Midtown, 58th Street Between Park and Lexington Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2010 …………………….. click to enlarge

I've walked this block many times because my doctor's office is here, but somehow I've never seen it looking quite so festive as it does here.  I was unable to find out anything about the sculpture.  Anyone know?

Flatiron District, 16th Street at Fifth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….……………... ………………….. click to enlarge

This is a window display in the Paul Smith menswear store on Fifth Avenue.  I know it's hard to make it out because of all the reflections, but try the extra large enlargement.  It consists of a number of so-called robots by Gordon Bennett.  I say so-called because they don't do anything; they just look like they would.  They are sculptures and are priced accordingly - up to $6,000.  But you can buy a robot poster for only $50.





Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….. click to enlarge

This one is named Adlake Kero and costs $3,000.

Civic Center, Foley Square Bounded by Centre, Lafayette and Worth Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …….........…….. click to enlarge


This is Triumph of the Human Spirit, a sculture created by Lorenzo Pace dedicated to all the unknown enslaved Africans brought to this country. This is in connection with the African Burial Ground a couple of blocks away. 

I was looking for an art critic's assessment of the sculpture and found this article about skateboarders loving the granite "ramps" spaced around the base. The Times interviewed someone here from San Francisco who said Foley Square is well known in California. It's featured in skaters' magazines. Lorenzo Pace is not amused.

As for art criticism, in a longish article about public art, Michael Kimmelman said that the sculpture is successful public art in that people enjoy the fountain, but that it is "formally weak and unprepossessing." Good public art, bad art.



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Greenwich Village, 11th Street Between Sixth and Fifth Avenues; Fifth Avenue Between 11th and 12th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Here's the destination: First Presbyterian Church.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 ………. click to enlarge

And a couple more photos of Tree Gems.

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Upper West Side, Riverside Drive at 106th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……………………….. click to enlarge

This is the equistrian statue of General Franz Sigel, posing beautifully in the afternoon sun. You say you've never heard of General Franz Sigel? Me either. Let's look him up.

Hmm, quite a colorful character. Read about him here. For non-readers, here is the bare outline: he was born in Germany, moved to the United States in 1852, joined the Union Army when the Civil War began, rallied German immigrants to the Union cause (see song, I Goes to Fight Mit Sigel) but ultimately was relieved of his command for "lack of agression". X

Well, that changes things.


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Upper West Side, Riverside Drive Between 105th and 106th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………. click to enlarge

Here on Riverside, right smack in the middle of our Beaux Arts Historical District is a bigger-than-lifesize statue of Shinran Shonin, a thirteenth century Buddhist monk.

I've seen this figure before but it was still a surprise to come upon him. So unexpected.

There were three nearly identical buildings here on Riverside, built at the same time and by the same architects and builders who worked on the corner building from last night. The edge of the building we see to the right of the photo is the first one, 331. You can see it has some similarities to the corner building. The second one, 332, was demolished and replaced by this Buddhist Church. And the third one, 333, must still be there, but I didn't notice because at the time I didn't know any of this and I was just looking at this monk.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …................................……. click to enlarge

This just shows you a little more of the next door building.




Mary Sargent © 2009 …................................……. click to enlarge



Mary Sargent © 2009 …................................……. click to enlarge

And here are closeups of the two stone plaques on the wall underneath the monk. One is beautiful and the other is readable. If enlarged.

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West Village, Seventh Avenue South at Christopher Street

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

We arranged to meet at Christopher Park. I went by subway like a normal person. Luka walked from 101st Street to Sheridan Square. Over 93 blocks! This what she did before our walk. I found her in the park close by Gay Liberation, the sculpture by George Segal, commemorating the Gay Liberation movement which started with the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969.

Lots of studying to do tonight. Follow those links!

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East River

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


And now, finally the waterfalls. The first two photos are shot at the Brooklyn Bridge and the third one at Pier 35 on the east side of Manhattan. The other two waterfalls are at Governors Island and the Brooklyn Piers.

You must imagine being on a boat on a balmy summer evening.

Midtown, Greeley Square Between 32nd and 33rd Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


Well, look at this! Isn't this lovely? Isn't this civilized? Isn't this . . . European?



