Restless

Giglio Time

2009-07-11T06:20:00.000-04:00

Some pictures from this year's Giglio Feast in Williamsburg. On top, a phone pole accepts a blessing. Just below are a few closeups of the giglio; I especially like the lights and loudspeakers that turn it into a multimedia experience.

Note that the festival has had to cope with changed surroundings, like the Bayard St. condos in the background below left. Luckily some things never change, as you can see if you read the heartfelt curse on the fire alarm inside the lemonade stand, below right.

And finally, bringing up the rear in "la barca" below, perhaps -- in addition to his other duties -- the patron saint of yellow sheetrock?

Odd Sights

2009-07-10T07:54:00.012-04:00

Above, a dinosaur egg breakfast joint on Kenmare. (Actually SMC Stone.)

Below left, a futuristic cropping of Times Square from 41st St. Meanwhile the Empire State Building -- from the reservoir in Central Park, below right -- looks like the curvature of the earth (or standing in mud) has sunk it to half height.

And below, the dumpy Druid Ring monument to bad architecture at 57th and Lexington is improved by construction. Note the "Post No Bills" stenciled all over, to protect the integrity of its form and surface.

Bright Sights

2009-07-09T08:40:00.002-04:00

I feel guilty because I'm a sucker for bright vistas. Then I get over it and look some more. Above, the massive Moral at Fourth Ave. & 10th St. has sucked the whole corner into its dark orbit.

Above left, sadly, the big red Jack's sign at 33rd St. and Sixth Ave. looks doomed to disappear behind new construction, hidden until the new building collapses. Fortunately the action-packed view further down Sixth, above right, will likely last longer -- who wants to live in a luxury condo where you can't sun yourself on the deck without absorbing the stink coming out a McSmokeStack?

And finally, I think I've found the material object that will satisfy all my needs and desires, below, seen just off McGuiness in Greenpoint. Tired, bored, lost your lust for life? Just hop on your Roadtec Rx900 and rip the pavement off some lucky block.

Yellow Skyscraper Extruder

2009-07-07T07:54:00.002-04:00

(Pretty sure I've seen the rendering of this tower going up at the NW corner of Fifth Ave. and 35th St. -- it had a distinctively cheesy curved corner? -- but can't find it. Oh well; all it would prove is that the new tower will never look better than it does now.)

I assume the striking yellow cap is some newfangled construction unit: a helicopter pours cement and steel into the unit, then it assembles a new floor and pushes itself up to start the next one.

Then again it could be something completely different...

[ Topics: Best Building Will Ever Look ]

Queens Means Tourism

2009-07-06T08:41:00.012-04:00

Pedestrians are an anomaly on this stretch of Van Dam St. in Queens, so I was surprised to be joined by the group of tourists above, staying at the Fairfield Inn in Blissville. Marriott locates the hotel in "New York Long Island City / Manhattan View" because -- just like Gertrude Stern said about one of my other favorite places, Oakland, California -- "there is no there" in this part of Queens. [ Google map; check the Street View ]

I guess the group decided it would be more exciting to walk to the subway, a mile away on Queens Blvd., than wait for the hotel shuttle. It was a beautiful day, and I'm sure they had a great time -- when not wondering why we were the only pedestrians on that long stretch. They had time to study the underside of the LIE, the storage facilities and mattress warehouses, the Gulf gas station proudly flying its Gulf War flags (top and above left), and the Queensboro Correctional Facility, ominously located right next to La Guardia Community College.

We parted ways at Queens Blvd. They turned right toward the 7 Train at 33rd, no doubt headed for an exciting time in Manhattan. Meanwhile I turned left, headed for an exciting time in Queens Plaza, above right and below.

I have had my fill of slickly packaged plastic; there's more nutrition in the oil-soaked weeds between the LIRR, the LIE and the Queensboro Bridge than in all the patio furniture in Times Square.

Vacation Time

2009-07-02T08:11:00.005-04:00

(For everyone but me!)

I missed my ride to the Hamptons, above.

