Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

– All around New York, Christmas is starting to show up. Streets and parks are glowing at night with lights and stars and declarations of Welcome.

I assume the same is true of the rest of the world as everyone triumphs their celebrations of the holiday. So I thought I’d post a couple of decorations in my sightlines as I start to get in the “Christmas mood.”

Decorations were absent for quite a few years when governments decided they couldn’t foot the cost of them, and there was a large pull back. I’m not talking about restaurants and stores or private establishments. The windows have continued to animate and the garland covered Macy’s and shoe stores and diners. I’m talking about public displays of decoration. What eventually changed on the streets was that individual groups started covering the cost.

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(Click on any image to enlarge.)

1. A week before Thanksgiving, visiting my mother, I noticed that Woodlawn, her neighborhood in the Bronx, already had some decorations on display.
2. The decorations got a bit more elaborate by Thanksgiving Day. These costs are covered by the “Woodlawn Taxpayer Assn. This is the same group that concerns itself with the local fire department and sewage systems.

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3. The first time I noticed the trees in Madison Square Park, four of the six little trees were knocked on their sides. It was early morning, and the very windy night had done its damage. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera that day, but I did by the next.
4. The same tree at night. No lights on lit, except for a star at the top (a yellow extension cord leading to it – seen on the ground in #3). The balls look like styrofoam. A week later these balls were also lit up.

In the park at Union Square, where a Farmer’s Market usually dominates, they’ve set up a small city of temporary kiosks to house all the craft vendors who sell their wares there.
It’s become so regular a site in the Christmas of the City that it actually feels more like a holiday when these structures are set up. However, if you’re in a rush, it’s hard to navigate the four blocks of window shoppers, buyers, tourists and those just soaking up the holiday atmosphere.
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5. In Greewich Village, 8th Street got its decorations the week after Thanksgiving. It took a couple of days before they were all up as . . .
6. . . . brilliant at night

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7. Christmas isn’t very brilliant during the day on Bleecker Street, though tourists dominate.
8. At night the street in Greenwich Village sparkles (though I could have used a steadicam when I shot this.) The sign reads,”Welcome to Greenwich Village.” What more cheerful Christmas greeting can you find.

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9. Of course, no Christmas display would be appropriate without the obligatory Nativity scene. St Anthony of Padua church, three blocks from my studio, has an enormous display. Life sized statues grace the manger which takes up half a city block. On weekends it’s hard to see it with all the street sellers blocking the view (a couple can be seen here.)
10. Last year I noticed that the creche was empty and wondered if some prankster had stolen the infant Jesus. Heidi informed me that they never put the child into the crib until he is born on Christmas day. Interesting that as a lapsed Catholic I had never learned this; a flaw in my religious education.

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