Boing Boing » new york city

I still love New York, the t-shirt

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:51:16 +0000

"I Still Love NY" shirt by Sebastian Errazuriz. Available at Grey Area. 100% of proceeds go to Sandy Relief. Photo by Clayton Cubitt.

New York City in post-storm darkness: photos by Randy Scott Slavin

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:57:37 +0000

NYC UNPLUGGED, a series by photographer Randy Scott Slavin documenting the darkness in New York City after Hurricane Sandy caused widespread power outages:

New York City is always bright. Street lights, business marquees, light from apartments and car headlights merge to light every corner of the city streets, even on the darkest nights. It is the night after NYC was decimated by Hurricane Sandy, downtown NYC is in the midst of a power outage that has plunged it into complete darkness. I felt the call to hit the eerily dark streets and show New York as it is rarely seen. Trekking around with my tripod I was able to get the long exposures necessary to see in the dark.

View the rest [Facebook.com].

(HT: Hesta Prynn)

The crowd psychology of Grand Central Station

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:26:34 +0000

New York's Grand Central Terminal, as it currently stands today, was built between 1903 and 1913. But it is the third Grand Central. Two earlier buildings — one called Grand Central Depot, and the other known as Grand Central Station (which remains the colloquial name for the Terminal) — existed on pretty much the exact same spot. But neither lasted nearly as long. The Depot opened in 1871, and was drastically reconstructed in 1899. The new building, the Station, only stood for three years before it began to come down in sections, eventually replaced by the current building.

That's a lot of structural shuffling, and at the Anthropology in Practice blog, Krystal D'Costa explains some of the history behind it. Turns out, the rapid reconfiguration of Grand Central had a lot to do with crowd control — figuring out how to use architecture to make the unruly masses a little more ruly. One early account that D'Costa quotes describes regular mad scrambles to board the train — intimidating altercations that could leave less-aggressive passengers stranded on the platform as their train left them behind.

The problem it seemed was that the interior of the depot did nothing to manage the Crowd—which could resume the same patterns of movement as they did on the street—and believe me, it was just as unruly out there. In the depot, where passengers were confronted with the unbridled power of locomotives, it was necessary to impose some sort of structure to the meeting: the Crowd had to be domesticated.

... A deadly collision in 1902 preceded public demand for an even safer, more accessible terminal. Warren and Wetmore won the bid for reconstruction, and the plan they produced included galleries, which added yet another transition area but, more importantly, rendered the Crowd into a spectacle. This design, which is the one visitors experience today, preserves the Crowd in a central area, providing raised balconies from which there are plenty of opportunities to people-watch. Being placed on display is not lost on the subconscious of the Crowd: what appears to be hustle and bustle are manifestations of many synchronizations happening at once. So what appears to be chaos to the casual observer is actually a play directed by design that makes the Crowd a key feature of the space even as it is minimized by the architectural elements that Grand Central Terminal is known for: the grand ceiling, the large windows, and the deep main concourse. These items add perspective to the Crowd and diminish its psychological power as an uncontrollable mass.

Read the rest of the story at Anthropology in Practice

Image: Grand Central Terminal, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from maha-online's photostream

Fake celebrity pranks New York City in social experiment caught on video

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:17:15 +0000

Brett Cohen pranked NYC on the night of July 27th, 2012, and he has video proof: he "came up with a crazy idea to fool thousands of pedestrians walking the streets of Times Square into thinking he was a huge celebrity," and succeeded.

He is not a celebrity—or at least, he wasn't before this video went viral. He's a 21 year old SUNY New Paltz student. Snip from the project description:

This social experiment, of sorts, makes a profound statement about how modern culture is so attracted to pop culture, without any real credibility needed. He dressed up like a typical celebrity and was accompanied by an entourage of two professional bodyguards, two assistants, and photographers pretending to be paparazzi. While the assistants and photographers waited for Brett to exit the 49th street marquee at NBC Studios, they started a buzz that a "big star" was about to walk out, thus making it worth their while to wait and get a picture. Many asked the crew whom Brett was, and no answer was given. They were forced to either make something up, or just take a picture with him in hopes that their Facebook friends or Twitter followers might have a better idea.
As the crew walked over to Times Square, the crowds around Brett grew on each consecutive block. Very few people even questioned who he was, where he was from, or what he does. Brett took pictures with nearly 300 people before the stunt ended. The video even includes interviews with people who had just taken a picture with Brett, and puts them in an awkward position when they're asked questions such as, "Where do you know Brett from?" and "What's your favorite movie he was in?" Many of them were overwhelmingly excited over Brett's walk through Times Square, and it showed.

