Potato, Schmotato

Apparently, there are more to potatoes than just Idaho potatoes. Here, at the Green Market in Union Square, there are purple potatoes, red potatoes, yellow potatoes, white potatoes, skinny potatoes, fat potatoes, big potatoes, small potatoes, pretty potatoes, ugly potatoes....all kinds of potatoes.

I love potatoes. I love mash potatoes, scalloped potatoes, shoe string potatoes....all kind of potatoes.

How do you like your potatoes?

An Apple A Day Makes The Doctor Go Away

The Green Market at Union Square meets every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It is a place where farmers, florists, butchers, bakers, and fishermen from the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) and Long Island come to sell their freshest produce and meats. Many chefs buy their produce here and the plats du jour at the restaurants are based on what are available at the market that day.

During the winter months, apples that were freshly picked less than 24 hours ago are sold here. These apples, unlike the supermarket apples, do not contain any preservatives or wax on them. However, if you do not like fresh apples, there are also freshly baked apple pies, apple crisps, and warm apple ciders.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of apples but I eat about two apples a week. They are convenient and they do not require cooking time. I also try to eat (at least) two servings of vegetables a day even though I rather be eating a nice big fat juicy burger. :-)

So how many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat a day?

Gay Man Trapped in A Fembot

This is an advertisement for Avedka Vodka that I saw on a telephone booth at Union Square. I thought it was different and yet innovative in a weird way. But most interestingly, I love the tag line: I'm a gay man trapped in the body of a fembot.

In the photo, you can see my reflection in the glass. I was carrying a white plastic bag with me. Inside the bag were two BIG bars of chocolate brownies with macadamia nuts that I just bought at the Union Square green market down the street. After this photo was taken, I went to the park and ate one of the brownies with a cup of chai latte from Starbucks.

Which do you prefer - brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

Artist Colony @ Aromatic Biodegradable Art

These little "animals" were some of the most interesting and amusing art works for sale at the artist colony in Union Square. All the "animals" were made from fresh hay and are, therefore biodegradable. They also smelled like fresh hay.

The young artist who made them was very nice and personable. He patiently answered all my questions, and allowed me to pick up and smell the "animals". I wish I had asked how much they were, especially the cute hedgehog, because they were the most adorable things I saw over the weekend.

What do you think of biodegradable art? Does it make sense?

Artist Colony: Artist's Breath for Sale

This was one of the more gimmicky art works for sale at the artist colony at Union Square. The plastic bags hanging from the makeshift stand contain the breaths of "emerging and established artists" in the city.

[Click on the photo to enlarge the image. Read the menu.]

The costs of the artists' breaths, based on the price list in the second photo below, ranged from a hug to $121. The young woman in the first photo said the items (on the menu) with an ink mark next the name are sold out for the day. However, they may be available next week if one is interested. Apparently, people were "buying" these bags of artists' breaths because some of the items were sold out.

I don't know if this was a publicity stunt by a group of artists to promote their identities or an ongoing art project because I noticed another woman filming us (ie. four curious onlookers and me) with a video camera. Regardless, I had a chuckle and an opportunity to photography it all.

So how much would you pay for a bag of artist's breath?

Artist Colony: Art Sale

We had our first beautiful sunny weekend of the spring season and everyone was outside enjoying the weather, including me. I was so happy to see the sun out again that I felt like twirling and singing, "The hills are alive with the sound of music....!" Okay, maybe not so much twirling as in hopping and skipping.

On Saturday and Sunday, after fueling myself with brunch and three cups of coffee at my favorite cafe, I walked all over the city armed with my little trusty camera and took over 150 photos for this blog. I took multiple shots of the same scenes from different angles so I will be lucky to get at last 10 usable photos. Nonetheless, I will be profiling the Union Square market for the next couple of days.

This photo of the artist colony that congregates at Union Square every Saturday shows the city's support for art and creativity. Some of the artists are extremely talented while others are merely entrepreneurial. Art works for sale range from photography and paintings to sculptures and tchotchkes.

