Red, Yellow And Blue - Art Installation Made of 1.4 Million Feet of Nautical Rope at Madison Square Park

Brooklyn-based artist Orly Genger's largest and most ambitious art installation is now on display at Madison Square Park in midtown Manhattan. Genger's “Red, Yellow and Blue” is comprised of 1.4 million feet of hand-knotted nautical rope and 3,000 gallons of paint. The exhibit runs through September 8, 2013.

Sing for Hope Pianos

Sing for Hope Pianos is back. More than 80 public pianos, specially painted and designed by artists and community groups, have been placed in parks and pedestrian plazas across the city for anyone to play. The innovative public art project is in support of the NYC-based non-profit Sing for Hope and its mission to provide "access to the arts for all." Some of the personalities that designed the pianos were Arianna Huffington and her sister Agapi Stassinopoulos, as well as fashion designer John Varvatos. The pianos pictured above are located at Greeley Square and Times Square in midtown Manhattan.

Roses from Grace's Marketplace

These beautiful roses are just some of the flowers available at the florist department of Grace's Marketplace on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A family-owned business, Grace's Marketplace is a gourmet market and catering company serving New York City and Long Island. In Manhattan, it is located at 1237 Third Avenue between 71st and 72nd Streets. 

Parade on Madison Avenue Celebrating 115th Anniversary of Philippine Independence

Yesterday, Filipinos, Filipino-Americans and their friends celebrated the 115th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine independence through a parade on Madison Avenue. Celebrated annually on the first Sunday of June, the festivities featured contingents of marchers, street dancers, marching bands interspersed by colorful floats, politicians and celebrities and performers brought by the three major Philippine TV networks including Aga Muhlach, Sharon Cuneta, Derek Ramsey, Gary Valenciano, Bong Revilla, Marian Rivera and Rafael Rosell. In the state of New York, there are about 200,000 Filipinos, mostly within the New York City area.

Rain, Outside and Inside - "Rain Room" Art Installation at the Museum of Modern Art

One of the most popular exhibition this spring is the Museum of Modern Art's "Rain Room." The line outside the exhibit hall has always been long since the art installation opened, and visitors wait for hours even in the rain to get in. The British design studio, Random International built  Rain Room last year. It is part of the MoMA PS1 exhibition EXPO 1: New York, and is being exhibited in the lot directly adjacent to The Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan. The installation is basically a field of falling water like rain that pauses wherever a human body is detected by three-dimensional cameras that feed information to the controls in real time. The rain room has a high ceiling, nearly 1,000 square feet, equipped with nozzles that pour down artificial rain. The interactive installation allows visitors to experience controlling the rain. Rain Room is open daily during regular Museum hours. The entrance to Rain Room is on West 54 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Same-day MoMA admission, EXPO 1admission, or a MoMA membership card is required for entry. AnEXPO 1 admission ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket or MoMA Membership through July 28. MoMA members and their guests enjoy priority access to Rain Room at all times, as well as an exclusive early member viewing hour, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. daily throughout the run of the installation. 

NYC's Newest Food Craze: Cronuts (Half Croissant, Half Doughnut) from Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo

Image from Dominique Ansel Bakery

Early this morning, a long line of customers waited outside the Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo hoping to buy the newest pastry sensation in the city, the "cronut." A croissant-and-doughnut hybrid, the vanilla cream-filled, rose glazed, fried cronut is the brainchild of pastry chef Dominique Ansel, one of the “Top 10 Pastry Chefs in the United States” according to Dessert Professional Magazine. The $5 Cronuts, which are limited to six per person, have become a sensation to the point where they are now being scalped on the internet for a high price. The bakery has reportedly trademarked "Cronut'' with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and internationally. The Dominique Ansel Bakery is located at 189 Spring Street between Thompson and Sullivan Streets.  The bakery has been awarded Time Out New York’s “Best New Bakery of 2012” and Metromix’s “Best Bakery of 2012”, all within four months of opening its doors. It is also Zagat 2013’s highest ranked bakery with 27 points awarded for food, and has made SeriousEat’s list of Top 5 destination bakeries.