Photos 09 Sep 2007 09:24 am
US Open Photo Sunday
- New Yorkers seem to have given themselves over to the tennis matches being held at the US Open in nearby Flushing, Queens. For those who couldn’t get tickets, American Express has taken over Madison Square Park at 23rd Street and Park Ave and set up a faux arena to view the matches. They offer everything you want to know about the matches including a big screen TV, portable rest rooms, bleacher viewing stands, and even vendors selling high priced wine.
I took some photos yesterday afternoon. (Click any of them to enlarge.)
As you enter the park from 23rd Street, you come upon a small area wherein this large board greets you with the full schedule and all the results to date.
Here you can also buy T-shirts and goods (left) or take tennis lessons (right). Earlier in
the week they had a larger set-up where you could actually play a round or two.
As you move toward the main section of the park, you see lots of picnicking people laying about in the humid sunny weather. The big screen TV is just visible in the distance behind the steel trees.
Once you arrive at the center of the action, on the North side of the park, there are bleachers constructed for people to watch the TV screen.
The bleachers are on the right and left of the screen. Lots of other people sitting on the ground all around the TV screen.
Many people sit between the two sets of bleacher stands within what is usually a reflecting pool. It’s interesting how contained and quiet it all is.
A group of tents has been set up to sell food. Sandwiches and drinks, for the most part.
It looks upscale enough that I’d assume the prices were high.
There were about five tents of food, all of which looked similar to me. These tents were placed near some beautiful flowers in an attractive setting.
Wine and beer seemed to be the principal item for sale.
Just to the rear of the screen, things were significantly quieter.
There, 20 feet away from the action, the resident homeless crowd were having their own party. Squirrels were running everywhere feasting on their own goodies.
On the way out, I passed a number of generators that were rendering the power for the whole operation. Not much of a tennis fan, I left in time to watch the Yankees beat up on
the Kansas City Royals.
on 09 Sep 2007 at 12:00 pm 1.Amid said …
i couldn’t help but notice how the crowd at this event is such a poor reflection of the ethnic makeup of a city as diverse as ny. nothing wrong with that but it’s just something that jumps out at one.
on 09 Sep 2007 at 12:38 pm 2.Michael said …
No kidding. I thought of that while taking and posting the pictures of the homeless guys behind the video screen. I think, though, that that’s the audience for tennis, and nothing was going to change it here.
But then, I’m not the audience for this, either. I have no idea who won or was even playing on the big screen, and I’m not too interested, either. I just find the whole setup in this small park, interesting. They did something similar for the NY Yankees in Bryant Park during the All-Star break in July. That lasted one night, and a couple of Yankees came to sign autographs.
Today a Muslim Parade is marching up Madison Avenue. They congregate just outside of the park and continue uptown. A group of protesters is planning to congregate there, as well, and voice their objections. I’d be curious to know if any confrontation will arise at this scene. Actually, I don’t expect anything to happen, but the scene is setting as I write this.
on 10 Sep 2007 at 5:53 am 3.Bruce said …
Hey Mike, I had recently posted a tribute to Ub Iwerks on my blog. Come on over, if you have the time, to check it out. Thanks!
on 10 Sep 2007 at 8:53 pm 4.John said …
I’m assuming the tennis people didn’t try to take over the dog run over on the Fifth Avenue side of the park. Then you really would have seen an angry clash of cultures.
on 11 Sep 2007 at 1:28 am 5.Lainey Schallock said …
Wow thank you so much for linking my site to your blog today, what an honor! I apologize that some of those images from the book came out so fuzzy. I’m contemplating rescanning some of them to try and make them clearer. Anyways, I’m really thrilled that you found your way to my blog and appreciate all the kind words. I love your images of the Fantasia concepts below. Those are utterly gorgeous. Please stop by and comment anytime. I look forward to reading new material on your site soon! Best, Lainey