I quickly took a few photos and moved on. It was only when I got home that I realized the colors in this photo are quite amazing.
This photo would have been perfect for Christmas Day but it was taken yesterday morning. I was less than 3 feet (1.5 meters) away but the bird ignored me and continued eating red berries from the holly bush while I took over a half dozen photos of it. It was probably thinking, "How rude!"
Here are some souvenirs from the M&M Store on Times Square. It's a favorite among tourists, especially those under the age of 10.
So what kind of souvenirs do you usually buy when you are traveling out of town?
This apartment on 12th Street in the Greenwich Village has a little private garden and foot path to the front door, which are extremely rare in New York City. Most apartments have the main door located right on the street.
The sign on this coffee shop window says: Don't Use Cash! Save 5% of all purchases using any form of payment (credit, debit) or Just Roasted Coffee Card. That is strange indeed as most stores prefer cash over credit or debit payments. 
This Christmas tree was set up in the lobby of my apartment building. It belongs to everyone who lives here. So I'm going to share it with you all.
This interesting store, Flight 001 in Greenwich Village, sells some of the most interesting travel items. On Sunday, I went there to buy an adapter plug for Italian wall sockets for my laptop. Yeap, I'm heading to Rome in January for a little vacation. I guess that wish I made when I threw the 100 Lira coin (US$0.07) into the Trevi Fountain in 1980 might come true after all.
This guy was checking his e-mail or text messages on his cell (mobile) phone while shopping at Dean & Deluca, a gourmet supermarket on Prince Street and Broadway Avenue in SoHo.
I saw these paw prints on a fresh coat of snow this morning on my way to brunch. Notice the two dark spots on the lower right corner? I wonder if those spots are what I think they are. And no, there wasn't a tree nor fire hydrant near by.
I shot this photo of Restaurant Felix on the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street last week. I've never eaten here before but I understand that it's an expensive restaurant with hipster cred(ibility).
It snowed (again) this morning and here is the scene outside my living room window. Sorry for the blurry photo but this was the best one out of the bunch I took.
Here is a tower of panettone, a type of Italian Christmas bread, at Whole Foods Supermarket in Union Square. The festive confection is becoming increasing popular in the US and frequently given as gifts. The quality of the photo isn't the best because I snapped it with my cell phone.
Aside from the CitiBank Building and the Empire State Building in the photo, can you see the Chrysler Building? The street on the left is Queens Boulevard and the skyline in the far background is Manhattan.
It snowed yesterday afternoon for a couple hours and again, in the evening when I was on my way home. This photo was taken from inside the train car when the door opened at the Woodside station. I wanted to take a photo of the snow coating on the platform when a person walked by and I ended up with this wonderful photo.
This gigantic sculpture of the 
Every December, temporary shopping bazaars pop up all over the city to sell everything from food and jewelries to clothes and bags for the holiday season. This year, there are three holiday bazaars that I know of (there maybe more) : Union Square on 14th Street, Bryant Park on 42nd Street and Columbus Circle on 60th Street. This photo was taken at the Union Square site.
Here is a close-up shot of the lights-and-wire angels at the Rockefeller Center Atrium that I posted a couple days ago.
We had a strong wind storm a couple days ago and it must blown the Lexus sign of its perch on top of this building next to Queensborough Plaza. What's more interesting is the little ladder that goes up the side of the building where there is a door. I wonder who lives in there.
This is the entrance to Argosy Books, one of the few independent bookstores left in New York City. Located on 59th Street between Lexington and Park Avenue, it specializes in rare and old books, maps and prints, which makes it somewhat immune to big store chains like Barnes & Noble and online retailers like Amazon.com that sell mostly new fiction and non-fiction books.
Here is one of the grand dames of New York City -- the Chrysler Building. The photo was taken while I was standing in front of Macy's Departmental Store on 34th Street and 7th Avenue. I have just bought two pairs of wrinkle-resistant Docker's pants that were on sale.
A friend invited me to the Antiques & Art at The Armory show sponsored by AVENUE magazine last weekend. It was definitely an eye opener for me. Among the antiques on display was a velvet lined wooden chest filled with gold and silver flatware from the Romanov era, priced at an affordable US$450,000. :-)
This is The Pond at Bryant Park, an free ice skating rink on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. It is one of three ice skating rinks in the city -- the other two are at the Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
Last night, I went to the Rockefeller Center to take some photos. The building with the snow flake lights in the background is the famous departmental store, Saks Fifth Avenue. The lighted angels with trumpets are located on the walkway leading to the ice rink at the Rockefeller Center.
I would like to introduce everyone to Wakamaru, a domestic robot (that does household chores), made by Mitsubishi of Japan. He is currently visiting New York City and staying at Uniqlo (Japanese version of GAP) in SoHo. He can be seen walking around and greeting customers at the store. I had a delightful conversation with Wakamaru and I hope he enjoys his stay here.
This store window for Henri Bendel, a luxury departmental store on 5th Avenue and, has some of the best Christmas decorations. Instead of mannequins or Christmas trees on the windows, it has a row of jars filled with colorful candies.
I saw this interesting bouquet where dried chili peppers were used to add some colors to the yellow blooms. Since winter is here, there aren't many fresh flowers at the market any more.
I got off the bus at 3rd Avenue and 8th Street last weekend and saw this guy painting a picture of the Cooper Union Building in the East Village. The painter patiently applied his strokes to the canvas despite the freezing cold temperature and breezy wind outdoors. I snapped a half dozen photos and ran inside a Starbucks to get a warm cup of Caramel Macchiato.
This is the skyline of Central Park South, above the tree line so the buildings you see are probably the 5th floor and up. Directly across the street from these buildings is the southern border of Central Park.
Here is a new photo for my chimney series. The building is located on 3rd Avenue between 13th and 14th Street, directly across the street from the dino mural photo I posted a couple days ago. Notice the rooftop garden in the photo? It must be wonderful to have a little private garden all to yourself.
It's theme photo day again and this month's theme is Circles or Spheres. My contribution to the theme photo was taken in from of a restaurant called, Brasserie 8 1/2 on 57th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue.