Tag: urbanism

Posted on
by
Photo taken in an NYC subway station showing a temporary, blue partition build around a subway sign. "Grand" is the only lettering exposed on the sign. An empty subway platform and tile wall is in the background.
Nice carpentry, but it may have been easier to remove the sign.

We started the week with our own odyssey as we traveled back from Toronto. Our story isn’t blockbuster material, a 12+ hour journey where only about 60 minutes of it was off the ground is quite the snoozer. As a result, I’ve sworn off LaGuardia flights for a while. That little airport is way too over committed. It’s as if a butterfly flapping its wings in Detroit results in a ground stop at LGA.

The other major black mark against LaGuardia is the lack of a rail connection. It’s embarrassing that one of our major airports doesn’t have subway service or some sort of air train. The massive ride share pickup area they recently constructed could be smaller and less chaotic if there were better connectivity to the transit system at the terminal. Sure, LGA is served by two bus lines, but we can do so much better than this.

Links

Posted on
by
Photo of a yellow sign with the text "PEDESTRIANS YIELD TO TRAFFIC" in black letters against a blue sky with the skyline of Toronto waterfront buildings are in the background.
Really?

We were in Toronto this weekend. That is where I saw the bizarre sign posted here. In all my years, I’ve never seen such instructions, especially in a heavily touristic area. Based on what I witnessed, no pedestrians were yielding to anything, so perhaps it’s just a curiosity.

Don’t judge the city by a single sign though. Toronto was wonderful, made all the better by the excellent weather we had. There we still some vestiges of World Cup 2026, which made for a festive to the atmosphere. I won’t bore you with a travelogue, but I will say that if you’ve never been, check it out. If you want to be maybe just a little bit bored, you can scroll through a few more random photos after the links.

Enjoy!!!

Links

Continue reading →

Posted on
by
Screenshot of a map showing the NYC area. A 35.5 mile route is superimposed over the map with numbered markers for each mile.

The big news this week: Jonas and I walked the perimeter of Manhattan. As I write this, I’m hurting a little bit—to be expected base on first-hand accounts from others with experience. While we had sort of trial run about a year and a half ago when we walked the length of Broadway in Manhattan, I’m not sure if anything can fully prepare one for their first 35.5 mile walk.

Overall, it was a great experience, one worthy of a post of its own. Stay tuned for that, once I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts. In the meantime, here’s a screenshot of our route.

Links

Posted on
by
Photo of fireworks against the downtown Manhattan skyline.
Low res fireworks

Happy belated July 4th to those who celebrate. There was a lot going on in New York to celebrate 250 years. First, we were treated to a spectacular Parade of Tall ships and International Aerial Review, then the fireworks. Hats off to the people that went out in the heat to see these things, we opted to enjoy it all from the air conditioned comfort of our apartment.

Speaking of air conditioning, ours has been cranking for days, which is unusual for us. We’re not the only ones. ConEd reduced voltage in large swaths of Brooklyn on Friday. I was curious as to how much, so I broke out the multi-meter: It was around 115 volts in our apartment. Without measuring, we wouldn’t have noticed, but some of our neighbors’ air conditioners weren’t performing well in those conditions.

Earlier in the week, I was invited to the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Sheepshead Bay. Mechanical trouble forced us to go back to the mooring just seconds after we cast off—better there than in the channel. This prevented full participation in the blessing, but we were able to enjoy some time on the boat and a taste of rum punch.

Links

Posted on
by

The Big Green Egg that departed last week was in exchange for a beautiful dining table and a set of Bose 901 speakers, both vintage and both looking sharp. This weekend, I acquired the necessary cabling and hooked up the EQ for the speakers—they sound amazing. We’re looking forward to many delicious meals at that table while listening to the smooth sound emanating from those 901s. Thanks, Carl!

Links