what about the plastic animals?

Morris Brothers

The Times ran a letter to the editor from actress Lee Grant today, lamenting the disappearance of family-owned businesses on the Upper West Side.  Many of the ground floor spaces that the businesses were in remain empty for years.  Grant

One of the businesses she mentions is the Morris Brothers clothing store, which used to be in the building above at 84th and Broadway.  They had a good selection of everyday clothes at reasonable prices.  I bought several pairs of jeans there.  Morris Brothers closed nearly three years ago, when the landlord raised their rent by some incredible amount.  Except for a temporary halloween store the space has been empty until recently.  Now it appears that GameStop is moving in from down the block.  If you want a pair of generic jeans there's the Gap a couple blocks away or Macy's way down on 34th Street.

The Corner?

Okay, why would a restaurant in the middle of the block be named Corner cafe & bakery?

Speaking of food, Bronx Flavor with Baron Ambrosia is almost too awesome for words.  Do not delay in watching all the episodes.

Chalk Couples

The pleasant weather on Sunday forced me to go outside.  Among other things I found a bench in Theodore Roosevelt park behind the Museum of Natural History and read the paper.  Just out of range of this picture is a monument to American Nobel Prize laureates.  The monument is a big pink granite thing that lists awardees by year, and in which category they were awarded.  It is the sort of thing I wouldn't give a second glance to, hence the lack of a photo, but a lot of people who walked by stopped for a minute or two to read the names.

Be Like Barbara

Did Barbara Kruger work on the window advertisement for Ariel West, or did someone really want to Design Like Barbara?

P&G Bar and Cafe

The P&G Cafe and Bar has been at 73rd and Amsterdam for ages.  From what I read it was supposed to move, and lose the neon, at the beginning but that has been postponed until mid-February.

Origami Tree

The origami tree is a holiday season tradition at the American Museum of Natural History.

I'll be away from here for the next week.  I hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Three Boats at Sunset

Reading the paper and people watching in Riverside Park was a good way to end the holiday weekend.

Sookk

As I was out to get a haircut this noon I noticed a new Thai restaurant on Broadway.  They had a $7 lunch special.  How could I resist?  The special included an appetizer and an entree.  I had chicken satay and vegetable pad thai.  Both were done well.  Usually I don't get the most generic items on a menu.  Next time I'll be more adventurous.  Their specialty is Bangkok/Yaowarat cuisine.  Yaowarat being Bangkok's Chinatown.  The Bangkok Chicken Pumpkin Curry and the Ginger Coconut Herbal Pepper Sirloin Steak both sound good (despite the length of the latter's name), but neither are available as lunch specials.  All in all a good complement to the excellent Thai Market a few blocks further uptown on Amsterdam.

Horses

Now with larger pictures and only two columns!

Is there a proper name for these rides?  All I can think of is kiddie rides but that doesn't seem to be the proper name.  At least my google searches for kiddie rides turns up unsatisfactory results.

Murder Ink

Murder Ink and it's sister bookstore Ivy's Books closed some time ago (last winter?) a victim of rising rents on the Upper West Side.  I just happened to have a tripod while walking by this evening.