Daisuke Kiyomiya's "Macaron" at the DUMBO Arts Festival in Brooklyn

Daisuke Kiyomiya's "Macaron" sculpture is one of the many artworks featured in this year's DUMBO Arts Festival, a three-day celebration of art on the waterfront. Now in its 17th year, the festival features art for all in every discipline in the streets, parks, lobbies, loading docks and studios of DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighborhood of Brooklyn. The sculpture is probably one of the most photographed piece of art during the festival.

Silvercup Studios Sign

Silvercup Studios is New York City's largest full-service film and television production facility. It is located in Long Island City in Queens. The studio complex has been operating since 1983 in the former Silvercup Bakery building. It was the former flour silo room of the landmark Silvercup Bakery. It is home to numerous television shows. Numerous feature films as well as commercials have been produced at this facility. The back of the Silvercup Studios sign is a familiar sight for commuters taking the Flushing-bound 7 train.

Lincoln Center's Tilting "Illumination Lawn"

Three years after it opened, Lincoln Center's Illumination Lawn has become a visually interesting place for people to relax during warmer months. Designed by architects DILLER SCOFIDIO & RENFRO, the lawn is a grass roof sitting atop a two-story building with a restaurant and two film screening rooms. The tilting lawn roof is made of a mixture of 90% tall fescue grass and 10% Kentucky bluegrass.

New Book "Central Park NYC" Includes Old Blog Photo of Bethesda Terrace and Fountain

Paris-based architectural watercolor artists, Andrew Zega and Bernd H. Dams  published a new book, "Central Park NYC: An Architectural View", an exquisite exploration of Central Park's extraordinary pavilions, memorials, and monuments, sculptures, bridges, and arches, gates and rustic shelters, gardens, lakes, and meers, and a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk in historic photographs and extraordinary watercolors by the authors. The authors also chose archival and contemporary photographs of the most beautiful and beloved structures from the park's 160-year history. Included in the selection is a black-and-white image of Bethesda Terrace and Fountain from this photo blog (see my original blog post). The coffee table book is available at Rizzoli (31 West 57th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues) and online (amazon.com).

“Tributes to Central Park usually focus on is stunning vistas, but in Central Park NYC the authors explore the park’s multitude of overlooked smaller structures, statues, benches, and bridges. Their original watercolors and photographs and revealing text redefine the coffee table book: More than just pretty pictures to be savored, these images will enrich and deepen the reader’s experience…” ~The New York Times

New Palm Trees at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden

New palm trees have been planted inside one of the city's most beautiful interior spaces, the public atrium in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. The old palm trees that were planted during the 2002 rebuilding of the Winter Garden after the September 11 terrorist attacks, had grown to 60 feet, too large to allow for further growth in the space. About a month ago, the old trees were chopped down and converted to mulch for use in gardens at local hospitals “to honor their role in the Winter Garden that made it both a place to meet and a place to rest,” according to the complex owners, Brookfield Properties. Sixteen new trees, about 35 feet tall, have been planted to replace the overgrown palms trees. They are Washingtonia robusta trees, the same type as the previous trees,” according to Brookfield.

Little Flatiron Building (Herring Lock and Safe Company Building)

One example of unusual buildings in the Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking district is the Herring Lock and Safe Company Building, or the "Little Flatiron Building" on Hudson Street, between 13th and 14th Streets. Built in 1849, the building is triangular, like a  smaller version of the Flatiron Building.

Sheep Station - Site-Specific Art Installation of Sheep Sculptures in Gas Station by François-Xavier Lalanne for GettyStation Art Program

Sheep Station is a new outdoor art installation featuring 25 epoxy stone and bronze sheep statues ("Moutons") located at the former Getty filling station in West Chelsea at 239 10th Avenue. The outdoor exhibit is the inaugural presentation of the new  public art program, Getty Station. The installation is the work of Michael Shvo and Paul Kasmin Gallery, who have opted to reimagine the cartoonish pieces of the late French artist François-Xavier Lalanne. "Set in a surrealist landscape amidst the existing industrial gas station architecture, the sheep symbolize Lalanne’s mission to demystify art and capture its joie de vivre," explains the Getty Station website. "‘Moutons’ have become Lalanne’s most iconic work, embodying his very approach to art while commenting on the nature of art itself." The exhibition runs through October 20, 2013.

Rooftop Kite-Flying At The Port Authority Bus Terminal

This afternoon, the Fashion Center BID sponsored the annual Kite-Flying Event on the rooftop of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The event featured kite decorating with Free Arts NYC, Ricardo Pascal and his miniature Mighty Kites, kite expert Glenn Davidson and friends, street games with Materials for the Arts, face painting by Agostino Arts, AcroYoga demonstrations from Om Factory, jugglers, and unicyclists. In addition to the free food court, Band of Bicycles blended cool fruit smoothies with pedal power. There were musical performances by Louie and Subanda, and a special performance by Talina.

Meatpacking District Construction Site Art: "Crystalline Time"

There's a new light projection public art at a construction site in the Meatpacking District across from the Standard Hotel. "Crystalline Time" is a 15-foot tall artwork featuring blue and purple trapezoids stretching more than 100 feet across the façade of 837 Washington Street, a future retail and office building near the High Line. The light projection art is created by Chris Jordan and the marketing agency DBOX. It was selected by developers Thor Equities and Taconic Investment Partners.

iPhones 5C/5S Launch Draws Record Crowds Outside Apple's 5th Avenue Flagship Store

This morning, Apple launched the new iPhone 5C/5S. Long lines of Apple fans that circled two blocks awaited the launch outside the Flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Today's launch marks the first time that Apple has offered more than one new iPhone and the first time it has offered a wide variety of colors.

Le Diner en Blanc New York 2013 at Bryant Park

Last night, an organized mob of thousdands of white-clad picnickers descended on midtown Manhattan's Bryant Park for a pop-up dinner party. The annual dress-all-in-white event, "Le Diner En Blanc" is based on the Parisian party of the same name, which began in 1988 as a reunion of 100 friends when everyone wore white in order to recognize one another.