Mary Sargent © 2008 ……… click to enlarge

This is Greeley Square, named for Horace Greeley, famed New York newspaperman and reformer of the nineteenth century.

The kiosks are closed now (it's about 8:15 p.m.), so it looks as if people have brought drinks and snacks in with them. There is some grumbling on the web about the still not opened Wichcraft kiosk. It's a Craft tease, they say.

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Upper West Side, Riverside Drive at 93rd Street

Mary Sargent © 2008 ………. click to enlarge

Remember how you've seen that Riverside Drive sometimes splits into two streets, one the main two-way Riverside Drive and the other a local one-way northbound Riverside Drive? When it does that, there's something between the two streets. Well, there has to be, or it wouldn't be two streets. There is a three block split between 92nd and 95th Streets and in the middle is the Joan of Arc Island.

Joan, of course, was a 15th century French heroic figure and I'm not sure why we wanted to commemorate her, but you can read all about it here and figure it out for yourself. I think we used to have affection for the French. Lafayette, we are here, for example.

The statue, by the way, was the work of Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, yes, a woman.

And now I've shown you two monuments on one walk. I know it's excessive, but sometimes it just comes out that way.

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Financial District, Broadway at Wall Street

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This sculpture is in the churchyard of Trinity Church and is a copy of the roots of a tree that was uprooted in the 9/11 attack.

The story briefly: A giant sycamore tree grew in the churchyard at St. Paul's Chapel at Broadway and Fulton Street. When it was uprooted, it fell in such a way that it protected the Chapel and the graveyard. Sculptor Steve Tobin made this to symbolize "our connectedness and our strength after the tragic events of September 11." For more details, go here.

All well and good say I, but do you get that from looking at this? It isn't enough to have a lovely concept; the sculpture also has to enbody the concept in some visual way – it has to look like it. I don't even get the idea of roots because trees don't stand on their roots. Roots are not legs. To me it looks like a giant monster spider and I do not get comfort from it.

Please tell me what you think in a comment. If everyone thinks I'm a philistine without a spirtual elbow to lean on, I'll take another look and try to better myself. I've already been thinking of taking up meditation.


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Midtown, 55th Street at Sixth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

And now it's dark, after dinner. Here's a look at the back side of one of Robert Indiana's famous LOVE sculptures.

As for dinner, luckily there was another Chinese restaurant on the same block where I had a nice minimal dinner of shrimp and pea shoots with brown rice plus whiskey sour. I think a whiskey sour is perfect with Chinese food with its bonus of whiskey-soaked fruit for dessert, so satisfyingly retro. I would tell you the name of the restaurant if I could remember it.

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Morningside Heights, Amsterdam Avenue at 111th Street

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Here 111th Street stops at Amsterdam Avenue and here we have this, uh, sculpture called the Peace Fountain. I've never seen anything look more unlike a peace fountain than this monstrosity. From the website Sacred Destinations: The Peace Fountain depicts the struggle of good and evil. The forces of good, embodied in the figure of the archangel Michael, triumph by decapitating Satan, whose head hangs from one side.

Decapitation for peace! There's a rallying cry.

SoHo, West Broadway Between Prince and Houston Streets

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This is the sight that caused us to haul our cameras out. Not just the sculpture based on the famous 1932 photo, but the crazy pink wall they're facing. For more information about the sculpture and sculptor go here.

You say you want to see the front? Okay, here's a partial view.

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Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Midtown, Park Avenue between 53rd and 52nd Streets

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

One block down and across the street from the Lever House, another famous modernist building. Not modernist, you say? Well, you're right; the Racquet and Tennis Club across the street is not modernist by a long shot (it was built in 1918 by McKim Mead & White), but I'm referring to the Seagram Building which I'm standing in front of in order to photograph this Calder mobile, dated 1969.

You can actually see the building by following the above link to the New York Architecture Images site. You may notice that sometimes this building looks bronze and sometimes it looks black. I can't explain that.

Other photos: Calder sculpture with Seagram Building as background, Seagram Building with Sabrett Umbrella

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