Le Petit Cafe

I love the signs and window decorations on this cute little cafe in SoHo, Le Petit Cafe, which is located on Spring Street between Wooster and Thompson Street, a block west of yesterday's photo. This is a great place to stop for cappuccino and gelato when I'm in the area.

So how do you take your morning coffee or tea?

Wooster Street Market

This corner street market is located on the corner of Wooster and Spring Streets in SoHo. The items sold here are mostly clothes, hats, gloves and jewelries made by independent designers and artists.

But the main reason I took this photo was the faded poster of a little girl on the wall. I was walking up Spring Street and I stopped in front of Wooster Street because of the red traffic light. When I looked up, I saw the poster and I quickly took a photo of it before the light turned green.

So do you prefer to shop for clothes at a big departmental store or at a small boutique?

N.B.: I have switched the Word Verification mode ON because I received over 50 spam comments in the last week.

Rotisserie Chicken

When I visited in Paris in 2005, I stayed at a small hotel in the Villier neighborhood where there was a daily street market a block away. At the street market, there were vendors selling rotisserie chicken with baby potatoes cooking on a tray directly beneath the roasting chicken. The smell was amazing. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to try them because I did not want to eat it in my hotel room.

Last weekend, I walked by this little charming french bistro called, Le Gamin Cafe on West Houston Street and saw the same rotisserie chicken with potatoes at the bottom cooking outside the restaurant. I was tempted to eat there but I had just came from dinner. Maybe next time.

So have you ever had these rotisserie chicken with roasted potatoes?

Halloween Party in the Village III: Blown Away

These two gentlemen have the most original costumes at the Halloween Party on Wednesday. They created a realistic impression of a windy day eventhough the weather was fairly calm that evening. I love the upswept hair in the first photo and the newspapers-and-leaves effect in the second photo. They must be artists or designers to come up with something so spectacular. Incidentally, we are expecting 30-50 mph wind condition tomorrow from the storm that is developing in the Atlantic.

Click on to The Making of New York City Daily Photo to view a R-rated photo collage from the Halloween street party.

So are you an artistic person? Did you excel in art when you were in school?

Halloween Party in the Village II

Here is the second installation of photos from the Halloween street party yesterday. These people were NOT part of the Halloween parade that marched up 6th Avenue from Spring to 23rd Street. They were actually revelers dressed up in costumes and hanging out in the Village or heading to a party somewhere.

There was a huge stadium size spot light at Sheriden Square so I stood there for three hours watching people walk by. As soon as I saw someone interesting, I went up and asked if he or she could step in front of the light so I could take a photo. Most of them gave me three to four poses to photograph.

So would you stop and pose for a stranger?

Halloween Party in the Village

Every year, the city organizes a Halloween parade in the Greenwich Village. So after work yesterday, I went downtown to take some photos of Halloween revelers on the street. I saw a lot of amazing costumes and everyone was willing to pose for me.

So here is the first collage of people and costumes from the street party. Click on the photo to see a bigger version of it. I will post the second and third collages in the next couple of days.

So which is your favorite photo?

Happy Hallloween

This photo was taken at the Halloween Party at Grand Central Station on Sunday afternoon. The event called NYC Goes Orange was held to raise money and awareness of the one million New Yorkers who rely on emergency food from the Food Bank of New York City to feed their families during the holiday seasons every year. People who attended the Halloween Party were asked to donate $5 and all proceeds will go towards the Food Bank, which is a major provider of food items to over 1,000 emergency and community food programs across the city.

Who or what would you dress as if you were going to a Halloween party?

Manhole Cover Doormat

I posted a photo of a manhole cover on Saturday and incidentally, Eliane of NYC posted a great interpretation of it on her blog. Over the weekend, I found this manhole cover doormat at the Posman Books at the Grand Central Station. Apparently, manhole covers are quite the thing in NYC. Who would have guessed?

Do you have a doormat outside your house? What does it say?

Sun Breaking Through the Clouds

The rain began last Wednesday and it poured and drizzled almost non-stop until Saturday afternoon. Then the cloud lifted and the sun broke through. It was a beautiful sight!! This photo was taken at 5 PM Saturday evening as I was standing on the subway platform waiting for the train to arrive. I was going into the city to meet my former colleagues for dinner and drinks. And I didn't get home until 1:15 AM Sunday morning.

So do you still socialize with your former colleagues from your old jobs?

Apartment Stoop 7

Here is a modern interpretation of the classic apartment stoops. This townhouse on 13th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue was probably renovated recently to give it a different look from the rest of the townhouses in the area. This area is considered the gold coast of the Village because of its highly desireable properties and tree lined street.

