Spring tease

Towel with a view, originally uploaded by Goggla.

After months of winter, we finally had a brilliant springy weekend. Ah, warm, fleeting butterfly thoughts...washed away with Monday morning rain.

Funny Money

Clown Cash, originally uploaded by Goggla.

It was a few years before I noticed the clown...now I can't *not* notice.

Astor Place Rain

Rainstorm, originally uploaded by Goggla.

Most people complain about a rained-out weekend, but I enjoy the storms. Finally, the sidewalk is all mine and I can move through normally crowded streets with ease. In a matter of hours, the city is washed clean, freshened up, ready to start anew.

The Ghostbusters were right

Setting the sky on fire, originally uploaded by Goggla.

You can't tell me a building with a gold pyramid roof doesn't have sinister plans...

185 Bowery

Man on the Roof, originally uploaded by Goggla.

I came across this photo of 185 Bowery in my archives. This was taken in July 2006 on one of those hazy humid days. The man on the roof caught my eye this day, but even without him there, this building has always drawn me. The roofline, arch and oval window give this building personality and make it stand out in a sea of boring, ugly, unimaginative boxes (note the ominous grey monstrosity in the background).

So, of course, it's gone. Torn down this week to make way for more gentrified numbness. "Cold is the New Hot" indeed...

In honor of the Snowpocalypse...

Tompkins Square, originally uploaded by Goggla.

Just another wintry day in Tompkins Square Park...

And check out the video to see all the glorious details...

Rainy night on the Bowery

Another rainy night on the Bowery, originally uploaded by Goggla.

Slogging through the cold wind and pouring rain, there it was, lit up like a lava lamp dribbling its liquid light all over the pavement.

Local color

Chico, originally uploaded by Goggla.

One of the very first memories I have of the East Village is of a Chico mural in Alphabet City. Vibrantly colored, his pieces celebrate the neighborhood, drawing out its best qualities in locations that can sometimes seem downtrodden. There are the murals that advertise local businesses, those that liven up a vacant wall, and then there are those that memorialize lost loved ones. These are my favorite as these give us a glimpse of the city not widely known: its vulnerability and tenderness.

The calm before the storm

The calm before the storm, originally uploaded by Goggla.

Sometimes the weather creeps up from behind without warning...

Aerial

Dormers, originally uploaded by Goggla.

I love the jumbly buildings that line the south side of Canal. They resemble a camp photo of gangly teens - varying heights, fragile, bursting with potential, gaudy and awkward. If they weren't propped up against each other, they might all fall like dominoes. Facing the sun, rise to set, they see and experience it all. The ever-present activity on Canal Street - cars, trucks, traffic cops, swarms of tourists, even bigger swarms of street vendors, hustlers, bustlers, vagabonds and tradespeople. The facades are ornate, detailed and worn, bold and fanciful like costume jewelry. Used and abused, often neglected, but still hanging on.