Breaking! Firetrucks (and firefighters!) in action at the corner where Keith McNally will somehow probably ruin

Just after 3, the corner of Bowery and Houston was the scene of chaos! Enough equipment to put out the inferno at the Towering Inferno! Fire trucks! Ladders! Firefighters! Drivers trying to turn right onto Bowery and honking their horns!








Everyone stood around for a little bit then left. No report of actual flames from the people standing around -- the people standing around who weren't firefighters. Tourists took pictures. Someone had a video camera. Anyway, good thing there wasn't a real fire -- the firefighters would not have been able to penetrate the quadruple plywood protecting McNally's new pizza joint.

Let me get all Metropolitan Diary on you

I was walking in the 30s today for some reason...I got stuck behind a slow-moving tourist dad and his young son (7? 8?)...They were taking their time looking here and there. I wasn't paying too much attention. But it was clear they couldn't find what they were looking for.

The boy said, "But I thought you knew the city."

The dad shook his head sadly, "Not anymore I don't."

Turned out he used to live here.

EV Grieve's last-minute gift guide

For someone you really don't like....



Being sold by a street vendor on Sixth Avenue near 22nd Street.

Or! She's the perfect accompaniment for the next time you watch The Village of the Damned.

Noted

Took this shot at 13th Street and Fifth Avenue last night.

Scaffolding ruins a nice holiday shot

On 15th Street near Union Square.

Noted

On 21st Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

A little window shopping

On Fifth Avenue....



...and Avenue B.



Or is it the other way around?

Horse sense

I like this shot from a newsstand on Third Avenue in the 20s for two reasons...any store that sells so many horse racing publications is good with me...and anyplace still using a collectible New York Sun paper holder....

Because nothing says Happy Thanksgiving more than a young Pilgrim holding a gun

And when will breeches, doublet and stockings with shoes make a comeback?

A little chicken before your turkey

On First Avenue in the 20s....this is just goofy.

A case of the cutes

Fifty People, One Question: New York from Crush & Lovely on Vimeo.

Can someone please explain this to me?

On 33rd Street near Penn Station. A taste of India via the Pacific Northwest? Or just haven't gotten around to changing the sign?

Peter Frampton called: He wants his van back

Oh my. Our friend Hunter-Gatherer took this shot (and others!) of this boss van (with Jersey plates, natch) in SoHo. He has been humming "Dream Weaver" ever since....

Champagne wishes

At First Avenue and 82nd Street.

Walking on Madison

For some reason late yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Grieve and I found ourselves walking on that really faboo stretch of Madison Avenue in the 70s and 60s. And all those designer places -- Armani, Jil Sander, Dolce & Gabbana, et al. And you know we didn't see one person shopping in any of these stores. Seriously. Post-election hangover perhaps? Or maybe the richies just don't shop in a light rain on weekday afternoons? Or maybe the economy is really fucked. Anyway, every store was the same: A handful of well-dressed employees standing around looking expectantly out the store windows.

Money! Get your money!

In the Flatiron District.

Noted

Henry Street, 2:50 p.m., Nov. 2

The ice storm

In downtown Manhattan, two artists, Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano sculpted the word "ECONOMY" from a block of ice to symbolize the economic downfall. The 1500 lbs. of ice was put on display in front of the Supreme Court and marked the day the stock market crashed that led to the Great Depression 79 years ago. (New York Post)




Might as well dance.

Five photos taken in the back of a cab that was probably going a little too fast during a rainstorm Tuesday evening

Wow, that headline is really concise! On West Broadway then Houston.