Women Looking at Naked Cowboy | NYC | Times Square| 2009

While everyone else was looking at the Naked Cowboy, I decided to photograph the females looking (or trying not to look) at him.  We were near Times Square in 2010 at the time.

The Naked Cowboy | NYC| Times Square | 2009

Got a glimpse of the Naked Cowboy near Times Square in 2010. Unique way to make a living, but no Social Security benefits. Looks like he is about to run. Taken with my Nikon D50 with a cheap lens.

St. Patricks NYC - 2009

If you catch this Catholic cathedral at the right time of day the sun hits it just right and avoids the surrounding buildings as shot from 5th Avenue. Rather surreal.

Here is where it is at....





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Midtown NYC Photo - 2009

I believe this was on the corner of Avenue of the Americas and 42nd Street, right past Bryant Park.  I had heard on NPR radio once how Bryant Park used to be a huge hangout for drug dealers and users and the city finally poured money into it to clean it up.  We could not see any remnants of such a past and it was a very nice park!  We found it fascinating how the reflections appeared in many uptown buildings at various times of the day.  Of course the New York Public Library is right there also which is a magnificent edifice. The WR Grace building is right there also which is a strange bit of architecture.  It slopes upward and inward from the ground so we had a hard time standing below it and looking up at it without getting really dizzy! A neat trick to challenge kids with.

You can get a glimpse of the WR Grace building below in the upper right corner.

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Little Italy NYC - Photo 2 and 3 - 2009

You can see it is mostly a tourist trap on the main drag.  Try going down side streets. Always go down side streets in New York City (mostly during the daylight of course)!

Little Italy NYC Photo 1 - 2009

Of course we walked from Chinatown to Little Italy since they abut each other.  Little Italy has a very rich history and you should go at least once. We just walked through the main street, took a few photos, and got harassed by a bunch of Italian guys at every restaurant trying to get us inside to eat. It was more of a carnival atmosphere than a real place. But it was colorful and, smelled better than Chinatown and felt really historic. The below photo is where we entered Little Italy from Canal Street.

Here is a map of Little Italy



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Chinatown Photo 3 - 2009

When we were in Chinatown as tourists in 2009 there were groups of Chinese playing some board game in the park. Maybe it was a regular Saturday event?  I have no idea what the game was but they were intently playing and it appeared that money was being exchanged.  We were leery of taking any photos, especially since we were in the minority at that park and it was very crowded with Chinese-Americans.

Chinatown Photo 2 - 2009

Here is another photo of some goods in Chinatown.  Dried stuff I supposed used in Chinese cooking.  We had no idea what it was but seemed like a colorful shot.  Taken with my wife's little pocket Fuji camera, which is sadly dead now.  I can't imagine living in an area like this where it seems to be a continuous circus. As tourist we tend to forget this is the home of many people.

Below is a map of where Chinatown is

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Chinatown Photo 1 - 2009

We don't remember what street this was.  We were just randomly walking around with family members and I liked this shot, taken with a small Fuji point and shoot believe it or not.  My wife hated Chinatown and so we have not returned since.  She thought it contained too many people, seemed dirty and found nothing redeeming about it. I think it is unique if nothing else, and had some cheap shopping and probably good restaurants, but we did not eat there. I admit is was a little smelly. This photo was from 2009. One of our interests in going near that area actually was to visit the 5 Points area, made famous to me in the Scorsese film "Gangs of New York." The trouble with visiting anything historically old like 5 Points is that you just can't really get a feel for what it was like in the day, so it was a little anti-climactic.

Below is a map of the 5 points area.

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The Beginnings of the NYC Diary

My wife and I enjoy going to New York City on occasion and taking photos of the various things we see.  Its not that far of a drive for us but far enough to appreciate it.  We were accumulating many photos of things from there but really had nothing to do with the photos other than look at them (ok, so I get bored just looking at photos). We thought it would be nice to share what we had and see what comments people make about their own NYC adventures.