This magnificent looking building, on the corner of Centre and Grand Street, used to be the city's police headquarters. Now it is a luxury co-op building with a 24-hour doorman service. 
When people think of my city, they think of Times Square and the lights, the shopping and the crowds. This photo was taken about two years ago at around 9 PM in the evening during the Christmas holiday season.
Jilly of Monte Carlo Daily Photo and Menton Daily Photo sent me a beautiful postcard earlier this week. This was the first postcard I have ever received from my blogger friends so now, it sits on a special place in my apartment -- my refrigerator door.
This painting outside the Chelsea Market Building is what was left of the old wholesale flower market in the city. Now the building has been taken over and made into a television studio for The Food Network and NY1, a 24-hour local news channel. There are also numerous gourmet bakeries and grocery stores in the building.
These townhouses on 22nd Street, near 9th Avenue, are some of the more attractive homes in Chelsea. The area is not known for its beauty because it was an industrial/manufacturing district in the early 1900s. Now, it is populated mostly by warehouse size clubs, bars and galleries.
This is a street scene in Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street) on a week day evening around 6:00 PM. I was in the neighborhood for a meeting last week and decided to hang out in the area afterwards because I rarely come down this way. 
I was walking through Chelsea last weekend when I saw this vacant retail store. You can see part of a quickly written vacancy sign on the bottom left. Either the realtor had a couple giant plush toys lying around or this used to be a toy store. Nonetheless, I thought this was an excellent display of friendship, even if they were merely toys.
This succulents were available for sale at the Green Market in Union Square last weekend. I love cacti because they do not need a lot of attention. However, my cacti start to grow tall and stringy after a couple of months instead of staying short and plump like these.
Small plate cuisines have taken over the New York City culinary scene. None is as original as the Spanish tapas which are extremely popular here. This photo, taken at Boqueria in Chelsea, shows a tapa chef preparing various dishes in front of the hungry diners.
I saw this REAL tree at Union Square that looked somewhat similar to the STEEL tree by Roxy Paine that I posted last month. I also love the silhouette against the blue sky.
The squirrels at Union Square are definitely well-fed. Notice the empty walnut, hazelnut and peanut shells scattered all over the ground? Someone has been feeding them the good stuff.
These two squirrels were among the dozens of squirrels that live in Union Square. They were socialized to humans hanging around them so they gladly posed for me and a number of other photographers at the park. 
I was at Koreatown (on 32nd Street and 5th Avenue) for dinner earlier last week and this was what I saw as I looked up above me. The triangular shapes on the upper right and lower left corners are store front awnings. The structure on the upper left corner is the building behind me. And right in the middle is the most celebrated building in New York City, if not the country.
Question: What is the proper etiquette for entering the subway train? Answer: Stand to the side and let the passengers exit first -- similar to entering an elevator.
So what etiquette faux pas annoys you most?
The Plaza, which used to be a 4-star hotel, is now a luxury condominium. After almost 2 years of renovations, the landmark building is now open and a one-bedroom apartment costs about $1 million.
SoHo (South of Houston Street) used to be a warehouse district but it has become a highly desirable residential area because of the abundance of huge loft spaces. Lofts are essentially living spaces that are open and bright due to lack of walls separating the rooms. The only enclosed spaces in lofts are usually the bathrooms and closets. 
I was in SoHo last weekend and walked by Ed's Lobster Bar on Lafayette between Spring and Wooster Street. Since it was almost 2 PM and I haven't had lunch, I decided to stop in for a lobster roll, which is basically lobster meat dressed with a little mayonnaise and lemon juice, and served on a hot dog bun. It was delicious.
On Monday, I told you about my trip to the Apple Store to get my friend's laptop analyzed and hopefully, fixed at the Genius Bar. Here is a photo of one of the genuises behind the bar. I believe "these kids" have to pass a certification program before they are allowed to work behind the bar. The Apple store also has a smaller iPod Bar on the corner to analyze and fix broken iPods.
Today is January 15 so it is mid-month subway day again. This photo was taken at the Spring Street subway station. Subway day is shared by the following blogs:
My friend's Apple laptop died suddenly on Saturday so we went to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue and 59th Street to get a diagnosis of what was wrong with it. This photo was taken around 5 PM as it was beginning to get dark outside so the lights from inside the store really lit up the glass cube structure.