He hired the bodyguards and photographers from Craigslist, and wore cheap knockoff sunglasses and a shirt from an Express clearance rack.

[Video Link], and NY Daily News has more on the making of, via Joe Sabia.

A moveable mosque: One young Muslim woman's daily photoblog (video)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:41:41 +0000

The "30 Mosques" guys are producing some wonderful "30 Days Ramadan" videos this year that really give you a sense of what it's like to be a Muslim person in America. I enjoyed this one, featuring a young woman named Deena who loses her job, then decides chronicle her life through a photoblog. More about the project here. Subscribe to their video channel here. Deena's photoblog is here, and full of beautiful things. (thanks, Bassam Tariq!)

Should you buy an unlimited-ride Metrocard?

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:37:57 +0000

Unless you count a three-month internship in college, I've never lived in New York City. But, between friends and work, I've managed to visit every couple years or so and I've nearly always picked up an unlimited-ride Metrocard for my week in town. Turns out, choosing to do so is an excellent example of Maggie not being super great at math. Michael Moyer has plotted out the numbers on unlimited-ride Metrocards. He says the purchase only makes sense if you're riding a lot—averaging 14 rides a week for the 7-Day-Pass or 12 rides a week for the 30-Day-Pass. Any less and you're actually better off paying a la carte.

Space Shuttle Enterprise floats to a new home: New York's Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum (photos)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 02:10:38 +0000

Photo: C.S. MUNCY

The Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) floated to its "retirement home" today, Wednesday June 6, 2012: the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. The museum's Space Shuttle Pavillion will open on July 19. The arrival of Enterprise was planned for 24 hours earlier, but weather delayed. During its voyage by water, the barge carrying Enterprise moved too close to the Jamaica Bay Bridge and clipped the Shuttle's wing. Ouch. But, you know: sadly, it's not like they're gonna need that wing for space travel now.

Special thanks to photographer C.S. Muncy, who is pretty intrepid himself—we understand these terrific shots cost him quite a sunburn.

Photo: C.S. MUNCY

How to: Experience Manhattanhenge

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:45:11 +0000

Step 1, naturally, is to be in Manhattan.

I'm in New York City today and Scientific American contributing editor Steven Ashley was kind enough to reminded me that my visit is coinciding with Manhattanhenge—a twice-a-year event when the sun lines up with Manhattan's street grid. This year, there will be a Manhattanhenge on May 29/30 and another on July 11/12.

You'll note that Manhattanhenge does not actually occur on the same day as the solstice—when the Sun is at the highest point in the sky and the length of the day begins to get either longer (winter solstice) or shorter (summer solstice). That's because Manhattan's grid is rotated 30 degrees east off of true north, writes Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Hayden Planetarium website. That's enough to make Manhattanhenge less astronomically accurate than Stonehenge. But it's still awfully nifty and is supposed to look really, really cool.

Tonight's event should start around 8:17 pm (Eastern time, of course). Here's Neil deGrasse Tyson's advice on getting a good view:

For best effect, position yourself as far east in Manhattan as possible. But ensure that when you look west across the avenues you can still see New Jersey. Clear cross streets include 14th, 23rd, 34th. 42nd, 57th, and several streets adjacent to them. The Empire State building and the Chrysler building render 34th street and 42nd streets especially striking vistas.

Note that any city crossed by a rectangular grid can identify days where the setting Sun aligns with their streets. But a closer look at such cities around the world shows them to be less than ideal for this purpose. Beyond the grid you need a clear view to the horizon, as Manhattan has across the Hudson River to New Jersey. And tall buildings that line the streets create a vertical channel to frame the setting Sun, creating a striking photographic opportunity.

Read the rest at the Hayden Planetarium website

Check out some reader-submitted photos of Manhattanhenge that Xeni posted last year.

