Christmas on Fifth Avenue

i decided in get into the holiday spirit

~ by heading down Fifth Avenue
~ with my Nikon ~ over my shoulder

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~ i began my 'quest for merriment' at 59th Street
~ where Central Park ends ~ and 'real tourism' begins


~ General Sherman ~ pointed the way
~ altho the pigeon on his head seem to disagree

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~ and ~ the first sign of Christmas ~ was a Menorah !!
~ the eight-candled symbol of Hanukkah

Hanukkah (Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה‎, sometimes romanized as Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.

~ (this was my 1st indication that holiday decorations)

~ (are best viewed in low light situations ~ not in daytime !!)

~ i took a shot of this window display

~ even though it struck me as a bit under-whelming

The statue in front of the Plaza Hotel sits atop the Pulitzer Fountain. Titled "Abundance" by Karl Bitter, it was funded by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. The statue in the fountain is specifically "Pomona", Roman goddess of orchards. It was posed for by Doris Doscher, also famous for posing for the Standing Liberty Quarter.

~ Doris ~ who apparently got around ~ died fairly recently ~ in 1970

~ the traffic was often more festive than the window displays


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~ simple ~ subtle ~ and kinda nice ~ but nothing exciting

~ it was all a bit disappointing


~ fortunately ~ i ran into THE REAL SANTA !!!
~ handing out flyers for holiday massages


~ finally ~ a really nice attempt to be festive ~ in bright red !!


~ other buildings were boring ~ "New York City Guide" ??
~ cheery, huh ?? ~ and this was the best there was !!
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~ this is always a nice display ~ right in Rockefeller Center
~ and the building in the background ~ also looks very good


~ another seminal 5th Ave shot ~ with no tourists !!!


~ this was definitely NOT the real Santa !!


~ another look at those angels ~ from beneath "the tree"


~ i always loved this statue !!

Paul Manship's bronze gilded statue of the Greek Titan Prometheus, bringing fire to mankind. The model for Prometheus was Leonardo (Leon !!) Nole. The inscription from Aeschylus, on the granite wall behind, reads: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends." Although it is one most familiar statues in the United States, Manship was not particularly fond or proud of it. (I wonder what Leon thought of it !! :)


~ you think of these statues as having been there ~ forever ~ but Paul Manship only died ~ in 1966 ~ not that long ago. That's Paul (himself !) ~ up there ~ in a portrait by his son ~ and the model that Manship used to win the commission.


~ there wasn't much more to see ~ from 50th down to 42nd
~ so ~ i don't have any photos from that leg of the trip

~ before i Metrocarded back home ~ i took this final shot

~ it was typical of NYC's 2009 ~ "just barely Christmas" mode

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~ a few days later ~ it snowed ~ a lot !!

~ and PJ ran out to take the following photos

~ with the snow ~ the whole place looked much better !!!


~ I'll bet "Leon's" freezing his gilded brass knuckles off

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~ the tree is lit ~ altho you'd hardly know it in this light

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~ St Patrick's Cathedral

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~ it's all much more "Christmas-y"

~ but i'm sure it looks a whole lot better ~ at night

~ if it's not too cold ~ we'll go for night shots next !!

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~ Merry Christmas ~ to Doris, Paul, Leon ~ and Tiny Tim

~ and to each ~ and every ~ one who sees this Blog ~ too !!

~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL !!!