Flushing Chinese New Year Parade

The Chinese New Year parade in Flushing, Queens on Saturday included a dozen or so lions and even a dragon. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good shot of the dragon as it danced past the crowds. Here is a collage of three lions from the parade.

So how was your weekend?

Sheriden Square in the Village

This is the street scene on West 4th Street near Sheriden Square in the Village last night during the Halloween Parade. The weather was super beautiful and the crowd was unbelievable. This is only one of the streets that were crawling with revelers.

So how is your weekend so far?

McCain & Palin Campaigning in NYC

I went to the New York's (Greenwich) Village Halloween Parade last night and guess who I saw campaigning furiously downtown? Yes, it was John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin. Surprising, I didn't see Barack Obama at the parade. Maybe he was campaigning in Florida.

N.B.: I'm cheating this week. I signed up for the Theme Day photo but I totally forgot about it and couldn't find any good photos of books in my photo archives to post tonight. So I'm going to skip it this month.

Climbers

What do you do when you can't see the parade? Climb up the scaffolding in front of a building?Hang on to a utility pole or sit on top of a telephone box? These people did whatever it took to see the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. Me, I just walked to the end of the street, away from the crowd, and watched the parade with my feet on the ground.

So have you ever climbed up a tree, a utility pole or a telephone box?

National Greek Parade

The National Greek Parade was held yesterday on 5th Avenue at Upper East Side. I was on my way to Central Park to take some photos and came upon the start of the parade. One of the most spectacular scenes at the parade was this gigantic Greek flag held up by a dozen or so marchers.

So have you been to Greece?

Easter Parade & Easter Bonnets 2008 - Carrot Patch

Here is an adorable "carrot patch" family at the Easter Parade & Easter Bonnets Festival. The event, despite its name, is not really a parade. It is more of a street fair where anyone and everyone, regardless of religious or political affiliations, can dress up in costumes and come to 5th Avenue for the festival.

By the way, I had a pair of bunny ears on when I took these photos. So when was the last time you dressed up in a costume? What did you dress as?

Easter Parade & Easter Bonnets 2008

Last year, I posted my first collage of photos from the annual Easter Parade and Easter Bonnets Festival on 5th Avenue, between 45 and 55th Street in Manhattan This year's festivities was held earlier (yesterday) and there was a cold snap of weather in the air. Nonetheless, everyone was out in their finest and most creative attires and bonnets. Here are the photos from the festival.

After the parade, I met up with fellow blogger, CityGirl15 of Gramercy Cafe and Eliot for brunch. It was great meeting them. They are the sweetest couple.

Spike, the Bull Dog (Again)

We had our neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade last Sunday and guess who I saw marching in the parade again this year. It's Spike, the Bulldog who lives in my building. Spike is quite the superstar in our neighborhood because his photo appeared in the New York Times newspaper last year.

So does anyone famous live in your neighborhood?

Easter Fashion

In addition to the fancy Easter bonnets, some people were decked out from head to toe in retro fashion. Women wore gloves and carried granny purses. Men wore beautiful fedoras while carrying walking sticks.

This photo above is one of the more colorful costumes at the Easter parade. I especially love the Nana Mouskouri glasses on the lady in purple. My mom wore a pair of those when I was a kid.

Check out The Satorialist by Scott Schuman. He has two beautiful photos of people dressed like Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. I think they look absolutely stunning.

Also, check out Rafe New York by Rafe Totengco. His mother took some spectacular photos from the Easter Bonnet Parade too. He's such a mama's boy!!

Easter Bonnet Parade

Every Easter Sunday, New Yorkers put on their best bonnets (or rabbit ears) and come to Manhattan to participate in the Easter Bonnet Parade on 5th Avenue between 49th and 57th Street. Unlike most parades, this event does not require anyone to march down a street or register with an organization. Basically, it is a street party where everyone can dress-up and come hang out with their friends on 5th Avenue, which is closed to traffic.

Despite the cold weather and snow (yes, we had snow this afternoon but it did not stick), tourists, photographers and bloggers like me come out to catch the spectacle of this creative, colorful and zany event. Everyone there was more than willing to have their photos taken.

I took so many photos that I decided to do a collage of the best ones. It was one of the most exciting and fun events I have ever attended and photographed.

No, I did not dress up in a costume. Maybe next year I will put on a pair of rabbit ears and be a photograhee, instead of the photographer.

If you could go, what would you wear to the Easter Bonnet Parade?

Leprechaun in New York City

This is another photo taken at the Queens' St. Patrick's Day Parade. The young fellow is dressed as a Leprechaun, which is an Irish fairy known for its mischievous attics.

St. Patrick's Day is traditionally celebrated on March 17 by people of Irish descent all over the world. On this day, people adopting everything green from green clothes to green food.

The biggest St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City (Manhattan) where over 2 million spectators and parade marchers walk down 5th Avenue.

Photo Update : Spike, the Bull Dog

This is a photo update of my previous post of Spike, the Bulldog.

I found out this morning that Spike was featured in the Travel Section of the New York Times. I wanted to share the photo with everyone so I'm posting a second photo for the day.

Photo Credit: This photo was taken by Eric Hauser of the New York Times.

It's All Gone to the Dogs

I would like to introduce everyone to my neighbors, Sasha (Husky) and Spike (Bulldog). They live in the same building as I do and I frequently bump into them in the elevator, the lobby or outside on the street. Sasha is a little shy and Spike is a sweetheart.

This photo, taken last Sunday, shows Sasha and Spike dressed in their special outfits because they were invited guests at our neighborhood's St. Patrick's Day Parade. This is the 8th year our neigbhorhood has hosted the local parade.