Love it...Hate It, Don't really know anymore...

This one's for my brother in law Artie, who recently noted that he had been checking in on my blog and there was nothing new lately.  He was right.  Its nice to know that there's someone out there checking in on me, and that was enough, I hope, to shake me out of my mid winter slumbers and get back to work.

Not sure if I still share Nick Walker's exuberance expressed on a wall on Ludlow Street somewhere between Grand and Delancy Streets, but I love it.  Taken in late October, it may have been washed away by the deluge of Hurricane Sandy, if it had not already been removed by the graffiti police, so let me know.

My unremitting ambivalence with the city that nurtured me, raised me, educated me, amused me, and then abandoned me after I moved away,  remains and continues to unsettle me.  After so many years you might say I should be over it, and after all, wasn't it me who did the abandoning.  True, all of it, but who really wants to accept that you can't go home anymore.  But, how can anyone stay angry, post Hurricane Sandy, at a city that was as much a victim of circumstance as myself.  Victim of the crude hand and dull, crass imagination, or lack thereof, of Donald Trump and his ilk that has filled the skyline with easily disposable buildings as lacking in character as he is.  I read somewhere once that hurricanes were nature's eviction notice.  Who knows?

                                 Photo by Jackie

New York City looking north from Canal Street to 34th St dark, cold, wet, and post apocalyptic after Hurricane Sandy .  No signs of life.

Greene Street in the heart of Soho a week before the storm.  Res ipse locquitor...

A couple of Eurotourists on their NYC adventure.   I envy the fresh eyes through which they see the city and the adventure that awaits them.  

The north side of Union Square at 17th street.

Obviously the Vesuvio Bakery on Prince Street in the heart of what was once Little Italy.  The most photographed bakery in NYC.  People have been taking pictures of it since the 30's when it really was an Italian bakery.  They are still taking pictures of it now so I tried to shake it up a bit.   It is a great place. moderately expensive for what you get, but good.  Mostly cookies and muffins and pastries.   A true relic of the old city.

The new city is inhabited by strangers, at least to me anyway.  There is Hanksy, son of Banksy who I haven't met yet...

This guy...

Her...

Them...

And on a related note, this is a great piece of graffiti by Bumboy W C from LA who caught my eye while walking down Sunset Blvd. while I was out there, and while it is not NYC, it could be...

not sure I agree with the sentiment!!!  But you've got to love it.

                                                                           Pablo