Here is a view of Upper East Side (looking northwards) from the corner of Madison Avenue and 72nd Street. The street is empty because this photo was taken on a Sunday morning at 10 AM in the morning. I think half of the city were still in bed.
Midtown traffic at night can still be pretty busy in Manhattan. It seems like everyone was either going home from work or going out to dinner. This photo was taken at 58th Street between 5th Avenue and Madison.
The Vesuvio Bakery, on Prince Street between Thompson and West Broadway, has been in business for eighty years. It was serving Italian style baked goods and great coffee way back when SoHo was considered an undesirable commercial warehouse district. It is amazing that the bakery is still here.
I ran out of Christmas photos after posting them over the last couple of weeks so I'm using this beautiful bouquet of flowers instead.
These thousands of sparkling lights are part of the decorations in front of Cartier, the luxury jewelery store on 5th Avenue and 52th Street. If you look upwards, it almost looked like the sky was dotted with millions of stars.
This steel trees sculpture by Roxy Paine is one of three such structures that were installed at the Madison Square Park on 23th Street and Broadway.
This photo was taken at the same park where the Ring Dome by Minsuk Cho was installed two months ago. The park is actually a small plot of concrete island bordered by Spring Street in the south and the apex of Cleveland and Lafayatte Streets on the east and west.
Here is another photo from the Union Square Holiday Market on 14th Street and Broadway. It is less than a week before Christmas so everyone is doing their last minute shopping.
This little sugar plum fairy was on one of the store windows of ABC Carpets at Union Square. I like the simplicity and color scheme of the window decoration.
I went to the doctor's office for my annual medical check-up yesterday and was pricked, pulled, yanked and fingered (you boys know what I mean) all within the matter of minutes. And he didn't even buy me dinner or say thank you.
I cannot help it. Every time I walk by something shining, I have to take a photo of my own reflection on it. So here is another self-portrait.
This is the front window of a restaurant in the Village called, Cowgirl that is located on the corner West 10th Street and Hudson Street. I have walked by it many times and heard the recordings of Patsy Cline blaring through the doors. So I thought it was a lesbian bar. Then last weekend, I noticed the beautiful decorations on the window and decided to take a peek inside. The place turns out to be a family-oriented restaurant that serves southern food. How wrong was I?
Here is another photo of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from a different angle. The building on the right, 1 Rockefeller Center dwarfs the Christmas tree.
It is mid-month subway theme day again. We decided we were going to post subway signs in our cities. This photo was taken at the Prince Street subway platform in SoHo. Here are the people participating in the mid-month subway themes:New York City Daily Photo - PHO (Paris) - stockholm by pixels
This photo was taken at Otto Enoteca just as we were seated, before the food and drinks arrived. Once the food hit the table, I'm was too busy eating to take any photos.
We are expecting another snow storm to hit New York City tonight and wake up to 2 - 4 inches of snow in the morning. I bet the kids are happy because there may be some school closings. Unfortunately, I will still have to be at work whether it snows or not.
These bright little lighting units are among the pieces of artwork sold at the Union Square Holiday Market this year. I'm sure some lucky person will get these as gifts soon.
Last Friday night, my colleagues and I went out to dinner at Otto Enoteca, the least expensive restaurant on American Iron Chef, Mario Battali's stable of restaurants in New York City. I ordered the thin crust pizza, which was really good. My friend ordered the pasta with Italian sausage and it was awful. All in all, the food was a mediocre but the dining company was excellent.
This photo was taken at the Union Square Holiday Market this weekend. Vendors here sell everything from designer soaps, gloves, scarves and jackets to Christmas decorations like tree ornaments and sparkling trinkets. The market will be open every day until the day before Christmas. This booth in the photo sells gorgeous glass replicas of flowers that arevworn as jewelries.
I usually go straight home after work but my social calendar has very busy lately. Last Wednesday, I was invited to a lecture and book signing event, followed by a wine and cheese reception at the Asia Society. On Thursday, my friend and I went to our old neighborhood in Astoria for some really good sushi. Then I went out again on Friday and Saturday nights.
My friend and I decided to go back to our old neighborhood in Astoria for dinner on Thursday night. That was where I saw this Christmas tree vendor on the corner of Ditmars Boulevard and 31st Street. I stopped and took a dozen or so photos of the scene. 
Two nights ago, I was invited by a friend to attend a lecture and book signing event by a world renowned chi gong master (gentleman seated on the right) at the Asia Society, a cultural institution and museum in the Upper East Side. The chi gong master claimed that the martial art, which included breathing exercises, can cure everything from cancer to asthma and diabetes. I was surprised nobody in the audience contradicted his statement. Maybe everyone was being polite.
I wasn't the only one there to see the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center. I went, I saw and I left. I am not a fan of crowded places. 
Here is a new addition to the Central Park Bench series. It was taken last Sunday during the snow storm. The water on the upper right corner is simply known as The Lake. 
This photo of a store window decorations was taken at Saks Fifth Avenue, the luxury departmental store on 5th Avenue and 50th Street. Because of the weak U.S. dollar, many retailers are targeting the increasing important tourist market this season. 
New York City saw its first snow storm for the season yesterday and I went out to Central Park after (a hearty) breakfast to shoot some photos. This photo was taken just as the snow stopped and you can see a lot of young couples were out for a walk and enjoying the weather.
This photo of 5th Avenue was taken after I had visited the Rockefeller Center to photograph the Christmas tree earlier this week. The old building in the background is The Peninsula Hotel on 55th Street. Even though it was after 8 PM, the traffic in mdtown Manhattan was still roaring. 
