Designer Kacie Kinzer was new to New York, and feeling overwhelmed by the city — the garbage, the constant barrage of ads, the challenge of forming a real human connection. So she created a robot completely dependent on spontaneous human empathy, and set him loose in Washington Square Park. The results will restore your faith in people:

Kacie Kinzer: Robot Love from PopTech on Vimeo.

Times Square is, by many accounts, the most stimulating area of NYC…but the efforts of local artist Molly Dilworth seek to bring a dose of calm to this chaotic hub. Her balm of choice? Water… or, paintings designed to evoke water:

View more photos from the artist’s Flickr stream.

As someone who spends most of my summer in this oven of a city fantasizing about immersing myself in cool, blue water, I’m not sure if this installation would soothe or frustrate me. Would painted waves be powerful enough to conjure the feeling of water itself, or would they only hint at an experience I’m not able to have? I guess I’ll have to visit Times Square to find out…

Learn more about the installation, appropriately titled “Cool Water, Hot Island.”

I moved to New York in November 2009. I glamorized what life in NY would be like — romantic walks, my hands wrapped around cups of coffee with milk and sugar; the skyline lit up like a Christmas tree; inspiration surging through me, and art surging out the other side. Some of that has happened, but other things have happened, too: neighbors who thud around overhead, keeping my husband and I awake at all hours; the smell of urine in the streets; the struggle to build a new community. I’ve felt my identity dissipate, floating around me like a vapor, uncertain of a safe place to anchor down.

Almost a year later, I’ve learned a few strategies to keep me sane.  I’ve learned to coexist with the inevitable discomfort of life in NYC — instead of letting it stop me in my tracks, I try to observe it and move along, remaining open to the beauty of daily existence. On this blog, I’ll share what I’ve learned, and what I continue to learn, as the city continues to challenge me.  I’ll also track events and businesses in the city dedicated to providing tranquility, and I’ll round up articles about stress management, meditation and other ways of finding quiet amidst the noise.

Here we go…