So do you collect any tchotchkes?

What is your first grade teacher's name?

This photo, taken inside the subway train yesterday, shows an advertisement for the NYC Teaching Fellow program The program was initiated in Spring 2000 to encourage people to become teachers.

New York City's school system severely lacks qualified teachers in the classroom so the program was created to provide financial incentives for young college graduates, as well as older, second career adults, to consider teaching as a profession. Some of the benefits include: a one-time $2,500 tax-free stipend during the summer training program, a starting salary of $42,512/year plus health insurance and retirement plan, and tuition assistance towards earning a Master's Degree in Education.

The tag line of the advertisement is: You remember your first grade teacher's name. Who will remember yours? So, do you remember your first grade teacher's name?

Sea Gull @ Hell's Gate

Here is another photo taken at Hell's Gate in Astoria. The sea gull in this photo is used to having humans around it. It shifted its body a few times to show some discomfort but at no time did it try to fly away as I approached it with my camera. In fact, after shooting a half dozen or so frames, I walked by it and the bird completely ignored me.

I was quite offended!! Apparently, this human isn't threatening enough.

Nautica Jeans Girls

I was invited to the Nautica Live N Jeans party at Metro 53 last night. The party, co-sponsored by Nautica Jeans Co. and ESPN, was organized to launch the new N Series Jeans.

These Nautica Jeans girls from the party were nice enough to pose for me. They were there to help party goers (including me) select the correct size jeans for our swag bags. There were also delicious finger food and free beer. And fun was had by all!!

NB: Sorry for the grainy photo. There was not a lot of light in the bar.

Queensborough Bridge

Fabrizio from Torino Daily Photo asked about the bridge seen in Woody Allen's movie, Manhattan (1979) and I promised I would post a photo of it this week.

Here is the Queensborough Bridge that connects Manhattan to Queens across the East River. Roosevelt Island is located right beneath the bridge. A cable car/tram runs parallel to the bridge but it reaches only halfway to Queens. It connects Manhattan to Roosevelt Island.

This photo shows the pedestrian and bicycle lanes on the bi-level bridge. There are 5 lanes for automobile traffic on the left behind the guard rails and an additional 4 lanes on the second level.

In the photo, you can see the original concrete structure (right) built in 1909 and the iron support structure added later in the century.

Chow Chow

This is a Chow Chow, a breed of dog that originated from Mongolia and Northern China. Chow Chows are believed to the original inspiration behind the traditional Chinese Foo Dogs that are commonly found in front of stately mansions and palaces in Asia. DNA research has found that they are one of the first primitive breeds to evolve from wolves.

Distinct characteristics of the Chow Chows are the poofy manes and black/purple tongues. They are especially independent and loyal to the family but are not very sociable to strangers or other dogs. Their behaviors are commonly characterized as similar to those of cats than dogs.

This photo was taken outside a Starbucks in Astoria. I was there to take some photos of the bridges and stopped at a Starbucks for some Chai Latte to warm my chilled bones when I saw this gorgeous dog outside the store. I ran out and asked the owner if I could take some photos. The dog was not very cooperative but I managed to get a couple good shots of it.

Do you have a favorite breed of dog OR a favorite drink at Starbucks?

Triborough Bridge at Night

Here is another view of the Triborough Bridge taken at night from the elevated train station in Astoria.

The weather has been pretty bad outside so I have not been out taking new photos. Hopefully, the weather will improve this coming weekend so I can go out and shoot more photos for the blog.

Triborough Bridge

The Triborough Bridge was named so because it connects the three boroughs of New York City -- Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. The river under the bridge is Hell's Gate, a strait on the East River where a tragedy happened in 1904. Another bridge, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) bridge is located just right out of sight on the right of this photo.

This photo was taken from the Queens' side of the Triborough Bridge in Astoria.

Freezing Mary

Here is another photo of the snow storm that hit New York City last Friday.

