Independence Day was my latest excuse to bust out the new(ish) camera, and I figured I ought to go downtown, where our founding fathers spent a fair amount of time.

Of course, I'm still obsessed with the street pianos, so I had to seek out a couple of those.

I'm kind of disappointed in New York's tepid response to the pianos.  I saw some footage of a similar display in London, and there appeared to be crowds of people lining up to play.  Maybe they were all in one spot.

Here, they seem to be hidden away at the end of piers, or in low-traffic parts of city parks, and finding them is a bit of an adventure, verging on a hassle.

Speaking of which, why do people in booths labeled "Information" rarely possess any useful knowledge?  When I asked about the pianos at Lincoln Center, I was met with a slack-jawed stare from the dude behind the counter.  And today, at City Hall Park, I was confidently told, "those haven't been installed yet."

In his defense, the booth wasn't labeled "Correct Information."  But, in a possibly futile effort to help the kid's veracity average, I went back later and told him exactly where it was.