Then I found out someone already reserved my backup spot by parking their cart in the quiet canyon off Van Dam at the LIE in Queens, left and below.

Note the homey cave painting on the canyon wall, and the "Insurance for All" sign in the freeway support. Summer is so fat your biggest worry is falling asleep in the sun.

The Eternal Con

2009-07-01T08:50:00.007-04:00

Trash bunny in front of 30 Bayard in Williamsburg
"...derivatives allow risk to be shifted from those who understand it a little to those who do not understand it at all."

- Derivatives Tug of War Takes Shape, Floyd Norris, NY Times

“We just assumed he was nice because that’s the way he was acting. I feel like I failed as a New Yorker.”

- Renters Get Swindled and Scammed, Teri Karush Rogers, NY Times

"... [believe that global warming is a hoax invented by] a vast cabal ... so powerful that it has managed to create false records on everything from global temperatures to Arctic sea ice."

(This is where all the Creationist groundwork by the GOP pays off, with die-hard morons who'd rather see the world go up in smoke than face any fact that challenges their bitter self-interest.)

- Betraying the Planet, Paul Krugman, NY Times

Box with View

2009-06-30T07:27:00.001-04:00

I recently saw the "box apartment" plus balcony (actually on the balcony), left, at the Manhattan end of the Queensboro Bridge.

Not only does the occupant have a view of his peers across the way, below left, but a swank eagle-eye porthole view of the sidewalk far below.

A Tale of Two Entrances

2009-06-29T07:05:00.001-04:00

A few photos that demonstrate the priorities of the building, above the Food Emporium at Union Square, that continues to cheat the city out of a subway escalator.

Above, the plush comfort of the building's auto entrance on 15th St., a pleasant place to burn some exhaust.

Meanwhile below, on the 14th St. side of the building, the fat escalator casket that clogs the subway entrance -- more than two years after the escalator died -- is still forcing rush hour crowds through a dark, narrow cattle chute of a stairwell. And to add insult to injury, some worthless entity has turned the casket into a money-making billboard, below left.

Why does it take the city and MTA years to make the scofflaws pay up? Forget the unmaintainable escalator, just put in some stairs. And fine the building enough to make them gold plated.

Light Unlocks

2009-06-26T08:01:00.004-04:00

I love it when I find myself in a spot where light unlocks the surface of the city.

Above, a remarkable combination of surface, shadow and reflection round the corner of a building on 57th near Sixth Ave.

Below, at the back of a parking lot a few blocks away, odd light turns a frog of a building into a prince for a few moments.

8th Ave Shots 2

2009-06-24T08:26:00.006-04:00

A few more pictures from 8th Ave in the 40s and 50s. Above, members of a construction crew at 8th and 55th stand around waiting for something to grow in the gaping hole behind them.

Above left, front to back down 8th to 41st, the Milford "M", that ugly Westin Hotel, and the new NY Times building. Above right, at 43rd & Broadway, the Nasdaq building with the big black squares that look disturbingly dead, while every other surface in Times Square crawls with video ads.

Below left, an old ad south of the Times building that makes tourism look warm and fuzzy. And below right, a cheesy new building above and beyond the Transit Authority that looks like it was designed with a toy set -- to match the Duane Reade sign.

[ 8th Ave Shots 1 ]

8th Ave Shots 1

2009-06-22T14:44:00.004-04:00

I feel for tourists trapped in the double-decker tour-bus hell of summer on 8th Ave. in the 40s and 50s.

But they signed up for it: The Soviet-scale package tour hotels, the sidewalks clogged with tour touts and tourists leaking out the greasy Disneyland of 42nd St. and Times Square, while commuters swarm in and out of the Transit Authority, under a steaming sun that unlocks the fragrance of every last bit of nacho cheese, French fry grease and ranch dressing ever dribbled on the sidewalk.

Luckily the weather hasn't been hot and, if you avoid the tired crowds and look up through the parking lots and construction sites, there's still some breathing room for your eyes up there.

Above and just below, the view east from 8th at 46th.

