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In the East Village by Tompkins Square Park I saw all these cool 60's era cars. It became clear pretty soon that they were rented for use with either a movie or maybe a new HBO TV show. They were all so shiny and such, the people who cared for the cars weren't too far away, sitting outside in the sun on plastic chairs smoking their cigars.  I especially like the authentic license plates. The Mercedez even had a grille pin. Honestly though, back in the 60's and 70's nobody would be parking cars this nice in the neighborhood unless they had some power and influence in the area. Now a days it's not uncommon to see a brand new Benz followed by an 80's Toyota Tercel.  What a gorgeous color aqua!   And the Iconic Checker, no period piece is complete without one.  Shots from 8/11/08
I'd like to apologize for two things. Firstly I shouldn't have used such harsh language in my post(s) referring to the untrusting passenger I had taken to the airport on Saturday. Secondly I have been lagging behind with my photo posts. I am still posting pictures from the summer, because it just takes too long to edit the pictures. I'm thinking my next post will have pictures from this last weekend.
Shots from 8/11/08
At an intersection by 5th Avenue amongst million dollar residences this homeless man sleeps in a cardboard hut until the winter cold comes in. I hadn't been paying much attention to the homeless situation prior to the picture, but soon after as news of the stock market dropping from bull to bear and every politician admitting disaster, the homeless situation appeared to increase two and three-fold.
Greenwich Village
I noticed the food and blanket lines were longer, and there appeared to be more lines too. Only a few weeks ago while I was waiting for the 7 train to take me to work, a photographer honed in on a bench of sleeping people with rolling luggage. The key that really made this photo-op strong was one man who had a thick chain wrapped around both his leg and his luggage so his things didn't get stolen while he slept. All the Transit workers let the guy take his pictures, it's something that needs to be shown. The subway system for its entire life has been a sanctuary for the homeless, providing heat and shelter for a two dollar entry fee. As long as the homeless don't cause a commotion or expel fluids, they're usually allowed to stay. If the two dollar fee is too steep, some homeless ride the Staten Island ferry, which is free, and then sleep at the ferry terminal on the island.
Middle Village, Queens
It was a Monday and so after a fare out to JFK Airport, I drove back to Manhattan through the streets. Above is a well maintained cemetery and funeral home. I have no facts to back this up, but I believe Queens has the most cemeteries in both number and size, in all of New York City.
Ridgewood, Queens
Right near where Queens meets Brooklyn, a small creek spreads through a neighborhood of auto-parts and garbage treatment facilities.
The sky turned from blue to gray in less than 5 minutes and dropped a few buckets of rain. As I headed to the Williamsburg Bridge the traffic grew rude and clustered.
Below: an homage to the East Village of the 80's still remains.
East Village
Long Island City, Queens
Before the Dominican Day Parade, Midtown
Shots from 8/10/08 (set A)
A bottleneck is a traffic term for when lots of traffic gets forced through a small space. Take a small bottle of soda, twist the cap open, turn it upside down, and then watch as the liquid struggles to escape. The liquid would escape much faster and smoother if the hole was wider.
I am grateful that I don't usually drive when and where there is traffic, but the pictures below show a situation that could escalate to bottlenecking madness very quickly if it was later in the day.
Midtown
Double parking taxis in the left lane, and double parking tour buses in the right lane, shrink the width of 7th Avenue, causing this bus to block the whole street. Sometimes there are triple parked buses and cars on both sides. Note the green light, above.
And now, the red light.
This is a symptom of a lack of planning, in my opinion, by the street planners. There isn't enough accommodations for all the buses, taxis, trucks, and vans.
Buses- If we had the bus stops and bus layover parking zones to match all the bus companies we have, than buses would no longer pose a problem. Measures also need to be taken to enforce ticketing for buses and trucks that block the intersection when they proceed through yellow and red traffic lights only to find no space on the other side of the intersection.
Taxis- We need more taxi stands, real full fledged taxi stands, not just small spaces for one and two cabs. Imagine how serene New York City life would be if every 10 blocks there were taxi stands accommodating 10 to 15 cabs. Eliminate street parking, increase the amount of taxi stands, and for hire vehicle standing zones. With less taxis cruising, there will be far less density in our traffic and less reckless driving. For hire vehicles A.K.A. limousines are constantly looking for spaces to wait until they are called, and adequate waiting zones for them is also necessary or else they slow down traffic causing bottlenecks.
Trucks and commercial vans- Ugh, these are a few of my least favorite things. Other cities have certain hours where deliveries are allowed, but in New York City, there are always deliveries all the time. Again I think we should reduce civilian parking while increasing commercial vehicle parking. The existing commercial loading sites, and there are plenty, need to change from part-time regulation hours to full-time. All non commercial vehicles should be towed and ticketed. To regulate the time a particular delivery can last, these commercial zones should have muni-meter regulations with an hour limit. If a vehicle stays on the block for more than an hour, they should be ticketed the first hour after, and towed the next hour after. Double parking shouldn't be legal for anyone, anywhere.
Garbage collection- Here's an idea: have designated streets for both deliveries and garbage pick-up leaving the rest of us to clear streets elsewhere.
But most importantly, all rules are nothing without constant enforcement. But I digress, if the streets were properly laid out for all the action, more standing zones for all and less parking for regular cars, then streets would flow smoothly and perhaps there would be less rules broken, less tickets issued, and thus less income for the City of New York.
Astoria, Queens
West Midtown, near Penn Station
Hell's Kitchen
Chelsea
Harlem
Chelsea
Greenwich Village
Midtown
Shots from 7/27/08
Tudor City and The United Nations
SoHo
Shots from 8/9/08
The Strand Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Times Square
Sometimes the police have scheduled times and locations where a few precincts show up at once and park their cars everywhere. The woman in front of the car didn't realize he was parking.
Shots from 7/26/08
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Chelsea
Sunnyside, Queens
Far West Side
Shots from 7/6/08
Chelsea
Sunnyside, Queens
Far West Side
Sunnyside, Queens
Astoria, Queens
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Shots also from 6/29/08
Sunnyside, Queens
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Shots from 6/29/08
Mott Haven, The Bronx
Adjacent to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Upper East Side
The Guggenheim Museum, Upper East Side
Shots from 9/28/08
Sorry it's been more than 6 days since my last post, I've come down with a flu bug that's been going around, and my nose has grown like Pinocchio's. Anyway, I think my health is getting back to its usual strong form, and this blog will get back to the somewhat regular posts too.
Before looking at the regular shift shots, I'd like to thank Bob who writes Taxitales, and Two Steps Back, for leaving me a link for a page with hundreds of pictures of old New York dating back more than a century ago, one guy on the Wired New York Forum posted all of them: New York in Black and White.
Some famous photographers names include Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Weegee, Berenice Abbott, et-cetera, et-cetera. The images really lead me to compare and contrast the different layouts of city streets, how our grid has or hasn't evolved to our traffic conditions today. Before the automobile people were more dependent on the trolley , the subway, and el. The streets were narrower and more bridges, for example, the Brooklyn Bridge, would have train cars as well as horses and then horse-less carriages. The bus depot once looked like a large diner, and was adjacent to Penn Station. Penn Station of course is now just a basement in Madison Square Garden. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is now at least 8 times the size of the Greyhound Bus Terminal, and west of Times Square. It also appears that traffic got bad in the mid-30's. It is extremely interesting stuff.
I suppose there were plenty of negatives too, where are the women? And why did the men always wear work clothes and bowler hats? Different times, different times. Also all that horse-manure lying around couldn't have been healthy.
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
TriBeCa
Midtown
Shots from 6/28/08
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