There was a fun surprise as we walked into Grand Central Terminal: a tennis-themed promotion. Heineken was giving away free beer! It was, however, the non-alcoholic version. They were clearly leveraging the buzz around the US Open tennis tournament happening at the time. Grand Central Terminal was one of the primary Manhattan stations taking riders to the tennis venue.

My wife got a can, but I didn’t. I’m not much of a beer drinker. Because there was no alcohol, she was able to drink it at the subway station, which felt surprisingly luxurious.

The table with the greeters was just one part of an orchestrated plan to promote the beverage, as you can see from this perspective. A mock tennis umpire, complete with a bullhorn, called out to unsuspecting passengers. A film and audio crew was also there to capture the action.

Unlike yesterday’s grainy images, we are back to high-quality pictures from the Leica D-Lux 8. This capable compact was my most-used camera on the 2025 New York trip. It doesn’t match the image quality of the Leica M Monochrom, but it offers color and an ease of use that is hard to beat. For quick photos on the go, especially when sightseeing with my wife, it works wonderfully. The M Monochrom requires more concentration, which works better when I have adequate time to contemplate and compose.

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