Obama’s inauguration was broadcast on screens large and small throughout the five boroughs.  In the Financial District, productivity plummeted (and Internet connections slowed) around 11:30AM as workers put aside their work to watch the event on their computers or office television sets.  I made my way to the Jumbotron screen set up outside the New York Stock Exchange where the crowds were quickly building, arriving just in time to hear a sparkly bow-topped Aretha Franklin belt out “My Country, Tis of Thee” before Joe Biden’s swearing in by Justice John Paul Stevens.

Several hundred people filled Broad Street despite the freezing temperatures — though no comparison to the crowds that were shown at the Mall in DC. Crowd estimates there varied wildly from 1.5 million to 4 million — though most of the time, the figures are almost entirely made up anyway; the Associated Press stayed conservative with their report of “more than 1M“.  I believe it.

The musical selection lead-in was by John Williams with snippets of familiar melody lifted from the traditional Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” which Aaron Copland also famously borrowed for his “Appalachian Spring“. The tune broadcasts Inspiration, capital I, especially when rendered by Itzhak Perlman and Obama’s favorite cellist Yo-Yo Ma.  Even if the music was pre-recorded.

And then, the moment we were all there to witness: Barack Hussein Obama taking the Oath of Office:

The assembled crowd cheered riotously, among them several dozen schoolchildren in homemade Obama headgear, who had gathered with us on the steps of Federal Hall.

Our new president delivered a measured, somber speech on this jubilant day, one which garnered generally favorable reviews.  I did appreciate the nod to American songwriter Jerome Kern (at 1:03) — and yes, friends, this song was written in 1936, but it’s a standard, and it was performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, so therefore not so strange that I recognized the reference… geez!

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Check out the full NYSE Inauguration simulcast Flickr set here.

After the weekend, like so many trees around the city, The Exchange’s tree will be converted into mulch. At MulchFest this Saturday and Sunday, participants can bring their Christmas trees to local parks throughout the five boroughs to chipped and bagged for mulch.

For those that miss out on Mulchfest, the Department of Sanitation will collect trees left at the curb for composting through Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Is there anything more melancholy than the sight of all those brown-edged trees, stripped of their tinsel and lights, lining the sidewalks?

More backfilling of December posts to come. Looking at that birthday cake from Ceci-Cela reminds me that this is the week the SoHo bakery prepares its galette des Rois (Kings’ cake), a Feast of Epiphany treat made with flaky puff pastry, that can be plain or filled with frangipane, an almond-flavored paste. Hidden inside the cake is a “fève” – once a bean, but now a small porcelain or china figurine; the recipient of the slice containing la fève is crowned King (or Queen) for the day. C’est magnifique!