230 5th

20 floors or so above 5th Avenue and 27th Street (and only a few blocks from where I work), the best roof top garden in town is set against a perfect blue NYC sky.

I'd heard of this place before but had never been lucky enough to be invited to a party or get together here until this weekend. A few friends and I went, willing to brave the expensive cocktails and appetizers for a chance to enjoy all of the views and comfort that this spot has to offer.

I recently saw a scene from The Bachelorette set on this roof top, but it all looked so different in person. There were beautiful plants, flowers and topiary structures everywhere. Benches, bars, palm trees, fans, umbrellas and candles were everywhere too.

And even though my camera lost both memory space and power, I was able to capture the views of nearby landmark buildings and the aforementioned flowers, palm trees and topiary structures.

View toward Gramercy/the East of the NY Life Insurance Building


Cat topiary behind one of the bars




View uptown of the Empire State Building



View toward Gramercy/the East of the NY Life Insurance Building later in the night

Inside Limelight Marketplace

The new Limelight Marketplace opened up sometime recently, and I came across it one day while walking down Sixth Avenue on my way to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I stepped inside and couldn't believe what they'd done with the place—not that I'd ever been inside before... back when it was the Avalon Nightclub. I do remember seeing lines of people waiting outside though, and wondering what they were waiting for all dressed up outside of a church on a Friday night.

The marketplace has many upscale shops like Hunter Boots and LeSportscac; fancy dessert spots like Butterfly Bakeshop and Cupcake Stop; and soon to come, the famous Grimaldi's pizza! Complementing all of the gourmet foods sold on site is a peak season fruit and vegetable market outside in the courtyard.

This is the perfect place to go for unique food and gift ideas, and an historic architectural view since this venue dates back to 1847!

The outside


Busy on a Saturday!


View across 6th Avenue from the entrance


View from inside the entrance

Another Chelsea Gallery Crawl

It's been forever since I've visited the galleries out in Chelsea. Now that I live close by, you'd think I'd plan to go at least every other weekend, but I only just made it back out there during a gallery crawl with some of my photo friends last week. We started at the Gladstone Gallery on 24th & 11th and wandered underneath the High Line elevated Park up to the Aperture Gallery on 27th Street, then back down to 21st for one last stop before walking home on a cold February night.

Exhibit in Aperture - No Singing Allowed: Flamenco and Photography


Exhibit sign in Aperture


At Fredericks & Frasier, "Chimera" by Nicholas Di Genova


Interesting building across from our last gallery stop on 21st

Hotel Chelsea

3.5 years ago I read a book by Chuck Klosterman and in it he talks about staying at the Hotel Chelsea. He described the deaths that had occurred there (his book, Killing Yourself To Live, was like a road trip all about death and studying famous deaths—while literally on a road trip) and now that I've moved to the Chelsea area, I see the hotel pretty often and think of him and his book whenever I do.

It is pretty cool to walk past this historical piece of property located on West 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. I happened to be doing some grocery shopping right up the street...

Out and about in Chelsea

A few weekends ago I went out to Chelsea with some fellow photographers to visit some of the galleries out by the West Side Highway. The shows at these places change every few weeks so you can visit often and see a wide range of work. We saw everything from airplanes to bamboo installations to sculptures and paintings. 

This is Adel Abdessemed's 2008 piece Telle mere tel fils from his show RIO on display at David Zwirner Gallery on West 19th Street. It is a 65-foot sculptural soft felt braid of tailfins and cockpits from three real airplanes. It was an insane sight from the street. Imagine walking along West 19th Street and then looking up to see this! The installation is mammoth. 

From inside the 7Eleven Gallery on 10th Avenue at West 20th Street where there was a group exhibition. It is a garage-type space that opens out to the street and these beautiful apartment buildings across the way. 

Other galleries visited include: Gladstone Gallery, Steven Kasher Gallery, Postmasters gallery, Hasted Hunt and Paula Cooper Gallery. Additionally, we stopped by the Gagosian Gallery on West 21st Street to see the Pablo Picasso: Mosqueteros show. ALL PABLO. The show had just opened and all the local art-goers were there!