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

Views from Midtown

My work sent me out to another one of our furnished apartments to assist in a photo shoot, this one being at The Centria, located in Midtown by Rockefeller Plaza. While the professional photographer took his interior shots with a Nikon D200, I take my hobby/for fun shots with a little Sony.

With this particular photo shoot, both of our pictures came out with different backgrounds. We started at noon with the sky looking dark and gray, and ended at 1:30 with a clear blue sky and cottony white clouds.


The view from one of the bedrooms looking south


Close up of the Empire State Building


At one point the view looked like this:


But an hour before it looked like this!




View towards Avenue of the Americas

Hudson River, Pier 66 Maritime

I traveled from Mid-Chelsea to the edge of Manhattan and out to Pier 66 to take some pictures of Jersey City and the Hudson River. I last went out there in March for the Fountain Art Fair and it was very cold out on the water.

It was windy and sunny so it was hard to see anything or to even stand still (the winds were powerful enough to blow you a few feet away!) but I managed to spot the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as some buildings in lower Manhattan and Weekhawken, NJ.

From there I had lunch at The Frying Pan, an historic lightship docked on Pier 66 Maritime that serves as a sort of dive bar/seasonal bar and grill with a tiki bar. In March when I attended the Fountain Art Fair that took place on the ship, I could feel the boat rocking from the wind and water, and it did the same when I was out there on this windy May day!!


View of Jersey City, the Goldman Sachs Tower and the Statue of Liberty
(to the left of the tower)


View towards Midtown and the Empire State Building


Park on Pier 66, view towards New Jersey


View toward Chelsea Piers from the dock of The Frying Pan


The John J. Harvey fireboat, situated next to The Frying Pan, formerly of the FDNY.

Through the glass

While at the Affordable Art Fair last Thursday (at 7 West 34th Street), I spent some time relaxing in the lounge and enjoying the view uptown towards Times Square and Bryant Park. Even at 7:30 in the evening the sun provided what looked like an early afternoon view.

View towards Times Square and Bryant Park

View towards Midtown East, The Chrysler Building

The Affordable Art Fair

The Affordable Art Fair is my new favorite art fair in New York. It was similar to The Armory Show, which was rows and rows of 20th and 21st Century fine art set up in gallery booths from all over the world.

This show was comprised of rows and rows of fine art from both young talent and established artists and galleries, but it wasn't as overwhelming and the artwork seemed closer to home (lots of city scenes). I didn't buy anything because my walls are already covered with Jack Vettriano, Le Chat Noir and vintage James Dean posters, but the theme is affordable art ranging in price from $100 - $10,000.

While there I enjoyed viewing works from local NYC galleries, London and Toronto galleries, and even the familiar studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Below are some of my favorites.

Julio Brujis, 'New York', digital photographic print
at the Mark Jason Gallery booth from London


Floyd Douglas, Dutch artist, photography on canvas
on display at The Art Shop booth from Amsterdam

Stephen Brooks, acrylic on canvas pieces from Behr-Thyssen LTD in New York

Goodnight Moon

While walking home alone up Broadway to 5th Avenue, I spotted the moon. That's a rarity in the city as it's usually blocked from view. I noticed a couple of people taking pictures of it, so I joined in. We were on the corner of 20th Street I believe, and even though it was after 8:00, there was still a bit of daylight with a hint of night-light.

I walked a few blocks north toward Madison Square Park and on my right was the Metropolitan Life Tower with the clock and then on my left was the Empire State Building. Even though I see it every night, you'll still find me taking a picture of it for some reason. And as we go into the end of Spring and the beginning of the Summer season, I hope to see more of the moon every night.

Looking East on 20th Street

The Met Life Tower at One Madison Avenue

The Empire State Building

The CRRNJ in Liberty State Park

For travel between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as to Ellis Island, the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ) was built in 1889. Today it is mostly used for recreational purposes—a station for ferries full of tourists and maybe a local commuting here and there.

The Earth Day 2010 celebration took place inside the terminal and out on the lawn surrounding it. There were lots of families there partaking in activities, eating funnel cake and watching a concert that was going on. I was there mainly for the views though!


The CRRNJ


Inside the terminal


Spring flowers and an old train parked in the background


Events taking place in the park

"... the largest human migration in modem history and is a memorial to the immigrant experience.

Ellis and Liberty Islands share this important era in American history with the CRRNJ Terminal. Millions of immigrants, having been greeted by the Statue and processed at Ellis Island, traveled to their new homes via trains from the CRRNJ Terminal. - www.libertystatepark.org