Big and little footprints.

A father and son cross Lexington Avenue on a snowy New Year’s Eve morning.

Leaning Christmas Tree

Body Bag Christmas Tree

Double Homicide Christmas Tree

Supine Christmas Tree

Dead Christmas trees line the sidewalks of New York City.

A rainbow of affordable neckware.

Scarves are a fashion necessity for New Yorkers who must walk the winter sidewalks where frigid winds swirl between gaps of their clothing.

Protecting the anonymous hands that run our city.

Many people outside of New York City view it as a paradise of exquisite glamour, European models, brooding movie stars, bright lights, greedy, coke-addled financiers, and anorexic socialites lounging in the back of limousines with petite dogs yapping from five-figure, luxury handbags. And they’re right. Those people do live here. But they are the minority. Most of us struggle. We work long hours at tough jobs for pedestrian pay. And, for some reason or other, we find it worth it. It’s what makes New Yorkers, New Yorkers.

These gloves found beneath a pay phone represent the manual labor and hard-nose, grunt work required to run such an inspiring and ambitious city. Reminds me of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting from 1886, A Pair of Shoes.

Frozen Finger Food

Though it is not unusual to spy a handless glove laying on the sidewalk or the steps of a subway station, this intriguing ensemble features three croissants frozen on a frigid NYC December afternoon next to a handless glove on a parking machine. Odd. I hung around for several minutes waiting for someone to claim the food or the glove. No one came. Just another odd combination of life’s minutia left behind by the manic residents of a busy city.

Another wrinkle in the urban fabric of sidewalk life.

This ironing board features a lovely cat and flowers theme augmented by deep brown stains that add a sense of randomness, pollution, and labor to the piece. Placed into the context of a frigid, snowy December afternoon on a New York City sidewalk renders it a living and ephemeral work of art, unique to a fleeting moment in a city where time narrowly exists.

Christmas wreath on a snowy NYC sidewalk.

Not sure why this wreath was kicked to the curb for Christmas, but let it serve as a reminder that the holidays can be a tough time for many New Yorkers, especially considering this is already such a tough city. So don’t take your loved ones, or your own life, for granted. Unfortunately, we all get kicked to the curb some day. Unless you’re Santa Claus. That dude is going to be around forever. Happy holidays.

And the sidewalk angels echo halleluja…

Every sidewalk six pack has a story behind it.

This empty six pack of beer left on a snowy New York City sidewalk could have come from anywhere. A shy couple on their way to a holiday office party. A homeless man who scored some cash. A group of friends toasting one last night together before jetting to their birthplaces for Christmas. Only the sidewalk knows.

This cop in the cold is never off duty.

This cop guards the entrance to one of the quirkiest and most vibrant stores in New York City, Abracadabra, on 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Avenue.

Upon taking this photo a woman walking her dog on this frigid afternoon pointed to the statue and asked me, “Do you know him?”

“I’m glad I don’t,” I replied. “It would mean I’m in trouble with the law right now.”

The lady smirked. She probably expected a funnier reply given that she made the effort as a stranger to be humorous and make a connection. Oh well. Sorry lady. And dog. Maybe next time.

Still not sure what I would have said given another chance.