I spent a week in New York City, last month. It was my first time back in the city in about eight years. I walked over 60 miles, I didn’t listen to any music, and I didn’t buy myself anything. But I did eat a really good slice at F&F and a thoroughly mediocre one at Scarr’s, a really good burger at the Waverly (thanks Graydon) and a thoroughly mediocre one at Hamburger America. And I had some of the best pastries I’ve had in years (see below, thanks Deirdre). I marveled at Soho’s decline into vapid consumerism extended beyond even what I’d imagined it could while finding a considered editing and courteousness (directly opposite our 2004 Brooklyn apartment no less) at Ven. Space in Carroll Gardens. I had a sublime carrot margarita (thanks John) and overheard “oh, but spray paint is so bad for your skin!” at Café Integral. And I got to wear layers.
And I took a few dozen photographs I’m happy with, shared them on Instagram and Reddit, and by request, made some poster prints of them. Read on.
I spent a glorious four hours wandering MoMA—loving the Sophie Calle room, the Surrealist Book exhibit, and absolutely marveling at Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa. As magnificent as the brutalist and modernist structures on show are, what really gets me is the wealth of supporting printed ephemera: blueprints, artists’ interpretations, dedicated publications. The exhibition’s companion book collects the lot, and is up on Bookshop.
Above: photograph by Martin Parsekian, courtesy of MoMA.
That unmistakable autumn light in Manhattan.
The timeless and the wtf-ness.
Easily the very best things I ate during the week: the halwa almond-walnut-pistachio sticky bun and the pistachio cream chocolate chip cookie from Bryan Ford’s extraordinary Afghan bakery, Diljān, just off Brooklyn’s Atlantic Ave, and the sublime pickled chile garlic bread bialy from Elbow Bread in Dimes Square.
Throughout those 60 miles I did manage to take plenty of photos, lugging a 4lb camera over my shoulder the entire way. I shared a few in the subreddits I frequent, dorking out over lenses, and received some generous notes asking if prints were available. C-prints are always available by request, but channeling the street-level poster culture of New York, I pulled ten favorites reminiscent of the decade I spent living there and made a run of exhibition poster prints. They’re $50 each, and available here.
Plus, Octet readers can use the code OCTNY to unlock a buy-2-get-1-free deal.