I had gotten to the airport over an hour early for my flight to Chicago – blame it on the insanely good timing of R to E to AirTrain that morning – so I had plenty of time to just wander around JetBlue’s spiffy new terminal. I started taking photos of the place and I just lucked out when this guy walked, seemingly striding with purpose, directly into the center of the shot, making an infinitely neater shot than just the terminal itself.
This photo was taken on August 25, 2009.
Thanks to the blizzard that dumped 20 or so inches of snow on us, the sight of garbage bags, piled high and stretching far is a sad, familiar sight on New York City’s streets even though it’s been a week since the snow fell. Chalk it up to a poorly managed response to the snowfall plus the possibility of a sanitation slowdown. They just started garbage collection yesterday but even that’s hampered by a necessary split in service where some trucks are still working on the snow in some areas. It’s estimated that there are 50,000 tons of garbage to haul away, some of which has been accumulating since before Christmas. Christmas! That was over 10 days ago! Now all we need are the rats to come out of hiding and then we can sound the alarm for a plague warning!
This photo was taken on January 3, 2011.
The Stumptown at the Ace Hotel has lines out the door and into the hotel lobby on just about every weekday I’ve been there. When the blizzard finally came to an end on Monday, I stopped in for some coffee before getting some work done and this place was empty. Dead. This was the only person on line. That’s what it takes for them not to be busy – a blizzard in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
This photo was taken on December 27, 2010.
Less than 12 hours after previously checking in on Times Square and not even two hours after midnight, the place was already emptied out, save for some stragglers and a whole crew of folks cleaning up the remains of the evening. Hours and hours of anticipation and buildup and only moments after midnight, the place starts clearing out. Kinda makes you wonder why people bother to show up, right? I mean, I know I do.
Anyway, happy new year to all!
This photo was taken on January 1, 2011.
After lunch with Jon and Elizabeth in Midtown, I wandered over to Times Square to see what the scene was like. This was taken just before 2:30 pm and already it’s super crowded and just impossible to walk around. Why people insist on coming here so early or even at all, still amazes me to this day. I’ll give a pass for the first time revelers since I get that they want to mark this off their bucket list but for the repeat offenders, I ask “WHY!!!???”
Have a fun and safe New Year’s Eve celebration, everyone.
This photo was taken on December 31, 2010.
Walking around after 20 or so inches of snow has been dumped on my block isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Actually, it was a lot easier to walk in the street as opposed to the sidewalk since the necessary passage of cars helped clear it a lot faster than the pedestrians’ passageway. Crazy, right? While walking home from the subway station, I noticed my shadow was very pronounced in the snow since it’s, you know, pure white which, compared to the darker sidewalk, certainly makes it easier to see one’s shadow. Never one to pass up an opportunity to take what I think might be a neat photo, I snapped this one just before an approaching car’s headlights would have ruined the shot.
This photo was taken on December 27, 2010.
The New York Knicks are in the midst of a resurgent season with a record of 18-12, their best result through 30 games since the 2000-01 season. Not only is the product on the court better – the addition of Amar’e Stoudemire might have something to do with that – but the ad campaigns for their MSG broadcasts, both in print and on-air, are markedly better. In particular, they’re doing a great job in their print campaign, linking this current crop of Knicks to their glory days which gives this long-suffering Knicks fan goosebumps seeing the likes of Walt “Clyde” Frazier, the leader of the last Knicks team to win an NBA championship, alongside Amar’e, the leader (hopefully) of the next Knicks team win an NBA championship.
This photo was taken on December 22, 2010.
Last night, I went with my friend Rebecca to see a live edition of The Rachel Maddow Show at the 92nd Street Y. I’ve been a big fan of her for some time though I’m sad to say I don’t watch nearly as often as I once did during the leadup to the 2008 presidential election. I never doubted that Rachel Maddow would do a great job in front of a live audience but it certainly seemed like she fed on the energy and applause of a very partisan audience. And on yesterday of all days when President Obama scored some major legislative wins from the 111th Congress – a lame duck one at that – only served to put a little extra pep in Maddow’s step.
This photo was taken on December 22, 2010.
While talking to The Hold Steady lead singer Craig Finn at Rachael’s holiday party last weekend, I was reminded of this photo I took some years back. At this point in time, they had yet to release their third album, Boys and Girls in America, the album that would catapult them into stardom. They were performing at Columbia University’s annual Concert on the Steps though it would be indoors this year due to rain. That worked out great because the lighting indoors was great and the concert shots came out beautifully. I managed to get this shot of the band just moments before they hit the stage.
This photo was taken on September 2, 2006.
Earlier this year – January, to be specific – Justin came down for the kind of weekend where we just basically eat and drink to our hearts’ content. On a night where we’d end up at Minetta Tavern for their $26 Black Label burger, we decided to go cheap during the day. That basically meant a food tour though Flushing with one of those stops being the $1 Peking Duck bun stand. Honestly, you’d be a fool not to stop here when you’re in Flushing – well, unless you don’t like duck. For $1, you get tasty duck meat and crispy, fatty duck skin wrapped in a steamed bun with scallions, cucumbers, and a smidgen of hoisin sauce. We were fortunate enough to stop by when they were just getting ready to carve and slice through a fresh duck. A total win for us!
This photo was taken on January 16, 2010.
