Daily photographs by HANS VON RITTERN, with humorous, artistic and social commentary on life in the big city.

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From the gallery: LYPSINKA TAKES MANHATTAN

LYPSINKA TAKES MANHATTAN: In preparation for 2011’s Fashion’s Night Out Event, lip synch artist extrodinaire Lypsinka poses in Bergdorf Goodman’s windows on Fifth Avenue for her fashion shoot to accentuate the glamour of the event. Appropriately Tiffany, where Lypsinka has just spent the afternoon shopping, is reflected in the glass.
This year’s event is on Thursday, September 6.

Posted by  |  August 29, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo of the day: REWARD

REWARD: Lost dog – pure breed Boston Terrier named Lucy. Approx. 25 lbs. Has blue painted nails. Last seen Woodside 63rd Street. Reward $500.
Lost human – female named Phenelie Jean-Francois. Approx. 140 lbs. Is wearing red t-shirt. Last seen Sunnyside 39th Street & 43rd Avenue. Reward $ none.

Posted by  |  August 29, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the gallery: I *AM* BIG, IT’S THE *PICTURES* THAT GOT SMALL!

I *AM* BIG. IT’S THE *PICTURES* THAT GOT SMALL! “
There’s nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you’re trying to be twenty-five.”(Joe Gillis/Sunset Boulevard)

My eyes are always open as I walk around New York, but I also have my ears open at all times – no iPod! As I turn the corner of 49th Street and Seventh Avenue I overhear bits of a conversation that fascinate me instantly. “I used to strip right ovah there, I made big money. They treated us girls good in those days.”
On the ground, cozied up to a handbag street vendor is a faded aged stripper with jet black hair and jet black outfit to match. Her low halter top is barely staying up from the weight of all the diamond broaches she has pinned to it. Her hand rattles from the diamond studded bracelets she is wearing, her fingers snarled with age. The toes are painted silver to match the stiletto shoes. Her face has seen one too many facelifts and the makeup is heavy. Her voice low and gravely: “Not all the girls kept their figure like me, I still got it . . . you think so honey? I was the lead stripper, right ovah there!” The south African faux handbag salesman is beat by the heat and just listens in amazement of her retelling of the Times Square that once was.  She is pointing to the current Seventh Avenue strip club called ‘Lace’, a meager shadow of what it once was in the 1960’s and 70’s.
As she talks to him, I remember – purple hued light coming from out the door, big neon lit marquis overhead. Painted white windows on each side of the entranceway with just a small round clear hole that had a glimpse of the bar. When the doors opened and closed as the gentlemen came and went, you could get a titillating glimpse of the girls in their pasties dancing to the sexy music in a trance on the bar. I thought it was wonderful.
“How much is the Gucci bag?” a tourist asks, he has to get back to work.

Posted by  |  August 28, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Photo of the day: GUMBY

GUMBY!: Black leather vest in a heat wave, black work-out gloves, greased down black hair, pierced ears, gun tattoo, torpedoes tattoo, voodoo tattoo, skull tattoo, chains, black harem-like pants over black leggings and . . . 

a Gumby bag – of course!

(Grand Central 7 train subway station, 11:30pm.)

Posted by  |  August 28, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the gallery: ‘WHERE IS MY MAN?’

WHERE IS MY MAN?: It’s thirty-seven minutes after twelve noon, lunch was to be at twelve. ‘Where is my man? Should I have told him it’s his? Is it his? Who was that guy?? What was his name? Should I have worn this top? Do I want a burger or a pizza? How much longer should I wait? Why doesn’t he answer his phone? Fries or a salad? Where is my man?’

Posted by  |  August 27, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Photo of the day: HIP FLOP

HIP FLOP: Hip Hop Clothing, 6-8 West 28th Street. Wholesale, Retail. All name brands.
Telephone: 212-213-4261…has been disconnected.

