Staten Island Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry is a free passenger ferry service operated by the New York City Department of Transportation that runs between the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island. It departs Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal, South Ferry, at the southernmost tip of Manhattan near Battery Park. On Staten Island, the ferry arrives and departs from St. George Ferry Terminal on Richmond Terrace, near Richmond County Borough Hall and Richmond County Supreme Court. Service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Staten Island Ferry has been a municipal service since 1905. The five-mile (8 km) ferry ride takes about 25 minutes each way. Riders must disembark at each terminal and reenter through the terminal building for a round trip to comply with Coast Guard regulations regarding vessel capacity and the placeholding optical turnstiles at both terminals. 

"Lightness of Being" - Whimsical and Playful Sculptures at City Hall Park

Public Art Fund presents a new art installation called "Lightness of Being" at City Hall Park (Broadway and Chambers Street) in Lower Manhattan. This exhibition brings together the work of eleven international artists. It features sculptures of very different scales and materials, as well as a weekly performance. Significant recent works by senior figures such as Daniel Buren (b. 1938) and Franz West (1947 - 2012) are shown alongside pieces by emerging and mid-career artists including Alicja Kwade (b. 1979) and Olaf Breuning (b. 1970). In different ways, all of the works on view share a sense of whimsy and visual invention. In contrast to the more formal traditions of historic statuary and fountains, these public artworks engage us with their conceptual wit, eccentric forms, and imaginative transformation of everyday objects.

A sense of playfulness may be found in the manipulation of scale and mass, where small becomes large, light becomes heavy, and vice versa. Our perceptions may be altered by subtle atmospheres of transparent color or unexpected manipulations of familiar forms. Enormous concrete vegetables make surprising new park benches, while a pair of goofy cowboy hats top off an improbable assemblage of found objects cast in bronze. Whether referring to the history of art, abstract forms, or simply to everyday life, the works of these eleven artists show us that serious art also has its lighter side. The exhibition continues through December 13, 2013. (Description of the exhibition from the Public Art Fund website).

The Odeon in TriBeCa

The Odeon is the original hangout for the hip and fabulous in TriBeCa, the stomping ground for the likes of Warhol and Basquiat when it opened almost three decades ago. These days, the art-deco bar is frequented mostly by Wall Street types and tourists for the brasserie menu and martinis.  The Odeon is located at 145 West Broadway on the corner of Thomas Street in Tribeca. Tribeca (sometimes stylized as TriBeCa) is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. Its name is an acronym from "Triangle Below Canal Street"; the triangle is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street.

The Tourist

A tourist on a double decker bus in front of the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

Reflections and Distortions

The bright American Flag in LED lights on two sides of the US Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square create interesting reflections on vehicles and buildings across the street. Here are some of the images of those reflections and distortions. Today is Labor Day, a federal holiday dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It also marks the unofficial end of summer.

Seeing Green: New Green NYC Taxis Hit the Streets

New green taxi cabs permitted to pick up street hails outside of Manhattan have hit New York City streets. The cars made their first appearance in the city almost a month ago. Last June, the state's Court of Appeals in Albany made a decision to end yellow cabs' exclusive right to pick up street hails. The green taxis are not allowed to pick up hails south of East 96th Street and West 110th Street or at any airport. The Taxi and Limousine Commission says 1,300 green taxi permits have already been issued. It expects up to 6,000 permits to be issued in the first year. Unlike livery cabs, the green taxis accept credit cards and have meters.