SNAPPY SEASON!

"CITY WALLS, NEW VOICES"

As a student of city walls, I will sometimes notice a singular attempt to rise up and be heard (seen) in the general visual cacophony. I started seeing these almost folk arty figures several months ago and it was like witnessing a reclamation of urban space by beasts and mountains.  ... well, all right!

all photos ©Ken Brown

"PAINTED WINDOWS"

each year, around this time, I am reminded of a first art job where I actually got paid.  The job was painting gas station window greetings in various Boston suburbs, and my particular task was holly leaves and "happy holidays" in reverse. I'm glad to see the task continues, and with much more originality than we managed to summon back then.

all photos ©Ken Brown

"WORDS ON WALLS"

a few from the "words on walls" archive...

                                the other third say he reminds them of Nosferatu

found on the Williamsburg Bridge and it was answered in the affirmative on 9/15/12

the last word is "dancing"

all photos ©Ken Brown

"THANKSGIVING NYC"

As we head into our favorite national food-centric holiday, here are a few images gathered from

windows and walls around town.

...and a happy Thanksgiving to all.

all photos ©Ken Brown

"FASHION FORWARD NYC"

a few fashion forward fellow citizens in  NYC...

all photos ©Ken Brown

POST SANDY

We are only recently out from under the blackout caused by Sandy and though we realized how fortunate we were to have survived with minimum damage, some bike hikes into other nearby neighborhoods made clear that many people have been profoundly affected and there is still a long way to go.  Our hearts go out to them.

Up in the trees along Hudson st

Chelsea on Tuesday morning.  Many of the galleries in this 

neighborhood were severely affected.

South St Seaport   A friend who lives there described watching

a tsunami-like surge wash through, later, leaving swaths of debris.

Brooklyn, near the Gowanus Canal

Red Hook, Brooklyn   With Halloween decorations still up, this

beautiful old seaport neighborhood was badly hit and many streets

were lined with remnants from emptied out basements and garages.

Red Hook

A favorite and still funky storefront on Van Brunt in Red Hook

Thousands of small businesses throughout the city were deeply 

affected. Many have become gathering spots and centers for in

formation and assistance in their respective communities.

Red Hook

all photos ©Ken Brown

HALLOWEEN-NYC

Halloween is definitely one of our favorite national holidays, and, judging by the acres of faux spider webs and plastic paraphernalia dangling from porches, it is also an important economic engine in these scary times.

                                scary claws in the East Village

                                          stirring spaghetti sauce in Little Italy

the garden spiders are back...again.

speaking of spiders, Tribeca has a few

Gary Leib's Halloween window at Desert Island, Williamsburg

Patricia Field in Noho 

hanging out at the "Java Maintenance Clinic", better known as

the 1st Ave Bean in the East Village

ghosts escape at "the Bean"

patrons seem unperturbed by rampaging skeletons as

they focus on more important matters...

This elaborate "heebie-jeebie hollow" fright set was constructed

in the front yard of a house in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. It has some

animated figures and I'm told that on Halloween, they have live actors

on set. The grandfather told me there were thousands of visitors last 

year and he had handed out some serious tonnage of candy.

more from "Heebie-jeebie Hollow"

all photos ©Ken Brown

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!