Photos of the big city
By James Robert Watson
Photographers: Sean Cornwell, Rebecca Green, Kelly Lester, Jeff Mains, MacGregor Merritt, Rukmini Ravikumar, and Jim Watson
Link to fotos on


Ornate fountain in City Hall Park. Plaque in City Hall Park which reads: "Do the right thing and nine times out of ten it turns out to be the right thing politically. Debs Myers, Citizen" Debs Myers was a newspaperman, public relations expert, and managing editor of Newsweek. He insisted that "the best public relations in government is good government."


Some great old buildings at City Hall Park, formerly referred to as 'Newspaper Row'.

These two cruise ships were only about 5 minutes apart.

A cruise ship goes by the apartment window. Drumming lessons in Chinatown.

The inner court of the new Morgan Library & Museum. Delmonico's restaurant, considered by historians to be the first restaurant in the USA - claims to have served the first hamburger (Steak Hamburg), created Eggs Benedict for Mr. & Mrs. LeGrand Benedict who sought something new (and Mrs. Benedict loved Hollandaise sauce), created Baked Alaska, and the first to provide a menu. Prior to Delmonico's, people ate at boardinghouses with a fixed offering of lunch or dinner.


These posts are all over the city - usually in pairs. I was baffled as to their purpose until I saw this guy set his round CD player on top of one, and, Eureka, I realized what they were for - they are CD holders. For those urban audiophiles who need to rest and want to set their player down, the city has graciously provided these CD Columns. They are in pairs to encourage socializing and sharing. I don't know why they installed them near fire hydrants, though - those just seem to get in the way. Okay, it may be a good idea, but this is just too much - a chorus line of CD playing dancers? More info

Above & below: the Apple flagship store on Fifth Avenue at 59th Street. A glass cube encloses the entry staircase and elevator - the store is under the plaza.




Staircase at Fifth Avenue. Staircase of the Apple store in SoHo.

Strawberry Fields 'Imagine' mosaic in Strawberry Fields in honor of John Lennon, near The Dakota where he was assassinated.

I usually tip subway musicians: A band in the Union Square station. A Doo Wop group in the car.

Unique angle view of the Guggenheim atrium. Outside De La Vega's shop in the East Village.

Excellent in-depth show of Dada at MoMA, yes, that's right - dada at moma. Note the foto on the left also includes the No Photography sign. Foto on the right illustrates the phrase 'praying to the porcelain God' that fraternity guys recite after every party.

View of Columbus Circle from the restaurant in the Museum of Arts & Design. Broadway going up the left side, Central Park West, and Central Park.


A water fountain in Central Park with a built-in dog bowl, hinged to empty. Immigration building on Ellis Island.

A great way to display t-shirts. Sculpture that survived 9/11 and was returned to a newly remodelated park across from the WTC.

A dance performance in the fountain at Bowling Green park. The latest model of the Freedom Tower.

I took this while looking out a window of the Museum of Modern Art. On the terrace awning there is a cat - closeup in the next foto.

Only in a big city would one find these signs. Lights from the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges on the East River.

'PUSH FOR HELP' seems more effective than 'Customer assistance intercom'. Does one care if its an intercom, telephone, walkie-talkie, or whatever? - one just wants help.

Of several in the city, this is my favorite Barnes & Noble, on the north side of Union Square. To the left of the B&N is this building where Andy Warhol had his studio/factory during the Studio 54 era.

Sean, Jamie, and I went to FAO Schweez inside FAO Schwarz toy store to splurge on dessert. I got coffee, a huge chocolate chip cookie, and two scoops - homemade vanilla and peanut butter caramel (or something like that). Sean and I presenting the skyline

Trinity Church with Deco tower beyond. Woolworth Building.

Foto fun at Federal Hall. Little Italy.

Prada store in SoHo. Radio City grand lobby.


Central Park, Bethesda Fountain.


Bryant Park, on 42nd behind the Public Library

One nice day, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Spectacular views of the city and of the bridge.

Grand Central Station. South Street Seaport.

Cathedral of St.John the Divine, largest USA cathedral. St. Patrick's Cathedral, largest USA Catholic church.

Madison Square from the Empire State observatory. Downtown.

Midtown. Times Square.

Times Square.

Exhibit at Lever House of stacks of reams of green paper in a maze layout. Keith Haring sculpture outside Lever House.

The new sculpture garden at MoMA. A promotion for an IPO at the NY Stock Exchange.

Excess napkins about to blow away (I picked them up and took them home). A photo shoot of a model apparently worried about those napkins.

Downtown pre 9/11. Downtown post 9/11. Tribute in Lights, 2001-02.

In the East Village. Lots of cups, in the East Village.

My favorite Starbucks - in SoHo.


An annual marathon swim around Manhattan Island. These are serious swimmers - it takes about 6 or 7 hours to go all the way around. Each swimmer is accompanied by a kayak and a motor boat. I had a long talk with the mother of the number-one ranked open water swimmer - that's her in the yellow cap.

Jeff Koons sculptures on the roof of the Met, overlooking Central Park.

Across 5th avenue from the Met - note how the newer building on the left respects the older building by the alignment of the ornamentation bands. Another example from downtown - the newer respects the older, even the round corner tower.

Jim, student, and Fred Bernstein at the WTC sphere. Tom's Restaurant on Broadway and 116th Street, by Columbia University, more famous as the location used in Seinfeld.

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