Corner of W.90th Street and Broadway ~ Upper West Side, NYC

© StephiaMadelyne

Backstory sidenote:  As I was standing near the corner of 90th Street and Broadway, waiting to meet an old, dear friend, I watched this man round the corner and approach the fruit stand.  It was obvious that he was friends with the vendor.  The man pictured here had brought two coffees and a brown bag of bagels (of course!) with him – one for himself and one for said vendor – and as I waited I watched their friendly banter.  It seemed obvious to me that this was part of a daily routine the two men had and I was simply fortunate enough to witness it.  Moreover, they seemed to both know every person that stopped by to purchase fruit.  Small things like this remind me, yet again, of why I love this town…

TWO MORE IMAGES:

In the above photograph the viewer can see how the man has conveniently appropriated a gutted mailbox for his lunch stand.  Urben ingenuity!

Not quite as visible, however perhaps if one looks quite closely at the photograph above they can see the vendor, who is sitting on the passenger side of his van, door open, taking a break as he drinks his coffee and chats with the man in the brown vest.

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I finally worked up the courage to approach these men and ask if I could photograph them together, however they seemed very shy about having their picture taken.  I thanked them for their honesty and showed them the images I had taken – to make sure they did not mind.  Because of the distance and angle they truly seemed to enjoy these, however they thanked me for asking and respecting their wishes not to be photographed closer.  If you’re in the neighborhood, I truly suggest you stop by…  maybe even purchase some fresh fruit.