Lucky and Happy

The BTB Ethics Department prohibits publishing photographs of license plates on the blog. But take my word for it, this morning on the Gowanus Expressway I was stuck behind an SUV with the license plate "Happy7" and the van you see above. The sun is out, the ice has melted, the potholes haven't got me yet... Who's to argue?

Jackets Required

The Perlita bar in Woodside is ready for anything, including a man overboard.

Over the Line!

Poor parking on Staten Island. On the left, just a little lane challenged, I'd say. On the right, the arrogant diagonal move--nobody bumps my doors.

Makes one wish for a Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski: "Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling, there are rules."

College Closed

I arrived at school Thursday via subway, ferry, and shuttle bus just in time to discover that all afternoon and evening classes had been cancelled. The campus was pretty quiet. I had a chance to take these photos in the performing arts building before I started the return trip.

"Don't you have enough photographs of snow this winter?" I asked my fellow photog.

No one has ever explained the New York love of umbrellas in the snow.

Wheels in the Snow

From inside St. George Ferry Terminal, Staten Island

Yesterday was a tough day for anybody and anything on wheels.

Fretting in Fairy Land

(Courtesy Yale University Gallery of Art)

New York has been far from anybody's idea of Fairy Land this winter. Ice on the roads, ice in the harbor. Still this watercolor by Joseph Pennell, Evening in Fairy Land (1921), from the Whistler show at Yale show reminds us that kinder days and evenings will come.

Won't they?

Brooklyn is the Old Manhattan

Had the chance to visit the Yale University Art Gallery's Whistler in Paris, London, and Venice exhibit over the weekend. Beautiful small-format etchings of the Thames and Venice. He liked water. But the gems for me were three pieces by Joseph Pennell, one of the artists influenced by Whistler, including New York from the Williamsburg Bridge.

I looked at the etching for many minutes. Something seemed off. If I'm standing on the Williamsburg Bridge looking south towards the harbor Brooklyn is on my left and Manhattan on the right. Which side looks like Manhattan 1915 to you? (Hint: The Woolworth Building was completed in 1913, the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building in 1929.)