PUMPKIN FESTIVAL in CENTRAL PARK

Yesterday, October 27th, the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of New York in association with Camp Sunshine held the First Annual Pumpkin Festival in Central Park. Rain during the early part of the day did not dampen the spirit of New Yorkers who came to the park for the festival. Featured were a pumpkin patch, farmer's market, puppets, and entertainment like the Big Apple Circus and Chris Barron. All proceeds will go towards Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Jack-o'-lantern pumpkin displays were installed at Bethesda Fountain, Dead Road, the Bandshell Area, and Literary Walk. These lanterns were lit at around 5:30 PM. My favorite display was the Glow Heart pumpkins at Literary Walk.The centerpiece of the festival was an attempt to break Boston’s world record for the most simultaneously lit jack-o’-lanterns in one setting.

One of my photos appears in the NEW YORK TIMES' CITY ROOM blog at:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/not-a-sign-of-hypocrisy-anywhere/

HALLOWEEN WINDOW DECORATION

These are some of the Halloween apartment window decorations in my neighborhood on the Upper East Side.

"INDUSTRIAL SILHOUETTE" NEAR TIMES SQUARE

I made these images of men working atop a scaffolding on a street near Times Square last Saturday, October 20th.

The New NYC TAXI LOGO

New York City's more than 26,000 taxicabs get a new logo. The new logo started on a taxi prototype developed by Smart Design and other companies for the Taxi 2007 exhibit at the New York International Auto Show last spring.

KIKU: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUM at the New York Botanical Garden

From October 20 through November 18, the NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN in the Bronx is exhibiting KIKU: THE ART OF THE JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. It is the most extensive display of chrysanthemums grown in the Imperial style outside of Japan. For the past 5 years, horticulturists at the NY Botanical Garden have engaged in a cultural exchange with Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, Japan to perfect the skills necessary for cultivating and exhibiting chrysanthemums.

The exhibition is very impressive. For me, the most fascinating is the OZUKURI or "thousand blooms," in which a single plant has been trained to produce 300 or more perfect flowers on a complex frame or scaffold. There are also single large blossoms balanced atop as tall stem. Also on exhibit are cascades of small flowers grown on and supported by a bamboo and wire framework.

ZOMBIECON

Earlier today, I encountered a group of people dressed as zombies walking on Fifth Avenue. They are part of Zombiecon, a New York City tradition that occurs a week before Halloween, when people dress up as zombies and "terrorize" Manhattan. This is their third annual ghoulish spree of shopping, bar-hopping and horrifying Manhattan street theatrics.