Further up 8th, at 57th, below, the high-tech lattice of the new Hearst tower sits atop the Citizen Kane base, forcing steam leaking from Tabloid Hell to the other side of the avenue.

[ 8th Ave Shots 2 ]

Rooftop Hardware

2009-06-17T07:44:00.004-04:00

I'm a fan of rooftops full of stuff; here are some of my favorites.

Above, the rooftop hardware density at Lafayette and Great Jones is amplified by construction next door.

To the left, what looks like a stainless steel air filter sticks out of a blue bee of a building at 43rd Ave. & 24th St. in Long Island City.

Below left, a rooftop with a thousand ears on the Upper West Side, seen from the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. And below right, an electronic roof at the Lower East Side end of the Williamsburg Bridge.

[ Topics: Utility Stuff ]

Chelsea Works

2009-06-16T07:55:00.007-04:00

Somehow the world keeps on working. Above and to the left, a color coordinated construction site on 23rd near Ninth Ave. in Chelsea.

Meanwhile below, workers maintain the face of my favorite massive residential development, the London Terrace at 23rd & Ninth.

Faces of New York

2009-06-15T07:08:00.001-04:00

Building faces, that is. Some buildings have really good skin, and when the light is right they give off a warmth and depth not normally associated with stone, glass or steel.

Here are a few sublime surfaces. My favorite, above, is the St. Regis on 55th off Fifth Ave.; below, down near the bottom of Manhattan, is the curving face of 26 Broadway.

[ St. Regis Street Steam ]

Cooper Union Cooper Square

2009-06-11T09:27:00.005-04:00

Cooper Square is a hotbed of controversy, from the new Cooper Union building above and below left, to the Cooper Square Hotel in the remaining photos.

The NY Times' Nicolai Ouroussoff mainly admires the Cooper Union building, for its boldness and the way it wears its construction material on its sleeve. The Times ran some excellent photos with the article, but I like the one I took yesterday, above, that captures the armored, war elephant essence of the building.

The Cooper Square Hotel wears its decadence on its sleeve. I'd wondered what it would be like for the crotchety hold-out owners of the two old buildings at its base -- with cavorting jet setters and cocaine music thumping till dawn a few feet above -- until I figured out that they've been absorbed into the hotel. Note the space-age awning that skewers out the side of the old building, below.

I've had mixed feelings about both buildings all along. I agree with Ouroussoff that (thoughtfully) bold design is good, and I make a distinction between buildings built for schools and those built for Masters of the Universe. With my weakness for spectacle, I've enjoyed watching the Union building's construction, especially the scythe-like shapes captured above left. And I like the crumpled parts of its veil of steel. But I miss the view of the beautifully colored buildings behind (east of) it, and from the east the Union building doesn't pretend to care -- I've seen more consideration in proposed garbage barn designs.

And though I see the hotel as a bookend to the New Museum further down Bowery -- anchoring the conversion of yet another distinctive swath of NYC into something (Bloomberg and) the yacht club set can enjoy -- I admire its fetishistic finish and space-age look, and the honesty of its arrogance. Where Donald Trump's erections hide amid the skyscraper grass of Midtown, the Cooper Square lords over the puny East Village like a mammoth alien sexual appliance shot from space -- Battlestar Dildactica? -- a monument to the penile enhancing power of unapologetic greed, and decadence that is an end in itself.

[ Rome Burns at Cooper Sq. Hotel, Jeremiah's VNY ]
[ Cooper Sq. Construction Interruptus ]
[ Civic Value of a Bold Statement, Nicolai Ouroussoff, NY Times ]

Best Basement View

2009-06-10T07:57:00.001-04:00

(Another foggy day in New York today.)

Here are some recent foggy-day pictures from one of the better lookouts I've stumbled on, the windows of Filene's Basement on 14th St. at Union Square.

Job Search

2009-06-09T08:36:00.001-04:00

I check the job listings in the subway, above. That $6.5 million for being a pedestrian sounds good.

I check the job listings at a bus stop, right. The ad says "NYC needs your blank." You know I've got plenty of that.

