Photos By Gail
Aside from the bright contrast of colors between the Pink Balloon and Red Standpipe Connection, what stood out for me as I came upon this scene was how snuggly the balloon was wedged between the standpipe and the building’s black exhaust grate. Someone wanted to ensure that the balloon didn’t blow away. I’m glad for that, because otherwise I would have missed it on my hunt for Pink Things.
Balloon Wedgie
All photos by Gail
People discard the most amazing stuff that, in any other lifetime, I might seriously consider picking up and taking home with me, if it weren’t for the Covid. I’m not sure if the Covid could live on a pair of Fancy Hot Pink Satin Pumps (with a rhinestone embellishment, no less) but I am not taking any chances.
I spotted the shoe on Avenue B when I was in the home stretch of daily walk. With a bit more sleuthing, I found its mate close by.
You can clearly see by the pristine, black heel-guard that these shoes have never walked even one step on a NYC sidewalk. Adding to the temptation to snatch them: the box was also found to be close by. Sadly I had to leave them be; because, Covid.
These stunning pumps are made by Nina Shoes and appear to sell for about $79 — pretty reasonable, really. Sadly, the reason why they were just abandoned on the streets of the East Village will remain a mystery.
Planet Earth is Blue, and There’s Nothing I Can Do . . .(Photo By Gail)
Street Artist BD White painted a few of his Astronauts on Bowery just south of East Second Street. This one is my favorite.
Photos By Gail
Zuccotti Park in the Financial District is perhaps most famous for being ground zero for the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it’s also home to several pieces of monumental public art. For example, behold this bright red, 70-foot-high painted steel installation by sculptor Mark di Suvero, entitled Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life), which went up at the corner of Broadway and Cedar Street in June 2006. The sculpture is comprised of “open-ended tetrahedrons” as described by di Suvero, and was formerly located at the Holland Tunnel rotary.
Update: I was in the area on July 25th and took a couple of new shots (above and below). You can see the city has put barriers around the sculpture to keep people from congregating in the park.
Photos By Gail
Living the Covid Life in its Manhattan epicenter is hardcore. New Yorkers are survivors though, and we still love our city. Queen Andrea wants to make sure we don’t forget how hard NYC rocks. She completed this beautiful mural on Avenue A between 3rd and 4th Streets on May 14th, 2020, which is why it still looks fresh!
Brilliant Cure Covid Meme: Origin Unknown. All Other Non-Meme Images By Gail
Hello and welcome to week four of My Covid East Village Life! This week we are checking in with the act of Social Distancing, Masking-up, and related Covid Memes! Fun! Let’s get to isolating!
First off, if you’re not wearing a fucking mask every time you leave your house, I have ZERO sympathy for you if you get the virus.
A Trader Joe’s market opened in my immediate neighborhood earlier this year and shopping there for delicious food has allowed me to keep my shit together. Like most stores, TJ‘s began requiring customers to wear face masks a week or so into lockdown; which I have no problem complying with, because I am not a selfish cunt. Even Beary, the store’s mascot, is masked-up, as we all should be.
This mask with Red Rringe — worn by my very fashionable neighbor, Delphine — is definitely the fanciest face-covering I’ve seen.
Tiny dog, which I was told is a Miniature Pinscher, in a mask, spotted in the East River Park. He is saying: “Mask-up, Bitches!”
Mask graffiti on the LES.
Flyer seen in my neighborhood. Zero sympathy for the Chads and Karens as well.
Rules like this make me feel safer. Thank you, NYC, for giving a shit!
There is literally no excuse for not knowing the rules.
This Post Is Observing Social Distancing! More Photos After the Jump!
Continue reading East Village Life: Photos of Social Distancing From My Neighborhood Walks!
Purple Crocus’ on the High Line (All Photos By Gail)
In the Covid Life, I’m fortunate to be able to work from home, be in good health, have enough food, cable TV, and everything needed to make the lock-down more comfortable. I really can’t complain. I can get by for a few months without going shopping, eating in my favorite restaurant, or seeing a movie in the theater. The one thing I do get a bit wistful about is not being able to fully enjoy the beauty of Spring.
In an email I received from them this morning, the Museum of Modern Art was quick to remind me that, “Five hundred tulips are blooming in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden right now, and no one is there to enjoy them.” Thanks for the reminder! Spring, the season of renewal, is happening all around us while we are being advised to stay inside. It kills me. In a normal year, I would have at the very least attended Sakura Matsuri, the Cherry Blossom Festival hosted by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — which is such a terrific way to usher in the season. Even the NYBG’s Orchid Show closed prematurely. Beauty is still out there, so I preserve it on my walks. If you’re struggling with Cabin Fever, please enjoy a little bit of spring in this week’s edition of my East Village Life.
Tompkins Square Park is the closest park to my home; being located between Avenues A and B, and between East 7th and East 9th Streets. There have been a few outstanding flowering cherry trees there this spring. Check them out!
As much as I wish we could have trees that look like this year-round, they surely would not be appreciated if their beauty was not so ephemeral.
Here’s a closer look at that same tree. When I checked the Instagram accounts of my neighbors on this particular afternoon, everyone was posting their own photos of . . . that same tree. It was just too perfect.
Different tree, same park.
These were across the street from my apartment, on 14th Street outside Stuyvesant Town. I love the side-by-side contrast of the trees against the blue sky, and then the red brick building.
I took this photo very late in the afternoon, which is apparent by the light, or lack thereof. This tree enjoys its life inside one of the East Village’s community gardens that add so much value to this neighborhood.
When I posted this photo on Instagram it got twice the usual number of likes. I think that has something to do with the visual appeal of the white flowering tree next to the white building. This is First Avenue just south of 14th Street.
A cool thing about Cherry Blossoms is that you don’t have to get the entire tree to capture a great photo; in fact, a small cluster of flowers, or even a single bloom, can convey so much more about the beauty of spring. This photo was taken on the High Line in early March, one week before lock-down.
Also, the pink color is like a magnet, attracting me to the tree.
Post Continues, With More Photos and Stories, After The Jump! Continue reading East Village Life: Photos of Flowers From My Neighborhood Walks