This year seemed like my most sheltered, uncreative year yet…even so, according to Flickr’s count, 3/4 of the 3,000+ photos I’ve uploaded in total took place in 2011. I guess when so much just happens next to me (basically, OccupyWallStreet camping out a few blocks away) it’s hard not to snap a few pics. I almost broke the million views mark (for the two years that I’ve been on Flickr) and one of my photos finally made it on someone’s dining room wall, so not too bad a year no matter what it felt.

Here’s a few of the photos; visit Eye Heart New York for the rest:

See the rest at Eye Heart New York

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It was surprisingly empty but at around 630ish, people with serious camera gear were staking their claim. So I went to the top deck and picked a spot to lay my camera on and listened to a few episodes of “This American Life” (waiting a few hours for ANYTHING is nothing compared to waiting 6 hours in the cold during my once-and-never-again New Years Eve in Times Square experience).

As the pics and video below should show, the sunset was far more beautiful than the fireworks, which were diminished by the Hudson River’s distance from the Rock, vertically and westwardly. You couldn’t hear any of the music. But one cool benefit to being above the city is that you get to see what seem to be the dozens of fireworks shows across New Jersey and Brooklyn, puny as they are in comparison.

My sloppy video:

I wouldn’t go again, the fireworks just seem too distant and beneath you, literally, to be as enjoyable at ground level. Still, I didn’t regret finally getting to see a sunset over New York from a skyscraper.

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Walked by the midtown Apple Store last night (July 1, 2011) and it was undergoing renovations. Even the stores get the white box treatment, apparently.

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Usually it’s pretty easy to get to your train at Grand Central, unless someone decides to hold a fashion event in the main terminal. I was lucky enough to have been in the front when this fashion event’s organizers started making room for the 150+ dancers, I put a bunch of photos in this Flickr set.

The New York Times wrote about how difficult it was to put together a show in a landmark like Grand Central post-9/11:

“The city was very specific about not mentioning flash mob,” Mr. Coppers said. Still, a flash mob is what it looked like at 7:25 to the unsuspecting travelers scanning the announcement board for their track numbers and reading about ice conditions on the Hudson shutting down the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry.

They suddenly found themselves infiltrated by a large and highly coordinated group of what appeared to be chic aliens, appearing out of nowhere to take over the terminal. There were 363 of them, 163 wearing goggles and vividly colored ski clothes and another 200 hired to pass as ordinary travelers.

At a signal from Etienne Russo, the Belgian mastermind of the Moncler Grenoble event (and the man who once had a Swedish iceberg cut into pieces and shipped to the Grand Palais in Paris for a Chanel show), the extras began clearing the concourse for what was surely the most ambitious and spectacular event of Fashion Week and the only one impossible to transplant to any other place.

“For months I thought it was not doable, but I was obsessed,” Mr. Russo had said. Six hours before the show began, he was pacing around a rehearsal studio in a warehouse set by the East River in the outer reaches of Brooklyn, as the choreographer Luam put her dancers — some trained but many not — through their paces.

“We wanted to do something in Times Square, but because of what happened, that’s impossible,” Mr. Russo added, referring to the attempted car bombing. “But as soon as we came to Grand Central, I said it has to be here.”

Some video:

More photos in this Flickr set.

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The R train arrives at a snowed in 8th Street Station – New York Blizzard Snowstorm Blargfest, originally uploaded by Dan Nguyen NY.

I love that mass-transit-dependent New Yorkers won’t hesitate to help push a car out of the snow. It’s so strange to walk through the otherwise traffic-clogged streets that pushing a car through Astor Place is actually a treat.

I wish I had booties, like my friend’s dog:

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During last night’s blizzard, there was an attempt at a mass snowball fight like last year’s. People spent more time pelting vehicles than each other, since they had to fight across a street, and It petered out after a few minutes.

I think the main difference between this year and last was that last year, the TKTS plaza area was open, providing a much bigger common space to goof around in. That area has been closed to prepare for New Year Eve’s festivities.

Also, the weather was much blustier this year…there was lightning and thunder, not that you could really notice the former in Times Square. See my pics of last year’s snowball fight here.

The Father Duffy Square, where the TKTS stand is, was closed off:

Last year was more of a big snow flurry. Last night was definitely a blizzard.

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Snowpocalypse all over again. See my set of snowed-in New York City here.

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Caught the tail end of the protest against the proposed Cordoba House and mosque near Ground Zero. Some interesting signs.

Apparently, the amount of stars and stripes patternage is important to your message. This amount of flagginess is hard to argue against.

Yet, Kid Rock makes a good point here:

The top part of the right-sign says “What would Jesus Do?” Lose in a knife fight against Mohammed, apparently? That’s heresy in some circles.

You can tell this lady is old-fashioned by the way she added two spaces after the sentence-ending period. That’s indicative of the typewriter era and monospace fonts. Modern word processors automatically add the correct spacing.

It’s hard to see here, but the woman’s sign says “Cordoba = Conquer” and “NOT HERE!!”. Maybe her message would be more effective she put more effort and production into it than a Crayola marker. The pro-Cordoba (pro-conquest, apparently) used photos and colors to point out that “Islam has been in New York for 400 years”.

If this woman’s posterior were wider, her message (I think it said, “Religion of Peace My ASS”) would be readable. But it still works in a practical sense, as a label of which side of her body is facing you. Efficient!

The post Signs from WTC Ground Zero Protest of Park51/Cordoba Center/Mosque, Sept. 11, 2010 appeared first on danwin.com.

From the “Business and Pleasure” mixer for the news geeks group, Hacks/Hackers on the Gawker Media rooftop in Nolita. There was an open bar, but yet the dance floor was empty, which I’m sure was entirely unrelated to the infrequency of Lady GaGa selections by the DJ.

The Tribute in Light, as seen from the Gawker roof:

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Hey, I found Bequet Caramels in New York City!

Do you want to know where to buy Béquet Caramels, hand-made caramels from Montana, in New York/Manhattan? Well if you tried Googling it, you would’ve been very hard-pressed to find a useful result. Luckily, I did find this blog entry from Chelsea Market Baskets which talked about them (they’re sold for $18 a pound, or 50 cents apiece). Why the big deal? My roommate thinks they’re the best caramels ever and it was her birthday, and I spent the better part of my free time trying to find the damn things. Hopefully, the next New Yorker to Google the location will have an easier time. Or maybe Bequet will, in the section of their website where they brag about being sold at 650 stores, will put a damn list of said locations.

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