This month theme photo is a bridge. This photo was taken on the paestrian and bicycle path on Queensborough Bridge, which connects Queens to Manhattan. You can see the new metal and the old concrete structures of the bridge here.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was unveiled on Wednesday night to great funfair and excitement. According to news reports, the 8 tons, 60-year old, 84 feet tall Norway spruce was decorated with 5 miles or 30,000 pieces of energy-efficient lights called light emitting diodes (LEDs). The LEDs use up to 60% less energy than regular light bulbs. In addition, the tree will be recycled as lumber for Habitat for Humanity after the Christmas season is over.
Click here for professional photos of the tree and the festivity on Yahoo.com.
So what are you plans for this weekend?
According to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) advertisement here, one has a 2 to 1 odds of running into six tall, dark, handsome men on the subway. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. If you were a single girl (or a single gay man), I guess the subway is as good a place to meet men as any other place.
I was on my way to dinner on a very cold evening this past weekend when I noticed this tree looking very naked and cold. 
This photo was taken minutes before the one I posted yesterday. It is from the corner Prince Street and Mercer Street, where the Fanelli Cafe is located. The bar/restaurant has been here for since 1847, way before SoHo became the hot spot for fashion and art. It serves really good chilli and burgers but most people come here for the bar scene since it is right in the middle of SoHo.
This photo was taken in front of Zoë, a nouveau American restaurant on Prince Street between Broadway and Mercer. To catch as much light as possible, I set my camera on slow exposure and stabilized it on top of a car parked on the curb of the street. The reflection you see in the photo is from the roof of the car. I have never eaten at this restaurant before but I hear it is a really nice place.
Todd of Postcards from Hell's Kitchen and CityGirl15 of Gramercy Cafe recently posted photos of political messages they saw in NYC and they reminded me of a photo I took almost a year ago at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. It was a small graffiti scribbled on a giant poster blanketing the wooden fence surrounding the renovation site. If you click on the image above, you will see a full size version of the photo and what the graffiti said.
If you were to scribble a graffiti on a public space (not that I'm advocating it), what would you write?
The weather turned really cold and wintery yesterday. This photo re, taken last weekend at Central Park, presents how it feels outsidie -- chilly and dry. I had to have the humidifier on all day long because of the low humidity in the air.
Today, the day after Thanksgiving, is known as Black Friday because it is the official start of the Christmas shopping season and retailers across the country are expecting to be raking in huge sales volumes and profits.
Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US and it is one of the busiest traveling holidays in the country. Everyone will be go home to their families or visiting friends for the 4-day weekend. And there will be many turkey dinners served on the table. 
These sausages were from the Koglin German Hams store at the Grand Central Market. The store specializes in sausages and cured meats from around the world. Although I have not tried the sausages here, I have gotten some deli meats and some breads and cheeses from other vendors at the market for an impromptu picnic at Bryant Park.
I had breakfast in Paris and was back to NYC in less than an hour. Or so it seemed. This photo was taken at the Bernarduad store window on Park Avenue and 60th Street. Bernarduad is a maker of fine chinaware and jewelry.
I took this photo at the Louis Vuitton window display case this weekend. I love that you can see three of me in the photo but not everything so my identity is still a mystery. I am, afterall, Ming the Merciless from the planet Mongol.
It has been fairly windy and cold this weekend. During weather like this, I usually have to wear a skull cap to keep my head warm or else, I will get a severe headache later in the evening. While I was in SoHo a couple weekends ago, I saw these fancy caps on sale by a street vendor on Prince Street between Mercer and Broadway. The vendor told me she knitted the caps herself.
Fall (Autumn) weather is finally here again and the foliage has turned a spectrum of yellows to reds. This photo was taken from the 4th floor of one of our office buildings in Queens this afternoon. You can see the faraway Manhattan skylines in middle of the photo.
These are little refrigerator magnets for sale at the street fair. I believe they are 3 for $1.N.B.: I apologize for not responding to some of your comments this week. I am swamp at work. I will try to visit everyone this weekend.
It is mid-month subway theme day again and this month, we have a new guest -- Peter from Paris who is joining us for the first time. We all decided to post similar photos of people entering the subway station at night in our cities.
This photo was taken at the Lieutenant Petrosino Square in Nolita (North of Little Italy) where the The Ring Dome stucture was installed last month. Corona, the Mexican beer brand, must have sponsored the event or paid for the tables and chairs at the square because of the advertisements on the chairs.
These little hand made magnetic buttons were sold at a street fair in Queens a couple months ago. I thought they were colorful and quite fun, especially the ones with beautiful designs on them.
Janet Zweig and Edward del Rosario are the artists who created the ceramic mosaics that are currently installed on the walls of the subway station at Prince Street in SoHo. The ceramic artwork depicts regular New Yorkers going on with their every day lives. 
Here is another beautiful vase shaped fire escape with ornate iron work on the railings and steps. You cannot see it in this photo but there was an old man leaning out the window just left of the bottom corner staring at me. I think he was either curious or unhappy I was taking a photo of his building. I said HI but he did not respond.
This is the stoop of the famous apartment (66 Perry Street) where Carrie Bradshaw, a character on the tv-series Sex & the City, supposedly lived. There were numberous scenes in the show where Carrie sat on the stairs leading up to the building while hanging out with her friends or waiting for Mr. Big to show up. Although she lived on Upper East Side, most of the exterior scenes of her apartment were shot here in the Village. 
Here is another photo of pizzas at a restaurant in Union Square on 14th Street between Broadway and 3rd Avenue. I had posted a photo of an eggplant pizza from the same restaurant a couple weeks ago. The reason I love the pizza here is because they are cooked in a traditional wood burning oven and the crust are super thin and crisp. A slice here goes for about US$3.50.