What’s happening at the Windmere at 57th St?
The building at 9th Avenue and 57th St.
Pretty much as long as I can remember, the huge apartment building on the corner of 9th Avenue and 57th St has stood abandoned and in severe neglect. That building, seen above in a recent photo, is the Windmere, an early apartment-style building complex built in 1880. The building has landmark status with historical significance in the late 19th century for housing young women and female artists at a time when housing for single women was not common.
The Windmere has quite a storied past with tenants fighting each other, cats overtaking the place, and the Ninth Avenue elevated train tracks crossing right on front of the building.
Today, the building remains closed and work on its renovation has been slow-going but consistent. Maybe one day in my lifetime this building will be open and available for rent again.
Inside the car theft capital of America
A whole industry in Bakersfield, CA.
I know Bakersfield as the oil fields of California, but apparently it’s also known as the car theft capital of America. Tommy G rides along with some of these very sophisticated and high-tech theft rings to get a close-up look at how these cars are stolen, scrapped, and taken for joyrides at certain takeover scenes.
Black NYC Subway guard rails
The guard rails placed inside NYC Subways now have a black variant.
Here are some photos of the black NYC subway guard rails that have been slowly installed across select stations in the NYC Subway system. When they were first installed, most of the guard rails were bright yellow in color but these black ones seem to blend into the grit a little better.
A giant pigeon overlooks 10th Avenue
The High Line introduces a large pigeon sculpture.
Perched above 10th Avenue at around 30th St on The High Line spur is an incredible sculpture titled Dinosaur made by Iván Argote. The giant pigeon measures 21 feet in height and places the iconic NYC bird as master over its human counterparts. Up close, the bird’s details are even more striking, with its signature red feet and talons nearly digging into its concrete podium.
The best view is right up next to it, but pull a bit farther back along the Moynihan Connector bridge or even south on 10th Avenue and you’ll really see the bird in its element. Go check it out until Spring 2026!
Two Omnium Cargo Bikes Meet in NYC
When two Omnium’s meet on the street…
Omnium Cargo Bikes aren’t necessarily rare in NYC but I rarely see them parked like this. So when I saw this full-sized Omnium cargo bike parked on Madison Avenue I knew I had to take the opportunity to get a duo shot. My Mini Max is on the right.
What happened to the Brooklyn Banks?
A tour of the old Brooklyn Banks in Manhattan.
Check out this video tour of the current state of the former Brooklyn Banks. Today, this historic skate spot is renamed as Gotham Park after a lengthy abandonment and an even lengthier renovation. It is still under construction at some parts, but Gotham Park is open to the public and it includes many of the same iconic skate ramps and rails as well as nice new places to play basketball and other recreational activities.
Video of the mass damper at 432 Park Avenue in action
This is the device that keeps a building from swaying wildly during high winds.
This is pretty neat and I don’t think most people ever get to see anything like this. Here’s the building damper at 432 Park Avenue in NYC at work. This residential tower in Manhattan is currently the 3rd-tallest residential building in the world and 5th tallest building in NYC. The building has had some negative press lately due to shoddy construction and despite its luxury labeling seems to not be so luxury in comparison to its counterparts around the city.
If you don’t know, a mass damper is the weighted device that works similar to a pendulum and keeps a building from swaying wildly during high winds.
Exploring the abandoned VITAS Healthcare building in Downtown Miami
The only video I’ve seen of the abandoned inside of the VITAS Healthcare building.
I really wish I had more time to see this place before I left Miami recently. It’s in the process of being completely demolished and this video from just a few months back looks to be the last time it will be seen on video all graffiti’d up.