Image: Manhattanhenge 2011 | The Commuter, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from 59949757@N06's photostream

Bronx Parkour: Jose The Amazing (a photo essay)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:35:31 +0000

Photo: Chris Arnade

Chris Arnade is a photographer based in New York City. I've blogged his urban photography before. Check out these fantastic shots of young men in Hunts Point Bronx, doing crazy gravity-defying freestyle jumps. Below: more photos, and the story behind those photos, from Chris.—XJ

Photo: Chris Arnade

JOSE THE AMAZING
CHRIS ARNADE

Last year I was in a desolate part of Hunts Point, talking to a friend. A group of about ten teenagers came down the street, loud, filled with energy, and seemingly marauding (kicking over cones, jumping on and over stationary cars, etc). I have never had a problem in my twenty years in New York City, but that does not mean I don't stay aware. As they passed, out of the corner of my eye I spotted Jose, do a back flip over a hydrant. Amazed, I yelled out to him. He and his friends, who were also warily eyeing me and my friend, thinking we were cops, were planning to run away, but his friend Henry had a sprained ankle, so they stood their ground.

Since then I have come to grow very fond of Jose and his friends, and have done two proper photo shoots. Big fans of Parkour, Hip-hop, and Anime, they are fighting against an area where the pressures of poverty, drugs, and limited opportunity weigh heavily.

Photo: Chris Arnade

For me it's another lesson in expectations. All of my accumulated baggage from popular culture signaled for me to get away from these kids and their bad intentions, all theirs told them to get away from the cop who would treat them unfairly. Neither of us did that, and because of that I certainly have learned a bit more about the Bronx.

Groups of teenagers have thrown rocks at me from a distance (I just spread my arms and say "Give me your best shot, you arm aint that good." So far that's worked). I understand what the combination of boredom, energy, and hormones can do. Hell, I threw rocks at things when I was that age.

—Chris Arnade, 2012.

Photo: Chris Arnade

More from Hunts Point here: Hunts Point
More of Jose here: Jose the amazing

Photo: Chris Arnade

New Yorkers: Spend Memorial Day with Maggie and Dean!

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:30:07 +0000

Neither I nor Dean Putney—BoingBoing's intrepid web developer—live in New York City. But we realized recently that we're both going to be visiting at the same time. So we're planning on meeting up for a little, informal Memorial Day picnic in Prospect Park, and we'd like you to join us. We'll be meeting up on Monday, May 28th, at 3:00 pm in front of the Brooklyn Museum. Bring whatever you want to eat and, if you so choose, a nifty object or DIY project for show-and-tell. Hope to see you there!

Maggie talking about decentralized electricity and the future of energy in New York City

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:50:41 +0000

I'm going to be in New York at the end of May, talking about my new book Before the Lights Go Out. There's two great events you should join me for. On May 29th at 6:00 pm, I'll be talking about the electric grid, the process of writing a book, and how writing online has improved my work as a science journalist. On May 30th at 6:30 pm, I'll be leading a panel on decentralized energy. Chris Hackett—of the Science Channel's Stuck with Hackett—will be joining me to talk about DIY energy, and Susan Covino, who works for one of the independent organizations that controls movement of electricity around the grid, will talk about integrating decentralized power into our existing infrastructure. Both events are free and open to the public, but you do need to follow those links and RSVP.

Video: Punk/hiphop photog Glen E. Friedman interviewed by Paradigm Magazine

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:04:17 +0000

Snip from a wonderful interview by Paradigm Magazine with one of my favorite photographers (and people), Glen E. Friedman:

Don’t care about what other people think about what you’re doing, if you’re inspired to do something, if you want to do something, if you have some kind of feeling that you should do something...then you should just do it; don’t let what other people’s preconceived ideas of good behavior, or whatever it is, limit you to thinking what you should and shouldn’t do.

(via Dangerous Minds)

New Yorker on the origins of OWS

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:38:14 +0000

For your post-Thansksgiving long read list, "Pre-Occupied: The origins and future of Occupy Wall Street," in the New Yorker today by Mattathias Schwartz. "It's very tl;dr," said the friend who forwarded it, but we both agree it's an essential read. Not everything fits in 140 characters, after all.

CUNY police bully peaceful Baruch College students during OWS protest over unfair labor practices, tuition hikes

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:41:45 +0000

Photographer and Boing Boing reader Timothy Krause shares the photos and videos above and below in this post, and says,

Here are some videos of police violence and beatings that occurred around 5:15 at Baruch College, CUNY, in response to an Occupy CUNY OWS protest about tuition hikes, unfair labor practices targeted toward adjunct and other faculty, and the privatization of the public CUNY system. Protesters had planned to attend a public trustees meeting, but we were not permitted to voice our grievances, in contravention of CUNY's policies and the rights belonging to a free people.
The first (below) is CUNY security and the order to disperse (protesters are occupying the building's lobby.
The second (further below) is CUNY security staff pushing and hitting protesters with nightsticks.

