Tag Archives: Five Points

Pop Culture, Toys and Collectibles

Five Points Festival 2019: The Photo Recap!

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Clutter Booth Display
Clutter Magazine Booth Display (All Photos By Gail / Jamie)

I feel no shame admitting that I had stuffed animals on my bed into my thirties. Despite being a grown adult with a day job, I still love and collect toys, and I especially have a sick fetish for Designer Art Toys. This is why the annual Five Points Festival is my jam. Thanks to this awesome blog, I was able to score press passes once again to this year’s Five Points Fest, which took place the first weekend in June. Since Geoffrey is no longer on-the-scene, so to speak, I brought along my photographer and Partner in Squee, Jamie, and we spent about  5 or 6 hours trawling through hundreds of tiny toys and using the words “Cute” and “Adorable” about one hundred million billion times, each. Just being serious.  While many designer toys are limited editions that can sell for hundreds of dollars, it is also possible find dozens of captivating art toys at Five Points Fest that can be yours for as little as $10 each. Please enjoy my photos of some of the toys that we found to be most squee-worthy, and you will see how easy it can be to build an affordable toy collection that adds joy to your life.

Buff Monster Cone

Do you like Buff Monster? I sure do. This Hot Pink version of his Mister Melty creation is a limited edition that was selling in the Clutter Magazine booth for about $275, I think. That sounds like a big chunk of change, but consider that this piece is also a highly-collectible work of art. Clutter is a  generous sponsor of Five Points Fest so I want to give them a big Shout Out, right now!

Squash Buddies

These cute little guys are called Squash Buddies ($8 each) and, yes, they are scented! Top Trenz is the manufacturer and they were found in the PIQ booth.

Meowchi Cats

PIQ is also where I discovered this shameless Pusheen rip-off series of Fat Cats called Meowchi, by Tasty Peach Studios of Japan. Don’t be fooled by imitations! Demand Pusheen!

Sushi Cat

Why did I take a picture of the box but not the toy? Clever Idiots, indeed. Sushi Cat sells for $7.99.

Vivicat

Hey look; more cats for you Cat Lovers! This slothful feline is part of the Lazily Sitting Cat Series by Vivi Cat. There are nine different poses to collect (9 Lives = 9 Cats) which sell for $12.50 each, and they are from Pop Mart toys.

More Five Points Action After the Jump!

Continue reading Five Points Festival 2019: The Photo Recap! →

Arts and Culture

Pink Thing Of The Day: Pink Mannequin Torso with Graffiti

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Pink Graffiti Torso
Photo By Gail

If you haven’t yet discovered the coolest hotel in downtown NYC — also know as the citizenM Hotel located at 185 Bowery — then you need to head over there and have a cocktail or three in their immersive, in-house Museum of Street Art (MOSA). Intended as a tribute to the late, great 5 Pointz, 20 artists were commissioned to create the artworks that line the walls of  hotel’s lobby/cafe, extending across 21 stories of the 300-room hotel’s stairwell, and even out into the public plaza in the front of the building, which is where I spotted this Hot Pink Mannequin Torso covered with names of famous cosmopolitan cities. I don’t know whose work this is, but maybe he or she will see this post and claim credit for this fun and provocative piece!

Note: The piece was created by Ja’akov for Yab Design 

Arts and Culture

Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao’s New York: Assembled Realities At The Museum of the City of New York

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Lynn's Trapeze Coney Island 2010
Lynn’s Trapeze Coney Island, 2010 (All Photos By Gail)

Taiwanese artist Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao came to New York at age 18 to study photography, and has been inspired by both city and craft ever since.

Opening Day Barclays Center 2013
Opening Day Barclays Center, Brooklyn, 2013

Liao creates large-scale panoramas by combining multiple exposures of the same location taken over the course of several hours. The resulting composite photographs are fascinating, complex, hyper-real views that no single shot – or the human eye – could capture. His New York: Assembled Realities exhibit, on now at the Museum of the City of New York features more than 40 works by Liao, which delightfully push the boundaries of traditional documentary photography.

Luna Park Coney Island Brooklyn 2010
Luna Park Coney Island Brooklyn, 2010

I became intrigued by Jeff’s photography from seeing the absolutely stunning photo above exhibited in the building where I work, and after hearing him give a lunchtime talk on how this exhibit came together, I knew I had to see it for myself. I’m so glad I did, because the exhibit is fantastic and not like anything you will see anywhere else. If you are fan of photography and New York, you simply must go.

Here are few of our favorite pieces from the show.

Looking North from Frank Gehry Building 2012
Looking North from Frank Gehry Building, 2012

This streetscape was taken from the uptown perspective of the Frank Gehry Building at Spruce and Fulton Streets in the Financial District. I love how the time lapse effect of the car’s head and tail lights blur together to make it look as if the streets are flowing with hot, glowing lava.

Looking North from Frank Gehry Building 2012
Detail from Above Photo

Cyclone Coney Island 2010
Cyclone Coney Island, 2010

Here’s another terrific picture of the Cyclone Roller Coaster at Coney Island, with a detail shot below.

Cyclone Coney Island Detail

42nd Street South Times Square Manhattan 2011
42nd Street South Times Square Manhattan, 2011

The above shot of 42nd Street Between 7th and 8th Avenues is a great example of a view that cannot be seen by the naked eye from any vantage point on the street. A couple of details from this photo, which spans about ten feet or so across the wall, are below.

42nd Street South Times Square Manhattan 2011 Detail

I have eaten at that McDonald’s more times than I will admit.

42nd Street South Times Square Manhattan 2011 Detail

I saw a movie at that very AMC theater just last month!

5 Points
5Pointz, Long Island City, Queens, 2004

This stunning photo of the late great 5Pointz is truly heartbreaking when you know that this former Mecca of NYC Street Art has since been razed to make way for new construction. NYC is not very sentimental in the face of the  almighty dollar.

5 Points Detail
5Pointz Detail

Cherry Walk Brooklyn Botanical Garden; Decker Farm Staten Island
Top: Cherry Walk, Brooklyn Botanical Garden; Bottom: Decker Farm, Staten Island

Wave Hill Bronx 2013 Greenwood Cemetery Brooklyn Summer 2012
Top: Wave Hill Bronx, 2013; Bottom: Greenwood Cemetery Brooklyn Summer, 2012

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 72nd Street
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

How amazing is this shot of the Spiderman and Kermit the Frog balloons as they float down Central Park West crossing the intersection of 72nd Street (that’s the famous Dakota Building on the left)? This photo tells a million stories, but when I heard Jeff give his talk, he told us about how, when he was all set up to do the shoot on this day, he kept getting moved from his location by the force of the crowds. The problem is that, if he moves locations once he starts shooting, his perspective changes such that he must start all over again. After being forced to relocate a couple of times he was afraid he would run out of time and not even get his shot for the day, but finally he moved up against a wall or firetruck or something, where he was able to stay and get his fantastic photo!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 72nd Street Detail

This is an exhibit that the entire family will enjoy and you can spend hours just examining and discovering all of the beautiful details in each of these Assembled Realities. The best part is that most of them still exist and you can visit them in real life! A gorgeous, hardcover coffee table book of photos from this show is available in the museum gift shop and also through Amazon.com (much easier to deal with) at This Link.

Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao’s New York: Assembled Realities will be on Exhibit Through March 15th, 2015 at The Museum of the City of New York, Located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street. Visit them online at This Link for more information.

Assembled Realities Installation View