Look Up - NYC

We were in NYC to meet up with our friend, Roopa, for lunch and then to spend the afternoon wandering around. As we were walking, I remembered my father’s words, to look up. Several months ago, I talked about the importance of looking up when you’re in a city. You often see details of the original architecture that have been eliminated or obliterated on the street level. Here’s some of what we saw.

The charming Puck, who stands over the entrance to the Puck Building. Who can resist a fat guy in a top hat?

Looking south to a building decorated a la Louis Vuitton.The front of the New Museum on Bowery Street.

The Bowery Savings Bank from the frontand the side. The incomparable E. Vogel, Custom Made Shoes & Boots. I had a pair of paddock boots from Vogel that were just stunning. Unfortunately, they were jettisoned when I moved to the UK. This building’s curved corner reminded me of the HQ of the National Trust in Washington DC. What you can’t see in the image were the amazing fluted columns on the second floor, which we could see through the beautiful huge windows.Sometimes you have to look down to see the unusual. Girl Props is one of my favourite places for funky and inexpensive costume jewelry.

And in NoLiTa, we saw a reminder of the area’s Italian heritage in mosaics on the doorstep, and also in the beautiful tile-work inside.

We saw this lovely gal hovering above an entrance just to the north of the huge Ralph Lauren store in Soho. All in all, a great trip up to NYC, a wonderful lunch with a dear friend, and lots of walking and talking with a pal.