So how is your weekend so far?

Manhole Cover 2

Here is the second photo for my manhole cover series. This one in the East Village has an interesting but distinct design on it. I always assumed the designs were the somewhat consistent or similar since there probably aren't too many manufacturers out there making these sort of things. But apparently, I'm wrong. The ones I have photographed have been all different.

This weekend I plan to go out and photograph as many of these covers as possible to see if there is a consistency in design or if it is all random.

Have a good weekend.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream.....Gelato??

It doesn't take much to make me. For example, this cup of chocolate gelato with a piece of hazelnut chocolate (Nutella) vanilla wafer and a cup of cappuccino will make me a very happy man!! The photo was taken at Caffee Dante on MacDougal Street, just north of Houston Street. It is an old world Italian cafe with delicious pastries, gelato and coffee.

So what simple things in life make you happy?

What Lies Beneath

I walked by Greene Street in SoHo many times but never noticed the artwork beneath me until this past weekend when I saw some tourists reading the sign (photo #2) on the floor. That was when I realized there was something interesting there. It is an interpretation of the New York City subway map by Franciose Schein. To see the real NYC subway map, click here.

So do you usually look at what's beneath you? Have you ever stepped on a piece of gum or dog doo-doo?

Accident of Nature

I was hoping to get a photo of the baseball diamond in Long Island City (in the background) from where I was standing (on the Queensborough Bridge) but the camera automatically focused on the fence instead. When I loaded the photos onto the computer, I realized this "accidental photo" turned out quite nicely. Yes, it is a wee bit strange but somewhat artistic.

Have you ever taken an accidental photo that turned out better than you expected?

Upper East Side Statue

I saw this statue of a woman and a little girl tugged in a tight corner between two huge buildings on the Upper East Side recently. As you can see, the space behind the statue was used as a trash collection area and the statue looks neglected and unappreciated.

I wish I had taken a close-up photo of the scroll that the little girl is holding to get more information about it. Maybe next time I'm in the area, I will stop by and get more information about the statue.

Have you ever felt neglected? How did you deal with it?

Jing Fong Restaurant in Chinatown

A couple weekends ago, I took some out-of-town friends to Jing Fong Restaurant for some dim sum. If you never had dim sum, it is a traditional Cantonese brunch menu that includes Chinese (Jasmine and/or Chrysanthemum) tea, dumplings, cakes, pastries and congee (rice porridge). You can also get the more exotic dishes or cuts of meat like stew chicken feet, fish bladder soup and stewed pork stomach.

This photo shows the small room/section of the restaurant, which have been renovated recently. The dim sum menu here is vast and quite inexpensive. It is one of my favorite places to bring friends for brunch on weekends.

So what is the most exotic food/meat you have ever eaten?

Earl Grey MarTEAni at Pegu Club

Here is a photo of the bartender making an Earl Grey MarTEAni at Pegu Club, where I met with Eliane, Lori, Olivier and Amedée.

Since the light was kind of low at the bar, I balanced my camera on top of my glass and shot this image on a slow exposure setting. It gave the bartender's hand a blurry image while everything else remained clear.

So what are your favorite drinks?

Amedée in NYC

Amedée and Olivier from Evry Daily Photo are in town this week. Yesterday, they invited Eliane of NYC Daily Photo, Lori of Miss B in NY and I for drinks at Pegu Club, followed by dinner at L'Ulivo in SoHo. We had a great evening and everyone was enchanted with Amedée. We took turns taking photos of him at the bar. So expect to see more photos of Amedée appearing on our blogs in the next couple of days.

Here is a photo of Amedée with his drink at Pegu Club. He was a little bit tipsy because he had some white wine, some red wine and an Earl Grey martini before finishing up this Long Island Ice Tea.

So when was the last time you had a little too much to drink?

Middle Eastern Pastries

These delicious Middle Eastern pastries are from a bakery in Astoria next to a restaurant where I go to frequently for falafel and shawarma sandwiches, tabouleh and babaganoush. The food here are delicious and inexpensive. These pastries are made from filo, chopped pistachios, honey and butter.

So have you ever had these pastries before?

Hi Ho Silver, Away

This policeman kindly posed for me and a group of other tourists in SoHo this weekend. He looked super confident and yet friendly, which is what we like to see in our New York Police Department (NYPD). Eliane from (the other) NYC Daily Photo posted also a photo of the NYC Mounted Unit recently. I guess they are everywhere in the city.

Have you ever ridden a horse? How was it?