If you are planning to come to New York make sure you plan to see the 9/11 memorial. It is totally booked until the end of December right now but well worth planning for. The pools and fountains are magnificent and the surrounding buildings are majestic as they are reflected in the water. It is very well put together and a beautiful way of honoring the victims of the attacks. There is a tree in the middle that has a story I was not aware of. This particular tree, known as the survivor tree, was planted in the plaza of the original World Trade Center and found buried beneath the ruble of the towers on fire but alive. It was nursed back to health in a botanical garden only to survive being struck by lightning. Today it stands proudly between the pools as a reminder of how resilient the city of New York is. It is pictured below with a railing around the trunk.

I recently made some friends who exemplify my new guilty pleasure….Broadway. I went to my first show the other day and I absolutely loved it. At the Ha club, in the basement, on Thursday nights a group that calls themselves Broadway Sessions hosts a night of singing and dancing at the performers discretion and the best part  is that it’s FREE!! This night was a birthday celebration for a few of the members of the Broadway community. They invited me in with my camera and here are a few of the photos that came of it. If you are ever in the area I strongly recommend it for a good time.

Recently Melissa Forsyth, Violeta Palombo, Hannah Anderson, Mike Alvarez and I met Joe Woolhead who is the official photographer in charge of documenting the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. He was kind enough to invite us all up to the 48th floor of WTC 7 on September 10, 2011.

3 days in New York and I think I’m in love with the city. This is hands down the best place in the world for street photography and whoever said that New Yorkers aren’t very nice obviously had never been to New York (unless they only talked to cab drivers.) With a story about the tenth anniversary of 9/11, that is developing every day, I look forward to sharing the tales of the first responders and how life has changed for some of the bravest people in the world. Until then, here’s some fun photos of my first few days including the Caribbean Festival and street photos from Brooklyn and Manhattan. Enjoy.