This photo was taken in front of a church in my neighborhood. I like the picture a lot because the statue of Mary, who was holding Jesus, looked like it was really cold. The blanket of snow in the background looked pristine and beautiful.

Snow Storm III

New York City received another dousing of winter storm yesterday, as did most of the northeast region of the country. This time around, however there were more sleet than snow falling from the sky. The ice pellets flying in the wind felt like a sand storm in the dessert.

This photo, taken yesterday, shows a gentleman using a snow plough to clean the sidewalk on the street. The cars parked on the curb will be covered with thick layers of snow soon.

Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate is a narrow strait that separates Astoria, Queens from Ward's Island and Randall's Island on the East River. The islands sit between Queens and Manhattan, just north of Roosevelt Island. Hell's Gate got its name from the Dutch word, hellegat, which means "bright passage" because the East River was an important trade route in the early 19th century.

On June 15, 1904, a triple-decker steamboat carrying 1,300 people from the Lower East Side (Manhattan) sailed up the East River to Long Island. The wooden steamer caught on fire right at this spot. The fire was so fierce that the boat was burnt to the waterline in 15 minutes. Many of the passengers, including children had no choice but to jump into the river. The life jackets, which were made of cork at the time, were old and useless as floatation devices. A total of 1,021 people died in the incident. Following the tragedy, the US government appointed a commission to investigate the situation and numerous maritime laws, including safety procedures, were enacted shortly thereafter.

This photo was taken from the Astoria side of the river and shows two pilot ships navigating a barge through the narrow strait. The bridge above Hell's Gate is the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track connecting Queens to Manhattan.

Art or Lamp?

I saw this lamp sculpture outside a Mexican restaurant in Astoria, Queens. I was totally fascinated with the wrought iron work and distinctive southwestern design. I also love colors on the wall.

Does anyone know much about Mexican or southwestern art?

How Many Dogs Do You See??

On my way home from work earlier this week, I bumped into this professional dog walker in my neighborhood. His job was to take these dogs out for their daily walk so they can "do their business" and get some exercise and fresh air.

Dog walking is a professional job in New York City, believe it or not. Some dog walkers do make quite a handsome wage. After doing some research on Craig's List, I found out that the going rate for dog walking is $15/day/dog for two 15-minute walks a day. Some higher end professionals charge up to $500/week/dog although they tend to limit the number to two to three dogs per walk.

The person in this photo has quite a number of dogs with him. Can you count how many dogs he is walking?

Mrs. Bigfoot @ Socrates Sculpture Park

I was taking a walk through the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City last weekend and guess who I saw? It was Mrs. Bigfoot.

The Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum and exhibition space with an internationally renowned artist in residence program. It is also a community garden where local residents can bring their families and pets to enjoy the outdoor space. The area, located on the waterfront of north west Queens, used to a landfill and dumping ground until a coalition of artists and community leaders cleaned and transformed it into a park in 1986. Aside from the park, another popular attraction in the area is the Noguchi Museum.

This 6-foot tall female Bigfoot was one of the sculptures at the Socrates Sculpture Park. A Bigfoot is an apelike animal said to be found in the remote forests of North America. Although numerous sightings have been reported, none has been caught. Some believe that they do not exist..

What do you think? Do you believe in Bigfoot?

Le Carrousel @ Bryant Park

The weather in New York City improved a little this week. So I am posting a photo of this carousel at Bryant Park.

The carousel, from the Italian word garosello and Spanish word carosella ("little war"), was first built by Turkish and Arabian cavalries in the 1100s as a training apparatus for combat on horseback. Soldiers would practice their archery skills and sword plays while sitting on the moving wooden horses. These carousels were usually kept within the castle walls and not seen by the public.

In the early-1800s, colorful wooden horses suspended on a poles and powered by ropes and pulleys were unveiled at carnivals and fairs in England and Europe. Steam powered machines and music were added later and the popularity of carousels began to rise. The golden age of carousels were in the early 1900s when elaborate animals and decorative chariots were added to the rides.