Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Last night it snowed heavily and has continued through to this morning (and is still at it.)

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Looking up and down Park Ave at 30th Street.
Lots of plowing has already been done by 6:30am.

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The view as I exit the West 4th Street subway station at 7am.
Not as much shoveling done on the sidewalk. Time to walk in the street.

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Approaching my studio on Bedford Street.

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Down the stairs and through the tunnel. This is my view.
I’ll have to shovel it later. For now, I’ll trudge through the snow about a foot deep.

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There are a couple of steps as you get to the door of my studio.
Before stepping into it. Then looking back from the POV of the door.

Steve Fisher gets us back to Christmas with these photos
he took last night while the snow fell at it’s greatest.

And here’s one he took a few minutes ago.

Rather than posting more shots of snow, I thought it more in the spirit of the season to show the decorated trees of NY. I did this post in 2007, and since time and Christmas often stand still, those same trees are identically lit this year (but now covered with snow.) So I’ve decided to recap this past post.

– I thought for one edition of these sunday photo trips, I’d post images I’ve taken of some of the Christmas trees decorated around New York.

So, of course, we have to start with Rockefeller Center.
This is the most famous one we have. Since NBC is centrally located around this tree and skating rink, it’s been featured on TV forever. Saturday Night Live ice skating after one of the shows around the tree; Keith Olberman doing his news with the tree behind him, or even David Letterman telling viewers, for years, to go home there are just too many tourists there. The tree gets its annual plow of plugs.

My first REAL incident with this tree came a million years ago when I was still in the Navy, on home for Christmas leave. I was on a double date with a friend. The four of us at 2AM came upon the rink empty on not completely dark – just dimmer. There was the tree; there was the ice skating rink; there we were.

The four of us skating around the tree late night (without skates) brings back a fun memory. The security guard chased us away after ten minutes of our play. I suspect that I might be in Guantanomo Bay if I tried that today.

I was told that Rockefeller Center had installed some solar panels atop one of these buildings which would cover the electricity for the lights. This would make sense of all the additional lights this year. I don’t remember all the white lights, but I do remember that the tree was lit differently. This year it’s quite blue. In the past, it felt less color coordinated.

For those who haven’t seen it in person, the way to the tree is this alley lined with stores. The centerpiece has a lot of over illuminated angels blowing horns. This leads to the skating rink with the tree dominating the space.

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Looking 180 degrees from the tree, you see a wall of Saks Fifth Avenue. They’ve lit their wall with snowflakes, and it’s attractive as a backstop
for all the Rockefeller Center decorations.

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Don’t ask me why, but I’m a sucker for the tiny tree in Madison Square Park. I’ve posted images of this tree several times, and I’ll probably do it again.

This was historically the firsts lit public tree in the City. 1925 was the first ceremony, and
it was broadcast on radio.

Of course, any of us in the City looking to bring a real tree into our homes go to the local supermarket where groups of brigands have settled in for the season to make as much money as possible from trees they’ve brought to our local CTown, Food Fair or Gristedes.

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