Looking Back to Blogger, May 2012- Totally Different

Back in 2012 I did not spend a lot of time on the blog ( I can't remember what else was preoccupying me)...

Also, my focus back then was just on NYC and this Midtown neighborhood, as you will see...

Some of the posts were more interesting than others to me but I cannot remember why some things interested me more than others.

Manhattan Roots

MOST trees in Manhattan just grow straight out of the ground with little above ground root action..
These trees on East 30th Street between Lexington and Park Avenue South are an exception..
Wish there had not been so much direct sunlight on roots, it makes it hard to make out the complex shapes, but you get the idea..

Trees with big above ground roots are common some places, like in Hawaii...

Block has some very old houses, some of which still seem to be single family homes. Very secluded feeling....

Manhattanhenge May 2012

TWICE a year, the sun sets in alignment with Manhattan's "east-west" streets ( which are not "true" east west but more ENE-WSW)...the effect is something of a light show.

Went out at the appointed time but no light show...too many storm clouds on the horizon...women passing by said to me, " Is it happening?" And I had to say, "Afraid not!"

Here is like to Guardian article on what Manhattanhenge is supposed to look like etc.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-news-blog/2012/may/29/manhattanhenge-2012-new-york-city-sunset

Monday, May 21, 2012

Balloon Happiness

Helium sources may be being depleted, and the substance growing more scarce, but people still love helium filled balloons and they are searching for new helium sources all over the globe.

This young woman seems either to be coming from or going to a party-- and is smiling at the camera, which is rare in New York City!!

On May 20, a colorful Asian street bazaar was held to help aid North Korean refugees and also the Church of St. Francis of Assisi ( which does not have a regular "parish" but caters to the community as whole with a lot of outreach and social programs)...

The event was right off of Greeley Square ( just South of Herald Square)--close to Macy's and the other big stores there...

All sorts of Asian specialties were displayed, and there were also men in costumes representing a Martial Arts School...

This is also close to the "Korean District" with all its shop signs in Korean and a magnet for Koreans in New York....although the crowd was very diverse, attracting many tourists who are always in that area in particular.

Ataturk Day -also Youth and Sports

On May 19, people of Turkish heritage turned out near the United Nations to celebrate a National Holiday of that country-- Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day.

The masses of people who showed up with Turkish flags ( Crescent and Star) also wore lots of red and T-Shirts with slogans on them...

In the midst of the very celebratory throngs, a group of young girls looks bored!

Deco Japan at Japan Society

You usually do not think of Japan when you think of the Art Deco movement, but the years between the World Wars saw a flourishing of art in this style, now on exhibit at the Japan Society in Manhattan (near the United Nations).

A lot of the art of that period focuses on "the modern girl"-- sometimes an updated traditional Japanese girl, but also often a kind of glorified geisha...

Great website also has video:

http://www.japansociety.org/event/deco-japan-shaping-art-and-culture-19201945

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Street Sculpture in Manhattan

Manhattan has so much street sculpture...here are just a couple of examples of ones I have just noticed lately...

Walking, headless figures were on Dag Hammarskjold Place near United Nations...they may have moved them already....

Likewise, abstract car was also in the same area...

The one really puzzling one is the weird dark shape near Union Square, which someone suggested to me was " an elephant standing on its trunk." Maybe...

A lot of the sculpture you see in front of buildings is very abstract and it is much harder to warm to some of them than to others...

Sweet Shops

There are all sorts of sweet shops and the like in Midtown....here are two just a couple of blocks away--the upscale 5th Avenue Chocolatiere and the Heavenly Delights shop..

Heavenly delights is more for kids and average people...did not check all that closely but probably does not pay all that much attention to current preoccupation with "healthy choices" ( low fat, no sugar added, etc.)--but I am not sure because I did not really look as I said.

Understand that there are all sorts of small chocolatiers all over the U.S. now...saw a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" from Oregon ( who looked exactly like some hip guy from the late 1960's...the hair and mustache were perfect replicas) who started his chocolate shop in his basement and now has a thriving business there.

Food experts are divided on benefits/dangers of chocolate, of course, and disapprove of sugar more and more...( latest TV show I saw on it had this one doctor raving on how "all sugar --even from honey-- is poison!") Nobody knows where the food police will strike next....

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Who owns NYC, American Agribusiness

Was just reading an article on "who owns Manhattan" 

( one real estate type says there are 30 or 40 families,

 who, along with Trinity Church, own an incredible amount of 
the real estate here).

 http://www.quora.com/Who-owns-the-most-real-estate-land-in-Manhattan 

Bruce Feldman writes there

"Most
 of the real estate in Manhattan is owned by a handful (perhaps 30-40) 
of long-standing real estate "families," the largest of which is the 
Estate of Sol Goldman, who died in 1986 and who, at the time, was one of
 the largest owners of real estate in New York City.  Currently, the 
largest owner of properties is probably Trinity Church, which at one 
time owned almost the entirety of lower Manhattan but still owns major 
properties and office buildings throughout lower Manhattan. "

 Also know foreign investors and co-investors own all sorts of

 property here...remember hearing Donald Trump speak about it 

at a business meeting here long ago ( he knows more 
about real estate in NYC than many other topics). Columbia 

University and NYU own a lot, 
I can tell you that..

Which made we wonder what the state of American Agribusiness 

was like these days...found 
a really good but pretty academic article about it

http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/Wash%20DC%20Reclaim.htm

There are also articles on the internet about the probable

 effects of run off of 
chemicals from agribusiness all over the U.S.

You can google up a lot on this sort of topic..

Every once in a while, a show like 60 Minutes runs

 something about some aspect of topics 
like these but we do not hear much about them 

( sometimes, in my paranoid moods, I feel 
we are DEFINITELY NOT to suppose to know about them)

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