More shots by Krause. Here's a livestream. Related reporting at the Baruch college newspaper with more video from another POV, and here's a related item in the New York Times.

Carlos Pazmino, 21, a City College student who helped organize the protest, said that after students began opening doors to the auditorium where the meeting was taking place, CUNY police officers surrounded the entrances and pushed back, using their batons. When students formed a line to push past, he said, the officers began hitting the students with the batons. “I saw two people knocked down by cops,” Mr. Pazmino said. “They were arrested, and one guy’s head was bleeding.”

Update: Here's another video shot by "MichaelGouldWartofsk" at the front of the riot, which shows the violence more clearly (thanks, @bendoernberg).

And the bride wore zip ties: Nice day for an Occupy Wall Street wedding

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:01:19 +0000

A cute couple is getting married in Zuccotti park this morning in New York City. Have fun occupying a happy future together, kids. Here's a photo of the bride, and here's the "sacred space." Here's the ring. @Newyorkist says, "Friends of couple inform they met here at spiritual circle months ago. Emery and Micha. Being married by NYU chaplain."

(Photo: Newyorkist. Via Greg Mitchell, Allison Kilkenny and others)

Occupation in October: beautiful, long-form OWS radio documentary by Alex Chadwick

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:18:38 +0000

I've been wondering when the first great radio documentary about Occupy Wall Street would come out, and when I was driving around in LA yesterday doing errands, I tuned into it by accident on KCRW.

Longtime public radio producer, reporter, documentarian and host Alex Chadwick, with whom I worked at the NPR program "Day to Day," produced a beautiful and evocative audio documentary about the Occupy Wall Street movement, after embedding at Zucotti Park to hear the stories of the occupiers there. He ended up witnessing history.

Alex is the greatest at this art, and I was so happy to hear new work from the man behind those great radio expeditions, which he produced with his late wife Carolyn. Those acquainted with his "Interviews 50 Cents" series will hear a familiar chord, too. Alex, man, it is so great to hear you back on the air doing what no one else can. Everyone else? You *must* carve out some undistracted time, and just listen. And then when you're done? Make someone else listen. Someone who doesn't understand what the Occupy movement is all about.

This is the story of how Occupy Wall Street finds itself over three days in October. How it faces down the police, the political powers, and its own demons. This is the moment when Occupy Wall Street won.

"Occupation in October," on the KCRW radio documentary series "Unfictional," produced by Bob Carlson.

Photo: A demonstrator from the Occupy Wall Street campaign stands with a dollar taped over his mouth in Zucotti Park near the financial district of New York. Reuters/Lucas Jackson.

Occupy the Nor-easter: NYC OWS protesters braved a snowstorm this weekend

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:16:56 +0000

Boing Boing reader Peter Brauer says,

I went down to OWS to see how folks were fairing during the nor-easter. The weather was bleak, but spirits were high. I don't think these folks are going any where any time soon. Support your local #occupation this winter.

via Video Link: YouTube.

Occupy Wall Street takes over Times Square (updated)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:26:54 +0000

Watch live streaming video from occupynyc at livestream.com

445pm ET: Happening as I post this. Watch live video here. More on the New York City protesters' longer-term plans back at Zucotti Park, including a map, at Mother Jones. (via @antderosa)

Update, 715pm ET: I've been following live reports on Twitter from various sources, and the situation in Times Square sounds intense. By various estimates, 15-20,000 demonstrators have occupied the Square. NYPD are out in full force, including the Counter-Terrorism unit (photo below).

At least a dozen (maybe more) officers on horseback, and buses and paddywagons ready for mass arrests. Multiple sources on the scene describe police tactics aimed at, more or less, "kettling" people into a defined zone, surrounding them with nets, officers on horseback, and police with batons.

Here's a video uploaded a while ago that shows protesters near the "Toys-R-Us" at Times Square. And here's another, that gives a sense of the crowd density a couple hours ago. And here is another, showing mounted officers entering the area filled with demonstrators.

And below, via AntDeRosa at Reuters (a good one to follow today):

Occupy Wall Street protesters shout slogans against banks and economic system while they take part in a protest at Times Square in New York October 15, 2011 REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

There are various reports floating around on Twitter now that NYPD has been "authorized to use tear gas" against protesters. Some on the scene are tweeting that NYPD is ordering crowds: "Leave now and you won't get hurt."