Posted by  |  August 27, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

From the gallery: WEST SIDE STORY

WEST SIDE STORY: The cast iron district of Manhattan also known as NoHo and Soho, features some of the most wonderful cast iron buildings in the world. The idea of building with cast iron revolutionized the building process from 1840 – 1880, you didn’t have to stack all those thousands of little bricks. All the parts were shipped to the building site. The door frames, windowsills, columns, staircases, beams, windows and doors, skylights, turrets, ornamentations, etc. Like a giant Tinkertoy or Lego set. Now all you had to do was install the interior walls and the floors and the building was finished in one third the time of a conventional mortar and brick building. The two neighborhoods have the largest collection of all or part cast iron buildings in the world, 250, and . . . if you have a magnet on you it will stick to about every third building in the area.
The best time to walk the streets is just before sunset and you see these wonderful dramatic shadows cast by one of the quintessential items of New York – the cast iron fire escapes. Film noir drama.
Here I tinted the photo red to accent the angles and recreate the feel and look of the original graphics of “West Side Story.”

Posted by  |  August 26, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo of the day: MOSTLY MOZART

MOSTLY MOZART: I am walking through the common walkways of Sunnyside Gardens and I come across this cat sitting in the middle of the walkway. He is incessantly meowing. Non-stop. Coming out of the windows of the house to the right is a lovely afternoon classical music concert, broadcast by WQXR. I am concerned that the cat is meowing so much. Out comes my neighbor from his house:

Me: I think your cat is hungry.
Neighbor: Oh no, he is just singing along to the music
Me: Oh really?
Neighbor: Yes, he loves these afternoon concerts.
Me: What kind of music does he like best?
Neighbor: Mostly Mozart.

Posted by  |  August 26, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the gallery: DOWNHILL RACER

DOWNHILL RACER: The Summer Streets Program of New York City closes down nearly seven miles of main thoroughfares 3 Saturdays in a row each August. It is one of the best people watching events in town. Everyone from toddlers to grandparents come out to enjoy places like Park Avenue free of traffic.
One of the best spots to view people is in the Park Avenue viaduct underneath the Helmsley building adjacent to Grand Central Station. You enter on 40th Street and rise up the ‘bridge’ to approach Grand Central Station looming above you, circle around and then enter the Park Avenue viaduct underneath the Helmsley building as it empties out onto the ritziest part of Park Avenue and it’s 1960’s architectural marvels followed by the ‘well to do of upper Park Avenue’.
You turn the corner and zoom downhill ‘towards the light’.
So I parked myself there along the curb for a while and photographed the reactions of the people marveling at the view and speeding up as they rapidly descend down the ramp. Bicyclists, joggers, bicycles-built-for-two, strollers, scooters, unicycles, tricycles, skateboards, roller skaters, race walkers, stilt walkers pass by – and then she came around the corner. This Edie Beale like figure from Grey Gardens in her wheelchair, stoically racing downhill. My day was made.

Posted by  |  August 25, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo of the day: 1 BERRY BURST, 1 MALIBU BAY BREEZE

1 BERRY BURST, 1 MALIBU BAY BREEZE: It’s Friday night, dad is letting the little one stay out late. ‘Where are we goinggggg?!’.  Ahhhh, the answer is a secret. Tucked away at  144 East 24th St, between Lexington and Third Avenues, in the middle of an almost all residential block, is this little Italian Ice treasure. “Ralph’s” doesn’t feature just ordinary flavors – oh no, he has such delights as Strawberry Margarita,  Cherry Cola, Cotton Candy and Root Beer.
The little ‘stand’ is on the ground floor of an old apartment building. The neon lights are quite unexpected on this street, but their retro glow draws you in from afar. All of a sudden you feel like you’re on Mulberry Street in Little Italy or on the boardwalk at Coney Island, right here in the Kips Bay section of New York.
Dad hands the ices to the eager awaiting hands, eyes growing wider, awaiting the first lick of 1 Berry Burst and 1 Malibu Bay Breeze!

 

Posted by  |  August 25, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment