The Walls Have Hats

A rather pretty doll-sized hat was fastened to the wall of a building under renovations at the corner of North Pearl and Steuben Streets.

Chalk Kitten

A cheerfully-colored cat sketched on the sidewalk near the Lark Street Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop.

High Up and Looking West

While the gargoyle is what usually catches one's eye from street lever, the west side of the tower on St. Peter's Episcopal Church features still more carved faces.  Here, another six of them stare up State Street towards the Capitol.

The Sweet Potato Follies

A trio of sassy sweet potato ladies show off their curves in the produce department of the Honest Weight Food Co-op (which happens to be one of my favorite places ever).

The Shoe Window

A display of knick-knacks in the window of a shoe repair shop on New Scotland Avenue.  They include a bottle shaped like a glass slipper, elegant ladies boots, and a large Dutch clog.

Fountain Figure

Someone has mounted a comical figurine with outstretched arms atop the Civil War-era fountain in tiny Bleecker Park at Madison Avenue and Eagle Street.

A Printer's Devil

A wide-eyed lad sticks his tongue out from the intricate facade of the Albany Evening Journal on Broadway.  With his little horns, he may represent a printer's devil and is just one of many ornamental features on this spectacular landmark.

Fetching Water On Jay Street

A figurine of a young woman filling a water jug stands by the window of a basement apartment on Jay Street.

Faces In High Places

I was sitting on the corner of State and Lodge Street over the weekend, staring idly up at the gargoyles on the bell tower of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church. I love finding face and whimsical carvings on old building and, sure enough, tiny features caught my eye.

At first, though, I wasn't even sure if it was indeed a face because the carving was so high. But look below the gargoyle's foot and to the left. There's a man's face with a sober expression and a jaunty hat.

There are other carving up there, too...fanciful little creatures. And on the pinnacle just above the gargoyle, looking out into the blue sky, there's a head reminiscent of an Indian Head penny.

I really appreciate these wonderful details which artisans carved in place where few people would even see them.

The Capitol Dog

An amiable canine face is one of the many carving on the exterior of the New York State Capitol. It can be found on the State Street side of the port-cochere which runs beneath the massive eastern stairs.

Other Capitol carvings I've blogged about:

Capitol Faces
Capitol Cherub

Happy Pavement

I spotted this cheery face as I crossed Pine Street between Chapel and Lodge downtown.

Simply Symbols

A group of small wooden symbols - a crescent moon, a star, a heart, New York State, and a tree - adorn the side of a building on lower Madison Avenue.

A Bookish Fellow

A bespectacled reader carved on the ornate old Albany Evening News building (now part of the State University Plaza) to glance down at Broadway.

The Empty Bottle

An old-fashioned glass bottle sits alone on a bit of exposed brick in this trompe l'oeil mural under the overpass on Broadway at Orange Street.

More on the mural: Lost Glasses

Stone Fruit

Delightfully detailed clustered of carved fruits - everything from pomegranates to bananas - decorate a handsome apartment building on State Street.

Central Avenue Whimsy

This brownstone on Central Avenue hasn't aged well. The facade is blackened with pollution and scarred with remnants of poorly cleaned graffiti. But it retains some eye-catching details like this whimsical carved figure.