A countdown clock at the Bergen St station, Brooklyn.
During my year-in-New-York, one thing the MTA began doing in earnest was to install countdown clocks, which are a really nice feature to let passengers know what trains are on their way and how long before they arrive. But Bergen St also has a little more sentimental value for me because I believe it may be the first New York subway station I ever entered, back in July, 2001 when I visited relatives in Park Slope. My first day in Brooklyn, I got layed off via mobile phone. That same week I trekked up to the World Trade Center towers and figured I’d save my $25 and visit the top next time. New York is always changing, and these countodown clocks help give folks a better glimpse of what may be ahead.
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A 6 train pulls through the loop at the abandoned City Hall subway station.
Back in May I joined a New York Transit Museum tour of the abandoned City Hall station. This was the original Southern terminus of the Lexington Ave line, built on the loop underneath City Hall where trains would turn around and head back North. It was abandoned before long for several reasons, including the proximity of the Express station built at nearby Chambers St when the system was expanded, and also because when the trains moved to having middle doors, the gap on the curved platform became all the more dangerous. Lastly, it is impossible to lengthen this curving station to accommodate the longer trains run on the contemporary New York subway.
There was a plan to move the New York Transit Museum here, but folks became skittish of opening a subway museum beneath City Hall after 9/11.
You can get a quick glimpse of the station by hopping on a southbound Lexington local train at Chambers St. Our tour began at Chambers St, where we boarded the front car of a train ready to enter the loop and were dropped off by MTA staff at the station to take pictures. It was a bit dark for my camera, it is more compelling as a legend than it is in person.
Update: A very similar photo take in 1903.
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We all gotta eat!
New York City is full of hustlers. Some prey on tourists. Here, a tree-dwelling Manhattanite offers two backpacker girls some novel photographs and an adorable memory, in exchange for cookies. Of course, a shrewd Brooklynite like myself is not above taking quick advantage of the situation for his own cute photograph, but then the squirrels and I have an understanding.
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Back in Brooklyn, Maxwell was ready to brawl. He has mellowed some in California.
A color-enhanced Maxwell from May, done in the style of the earlier photo of Maggie.
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Stuyvesant Town, as viewed from the Brooklyn Bridge.
A photo I took from the Brooklyn Bridge last May. I cropped in on these buildings, did a color enhance and then “sharpen” to help bring out the feeling of the masonry.
Thanks, Jenny, for identifying these buildings as belonging to Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village.
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Climate Best by Government Test
I have always been pleased by the delicious absurdity that some dull San Mateo suburb saw fit to immortalize a government report saying that, if nothing else, the weather in Redwood City is close to perfect.
I shot this out the window of Caltrain on a rainy day.
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Books of dubious value.
Technical professionals have long known to go for “the animal books” from O’Reilly Publishing.
At first I’m like “why do we need a book for Face . . . ooooohhhhh right, Apps!” I like that blogging is a bunch of cute-looking wild cats stumbling over each other, and somebody wrote a book on Skype because hey these things are better in threes, right?
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A tree blossoms at the light rail station.
This photo was taken on a beautiful day earlier this week. It has since begun raining again.
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For Valentine's Day, Mei baked me an apple pie.
I made pork chops, Mei baked an apple pie. A nice pairing.
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A large mandala in the sand at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
Castles made of sand.
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Some firefighters look over their truck on a sunny Saturday.
We had some errands to run in the city this weekend. I also spent a little time hunting the 38-Geary buses to photograph their destination signs.
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My Alarm Clock
Maggie runs the house. She declares when it is breakfast time, time to go outside, and time to eat dinner.
I named her Maggie for the Simpsons character who is small and doesn’t speak. Usually she has an adorable silent meow. But when she is excited to receive her meal, she does an impressive monkey imitation.
I did another of her feline companion, Maxwell.
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