Life underground

As I've been scurrying around New York during the past week, I've spent a hefty amount of time underground in the New York Subway.

It's hot down here and everything looks as though it could do with a good wash, but it's got me where I needed to be.

I've even learnt to differentiate the Local trains from the Express trains... the hard way by watching the stations I want to get off at whiz by.

Each subway station seems to a life of it's own, none more so than the 14th Street - 8th Avenue Station on the L line.

Dotted all around this station are small bronze statues - apparently more than 100 of them.

These cartoon-like characters are all part of a public art installation called Life Underground, created by Tom Otterness.

Just as the New Yorkers and tourists around them speed by during their daily commute, these figures also depict life in motion.

There's an alligator coming out of a manhole, a couple walking hand-in-hand, and even a homeless person.

They're tucked away in surprising places; lurking under stair railings and dangling from ceiling beams.

There's also a reoccurring theme of money, with some figures having moneybags for heads or interacting with money in some way.   Social commentary on what really makes New York tick?

No one likes to spend more time in the subway than they need to, but these characters remind me of the little surprises that can be tucked away in all unlikely corners of New York.