The situation sounds volatile, and like a very large number of people (including families with children, and disabled persons who have limited mobility) are packed into an ever-shrinking space. I hope this does not end badly.

Peter Rothberg of The Nation tweets:

According to multiple sources, all #OWS protesters in Times Square now face arrest if they don't immediately proceed out of the area.

Photo: Above, Molly Knefel. Below, Mumbai Chopra.

Some sources for live coverage tonight: Live blog at NY Daily News. @antderosa, @newyorkist, @owsbot, @joepauca, @jeffrae, @occupywallst.

Update, 8pm ET: Reports of arrests beginning, from multiple sources in Times Square. Joe Pauca: "NYPD paddywagon truck just pulled up. One person has been arrested. Now two. Both placed in truck. More getting arrested. Everyone is yelling to let them go. More NYPD paddy wagons arriving on the scene... jeffrae: Some people at 46th St seem penned in. I can't see but 3 wagons have been brought in. People chanting, 'Let them go.'"

Reuters has a live video stream here. The police are ordering the crowd to step back. The crowd chants back, defiantly, "YOU STEP BACK."

Update, 8:23pm ET: NY Daily News reports that 71 (and counting) have been arrested. Similar reports from eyewitnesses on-site.

From @somebadideas, in NYC: " Arrests, definite, NY police scanner says 2 NYPD are being transported by EMS for injuries (no details)."

From @mmflint, who is on-site: "Arrests have begun. (I mean, of peaceful citizens. Still no banker or CEO in jail.) Now we're watching people being dragged away."

And from @theother99: "Situation remains v. tense. No further arrests. NYPD presence grows. 150+ uniformed officers on site, some riot police in helmets. NYPD riot police now approaching from back side on 46th St.... at least 15+ NYPD Riot Police approach from east side of 46th St. Crowd being cleared to sidewalks."

Boing Boing reader Timothy Krause says, "Here's a photo I shot at tonight's OWS rally-party in Times Square showing a protester being arrested."

Update, 9:00pm ET: Multiple reports that the police have taken down the barricades, and what looked like a very tense confrontation has dissolved. More than a hundred arrests, by some accounts. Massive crowds at the height of the action, 20,000 or more by some estimates. Sources I'm reading on Twitter who were there describe the numbers as overwhelming.

Portraits of Occupy Wall Street: "OccupiedNYC"

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:02:51 +0000

Fetzer, 51, From Waitsboro, North Carolina. Military Veteran, Arabic Linguist.

Boing Boing reader Eddie McShane, aka Macdawg, has been doing an amazing portrait series of people at the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City. He shared some of the photographs in Boing Boing's Flickr pool. I spotted them while skimming the pool for interesting new contributions from our readers, and was blown away. I asked him to tell us more about the project. Eddie writes:

I live in New York City and until this week I had been following the protests via the internet and watching them grow but I didn't know how to get involved.
I have two jobs, and no money or resources to donate, so I decided to go down there and offer the one thing that I felt was useful: my time and skills as a photographer.
I wanted to show the faces of the occupiers and their supporters in a studio style setting, blank and deviod of any other context in order to highlight the human face of this protest.
The representation in the media has been that this is a bunch of unruly, hippie kids having a party downtown and that is simply not true. There are people from all walks of life and an incredible diversity of ages, races, and opinions and I wanted to show them as they wanted to be portrayed, simply, as people.
I have been down there in between working and when I am home I am editing furiously. I have to run off now to my day job but I am planning on continuing this series in what spare time I can carve out of my other obligations.

Eddie now has a tumblog where you can see the photos all in one set: OccupiedNYC.

Earl, 41, From Queens, New York

Right Here All Over: a short film on Occupy Wall Street by Alex Mallis

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:40:17 +0000

Alex Mallis directed this beautiful short film about Occupy Wall Street.

Occupy Wall Street: images, reports, and ambient soundscapes, from Dan Patterson

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:52:51 +0000

Broadcast journalist Dan Patterson of ABC News Radio went down to Occupy Wall Street on Friday, and has posted extensive reports in Storify, image, and audio form. Below, an ambient soundscape of the protest. Dan, I'm glad you did this—in any story, the background is as important as the foreground, and nothing makes me feel like I'm there like this:

The Sounds of #OccupyWallStreet by danpatterson

Summer in the Bronx (BB Flickr Pool photo)

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:05:29 +0000

"Damian and Wayne 2: Point Morris Bronx," Photo contributed to the BB flickr pool by Chris Arnade.