Day 90

Olive Garden

March 29th, 2012



on Olive Street

Day 90

Edward B. Hittleman

March 29th, 2012



This brewery is a relic from Bushwick's days as the "Beer Capital of the Northeast".

Day 90

English Kills

March 29th, 2012



A tributary of Newtown Creek

Day 90

Still Life with Joan Baez

March 29th, 2012


Day 90




And one lone daffodil in bloom!

Day 90

Navigational aids

March 29th, 2012



Northern Hemisphere : North Star :: New York City : Empire State Building

Day 90



Day 90

How does it know??

March 29th, 2012


Day 90

Late afternoon corrugation

March 29th, 2012


Day 90

Garbage cars

March 29th, 2012



on the Bushwick Branch

Day 90




That's what's written on this fellow's elongated forehead. More info on this mural can be found here.

Day 91

It’s Jim!

March 30th, 2012



The proprietor of 9/11 memorial #6, and renowned local marathoner, was out for a stroll with his grandson in Greenpoint today.

Day 91

Our Lady of Montserrat

March 30th, 2012



A model of the original

Day 91

Portal of the paint

March 30th, 2012


Day 91

Identical twins

March 30th, 2012



Almost.

Day 91

Tae Kwon Do

March 30th, 2012



I posted a photo of this ad when I first passed by it months ago. But it wasn't a very good shot, so I'm replacing it with this one!

Day 91

Shadow of the pear

March 30th, 2012


Day 91




Home of the Walking Sisters since 1862, this convent was shuttered a couple years ago after the order's leaders deemed it too costly to make all the necessary repairs to the aging building.

Day 91

One of many

March 30th, 2012



Part of the sprawling Pratt Sculpture Park

Day 91

Telephonic ornamentation

March 30th, 2012



This was once the headquarters of New York and New Jersey Telephone and Telegraph.

Day 91

Sewer gator!

March 30th, 2012



Walk around New York for a while and you're bound to run into some of this guy's works.

Day 91




This 149-foot-tall column and its surroundings in Fort Greene Park commemorate the 11,500 American prisoners of war who died of disease and starvation aboard British prison ships moored in the East River during the Revolutionary War, some of whose remains are interred in a crypt beneath the monument. Believe it or not, the number of deaths on those ships exceeds the total number of Americans killed in battle during the entirety of the war (disease took the lives of far more troops than combat did in those days).

Day 91

They’re back!

March 30th, 2012



Absent since 1962, when they were removed following repeated instances of vandalism, Adolph Weinman's eagles were finally returned to their original home at the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park as part of a restoration completed in 2008.

UPDATE (Jan. 13, 2015): I spoke to Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art & Antiquities at the Parks Department, and he told me that two of the monument's four eagles are originals and two are replicas. The other two originals can be found at the Arsenal, the Parks Department's headquarters in Central Park.

Day 91

Today’s monument

March 30th, 2012



This memorial to thousands of tortured souls now serves as a peaceful oasis of relaxation and recreation, with the tragic story it commemorates unknown to most of its visitors. As this beautiful essay points out, this is a common fate — the physical structures of our monuments often outlive the memories they were intended to preserve.

Day 91

That unique perspective

March 30th, 2012



It must be Cekis! We've already come across at least three of his other works.

Day 91

Portal(s) of the day

March 30th, 2012


Day 91

Cascade Laundry

March 30th, 2012



Founded in 1898, Cascade grew to become the largest laundry and linen supply firm in the world before going out of business in 2010.

Day 91

MLK Jr Pl

March 30th, 2012



When I passed by its western terminus back in January, I knew I wasn't ready. But today, after months of preparation, and in a feat that will surely be inscribed in the history books of generations to come, I successfully walked the entire length of this grand boulevard, from Avenues Tompkins to Marcy, all within a span of less than 24 hours.

Day 91

Woodhull Medical Center

March 30th, 2012



Woodhull is home to the Artist Access program, which allows artists to offer their talents in exchange for medical care.

Day 92

Canoe and kayak launch

March 31st, 2012



This ramp, located at the edge of New York City in southeastern Queens, and providing access to the NYC Water Trail, is part of Idlewild Park Preserve, which comprises over 200 acres of wetlands just off Jamaica Bay. That's Nassau County right in front of us, on the other side of the creek.

Day 92

Welcome, public!

March 31st, 2012



Watch the barbed wire.

Day 92

More Idlewild

March 31st, 2012



Idlewild Park Preserve preserves the name of Idlewild Airport. (The airport's name was officially changed to New York International Airport before it opened, but it was still popularly called Idlewild.) In late 1963, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the airport was renamed in his honor. Looking out over the marsh here, you can see the JFK air traffic control tower off in the distance, as well as a plane that just took off.

Day 92

The breakdown of order

March 31st, 2012


Day 92

1975 Buick LeSabre Custom

March 31st, 2012



I can't think of a better color for this car.

Day 92

Another one in a million

March 31st, 2012



They're getting there!

Day 92

City limits

March 31st, 2012



North Woodmere in Nassau County is located just across Hook Creek from Rosedale, Queens.

Day 92

39,038

March 31st, 2012



That's what you get when you multiply one of these intersecting street numbers by the other. As I learned from walking around with Moses Gates, this is the highest such product in the city. Thanks to Queens's confusing numbering system, there are actually three different intersections with this product (all within a few hundred yards of each other): 262nd Place and 149th Road, 262nd Street and 149th Road, and 262nd Street and 149th Avenue.

Day 92

He must be stopped!

March 31st, 2012



Dismemberment seems to have become part of his modus operandi ever since he arrived on the scene in NYC. I think it's high time we started pressuring Ray Kelly and the NYPD to step up their hunt for this depraved criminal. How many grisly murders will it take before they get serious about this guy? Toys are humans too, Ray!

Day 92

Arboreal omnivorism

March 31st, 2012



I couldn't tell if the tree had swallowed the entire bottle or just the bottom of it.




With apologies to Miss Heather.

Day 92

Hummer to the rescue!

March 31st, 2012



The perfect vehicle for the urban environment









Day 92

Portal of the day

March 31st, 2012


Day 92

Portal to Nassau

March 31st, 2012



That crumbling wall marks the boundary between NYC and South Valley Stream.

Day 92

Polished granite

March 31st, 2012


Day 92

Vart?

March 31st, 2012



There's a certain largest retailer in the world that has, so far, been unable to break into the NYC market. They've made a couple of pushes to open stores in the city, but both attempts were met with vehement community opposition. I always assumed they had some locations elsewhere in the metro area, but what I didn't realize, and what I discovered today after peering through a fence at the end of a dead-end street in Rosedale, is that...

Day 92

Wal-Mart!

March 31st, 2012



...one of those locations essentially borders NYC! Unwanted by the city, Wal-Mart has sidled up about as close as you can get — this store in South Valley Stream is located less than 100 feet from the Queens/Nassau boundary (which is marked by the fence and razor wire). A classic case of "I'm not touching you I'm not touching you I'm not touching you".

This is also the store where an employee was trampled to death on Black Friday a few years ago, and it seems to be generally beloved by its customers.