Sunset From the East River

I was awed tonight by the light of the setting sun as seen from the East River. There is brilliant color behind the 59th Street Bridge and a crescent moon over Roosevelt Island.

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Barry Humphries's Copy of Sempé à New York

Sempé à New York—known here as Sempé in New York for those who need a translation—shows cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé's love for a great city even though it is not Paris. 

The book was published in 2009. Barry Humphrie's copy was personalized by the artist in 2010 with an inscription and a drawing of a saxophonist playing to the canyons of Manhattan.

Humphries was the Australian comic actor and author best known for his portrayal of Dame Edna Everage. He was a lifelong bibliophile and art collector.

Sempé was deft at balancing the city's overwhelming scale with the people who inhabit it.

I believe I am sensing a trend toward moderation in the prices booksellers are asking. Yes, $575 is a lot of money, but this is an outstanding copy of this book.

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Sempe-New-York-Inscribed-Copy-Sketch/32334226764/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks item description 

Note:  For more on Barry Humphries's exquisite collection, see Christie's.

If you'd like to know what cartoonist Charles Addams thought of a Humphries performance as Dame Edna, you need only to dive into this blog's archives.

I personally have been loathe to purchase anything from the U.K. since the August 29 repeal of the de minimus tarriff exemption for packages under $800. 

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Congestion Pricing

New York City's congestion pricing program began on January 5 for vehicles entering Manhattan streets at or below 60th Street. One toll area begins on Lexington Avenue southbound between 61st and 60th Street. License plate scanners hang above the street. The $9 peak toll already has generated much controversy and some revenue for the MTA, but it also has reduced the number of vehicles entering the congestion zone each day.

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Robert Andrew Parker: Walt Whitman's Brooklyn Printshop

An original illustration by Robert Andrew Parker shows Walt Whitman's printshop at 99 Ryerson Street in Brooklyn where Leaves of Grass (1855) was completed. The watercolor was created for The New Yorker, but not published. In 2010, the art was sold by Antiquarian Auctions.

https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots/original-artwork-for-a-re-imagined-portrait-of-99-ryerson-st-the-house-where-whitman-wrote-at-least-part-of-leaves-of-grass

Then in 2020, it was offered for sale by Honey & Wax Booksellers of Brooklyn:

Robert Andrew Parker
AbeBooks Listing Retrieved April 5, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/Original-watercolor-depicting-Walt-Whitmans-Brooklyn/30607251936/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=readmore

The New Yorker apparently declined to publish Parker's illustration, electing instead to publish a  pair of historic photos in the issue of June 12, 1995. Upon examination of the photo of 99 Ryerson, a problem with the watercolor illustration is immediately apparent: Parker has omitted the distinctive elevated profile of the building's center section. The poet Marianne Moore wrote, “Robert Andrew Parker is one of the most accurate and at the same time most unliteral of painters." In my opinion, and perhaps The New Yorker's, the most prominent architectural feature should not be rendered "unliterally."

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1995-06-12/flipbook/098/

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License Plate for the Last Limo in New York?

Well, even if this isn't the very last limousine in New York City, its license plate still might be a good way to make it stand out.

"ONLY"
New York Taxi & Limousine Commission license plate

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Reginald Marsh: Fifth Avenue, No. 1

Reginald Marsh's Fifth Avenue, No. 1 is a colorful tempera on masonite painting from 1938. It has two figures, one of whom is only a mannequin in a shop window. Formerly sold at Christie's New York in 2008, it was offered by Heritage Auctions on May 15 where it did not receive any bids. It was given an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000 and is available for the next four days as a post-auction buy for $125,000 including the 25% buyer's premium, although possibly a lower offer might be accepted.

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions listing of May 15, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/reginald-marsh-american-1898-1954-fifth-avenue-no-1-1938-tempera-on-masonite29-3-4-x-24-inches-756-x-610/a/8163-67073.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions item description of May 15, 2024

Reginald Marsh
Heritage Auctions condition report of May 15, 2024

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The 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

I no longer brave the elements and the crowds to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade but it happily goes on just the same without me. Here is a small sampling of photos courtesy of Uki and Friend who did not shrink from the festive multitude or the mild November weather.

Bluey

Spongebob Squarepants & Gary

Sinclair's Dino

Celebration Gator

Leo

Goku

Magic Meets the Sea

Stuart the Minion

Uncle Dan

Elf Pets

Pikachu & Eevee

Heartwarming Holiday Countdown

Palace of Sweets

Macy's Singing Christmas Tree

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Decorating the 2023 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The Norway Spruce arrived in Rockefeller Center early on November 11 and was lifted into place by crane. It is now surrounded by extensive scaffolding and its decoration is surely underway. The tree lighting ceremony will be aired on November 29. Here's how the plaza looked to me today.

Prometheus, 1934
Paul Manship

Saks Fifth Avenue facade decorations

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Atlas, installed 1937
Lee Lawrie and Rene Paul Chambellan

Cartier

The Plaza Hotel

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