Expecting the unexpected in New York City.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes New York City the unique experience that it is.  Maybe it's because you're always bumping into surprises.  So much so that you get to a point where you expect it. Here are a few random surprises from my last trip to NYC.

Subway mosaics are everywhere.  But I wasn't expecting this wall of golden mosaic, reminiscent of a Gustav Klimt painting.

Retail is an endless source of surprise in New York.  Here are two examples.  First, on the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art we ran into the Gagosian store with these fantastic Murakami inflatables in the window.

I didn't make it out of the store without purchasing a stuffed version of the artist's iconic mushroom-cloud skull complete with brightly-colored flower eyes.

At the normally impossible-to-spot Commes des Garcons (CDG) store in Chelsea, the urban-camouflaged storefront was lavishly festooned in preparation for the release of a line of clothing co-designed with Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons.

The CDG store still sported its tags by some of the world's best street artists like this from the artist known as Space Invader.

If my street-art creds were better, I'd know the name of the artist responsible for this sidewalk painting.

Finally, I like the way art by today's most noted artists just seems to magically appear.  On a gray, rainy day near the noise and chaos of the World Trade Center construction site this spectacular crush of metallic red, Jeff Koons' Balloon Flower (Red), is a delightful surprise.