Puzzling Sphere

 Monday morning, (6/24 -- has it only been a week?) after photographing the U.S. Customs building, I wandered around and stumbled upon this globe in a kind of courtyard.  I'm thinking at night it lights up.  I almost think it spins, except that it looks like the sphere isn't really made up of rings.





In any case, it looked really cool, like a map of the heavens, or alien canals on an exotic planet, or possibly like a mystic map to treasure, or the notes to music.







Not shown is the person who was sitting (or possibly meditating) while she smoked a cigarette.  The financial district hadn't woken up yet, and the only folks around were sidewalk cleaners, the homeless, the occasional jogger, and, increasingly, business folks on their way to work.




At the top of the spiral staircase over the globe, there was a ramp leading through a colonnade.  I think the building this was next to was a theatre (I couldn't find a name on the building).   The most interesting thing about the colonnade was that the arches didn't meet at the top.

 The ramp lead to some bronze sculptures (and more cigarette smokers).

The other way lead to a cafe.  I liked the tilework on the floor.  The whole place was closed, but seemed really private, so I didn't wander around.