Finally, I check into the unemployment office, below. The bright decor never fails to lift my spirits.

Bottom 2 photos taken at Driggs and S. 1st, Williamsburg

Across the Manhattan Bridge 4

2009-06-08T07:00:00.006-04:00

Above left, parents in Dumbo put their kids in cages on the roof. While this keeps them safe from traffic, doesn't it make them easy pickings for large birds of prey? Above right, the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan make each other look good.

Above left, the Statue of Liberty balances on the bridge. Above right, the Woolworth and Municipal buildings look their best on a clear day.

Above left, the deadpan illusion that the two buildings in the middle are one. Above right, a zen billboard that asks "what does the billboard say?"

And last, more evidence that, no matter how feckless and wasted our youth, they still have energy to climb on the roof.

[ Across the Manhattan Bridge 3 ]

Fresh Direct TV

2009-06-04T08:35:00.016-04:00

Don't know how
I occupied myself
crossin' tha L.I.C.
before I had
something to watch
on Fresh Direct TV

The TV sits atop Fresh Direct HQ, hard by Newtown Creek in Long Island City. Photo on top is from the Borden Ave. Bridge; to right, from the Pulaski Bridge.

Construction Shots

2009-06-03T08:05:00.005-04:00

Here are a few shots that find some delicate quality lost in the engineered violence of construction. On top, a crane and construction elevator at 15 Union Square West.

Below left, do-rags on (the now bankrupt) Warehouse 11 on Driggs in Williamsburg. Below right, a temporary curtain in the window of the B of A at Sixth Ave. and 43rd St.

And finally, below, a cliff dwelling rises above Spring & Mulberry Sts.

[ Arty Chelsea ]
[ Construction Sights ]
[ 15 Union Square West's Trashbag Attire ]
[ Warehouse 11 and The Showerhead ]

Statues

2009-06-02T08:23:00.010-04:00

Above, a doggy-style back yard just off the promenade in Brooklyn Heights.

To the left, on the roof of Broadway Stages on Greenpoint Ave. (across from the Wastewater Plant), a frontier entrepreneur has lassoed a bison with kitchen rope.

Below, the Night at the Museum (Smithsonian) display at Lowes Lincoln Square on Broadway. As you can see on the left, Sacagawea was pretty attractive for an explorer. The caveman on the right, on the other hand (helpfully labeled "Tom Hanks" by some window tagger), looks like he ate too much of the magic fungus growing at the back of the cave.

And below, a pizza chef crew throws up gang signs on Broome near Mott.

Soho Negligee Plus Puck

2009-06-01T07:13:00.001-04:00

Gauzy scaffolding covers the building next to the Puck on Lafayette at Houston. The pictures above and below left were taken from the observation deck of the New Museum; the other two were taken on Mulberry St.

To the right is the wall of the Puck that faces the scaffolding across an alley. Note the metal window covers, like shields on a battleship (or battlestar); back when the area was industrial, something noxious had to be kept either in or out of the building.

Blank Billboards

2009-05-29T07:34:00.003-04:00

Giant naked beer can, above Penn Station on Eighth Ave.
Pity the dinosaurs of advertising? Not likely, but seeing so many blank billboards is a little disturbing.

It used to take some real investment, and steel supports, to subject us to huge ads. Now the real world resembles the Internet, and crawls with massive banner ads printed on fabric that are easy to change as a t-shirt, like the ones at the bottom here.

Not only is it spooky to have ads crawl out of their slots onto the real world, but the emptiness spreads too. Note how phony the photos of the cylindrical billboard near Penn Station look (on top and to the left) -- like they were computer generated. Something about the blank beer can shape, and the emptiness of what would normally be the focus of attention, throws everything off kilter.

Above, blank billboards at Bowery and Kenmare, left; at S 4th St. and S 5th Pl. in Williamsburg, right. Below, banner ads that loomed over Houston and Lafayette not long ago.

A Well-lit Corner

2009-05-28T06:26:00.000-04:00

You just have to be there at the right time; on Fourth Ave at 9th St.