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Monday, May 30, 2005

Bye 9

The signs said that 9 train service would end on the 31st, but they didn't wait that long to take down the numbers.

I don't want to over sentimentalize it, but the number 9 did have considerable significance to this neighborhood because of what it represented as a step in recovery:

The 1 and 9 lines restoration project is projected to come in approximately $50 million under budget, and two months ahead of schedule. The early completion could result in as much as a $3 million incentive bonus for contractors Tully Construction Co. and A.J. Pegno Construction Corp., which led the project.
Restored downtown lines means passengers will again have access to the 9 train, which halted service entirely since 9/11. The 1, 2 and 3 trains also will return to their formers routes. The 1 line will once again terminate at South Ferry, rather than re-routing to Brooklyn, the 2 line will resume express service to Chambers, and the 3 line will continue on to New Lots, Brooklyn.

That was 2002. How times have changed.

Memorial Day Weekend weddings

Saturday, St. Andrews among the court buildings.

Sunday, 12th St. near Avenue C.

As I walked after the carriage one woman I passed remarked that it was just like they do in Puerto Rico. It's hard to see, but in this last photo the sign on the back says "Goin' to the chapel." Adding a surreal element, the chapel must be across the street from the ConEd substation.

Memorial Day Weekend sunning

Union Square


Wagner Park


Across the back it said "Lotus."

City Fountain

13th & ... I don't know, 1st ave?

90 Washington, newest spoke in the NoBatt hub

... and by the way, I'm not married to the NoBatt neighborhood name. I'd be fine with FiDi (financial disctrict) or even BeTri (which could either be Behind Trinity Church or Below Tribeca). Anyway, the reason this might matter at all is that there's a liquote license application notice in the window of the ground floor corner of 90 Washington, which heretofore had a sign offering restaurant space.

So, on each corner of Washington and Rector will be Romi, Moran's, Giovani's Atrium, and now this new place. And this new place, provided it's not another damn deli, will have a nice bit of sidewalk patio space there. Add to that the mini-strip on Greenwich and maybe we have a serious hub for neighborhood nightlife forming.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Sky Scrapers

I've been waiting for a day like today to see if I could get the camera to show something I've been noticing about the World Financial Center buildings and especially the new WTC7 building. They do an amazing job of reflecting the sky.

Friday, May 27, 2005

A shooting in Battery Park City

No, not that kind, a photo shoot.
This guy looks pretty unhappy that I'm taking a picture of them taking pictures. The model is the guy in the light brown sweater. I have no idea why they're liking this shot. They want the Gatehouse restaurant and Picasso Pizza in the background??

The shots aren't great, but it's a neat collection of body postures.

Now I just have to remember to keep an eye out for a photo of a guy in a beige sweater.

Canyon hikers

All they need is pack mules.

Trinity fair

Last Sunday's carnival.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Color riot

23rd and 8th.
I took one shot of this whole crew, but the camera was set on "video" mode so instead I have a well framed two seconds of video followed by jerky footage of me looking up from where I'm standing in the middle of the avenue and scrambling out of the way of onrushing cars.

I do like the second shot though, like that guy is trying hear on the phone over the loud colors. "Could you keep those outfits down? I'm on the phone here."

Hip shot trio

Union Square.
Yes, he's playing something you have to blow into. A mouth organ I guess.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Jaques Torres Chocolates

I don't know how many of these devices are actually used in the chocolate making and how many are there just for the Willy Wonka effect, but I really like this big silver ball.

Straight outta Belgium.

Judging by the press release on their website, this place opened last November, but somehow I missed it. Lately I've been keeping an eye out for the local chocolate places, so this was an exciting find. Even more exciting is that the chocolate lives up to the hype of the shop's presentation. I came home with a small bag of dark chocolate covered corn flakes. Outstanding!

The lambs in the last photo are about the size of a boot, hollow, with no bottom. As chance would have it, parents had bought a pair of them for their two kids while I was in the store shopping. Everyone in the place got a good chuckle out of the kids trying to figure out how to eat something so big. They basically just picked it up and tried to get their little mouths to bite straight through the top of the head, with slow progress.

Alley catch

Collister Street is not exactly an alley I guess, because it does have a name, but as you can see, all of the buildings on it face away. The first two photos are different, the third is a zoom/crop from the center of the second photo so you can see the father/son game of catch with the boy's arms up in the air.

Yes, We're Open...

...all the way through

Bleeker Street.
I like when you can see through the front door of a place and out in the the back yard. It helps when the places is gutted.

Sunset rainstorm

Crazy thunderstorm this evening. One of those ones where it's sunny and raining at the same time. What's more, it was about quarter past six, so the sun was getting into sunset range. The way the light was playing on the buildings I thought the sun had a crack in the clouds somewhere, but from the roof it was just a bright glow. It looks like I used some kind of funky filter, but I really didn't. The top one is closest to what it looked like. The others look a little darker because the foreground is backlit.

Taxi tops

Greenwich up around King

Taste of Tribeca 2005

I love these two people sitting on their little roof thing.


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