Happy Holidays!

 

Central Park white out – 12/14/25

I have been photographing Central Park for over 40 years.

 

Every winter I wish for one good snow day so that I can visit the park and capture its beauty.

Since we rarely have snow in December, and we haven’t had much the past few years,  I was a bit skeptical when the weather reports predicted snow last Sunday.

But, it did snow.

And, when I arrived at the park, I was truly stunned. 

Crossing 5^th Avenue was like entering a mystical portal to a frozen winter wonderland.

Since I was on the UES I could hear all the locals saying the same thing – I have never seen the park look like this.

My best guess is that the overnight/early morning sleet coated the branches, so when snow started to fall it stuck.

And while it was still snowing when I arrived, it stopped soon after and then the sun came in and out in some weird ways.

I think that the only one who enjoyed the day more than me, was this young lady – who shrieked with joy every time she went down the hill on her sled.  Too cute.

Here’s a blog from February 2014, which was the only other time that we came this close to peak pretty…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2014/02/central-park-february-3-2014.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2025 PJ Lehrer

Gingerbread Houses

 

The Museum of the City of New York holds a yearly gingerbread contest.

Begun in 2022, it invites people to submit their own takes on NYC in gingerbread.

After reading about the yearly event, I tried to check it out once before,

but ran into what appeared to be a bomb scare that closed down not just the museum but also 5^th Avenue. 

(The museum is on 5^th Avenue and 103^rd Street.)

I had better luck this time. 😊

This year’s theme was “Iconic New York.”  The exhibit runs until January 19^th, 2026.

The sculptures were extraordinary, and the entire room had a delicious gingerbread scent.

While some of the entries tackled typical gingerbread themes.

Others focused more on the icon theme.  Like this award winner.  😉

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2025 PJ Lehrer

Vintage Macy’s Parade – 2000

 

Since I didn’t go to the Thanksgiving Parade this year,

I thought I’d post another set of photos from 2000. 

 The year I had the great view

and even better turkey.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade started in 1926.

Which makes it the second oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the U.S.

The oldest is Gimbel’s Thanksgiving parade in Philadelphia,

which debuted in 1920.

You don’t need to be a math genius to realize that next year will be the 100^th anniversary of the Macy’s parade.

Wow.  That’s definitely something to look forward to.

Previous Thanksgiving posts…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2013/12/thanksgiving-day-parade.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/12/macys-thanksgiving-parade.html

 

Happy Holidays!

PJ

 

© 2025 PJ Lehrer

Embroidery: Gapstow Bridge

 

This embroidery began with a stunning photo of Gapstow Bridge in Central Park in the fall.

Then I added some daises from Bow Bridge.

And this drawing of a butterfly.

I combined the components and then printed them on linen.

And then I added the embroidery to finish the piece.

That completes the “butterfly” series. 😊

Here are the other posts…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/12/embroidery-times-square-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/11/embroidery-united-nations-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/07/embroidery-chrysler-building-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/06/embroidery-grand-central-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/05/embroidery-st-patricks-cathedral.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/04/embroidery-oculus-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/embroidery-empire-state-building.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/02/embroidery-chinatown-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/01/embroidery-guggenheim-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/01/embroidery-world-trade-center-butterfly.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/04/embroidery-asia-society-butterfly.html

Enjoy!

PJ

© 2025 PJ Lehrer

Central Park: Fall 2025

 

I almost didn’t visit Central Park this fall.

NYC is having an underachieving autumn.

It was too warm and dry for peak foliage

Trees in the sun lost their leaves before those in the shade got started.

But when I was looking through my archive of photos of Central Park fall for some to post,

I realized that I wanted to visit anyway.

So, I headed over early one morning before it clouded up to check out the action.

It was past prime time of course, and it did cloud up by 10:00.

But it was still very beautiful.

It was a good reminder that Central Park is always worth a visit, even on an off year. 😉

Here are some previous Central Park fall blogs…

 

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2015/11/central-park-fall-2015.html

 

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2017/12/central-park-fall-2017.html

 

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2021/11/central-park-2021-p2.html

 

Happy Autumn!

PJ

 

© 2025 PJ Lehrer

NYBG sunflowers 2

 

I was walking home from the pool this week

when I was surprised to see that a new sunflower had bloomed in a street pit on York Avenue.

We haven’t quite gone below freezing yet.

But we came close enough to melt some of the tropicals planted outside.

So, I was quite shocked.

But as they say, nature finds a way.

I figured that it was a sign that I should post a few more pics

from the exhibit at the New York Botanic Garden,

even though it wrapped up at the end of October.

I wonder if they have a few late bloomers as well.

Here is the previous post…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/09/sunflowers-nybg.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2025 PJ Lehrer