Zach van Schouwen pieced together this extensive look at the history of Eldridge Street between Rivington and Stanton Streets on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. The video above is a shortened and quick version of a much slower slideshow currently on display at THE BLOCK. [via]
Map of Manhattan made out of letters from advertising and commercial products
September 15, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
This is Michael Albert’s map of Manhattan made entirely out of letters taken from advertisements and commercial products. The whole collage was completed in Fall 2008 and it measures a whopping 32″x40″. By using these letters, Michael Albert spells out the locations of places and districts in Manhattan. The artist says that there is a spelling mistake in the map and challenges people to look for it.
Check out a PDF of the map here. I would love a huge print of this to hang on my wall. :)
Google Maps lets you view Manhattan like it was in 1609
September 3, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
I went and saw the Mannahatta Project at The Museum of the City of New York a while back and it was quite possibly one of the most boring museum exhibits I’ve ever been to. It effectively made me not want to buy the book
What I did not catch at the museum exhibit was this neat Google Maps mashup of the Mannahatta Project and the renders of what Manhattan used to look like. You can literally click on any street in Manhattan and view it’s history and see what it looked like back in 1609.
Jimmy Tarangelo lives in a van in Manhattan
August 28, 2009 @ 9:12 pm
Man In Van from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
Sean Dunne spoke and interviewed Jimmy Tarangelo who lives in a van/trailer in Manhattan and does not pay rent to anybody. A care-free life in some ways and certainly interesting to say the least, but not exactly what I would strive for.
But hey, at least now I know why that van on Thompson Street is there.
Manhattan Bridge sways with traffic
July 24, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
This time-lapse video shows the Manhattan Bridge swinging up and down as vehicular traffic and subway traffic go across it. I’ve been told that bridges are built to sway for safety reasons and that if they didn’t the bridge would crumble into the waters below in extreme weather. Neat, huh! [via]
145th Street and beyond
June 17, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
I took a day off today from job hunting to travel northbound along Riverside Park toward the George Washington Bridge. I didn’t have a specific destination, but I knew that I wanted to at least pass by the tunnel underpass that is under the 145th Street bridge. I got there and realized quickly that it wasn’t a place I wanted to venture in alone, so I continued biking until I reached this peculiar section of Riverside Park that I’ve never been to before.
I soon found myself beyond an open gate, standing amidst a pile of sand in front of me. Directly beside this sand pile were the Amtrak train tracks, which I’ve been on before, but never this far north. There was some outstanding graffiti going on in this area which naturally made me want to hop the fence. Luckily, after some snooping around, I found a hole along the fence and climbed in. In front of me was what you see in the image above.
Anyway, I explored the place and took a few photos (which I’ll post soon). But while I was there, I couldn’t help but think about how this was probably prime real estate for the homeless. It’s sheltered, there’s some sunlight, and it’s relatively quiet (Amtrak doesn’t run that often). But obviously, what do I know. It was just a nice place to be I guess. I always imagine these places to be full of stories and history.
Support this site
