"SNAPPY SEASON"

deck the balls with boughs of folly...

HOLIDAY WINDOWS-NYC.

a few samples of the still elegant art of holiday window design...

Barney's 

Lady Gaga lounges at Barney's

Saks 5th Ave

Agent Provacateur

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

all images ©Ken Brown

WORDS ON WALLS

As they used to say, if you want to know what's going on, read the walls. Well I've been reading the walls here in the land of the free for many years and I'm not sure if I know any more about what's going on, but the words do catch my eye with aphorisms, advice, poetry, politics, love, humor and the occasional surreal rant...

all photos ©Ken Brown

STREET SNAPS NYC

enjoy these excerpts from some recent rambles ...

                                 
                                     all photos © Ken Brown

"JOYOUS MOMENTS"

In the daily drama of the street, it's nice to take note of the sweet ...

                                 all photos ©Ken Brown

DEAD HORSE BAY "BOTTLE BEACH"

As a life long beachcomber, I have wandered on more than a few, but I have never experienced anything comparable to New York's own, Dead Horse Bay, and the beach area known locally as "Bottle Beach". Yesterday was a gorgeous early Fall day with a low tide around noon and the flotsam trail beckoned...

A brief history:  It was once a small island (Barren Island) near Brooklyn's south coast bordering Dead Horse Bay, whose name came from the large number of rendering facilities located nearby during the 1800's and into the early 1900's.  As automobiles became the primary mode of transportation, the island became a landfill for NYC trash until the 1950's when it was capped and transformed into what is now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. The top-ography has changed and as parts of the beach succumbed to the shifting tides, parts of the underlying (non organic) trash have been exposed, leaving a vast array of artifacts and oddities from earlier generations. As an amateur archeologist, this is what is most fascinating and though I admit, my treasures have been few (ceramic shards and photographs), I have met folks there who mentioned finding objects as disparate as a carved ivory elephant with jade inlays, vintage toys, a pocket watch, and of course, a wide range of bottles.

                                  all photos ©Ken Brown

HALLOWEEN ART

everyone's favorite national holiday where the cute and the macabre commingle in an amazing outpouring of public art making ...

                                 Gary Leib's window at Desert Island, Brooklyn

                                 Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Manhattan

                                 Howard Beach, Queens

all photos ©Ken Brown