Tag Archives: new york city

  

Pilots marching on Wall Street

I had a brief moment of Internet popularity when this photo of United and Continental pilots protesting near the Stock Exchange pulled in nearly 150,000 views in a day, thanks to Reddit users’ upvotes:

United/Continental pilots march on Wall Street

Of all the protest photos I took that day (this was a 15-minute break in the work day, since it took place a block away from my office), this was the least interesting to me. The pilots were arranged for a photo-op, so this is a photo of a photo-op. But I submitted it to Reddit because it was the most straightforward; yes, it’s a protest on Wall Street, but one with specific grievances against a specific corporation and not one that necessarily endorses the ongoing #occupywallst protest.

Still, the appetite for protest is big and these meticulously dressed pilots holding a picket make for a striking image. And a good number of them probably sympathize with the anti-Wall Street sentiment of the Zuccotti Park campers.

My personal favorite image from the bunch is this one, even with its weak composition, just because it was such a funny coincidence for someone who had a particular resemblance to a certain Golden Age actress to be walking down Broadway at the same time as a stream of pilots dressed in the same elegance as that period:
Woman in white, pilots

I also like this one, because of the rhythm of the pilots’ uniforms and hats, contrasted with some guy just trying to get down Broad street:

Pilots walk down Broad Street, near Stock Exchange

The Daily Dot wrote about the photo’s popularity here.

  

New York Fireworks, Fourth of July, from the Top of the Rockefeller Center (with video, too)

I didn’t feel like grilling on the 4th since I leave on a long vacation the next morning, so I thought I’d stop by the Rockefeller Center to see if it was at all crowded for fireworks (I paid for a $75 membership so stopping by is free for me. Also, I have no friends with prime west side viewing decks). I got there ridiculously early, about 5pm, but it was so beautiful that I just sat on a bench and read, and even did a little laptop work (there’s now free wifi there).

Crazy blue skies above Rockefeller Center, July 4th

Crazy blue skies above Rockefeller Center, July 4th

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.

The crowd at the Rockefeller Center, Fourth of July

Sunset over New York before the Fireworks on 4th of July

Sunset before New York's 4th of July

Fireworks in NYC. Red, white...ok, mostly red...

Manhattan skyline, all hazy after 4th of July Fireworks

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.

  

Snowball fight in Times Square, Snowpocalpyse-Thundersnow 2010

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:

George M. Cohan statue, Times Square - New York Blizzard Snowstorm Blargfest

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

Trekking Times Square - New York Blizzard Snowstorm Blargfest

PIX newscast - New York Blizzard Snowstorm Blargfest

Jumping for joy in Times Square - New York Blizzard Snowstorm Blargfest

  

Hacks/Hackers Meetup on Gawker Rooftop, Sept. 8, 2010

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:

Hacks/Hackers Meetup on Gawker Rooftop, Sept. 8, 2010
  

NYC Resident Discovers What Shopping in a Safeway/Key Foods/Walmart Supercenter is like for Asian/Hispanic-Americans

NYC Resident Discovers What Shopping in a Safeway/Key Foods/Walmart Supercenter is like for Asian/Hispanic-Americans

From the Onion WSJ’s New York edition, “Changes in Flushing Set Off Food Fight”, a group of people feel disenfranchised by a lack of Lean Cuisine:

The recent closure of a Key Food in Flushing was the last straw for many longtime residents, who say they feel ignored and isolated. Now, they are asking the new Asian market in the area to cater to them, too.
…
Some non-Asian residents mourn the neighborhood’s transformation, saying it feels like a foreign country. They say the Key Food, which closed in late May, was among the last grocery stores where they could buy Lean Cuisine and deli meats.

“Most of the supermarkets in the area are Asian markets and all they have is just one single aisle of food for us,” said Rosa Febles, 50 years old, who has lived in Flushing for four decades. “We feel a little left out.”

h/t @mariancw

  

Rush Limbaugh Sells Fifth Ave. Apartment for $6.5M profit and WSJ readers rail against the elitist snobbery of it all

Where Rush Limbaugh used to lay his weary head, after fighting for the average, struggling American

Where Rush Limbaugh used to lay his weary head, after fighting for the average, struggling American

…by that, I mean of course, they rip on those damn elitist, pot-smoking, sodomy-loving liberals, including first-year unionized teachers and comparative literature grad students “working” as community organizers, who must all have multi-million dollar Upper West Side apartments of their own, which they bought by ruthlessly taxing hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people like Rush.

From the Wall Street Journal, (Limbaugh Gets Mega Millions on Condo Sale) my highlights added:

In all seriousness, though, it never made sense why he would keep such a luxury suite in a city he only spends 15 days a year in. New York City is the gilded embodiment of the left-wing gun-hating, anti-God mindset that Rush and his listeners hate, how could he in good conscience continue to supply this anti-capitalist city’s coffers with his riches? I have a good friend who hated the idea of tax revenue from gainful employment being used to fund wars, so he chose living at home to take care of his parents and grandparents; can’t Rush at least find a low-tax, conservative mecca that meets his luxurious cultural (but, of course, totally American and patriotic and old-fashioned moral) tastes?

Personally, I don’t have a problem with Rush living high-on-the-hog with the money he made off of his listeners…it’s just kind of an odd way to show those liberals how an honest man lives. Also, if his fans had heard a story about Al Gore owning a gold-leaf ceiling apartment that he lived in only 15 days of the year, I doubt they’d congratulate him for all the money he made off his global warming slideshow.