Heading through SoHo on the way to the Staten Island Ferry, I passed by another pointy pair of posterior pokers.
(Note the little glass circles — vault lights — set into the sidewalk.)
Built in 1920-21 (old photo), this chapel belongs to the Church of Saint Clare and was formerly the parish's main church. It was moved a few hundred feet down the road to this spot to make way for the current church, whose construction began in 1958.
Crooke's Point, the tip of the long peninsula in Great Kills Park, is visible across the water. With all the snow and ice melted (close-up) after some relatively warm weather, it's unrecognizable as the frozen wasteland I slogged through just two and a half weeks ago.
Assembled from sustainably sourced local materials. Here's a closer look.
Kicking back and watching some TV at my swanky beach lounge. 500 channels and there's nothing on!
TAKING CLAMS OR OTHER SHELLFISH FROM THIS UNCERTIFIED AREA IS PROHIBITED.
The sign on top helpfully depicts the forbidden fruits: oyster, surf clam, soft clam, hard clam, razor clam, mussel, scallop.
A Red Jacket water pump. This is the second water pump turned mailbox support we've seen. (Here's a wider shot of the house.)
We've seen busty sphinxes before, but these ones also have braided, ribboned pigtails. As it turns out, both breasts and braids have long been characteristic features of sphinxes.
Voted best playground in Staten Island by the readers of the Staten Island Advance. Note the barnacles and other creatures sculpted on the shell of the giant horseshoe crab (close-up); horseshoe crabs "have been described as 'walking museums' since the carapace provides a suitable habitat for large numbers of species including algae, coelenterates, flat worms, bryozoans and molluscs".
This mailbox is not modeled on the house it belongs to, 324 Nelson Avenue.
Is this some kind of game token? The other side is identical in appearance, although it's rotated at a seemingly arbitrary angle.
Queen Elizabeth II has been the monarch of the United Kingdom (and hence Canada) since 1952. I think this 1945 King George VI penny is the first Canadian coin I've ever seen without her face on it. (Side note: Canada stopped producing pennies in 2012.)
"D:G:REX ET IND:IMP:" is a Latin abbreviation of "By the Grace of God, King and Emperor of India", itself an abbreviation of "By the Grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India", the full title of the Canadian monarch in 1945. India gained independence from Britain in 1947, and, although George VI didn't proclaim that "Emperor of India" should be removed from his title until midway through 1948, the Royal Canadian Mint decided not to produce any 1948 coins with "IND:IMP" on them. Instead, while waiting for the Royal Mint in London to send updated dies bearing the India-less inscription "DEI GRATIA REX" (By the Grace of God, King), the Canadians continued to mint 1947-dated "IND:IMP" coins well into 1948, with a tiny maple leaf added next to the year to distinguish them from coins actually created in 1947.
Staten Island's Scott LoBaido is the city's undisputed king of American flag murals. This accordion flag looks like something he would paint — in fact, it looks like something he did paint — but it doesn't bear his signature and it's not as finely rendered as his work tends to be.
UPDATE: Never mind, this is a LoBaido mural after all, painted in 2008. His signature is on it (in the lower left corner); I just didn't notice it the first time I walked by.
I don't normally count stickers on cars as memorials, but this one is much more substantial than the typical window or bumper sticker.
After finishing my walk in Staten Island, I took the ferry to Manhattan. I was heading down East Houston Street when I looked up and saw this tree that I had somehow never noticed before. Rising about 100 feet into the air (Street View), it's said to be the tallest dawn redwood in Manhattan. It's located in the Liz Christy Community Garden, which was founded in 1973 and is considered the city's first community garden. (I think this means it's the first community garden to be officially recognized by the city [in 1974]; it's hard to imagine that there wasn't a plot of land in the five boroughs cultivated by a group of neighbors before the 1970s.)
