Times Square pedestrian mall opens

As far as I'm concerned, Sunday's opening of the Times Square pedestrian mall was a Grand Slam for New York City. We walked up there on Sunday to check it out and liked what we saw. The lawn chairs, people chilaxing, live bands performing, it all had a very airy, festive vibe. I will no longer dread all the overcrowded sidewalks filled with slow tourists walking three and four abreast. Indeed, I look forward to seeing what they do with it, and I hope it remains permanent. Now, if we could just get the High Line opened in the next few weeks.

Washington Square Park Reopens

Fortunately I won't have to publish a blog post that I had been working on about how long the renovation of Washington Square Park has taken. Because as of today the park is finally open again. It's about time. Nobody ever thought it would take this long (18 months). I decided to check out the park today while walking back from an errand and I was stoked to see, all the way from 11th Street, the central fountains spurting water. I think it had probably only been open a few hours by that point. I ran into my press photographer friend Michael Appleton and together with another photographer we were able to get an escort up to the top of the arch. So without further ado, here are a few symmetry-obsessed views of the realigned fountain plus one nice moment of some crusty characters getting a little wet. Welcome back, WSP.