Photo Friday: Madison Square Park Mirror Installation

New York City, Sept. 27, 2015

"Red, Yellow and Blue" Rope at Madison Square Park

File this under "You Never Know What You'll Come Across in New York":

Giant rope sculptures in a major New York City park.

Madison Square Park sits in the shadow of the Flatiron Building and is the home of Shake Shack, an extremely popular outdoor restaurant. And through September 8, it's also home to tall, waving walls of colorful nautical rope.

The installation, entitled "Red, Yellow and Blue," was to open yesterday. We saw it on Sunday, so I suspect it wasn't quite complete. Pictures and descriptions on the park's website of what it was to look like when it was completed suggest that visitors will be able to walk within these rope walls. They were closed off when we were there.

That didn't stop the crowded park's visitors from snapping photos, and a squirrel or two climbed on and over the ropes, even if we mere mortals could not.

According to the website, the work used 1.4 million feet of rope and 3,000 gallons of paint, and it weighs more than 100,000 pounds.

Last weekend the installation prevented us from spreading out our blanket on a soft piece of the Madison Square Park's lawn, but I can only imagine what the games of hide and go seek are going to be like this weekend.

Madison Square Park's Clock Tower

The Flatiron Building, the Shake Shack, the park itself ... there's a lot competing for your attention at Madison Square Park.

One sight that takes you by surprise, however, is the clock tower on the former Met Life Building on Madison Avenue.

I took the picture above earlier this summer, about a block west of the park. Once you actually enter Madison Square Park, however, the clock tower is often hidden from view by the tall trees.

When we celebrated my birthday at the Shake Shack in July, we sat underneath one of those trees as daylight turned to dusk turned to moonlight. Each time I looked up, the clock was there, ticking away the minutes of my 30th birthday.

Don't get me wrong -- the sight of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building still sets my heart aflutter, but it's these smaller gems -- if anything 700 feet tall can be called small -- that I've come to appreciate more and more.

A Shake Shack Birthday

When your birthday falls in the middle of the summer, there's really only one place to celebrate: outdoors.

That's why I chose to mark my 30th birthday Friday at one of New York's most beloved -- and informal -- outdoor food-and-drink spots: the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park.

Paul and a couple of friends got to the Shake Shack before I arrived at 6:30 p.m. with coworkers in tow, and they had already assembled a string of tables and marked our territory by tying red balloons onto the chairs. Other friends -- about 15 or 20 in all -- came and went over the next four hours.

The Shake Shack is known for three things: its milkshakes, its burgers and its long lines. I've experienced all three at one time or another, but none on Friday night. The "A" line for hot food was about an hour long when we arrived (and got even longer later in the night), and a few friends braved the crowd. I had just stuffed myself with birthday cake and cupcakes at work, so I was content with drinks from the much shorter "B" line. Not that I stood in line for the drinks anyway. A birthday girl always has friends to do that for her.

By 10:45 p.m. everyone had left and we had given three of the helium balloons to three young brothers who were probably more excited by the unexpected gift than by their burgers. The Shake Shack was to close in 15 minutes, so Paul and I hurried to get in line for a hot dog (for him), fried mushroom burger (for me) and cheese fries (to share). A lonely red balloon remained on a chair as we walked away to ring out my birthday.

Earlier in the night.

The Naked Statues of New York

At Madison Square Park

I expect to see naked statues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maybe even the American Museum of Natural History. (At the latter, however, you're probably more likely to encounter strategically placed loincloths.)

Where I don't expect to see them is in a popular public park and a shopping mall. Ahh, New York. Full of surprises.

I think you need three to call something a theme (or is that just the rule for a streak?). In any case, I've only seen two random statues of naked men, and I strangely saw them both on the same day on opposite sides of town.

I've been to Madison Square Park at least a half dozen times, but somehow the statue above managed to escape my notice.

I'd encountered the statue below at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle a couple of times before -- I've even seen people take pictures with it. Notice how shiny the protrusion is? Maybe people think it's good luck to rub it.

At the Time Warner Center

New York City Subway Stations: 23rd Street

I'm rarely on the platform of New York's 23rd Street subway station, although I'm often above it.

Where Broadway, 5th Avenue and 23rd Street intersect is a popular area, especially in the summer. The lines at the Shake Shack, the outdoor eatery in Madison Square Park, can be an hour or more long. But the wait is worth it, with a table within a stone's throw of the Flatiron Building.

Although Paul and I are often in the neighborhood, we rarely go into this subway station, opting for the pleasant walk to the 14th Street/Union Square hub. But when Paul sprained his ankle Memorial Day weekend, we did without some of our usual walks.

That meant I got to see a station -- and the hats that decorate its walls -- in person. I normally just glance at them from an express train as it rushes by. I was excited: I got to take some photos I'd long been meaning to snap.

Madison Square Park at Night

Empire State Building, from Madison Square Park

Madison Square Park is probably best known for the Shake Shack.

I first visited this spring, on an evening which shall henceforth be known as my May day of eating. The shack is famous not only for its shakes, but also for its burgers. Unfortunately I've had neither, unless you count a stolen bite or two from Paul's ice cream in May.

That didn't change last weekend, when we split a chocolate concrete filled with brownie bits, chocolate chunks and chocolate sprinkles. The ice cream's great, and so is sitting outdoors on a cool summer evening.

Even if you're not hungry, Madison Square Park is worth a visit for the views alone. The famous Flatiron Building is just steps away, and just look north for a glimpse of the Empire State Building.