Category Archives: Parks

Bryant Park Ice Skating Rink, NYC, Nov. 9, 2013

From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
November 17, 2013

When the Nikon D4 class I took with Steve Simon, the Passionate Photographer, finished around dinner time on November 9th, I walked around the block to capture night photos at Bryant Park in Manhattan.

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. Visitors at Bryant Park' look at colorfully lit shops and large fountain. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. Visitors at Bryant Park’ look at colorfully lit shops and large fountain. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

The Winter Village at Bryant Park has long been a visual and sentimental favorite of mine.

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. Visitors at Bryant Park' look at colorfully lit shops and large fountain. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. Visitors at Bryant Park’ look at colorfully lit shops and large fountain. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Elegant crystal chandeliers lit many of the shops.

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. At Bryant Park's ice skating rink that night, skaters cast pink and green shadows on the ice. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. At Bryant Park’s ice skating rink that night, skaters cast pink and green shadows on the ice. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Ice skating rink lights cast a lovely pink glow.

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. The ice skating rink lights at Bryant Park cast a lovely pink glow. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com

Manhattan, NY, USA. Nov. 9, 2013. The ice skating rink lights at Bryant Park cast a lovely pink glow. (© 2013 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

I’ll never forget that night, even if I hadn’t captured hundreds of photos, during my hours at Bryant Park.

For – though I didn’t know it until after I had a late dinner and was back home – about 90 minutes after I left the park, a shooter sprayed bullets in the rink and shot two people. On what started as a fun, festive night had turned into a tragic one.


UPDATE MID-2017:  On Jan. 25, 2017, a man was convicted of shooting two people at the Bryant Park ice skating rink late Saturday night, Nov. 9, 2013, when he was 16: After trying to take 20-year-old Javier Contreras’s coat, the teen shot him several times; a stray bullet hit bystander, Adonis Mera, 14, who was paralyzed from the waist down.


FEATURE PHOTO at top of post: Manhattan, New York, U.S. Nov. 9, 2013. At Bryant Park’s ice skating rink at night, the colorful rink is filled with people skating, many with friends.


Bryant Park Ice Skating: my PHOTO GALLERY

Steve Simon’s site: The Passionate Photographer

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2012 Nigerian Dwarf Goats Walk in Norman J Levy Park & Preserve

Nigerian Dwarf Goats Walk in Norman J Levy Park & Preserve

From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
May 5, 2012

Though I first met the Nigerian Dwarf Goats that live at Norman J Levy Park & Preserve about 3 years ago, this week was the first time I saw them as they walked through the grounds with a park ranger.

May 1, 2012 - Merrick, New York, USA - Nigerian Dwarf Goats walk with Park Ranger during sunny spring day at Levy Park and Preserve, marshland on the south shore of Long Island, New York. Due to unusually warm weather, this was the first day of the year the park stayed open until 19:30 (7:30 PM), which usually doesn't happen until later in season. (Ann Parry/Ann Parry, ann-parry.com)

May 1, 2012 – Merrick, New York, USA – Nigerian Dwarf Goats walk with PARK RANGER SUE during sunny spring day at Levy Park and Preserve, marshland on the south shore of Long Island, New York. Due to unusually warm weather, this was the first day of the year the park stayed open until 19:30 (7:30 PM), which usually doesn’t happen until later in season. (© 2012 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

Entering the parking lot, I saw a sign announcing the goats were out walking, so I asked someone at the Park Station exactly where they were. He called Park Ranger Susan, who had them up by the hilltop ponds and was about to take them back on the trail near the golf course.

Merrick, NY, USA. May 1, 2012. Nigerian Dwarf Goats graze during walk at Norman J Levy Park & Preserve. (© 2012 Ann Parry/ann-parry.com)

Merrick, NY, USA. May 1, 2012. Nigerian Dwarf Goats graze during walk at Norman J Levy Park & Preserve. (© 2012 Ann Parry/Ann-Parry.com)

This delightful, working goat herd eats weeds as it walks through the park – each day, early morning and early afternoon – using a variety of routes. It’s one of many ways the park maintains itself in a green, ecologically friendly way for Long Island’s marshland environment.

  • UPDATE: The book Extraordinary Goats by Janet Hurst, 2014, includes one of my photos of Nigerian Dwarf Goats walking with Park Ranger Susan at Levy Park.

Nigerian Dwarf Goats & Birds, Levy Park & Preserve:  PHOTO GALLERY

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