Day 34




for my next terrifying nightmare.

Day 34

The sacred in the profane

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Excellence is for suckers

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Lazarus the beggar

February 2nd, 2012



He can get all the crumbs he wants with that kind of loot.

Day 34




A surprising diversity of poster ads — you usually see several of the same ones in a row.

Day 34

Yes we can

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Portal of the day

February 2nd, 2012



This entrance to the 191st Street station leads to a three-block-long tunnel that runs horizontally through the side of a hill. By the time you reach the train platform, there's 180 feet of rock separating you from the streets above you, making this the deepest station in the subway system. (Believe it or not, the next station to the north, Dyckman Street, is above ground; the hill atop this station drops off quite abruptly as you head north.)

In 1947, Victor Hess — a professor at Fordham University in the Bronx who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of cosmic rays — needed to find a convenient location "to carry out experiments on the radiation emitted from rocks at a location well protected from cosmic rays." He asked the Board of Transportation if he could conduct his experiments in the 191st Street station, its depth inside the hill preventing the vast majority of cosmic rays from reaching it. While he didn't end up using this station, he did set up shop in the nearby 190th Street station on the A line, which is also buried deep inside a cliff, about 160 feet below ground.

Day 34

The tunnel

February 2nd, 2012



This is the three-block-long passageway that leads to the train platforms. I made an animated GIF of my progress through it.

Day 34

And the elevator

February 2nd, 2012



The second entrance to the 191st Street station is located on top of the hill, and the only way to get from there to the train platforms is to take an elevator. There are four elevator cars, and one of them has a permanent human operator whose job is, basically, to press the elevator buttons periodically. It may seem silly to pay someone to do that, but there are a lot of people who feel much safer taking a long elevator ride if there's someone there to keep an eye on things.

The pedestrian tunnel connects to the elevator area outside of fare control, so people who are not riding the subway can still use the elevator as an easy (and free) way to get to and from the top of the hill.

Apparently the attendants (there are four other stations where they're employed, all in this hilly part of Upper Manhattan) used to be allowed to decorate their elevators, but the MTA has since cracked down on that freedom of expression.

Day 34

Wadsworth Avenue

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Parks supplies the basket

February 2nd, 2012



You supply the bags.

Day 34

Corner produce man

February 2nd, 2012



Those tall apartment buildings in the background are two of the four built over the Trans-Manhattan Expressway.

Day 34

Entangled

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

On the rocks

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Another building on stilts

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

Feeding the pigeons

February 2nd, 2012



This older gentleman, while slowly making his way up the hill, reached into his shopping bag and extracted a couple handfuls of unpopped popcorn, which he then tossed to the mob of pigeons currently snacking upon them. It's good to see New York's pigeon feeders branching out from the ever-so-clichéd bread crumbs.

Day 34

Police hut

February 2nd, 2012



I've seen a few of these little NYPD booths elsewhere in the city, but I must have passed by at least half a dozen (not counting a couple of similar private security shacks) today while walking around Yeshiva University in Washington Heights. I'd guess it's been a while since this one was last used: that copy of the New York Post is from November 10th of last year.

Day 34

I like to pretend

February 2nd, 2012



that these guys are listening to house music.

Day 34

Washington Terrace

February 2nd, 2012



An odd duck

Day 34

A sobering message

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34

A few weeks later

February 2nd, 2012



And it's gone!

Day 34

Aw, that’s cute

February 2nd, 2012



He wants to be just like his big brother.

Day 34

Raoul Wallenberg Playground

February 2nd, 2012



There's no sign indicating what this fenced-in area is, but it has the feel of a memorial garden. Which would be fitting, given the man for whom the surrounding playground is named.

Day 34

Across the canyon

February 2nd, 2012



Broadway runs through a steep valley in this part of Manhattan, somewhere out of sight beneath all those barren limbs. You can see the top of the cliff on the other side of the valley, where street level is considerably higher than the roofs of the multi-story buildings one block closer to the camera.

Day 34

Mixed messages

February 2nd, 2012


Day 34




The cable you see at my feet helps support a wire mesh netting that covers the cliff face to prevent loose rocks from crashing onto the FDR Drive below.

Day 34




You can just make out the top of the wire netting in this photo.

Day 34

Beneath the Washington Bridge

February 2nd, 2012



That's the Washington Bridge, mind you; not to be confused with the nearby George Washington Bridge.