Crossing Delancey - IF Style

"Where the heck are they this time?" you might ask.

Once again, we forgot to take pictures of ourselves together, so here we are in solo shots at yet another fun spot in New York. (Well, we didn't actually forget - there just weren't any passersby at that exact moment for us to prevail upon. We REALLY have to get a devoted intern!)

To explain, after our recent visit to Hester Street Market, we strolled over to historic Delancey Street, which leads to the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn from Manhattan. These wonderfully llustrated figures from the culturally diverse neighborhood decorate long panels behind a small public park constructed almost at the entrance to the bridge. So of course, we thought the panels would make a great backdrop, and couldn't resist getting into the act.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones having that particular brainstorm that day. We walked away for a few minutes to get ourselves mango smoothies across the street, and when we walked outside again we saw a fashion shoot under way on the same spot. We struck up a conversation with stylist Cameron Carpenter and make-up artist Sarah Salice. It was a little harder to talk to the models, who were in various stages of being moved and tucked and combed and glossed. (And anyway, we knew were weren't supposed to be interrupting.) This model is wearing a two piece dress by Abigail Stewart with an aquatic pattern.

Needless to say, both of the models were as sweet as they were gorgeous, and had legs that went on forever!

Since we mentioned the Williamsburg Bridge, we thought it would be fun to show it to you. After all, how many of you have ever seen a pink bridge?  Originally it was red, but the paint must not be up to the beating it has taken in thousands of hours of daylight. Makes a great, if unintended, statement!

In other construction news, we encountered this building, which looks for all the world like a huge baseball mitt.  We are disheartened by the tall glass buildings that are springing up all over New York like distorted mushrooms, but this one at least has a sense of humor about it.

We passed by this mysterious storefront.  It raises all sorts of questions, but there is no doubt that the artist has a great mastery of color - look at all the gentle shading, as if it were a watercolor.  And the attention to detail and ruddy cheeks are remniscent of the fantastic cartoons of Bill Plympton.

How about some portable art?  Check out the marvelous portable shoe shine stand we passed just blocks away.  You can see the dolly at the back of it.  Did he or did he not choose the perfect backdrop for the most appealing shoe shine stand you've ever seen?

From Delancey, we wandered a couple blocks north and spied this incredible color wall just off Rivington Street. And then, well, you know ...

From Jean's perspective, she had to think about whether it was all really too much color!  (Valerie, on the other hand…)

(OK - raise your hand if you saw the movie Crossing Delancey many, many years ago.)