April 23, 2010
Madison Square
I read about this guy in the Times' CityRoom blog, then a few hours later he actually showed up while I was waiting for a friend.
True to the Flatiron neighborhood, he had literally more than a dozen photos taken of him (including mine) by passerby in the 10 minutes I waited there. (Most shots were taken with iPhones.)
If this isn't some kind of prank or performance art piece, it's seriously misguided on his part.
(Madison Sq Park, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 11:58 PM
Filed under: City Life
July 29, 2009
Melodica = Never Lonely Alone
Posted by jpchan at 10:31 PM
Filed under: City Life
June 28, 2009
Ice Cream Tragedy
(9 Av, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 7:26 PM
Filed under: City Life
June 14, 2009
Yo Soy Boricua
(Bedford Av & North 5 St, Bklyn)
Posted by jpchan at 11:56 PM
Filed under: City Life
April 22, 2009
Heading Home
The last leg of my return home is a twelve minute cab ride from LaGuardia at 2am on a Tuesday. The passenger TV blares but can't compete with the driver's stereo, which blasts hip hop.
The cabbie and I don't talk. I'm lost in my thoughts, soaking up the sights and sounds of New York on a late rainy night. I've now lived here more than half my life, but it always feels a little strange to return. Everywhere else is so different from here.
As he drives down my street he says, "this street used to be all African." It sounds like an observation, not a judgement.
I ask where he lives, suspecting that he must be in the neighborhood from his African accent. I'm right - he lives up on 148th, not too far way.
We pull up to my building and I pay my bill. We wish each other a good night. I'm his last fare of his shift. It's late and we're both happy to be home.
(Grand Central Parkway, Queens)
Posted by jpchan at 11:36 PM
Filed under: City Life
March 9, 2009
Yes, We Cluck
(Obama Fried Chicken & Pizza, St. Nicholas Av & 115 St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 1:32 PM
Filed under: City Life
March 8, 2009
The X Billion Dollar Question
(Canal St & Hudson St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 7:02 PM
Filed under: City Life
February 10, 2009
Spencer
Outside the Hotel Pennsylvania, Jo and I run into Spencer and his master. Spencer's a Bedlington Terrier from the UK in town for the Westminster Dog Show just across the street at the Garden.
Spencer's master says a Bedlington hasn't won Westminster since 1947, but this dog looks lucky to me. Kick some butt, Spence!
(7 Av & 33 St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:22 PM
Filed under: City Life
December 21, 2008
A Very Special West Village Xmas
(7 Av South, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 11:32 PM
Filed under: City Life
November 25, 2008
Red Light District
Stop right where you are! You know the score, pal. You're not cop, you're little people. - Captain Bryant
(43 St & Broadway, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 8:32 PM
Filed under: City Life
October 9, 2008
Mini Adventure
I Zipcar pretty regularly, but budget considerations usually limit me to the cheaper Zips like the Martix, 3, and Rabbit.
But every now and then I'll splurge and treat myself to a short hop in a Mini. These cars are FUN and ride like the first and only car I've ever owned, the immortal Honda CRX si.
(32 St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:20 PM
Filed under: City Life
September 11, 2008
Prowlers From The Past
(Prospect Park, Brooklyn)
Posted by jpchan at 12:18 AM
Filed under: City Life
June 3, 2008
Waiting For Hillary
On my way back from a dental appointment, I accidentally stumble upon a crowd waiting to hear Senator Clinton's (potentially) big announcement.
(Baruch College, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 8:11 PM
Filed under: City Life
May 28, 2008
Becoming
(13 St & 3 Av, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 11:47 PM
Filed under: City Life
April 19, 2008
Bklyn Bike Fridays
It was a perfect day for a ride.
(North 11 St, Brooklyn)
Posted by jpchan at 9:52 PM
Filed under: City Life
April 2, 2008
What Price Congestion?
NYC needs congestion pricing. I hope the New York State Legislature does the right thing this week and passes it.
(53 St & 6 Av, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 9:24 PM
Filed under: City Life
February 22, 2008
On The 6
He looked a little small for a seeing eye dog, but size isn't everything, you know.
(6 train, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 7:11 PM
Filed under: City Life
February 16, 2008
Lining Up For A Jackpot
Nobody won Friday, so Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot is now $220 million. Hey, no cutting!
(Broadway & Fulton St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 7:35 PM
Filed under: City Life
February 14, 2008
Valentine's Day
(Q train, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:00 PM
Filed under: City Life
February 12, 2008
Unarticulated Tendencies
The "accordion" bus is more correctly referred to as an articulated bus, but whatever you call it, straddling the pivot point and yelling WOOT!!! everytime the bus turns is frowned upon. Or at least it is whenever I do it.
