I came across this stratified anthropomorphic collage, part of Dustin Yellin‘s Psychogeographies series, at Pioneer Works, "a cultural center dedicated to experimentation, education and production across disciplines." Founded here in Red Hook in 2012 by Mr. Yellin, Pioneer Works occupies a large brick structure likely built (or perhaps rebuilt) by Pioneer Iron Works around 1882 following a fire that destroyed the property the previous year.

Standing here on Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, is the former Valencia Theater, the first of the five spectacular "Wonder Theaters" opened by Loew’s in the New York City area in 1929-30. (We’ve previously seen the other three Wonder Theaters in NYC: the Paradise in the Bronx, the Kings in Brooklyn, and the 175th Street in Manhattan. The fifth theater, the Jersey, is located in Jersey City.)

According to David Dunlap of the NY Times:

A “Spanish patio garden in gay regalia for a moonlit festival,” as early publicity releases described it, the Valencia was an atmospheric theater, designed by John Eberson, in which 3,500 moviegoers at a time found themselves seated under a blue night sky filled with twinkling stars and drifting clouds. [The clouds were projected onto the ceiling.]

Rising to the sky was a Spanish village, or rather a Spanish village as envisioned by an Austrian-born architect working in the Baroque Churrigueresque style from an office in Chicago to satisfy Hollywood tastes. Around the auditorium a half-dozen diminutive structures — a gazebo here, a loggia there — were arrayed in cascading tiers as if set on a hillside.

That was the payoff, but the experience of the Valencia began in the gleaming lobby, where moviegoers lined up between a long colonnade and a row of scalloped balconies. From there it was into the two-story grand foyer, with a vaulted ceiling and a fish pond with tinkling fountain.

When the Valencia closed in 1977, Loew’s donated the building to the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People, a Pentecostal church, which has done an outstanding job of maintaining the place over the years, as evidenced by these breathtaking photos of the interior. The Tabernacle has made a few notable alterations, however, turning the figures of nude goddesses atop the proscenium arch into robed angels, installing a massive chandelier in the auditorium, changing some of the paint colors, and displaying a collection of discarded crutches from people said to have been miraculously healed at the church.

(In case you’re wondering, I took the video above during what appeared to be a bible study being held in the auditorium before the Sunday morning service.)

A relentless robo-barker hawks various goods (“Any two [pairs of?] shoes for $35”) and services (“Tattoo, body piercing in the back”) at the 165th Street Mall in Jamaica. It’s kind of mesmerizing if you just focus your attention on the short, gasping breaths tucked in between the verbal barrages.

A Sing for Hope piano on the Coney Island Boardwalk

Another location, another child robo-barker.

After Milciades put on a mini-concert in the casita at the Palmas del Caribe community garden, the guys offered me a couple of Coors Lights and a tour around the garden. You can hear Milciades play another tune, after warming up his pipes, below.

Looking down on 161st Street from the Eagle Avenue bridge

According to a sign I saw, this glacial kettle pond “was drained and made into ballfields in 1966. However, frequent flooding made the fields unusable. So, in 1995, former Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern, after observing mallards in left field, proclaimed the site ‘for the ducks’ and authorized the restoration” of the pond.

on Stickball Boulevard.

This guy slid bare-legged into second base! He came up a little scraped and bloody as a result, but that’s a small price to pay for taking an extra base — not to mention looking cool on camera.

AGAIN.

at United Hebrew Cemetery. If you want some real excitement, watch the chunk of ice wash in about 29 seconds into the video.

Heading to Staten Island. That’s Governors Island on the left, Jersey City on the right, and the Statue of Liberty straight ahead.

Heading back from Brooklyn on the subway after my walk, I passed by Masstransiscope, Bill Brand‘s spectacular, zoetrope-inspired work of art installed in 1980 on the remaining platform of the Fourth Avenue Line’s abandoned Myrtle Avenue station. The series of 228 hand-painted images was most recently restored in 2013 after graffiti writers vandalized it while the subway system was shut down for Hurricane Sandy. You can view Masstransiscope from Manhattan-bound B and Q (and late-night D) trains; after your train leaves the DeKalb Avenue station, just gaze out a window on the right side and wait for the show to begin. It’s rare to see the whole thing without the train slowing down and stopping in the tunnel approaching the Manhattan Bridge, but, as Mr. Brand says, that’s part of the experience:

When I designed Masstransiscope . . . the trains even then always slowed down and stopped as they still do today. So, I designed that feature into the piece. I actually like that the illusion breaks down and you can see the slits and the static paintings behind them.

On the frozen-over trails of the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy (whose owner is named Tony Danza), this proved to be the easiest way to get around.

Brought to you by Steve Campanella, "a retired Marine and compulsive collector".

Walking through Clove Lakes Park in the dark, it was kind of surreal to come across this group of women and their perky leader working out with drumsticks to Rage Against the Machine’s "Killing in the Name". Apparently this workout is called Pound; here’s a news video about it in which one of its creators, referring to the date rape drug, describes it as "the roofie of workouts".

"The Entertainer" is a common ice cream truck song, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a Mister Softee truck playing something other than the Mister Softee jingle. I tried asking the driver about it, but he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.

)

)

This forgotten little fork of a neighborhood, along with nearby (and equally obscure) Meadowmere, is hidden away at the eastern edge of Queens, cut off from the rest of the city by water and marshlands. The two tiny communities didn’t even have sewers until just a few years ago. (To get a better understanding of the crazy city boundary in this area, check out today’s route map and zoom in on the lower right part of the map. The shaded areas are Nassau County, while the rest is NYC. The border is a little crudely drawn, but it gets the point across.)

The treed property visible on the other side of Thurston Basin is part of JFK Airport, which explains the two otherwise out-of-place-seeming signs mounted on posts in the water, visible midway through the video. The signs read "KEEP OUT SECURITY ZONE".

Some 12 percent of all the international shipping containers in the US pass through this unassuming little tidal strait on their way to or from the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal.

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Where all the cars look like Minis

by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

At long last, and after two close calls, I have finally seen a kid riding one of these mechano-musical sidewalk monsters.

It’s Super Bad Brad!

Fordham Road is the land of robo-barkers — endlessly repeating loops of recorded messages telling you why you should venture inside a particular establishment. They’re most often used by purveyors of cell phones, but here we have a buffet getting in on the action: A lot of food cheap of price.

(This is actually half a block south of Fordham Road on Elm Place.)

The 3 train on Livonia Avenue

What’s this machine supposed to ward off? Rodents? Dogs? Teenagers? Potential friendships with neighbors?

Hey, somebody else showed up! (He’s talking on the phone, in case you can’t tell.)

to the Gould Memorial Library, a palace of splendor and silence.

These striking transit union workers mean business! Wait, what’s that they want? DVDs? And is someone squeezing a rubber ducky?

…there it is.

The NY Times published a piece contrasting the patrons of the racetrack and those of the casino. I don’t know how representative it is of the two clienteles, but it is a good read.

This was much less dramatic than I had hoped. I didn’t even see a single person angrily rip up a ticket!

It’s not easy to walk on ice!

We’ve seen this place before, but it’s even more of a spectacle around Christmastime. Unfortunately, because of the rain this evening, most of the celebrity mannequins were either wearing ponchos or were tucked away inside.

This avian tornado is a sure sign of a nearby rooftop coop. Check out these amazing photos of New York pigeon keepers and their flocks, as well as these great interviews with “rooftop pigeon guys”.

That accordion player sure looks familiar.

Tai chi (et al.) in Sara Roosevelt Park

"We are old men. We like bringing the birds and drinking the coffee. We feel better."

You can hear a subway train rumbling by overhead about 30 seconds in.

Nope, it’s just the Shabbat alarm that blares from somewhere within Hasidic South Williamsburg twice every Friday evening. It’s pretty obnoxiously loud, but apparently "any organ, bell, chimes or other similar instrument" located on or within a house of worship is exempt from the city’s noise code.

My phone somehow started recording video while I was walking. Be sure to check out all 12+ riveting minutes of footage — I even stop to buy an ice cream sandwich somewhere in the middle!

(Here I am again.)

Keep your eyes fixed on the far right side of the video. Can you see it?

tweet tweet tweet tweet honk honk honk honk

Mount Zion Cemetery

Part of the obscure art collection (which, I think, is a satellite gallery of the Queens Museum of Art) at the Bulova Corporate Center

The aforementioned Mike (the guy with the ponytail standing to the left) rated this burnout a "solid 2" out of 10.

Guernsey Street

Outside the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

At Clumber Corner. Speaking of videos, I forgot to post this one the other day!

I somehow managed to capture the one brief period when no one was playing their instruments except the percussionist. But I didn’t want to do a second take because I felt like I was distracting people. So, with that said, enjoy this exciting video!

The guy on the left is playing a melodica (with an air tube), in case you were curious.

He’s only been playing guitar for a little over a year, and was kind of camera-shy. But here’s a little glimpse, anyway.

The location is fitting for the 15th anniversary of Biggie‘s death.

Pratt breaks out this calliope, as well as some other individual steam whistles, every New Year’s Eve. You can play a keyboard that is hooked up to the calliope if you want, but, as you have probably noticed, the whistles are a bit out of tune.