2010 Easter Bonnet Parade/Festival on Fifth Avenue

The Easter Parade/Festival on Fifth Avenue has been an annual tradition in New York. This morning, I took photos of some of my favorite bonnets/costumes. Unlike most New York City Parades, the Easter Parade is a far less organized event, without floats or marching bands. It is a great spectacle, nonetheless. The section of  Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets was closed to vehicular traffic from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM for this colorful event. 

2010 New York Pillow Fight Day in Union Square

Today, Union Square Park turned into a sea of mostly white pillows for the International Pillow Fight Day. This is an annual event in many cities around the world as part of a non-commercial public event conceived by  NEWMINDSPACE and URBAN PLAYGROUND MOVEMENT. One of the goals is to make these unique events in public spaces become part of a popular culture, in an effort to replace passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences. Newmindspace is interactive public art, creative cultural interventions and urban bliss dissemination based in New York and Toronto. Most of the photos were captured from Filene's Basement.

Video from DJgileyni

The iPad Has Arrived

These are some of the images that I made earlier this morning at the Apple Fifth Avenue Flagship Store when the much anticipated "it" gadget, the iPad hit the stores at 9:00 AM. There was a countdown fit for New Year's Eve before eager customers were welcomed to get in by the staffers in blue. Many of the customers flew in from different parts of the globe to get their sleek tablet computer. The iPad is a lightweight, portable computer that can be used to watch video, listen to music, play games, write emails, surf the web or read electronic books on the 9.7-inch (24.6-centimetre) glass multitouchscreen device. The iPad also runs most of the 150,000 applications made for the iPod music player and the iPhone. 

Video from CBS News

Mohandas Gandhi Sculpture in Union Square Park

This bronze sculpture depicting Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) was sculpted by Kantilal B. Patel (born 1925).  After its dedication on October 2, 1986, the 117th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, the sculpture joined monuments to Washington, Lafayette, and Lincoln in Union Square Park as a quartet of works devoted to defenders of freedom.  Noted civil rights leader Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) was the keynote speaker at the dedication.

The monument, donated by the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation and underwritten by Mohan B. Murjani of Murjani International, Ltd., was installed at Union Square because of the tradition of protest associated with the park.  The champion of nonviolent protest and Indian independence from Britain, arguably one of the most important figures of the 20th century, is seen here grasping a staff in his right hand, looking towards a point on the horizon, and walking forward.  Clad in sandals and a cotton dhoti, Gandhi’s dress illustrates his Hindu asceticism as well as his support for Indian industries.  After its installation the monument became an instant pilgrimage site, with an annual ceremony taking place on Gandhi's birthday, October 2.

In 2001, Parks conserved the statue after it had been removed temporarily to facilitate the construction of a water main beneath the site. In 2002, the piece was reset on a more naturalistic stone base and the landscaped area around the monument, known as Gandhi Gardens, was expanded and improved. (from nycgovparks.org)