(M15 bus, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:42 AM
Filed under: City Life
February 8, 2008
Curbed
(Whitehall St & Pearl St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:23 PM
Filed under: City Life
January 31, 2008
Protesting
The orange-clad marchers were shackled together as others held signs protesting torture and waterboarding. They were followed by about a dozen cops on foot and on scooters. What I didn't understand, however, is why they were here at Lincoln Center.
(Lincoln Center, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 3:06 PM
Filed under: City Life
January 13, 2008
Protection
Post 9/11, it's not uncommon to see NYPD convoys arriving at major tourist destinations around Manhattan in an effort to deter terrorists. I've more or less gotten used to the sight, but I wonder what visitors think. It's kind of scary the first time you see them arrive en masse.
(Bowling Green, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 7:36 PM
Filed under: City Life
January 11, 2008
Downpour
Sometimes I just love a sudden downpour in Manhattan, even though I usually wind up soaked. An unexpected torrent can turn the already-hectic pace of street life into overdrive, adding some great drama as people dash wildly to dry spots.
I'm not sure I captured today's frantic scurrying on Wall Street with this photo, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
(Wall St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 6:27 PM
Filed under: City Life
January 4, 2008
IFO NYSE
The man with his arms up is yelling about sin and salvation, ignored by both the machine gun-toting NYPD and groups of Chinese tourists. But I hear ya, dude.
(Wall St & Broad St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 8:58 PM
Filed under: City Life
November 17, 2007
Nightworking
(Walker St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 6:32 PM
Filed under: City Life
October 2, 2007
Cop Cars Behind Bars
Kids like cars, especially cop cars. Kids at heart, too. I grew up thinking of the Dodge Charger as the car good-natured outlaws drove, but I guess times have changed.
(Broadway, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:07 AM
Filed under: City Life
September 30, 2007
Unsocialable
(14 St & 5 Av, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 1:15 PM
Filed under: City Life
August 16, 2007
Stop Fried Chicken
(Whitehall St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 8:06 PM
Filed under: City Life
August 15, 2007
Window Shopping
(9 Av, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 10:07 AM
Filed under: City Life
July 5, 2007
Message To The Beyond
A fire escape isn't the smartest place to light a fire, but I had to send a letter to the Great Beyond, and here on Earth, you make do with what you've got. I like to think the God of Fire Prevention looks out for situations like this and gives its blessing.
(Brooklyn)
Posted by jpchan at 11:41 PM
Filed under: City Life
October 11, 2006
Wednesday Seating: White Loveseat
Posted by jpchan at 6:45 PM
Filed under: City Life
October 10, 2006
Yes, The New Yorker
This is a pretty boring photo and I'll be the first to admit it. I post it mainly to let you all know that my life is not all globe-trotting, young women, and steak-eating. In fact, my days consist largely of wandering around the streets, looking up at the sky, bumping into things.
This photo is what life is like for me 98% of the time. We'll return to the more exciting 2% in tomorrow's post.
Thank you.
(34 St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 1:58 PM
Filed under: City Life
August 22, 2006
All Right Pooch
I don't know why, but I've always loved the way Wallace says "all right, pooch" in A Close Shave.
So if you ever hear me saying that to a dog, you know where it comes from. Just don't be too hard on my English accent.
(Greenwich St, Manhattan)
Posted by jpchan at 9:05 PM
Filed under: City Life
July 30, 2006
MSRP $50,990
Posted by jpchan at 5:02 PM
Filed under: City Life
July 24, 2006
Bike Friday Parking
Foldable bikes are the way to go. They're small, they look cool (in a geeky sort of way), and of course they fold up for easy storage and transport. I love my New World Tourist, but the Swift Folder is pretty cool too.
They're not cheap, however. If I hadn't been able to get my NWT second-hand and cheap, I think I'd be stuck pining for one. If you're in the market for one and poor like me, go for a used one.
(Thompson St, Manhattan)
Taken From My Bike Friday:
Unlucky Strike: My New Commute
My Bicycle Spaniard, My Poor Restless Soul
Happy New Year
Posted by jpchan at 5:58 PM
Filed under: City Life
April 29, 2006
Feeding Time
This woman lovingly fed the birds, but loudly refused money offered to her by a passerby. I wanted to know her story, but she didn't seem too approachable.
(Bowery & Doyers St, Manhattan)
Related post:
Lost Amongst the Pigeons and the Crumbs
Posted by jpchan at 9:22 AM
Filed under: City Life
October 13, 2005
Stereo Umbrella
Posted by jpchan at 12:06 AM
Filed under: City Life
September 20, 2005
Court Street
Posted by jpchan at 8:23 AM
Filed under: City Life
September 19, 2005
Shadow Government?
(Livingston St & Boerum Pl, Brooklyn)
More of the unofficial NYC mascot:
Rat Next to the Board of Education Building
Rodenticide (Special Guest Star: Tiki Barber)
Rodenticide
Tuesday Unlucky Rats (I Am, I Said)
Time Out From The Rat Race
Posted by jpchan at 8:54 AM
Filed under: City Life
September 18, 2005
Retro Bus
Posted by jpchan at 11:16 AM
Filed under: City Life
September 1, 2005
A Shady Spot
Posted by jpchan at 8:48 AM
Filed under: City Life
August 31, 2005
Floral Delivery
Posted by jpchan at 9:15 AM
Filed under: City Life
August 26, 2005
Smoke Condition 1
Posted by jpchan at 8:37 AM
Filed under: City Life
August 25, 2005
Smoke Condition 2
Posted by jpchan at 10:08 AM
Filed under: City Life
August 24, 2005
Smoke Condition 3
Posted by jpchan at 8:42 AM
Filed under: City Life
August 19, 2005
Sidewalk Sisters
Posted by jpchan at 8:26 AM
Filed under: City Life
July 29, 2005
Sidewalk AC
Posted by jpchan at 7:23 AM
Filed under: City Life
July 9, 2005
Rat Next to the Board of Education Building
More of the unofficial NYC mascot:
Rodenticide (Special Guest Star: Tiki Barber)
Rodenticide
Tuesday Unlucky Rats (I Am, I Said)
Time Out From The Rat Race
(New York City Department of Education, 110 Livingston St, Brooklyn)
Posted by jpchan at 11:42 AM
Filed under: City Life
July 5, 2005
Eight Moments Outside Pearl River
Posted by jpchan at 2:06 PM
Filed under: City Life
June 30, 2005
The Corrections
Sometimes I think I should be reading something a bit more cheerful, but as Jay-Z says, you are who you are playa. So let me recommend two really good books I’ve read lately on violence, crime, and punishment.
Ted Conover’s Newjack is an award-winning account of his year spent as a prison guard at Sing Sing. I saw him tell a story from this book at a Moth reading a few months back and ran right out to the library to get it. Newjack is scary, sad, thought-provoking, and mesmerizing. You won’t look at this country’s penal system the same way again after reading this. Nor will you stop hoping that we can change it into something that doesn’t dehumanize everyone involved with it.
Conover’s book led me to James Gilligan’s Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic. Where Newjack contemplates American brutality strictly at the personal level of inmates and their guards, Violence approaches the subject from multiple angles: psychological, sociological, historical, and mythical. Violence is sprawling and ambitious and sometimes redundant in presenting its thesis that shame creates violence, but there’s so much great stuff in here that it’s well worth the effort. As with Newjack, Violence deepened my understanding of the “inevitable” savagery of our species and – perhaps best of all -- makes a convincing case that we can do something about it.
Happy reading. After these two, you/I will have earned the right to reading nothing but Sassy and Super Chevy for a few weeks.
Posted by jpchan at 9:10 AM
Filed under: City Life
June 8, 2005
Lost Amongst the Pigeons and the Crumbs
It's been an interesting week -- to say the least -- for NYC wonks and Mac geeks like myself.
First, the NYC wonks: the West Side Stadium was defeated, all but dooming New York's (and the United States') chances of winning the 2012 Olympics. I'm a fan of Mayor Bloomberg, West Side railyard development, and the Olympics in NYC, but I've always been ambivalent about the stadium. Still, I'm bummed that the plan was defeated. I see the Olympics as a way of getting New York to build things we should already have - more housing, more modern office space, subway extensions, more parks and recreation facilities for kids, etc.
But New York has a way of letting critical needs like this slide when there’s no deadline by which we have to address them. (Think of the Second Avenue Subway, now several decades late, or public school reform, which is being tackled now only because we have some courageous and politically unbeholden leadership on the issue.) Winning the 2012 Olympics would have been a way of imposing on ourselves a very firm deadline to get things done – and I have no doubt we would have met them. Now, I’m afraid it might be back to business as usual, which is to say a lot of debate, a lot of fighting, and no action.
On the brighter side, this means Bloomberg almost certainly wins re-election because his opponents have just lost their biggest issue against him. And maybe once the bad feelings have subsided, if they ever do, New York will rally and go for the 2016 Olympics – with a stadium in Queens.
Second, Mac geeks: Apple announced this week that they are switching to Intel chips beginning next year, after using IBM/Motorola PowerPC chips for the last decade or so. For people like myself that fetishize dual-G5s and 30” Cinema Displays, this was a big shock. (Normal people equivalent disruptive event: kind of like Paris leaving Paris for Jacko.)
What does this mean for the world? Macs will get better and cheaper and more popular in the long run. But in the short run, if you need a Mac right now, buy it. If you don’t need one until the end of this year or next, hold off and see what the newer models look like. Owners of current Macs won’t see much of a difference for quite a while.
Title reference: Natalie Imbruglia.
Posted by jpchan at 8:10 AM
Filed under: City Life
April 19, 2005
Fay-Da Window
If you're wandering around Manhattan on your own, Chinatown offers a ton of great places where you can sit quietly, enjoy some tasty & cheap food, and get in some great people watching. At this branch of the Fay-Da chain, you can have a coconut bun, a hot tea, and perfect view of Mott Street for just $1.20.
Posted by jpchan at 8:16 AM
Filed under: City Life
April 13, 2005
You Ever Take It Off Any Sweet Jumps?
Posted by jpchan at 8:08 AM
Filed under: City Life
April 6, 2005
Magilla Will See You In Court
Posted by jpchan at 8:22 AM
Filed under: City Life
March 21, 2005
Monday Seating: Red Sofa
(87 St & Lexington Av)
Posted by jpchan at 2:08 PM
Filed under: City Life
March 10, 2005
Time Out From the Rat Race
These inflatable rats* are so commonplace now that we locals barely notice them, which probably says something interesting and true about New Yorkers, but I am just way too tired right now to figure out what that something might be.
*Commonly used by construction union protesters at non-union worksites.
(Broadway & Wall St)
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Posted by jpchan at 8:37 PM
Filed under: City Life
March 8, 2005
BP Bird
(Battery Park)
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Posted by jpchan at 11:05 PM
Filed under: City Life
March 5, 2005
Battery Park-n-Flip 2
(Battery Park)
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Posted by jpchan at 12:23 AM
Filed under: City Life
Battery Park-n-Flip
(Battery Park)
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Posted by jpchan at 12:15 AM
Filed under: City Life
February 10, 2005
Four Minutes
You'd be surprised how many New Yorkers are willing to give up several minutes of a busy day to fight a crowd and listen to a sidewalk sales pitch about romantic getaways to Quebec -- all just to get a free polyester scarf.
You'd also be surprised at how flimsy this damn scarf is, goddamn it.
(Wall St & Broad St)
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Posted by jpchan at 8:26 AM
Filed under: City Life
January 21, 2005
What in the world...?
ZRFONE PTSI
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Posted by jpchan at 9:13 AM
Filed under: City Life
January 13, 2005
What in the world...?
This is my own version of something I remember reading as a child - the "What in the world...?" feature of World magazine, now known as National Geographic Kids. Every issue they'd print a closeup photo of something from nature and challenge the young readers to guess what it was. As a clue, the answer would be scrambled as below:
RANNIWG TSRPI
You can use this blog's Comments feature to post your guesses.
TERMS & CONDITIONS: As always, no prizes of any kind will be awarded and all ideas having potential financial value will be considered property of the blog author. And no, it's NOT cool to ask your parents for help.
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Posted by jpchan at 7:33 AM
Filed under: City Life
January 11, 2005
Old & New
I was taking a short nap in the corner when Clocks burst into the break room. (His real name was Hoyt, but everyone in the precinct called him Clocks because he always wore two watches ["in case one dies," he'd always say].) Clocks was balding, plump, and also a bit of a police buff, even after ten years on the job. But he always seemed like a kid because he was never ashamed of his enthusiasm.
"Guys," he said breathlessly, "It's here. It's finally here."
"What's here, Clocks," asked Stick, whose real name actually was Stick.
"The new RMP," he cried. "I gotta tell the others!"
And in a blink he was gone and we could hear his heavy footsteps fading away in the direction of the locker room. The rest of us got up slowly, so as not to look too interested in the new arrival, even though we each knew how excited we all were. But we pretended not to care -- not much, anyway. It was habit.
Twenty years later, I still remember the first time I saw that Radio Motor Patrol, that RMP, that cop car. Orange, blue, black, sleek. It made me feel proud -- and it still does, even though I never did get to drive it. You see, everything on the job is doled out by seniority. By the time I had enough years to be first in line for a new RMP, this one was already too old for an old timer like me. We let the rookies have it.
(Old Slip & South St)
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