Tripod or not on trips

To recap, I have two tripods:  a Manfrotto MKC3-P01and an OPUS OT-1104BH.  I love both.  They are not the best and you know you are compromising when the price is affordable.  You know what I mean--you make an adjustment, you let go, and the camera tilts down a bit.  It's a bit annoying but you learn to compensate for it.  Anyhow, these tripods have gone to faraway places with me, but often, they stay in my backpack.

On a recent trip to New York City, I decided not to bring a tripod.  I knew I'd spend most of the time walking around during the day but given that days end about 4:30pm at the time, I also knew I'd spent quite a bit of time walking in the dark.  It would make sense to bring a tripod.  I decided against it however.  First, I was doing a lot of walking.  Any weight I could save meant a world to me toward the end of the day.  I decided instead to rely on the camera's ability to work with high ISO settings, and to work with existing street structures to prop against or rest on, and whatever else I could use.

Many photos turned out a fuzzy but some turned out not too bad.  I had to do some sharpening for night shots: