Union Square
Our tour guide told us that there's a farmer's market here on the weekends. They are also building a Trader Joe's. On September 18th, there's a bike marathon going up and down Manhattan and Harlem. Maybe we'll see Ex-President Bill.
places Archives
August 29, 2005
Our tour guide told us that there's a farmer's market here on the weekends. They are also building a Trader Joe's. On September 18th, there's a bike marathon going up and down Manhattan and Harlem. Maybe we'll see Ex-President Bill.
First Impressions of New York
After a bumpy and overbooked airline flight, I finally made it to New York. I just absolutely love it so far, despite the humid weather. There is so much ENERGY in this city. When I discovered that I lived in Greenwich Village, I was excited. I took a tour around Greenwich Village, Union Square, Washington Square, The Avenue of America, 5th Avenue, and Alphabet City.
I'm learning to be a NEW YORKER by learning to jaywalk. I feel accomplished when I can cross the street without getting hit by a cab (this afternoon, a cab almost hit me). Now, I just have to jaywalk with finese.
So far my first impressions follow the cliche, "I LOVE NY!"
September 3, 2005
Trinity Church and the Sycamore Tree
This church is located in the Financial District of New York. It is a couple of blocks away from Wall Street. Some very famous people have been buried here, Robert Fulton (the inventor of the Steamboat) and Alexander Hamilton. Also, the tourguide mentioned that historians could learn medical statistics in a graveyard. In the 19th Century, most of the women were buried after childbirth, many people died of cholera, and the median ages of men and women who died.
Also, after the World Trade Center attacks, a pool debris (7 to 8 inches) covered the graveyard. They had to call professionals to vaccuum this debris. The infamous sycamore tree that used to be planted in the graveyard at St. Paul's Chapel is on exhibit at Trinity. St. Paul's Chapel is located across the World Trade Center, and this sycamore tree saved the chapel from destruction when the Twin Towers fell. The scraps were taken to an artist, who in turn created a sculpture of the tree. The trunk exhibited at Trinity will go back to its resting place sometime next week.
More on St. Paul's Chapel later...
George Washington and his BLING!
September 4, 2005
1933 Double Eagle Twenty Dollar Gold Coin
I went to the Federal Reserve Bank because I lost my tour group and thought they would be there. They weren't. Luckily, I was able to see a gold coin exhibit. They wouldn't let me take photos in side, and they wouldn't let me take photos outside, but I did anyway (of the outside). York and Sawyer, architects of the Federal Reserve Bank, modeled the bank after the Florentine palaces in Italy (limestone and iron).
Apparently, I read FDR stopped the press on the 1933 Double Eagle Twenty Dollar Gold Coin because he didn't want Americans to depend heavily on gold. So he did, but I think one or two was produced. It disappeared, but was found in the King of Egypts coin collection. He was subpeonaed, and it was back in the American Government's hands. Again, it disappeared for decades until 1996. Somebody found it in a jeweler's shop in New York. He told the Feds that Egyptian King sold it to him. Then the American Government gave it to Sotheby's, and it was auctioned at $7.6 million dollars. I wish I owned that coin. Anyway, it is on exhibit in the basement of the Federal Reserve Bank. There are also rare, beautiful coins from Italy, Greece, and China. The subtlety of design in the coins, bills, and bank notes is displayed graphically and typographically. They even show the process of manufacturing the coins and explain the problems (i.e. counterfeit) in a video. It is definitely worth seeing. I plan to go back and see the other tour. The guard told me the coin, bill, and bank note collection is worth approximately $50 million dollars. The vaults hold approximately $300 billion of gold.
St. Paul's Chapel
St. Paul's Chapel sits across the street from Ground Zero. There was a sycamore tree that protected the chapel from the 9/11 attacks. That tree is in Trinity Church, but is scheduled to be transfered here. George Washington used to sit in that chair.
Shopping in Chelsea
There was a cool store called "West Elm." It's reasonably priced. I have never seen one in Los Angeles. Later, I found out that William Sonoma owns it. Anyway, it's a cool store. I like this one lamp. They should open one in L.A.
Across the street from "West Elm" is "Angel Street Thrift Store." I walked in and found a cool book about Alfred Hitchcock for $3.00, but didn't have cash on me (and I would feel stupid charging $3.00 to my credit card). Anyway, I went back, and it was GONE. Anyway, it's a cool store. There are vintage designer pieces, ranging $25, $70 and $90. There were some lamps that I liked, but they were $400. At least the money goes to a good cause, substance abuse and mental health.
Both are on 17th Street.
East Village and SOHO
I strolled down East Village and SOHO, specifically Mulberry Street, and came across a designer sample sale. I met some NYU Alumni from the Stern School, and they are opening a store, "Pinky Otto," on 9th and 2nd Avenue, 307 E. 9th Street. I got this elephant keychain. They sell one of a kind sweaters, skirts. One of the owner is a designer who graduated from Pratt.
Further down Mulberry Street is Little Italy. There going to have a big festival next weekend I'm told. Anyway, here are some photos.
If I were a Location Scout...
If I were a Location Scout looking for a place to shoot a "coming of age" film, I would do it here. It even looks the studios could shoot "Madeleine" here. Doesn't it look a bit French?
This is a church I keep passing by on 6th
Believe it or Not...
That's the Empire State Building, in Red, White & Blue, taken from Greenwich Village. I tried not moving the camera, but it looks like my camera takes drugs.
Protest at Union Square
These photos are dedicated to my political activist friend Gregory Lowe. He gave me an NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) bag that promotes saving whales. Anyway, I think he would really fit here in New York. Supposedly there's a protest at Union Square every weekend.
September 5, 2005
CBGB's
CBGB's = Country, Bluegrass, and Blues
This club is located between Greenwich Village and Alphabet City (on Bowery). It was founded in 1973. In the 70's, it was a venue for country music, but in the mid-70's, punk rock took over. Some infamous bands that played here are Blondie, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, and The Ramones. Anyway, they are recently being evicted and there's even a website trying to save it. Here's the link...
http://www.savecbgb.org/
Alphabet City is in the East Village
Cooper Union is an academic institution as well as an exhibition space. They use the money from their exhibits to subsidize their students' education. All students who attend Cooper Union have a FULL SCHOLARSHIP, so you could imagine how competitive that school must be. They offer only three degrees: Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Engineering. For more information, log onto: http://www.cooper.edu/. They also have a library, which I have yet to visit. I heard there permanent design collection is extraordinary.
I guess this would be self-explanatory, but the reason why this section is called "Alphabet City" is because most of the streets are one-letter streets (e.g. A Street). St. Mark's Street is a cool street. They have unique shops and restaurants. They have a wood store, but not like Home Depot sells lumber, it's very high-end.
I heard the "2nd Ave Deli" is good. The type they used in their signage looks Hebrew. . .pretty cool.
September 10, 2005
Semi-Permanent Conference
This is a pretty cool conference, and worth every penny. Unfortunately, I was barred from taking any photos, but check out their site, if you're interested in design. The conference encompassed Print, Fashion, Computational, Architectural, Illustration, Graffiti art/design and more. It was held at the Lincoln Center.
Here's there link:
http://www.semipermanent.com/newyork
September 12, 2005
September 11, 2005
Twin Towers Light Memorial
October 22, 2005
Red Doors - This is for Justin Cram
Justin Cram got me into red doors. So here it is...the most intriguing red door. Why on a church? Is it a church? Why that intensity (color) and tone? Curious, but it caught my attention.
Louis Vuitton Store - For my Mom
Ever since we went to France, and purchased purses, we've gone into every Louis Vuitton Space, not to mention there web site. Well, here's the one on 5th Avenue. Architecturally original in the sense that there seems to be a glass mask over the over the traditional-Manhattan building. In any case, I believe it fuses the classic and the contemporary seamlessly (Grad School does this to you). And "no" I didn't go shopping, this was an assignment for my Applications class.
BLING!
Trump Tower:
Gold Bars
The Apprentice Game
Trump Business Card Holders
How much bling is too much BLING?
LOVE Stamp
I always loved this graphic!
Meat Packing District is the Upcoming Chelsea
I went to a cool restaurant, emulating a generic French cafe, called "Pastis." Busy, busy, busy, but worth the wait.
Lost Bird in a Jewelry Store
Cute bird...and it's real. No joke.
January 24, 2006
Steinway Hall New York
Contemporary musicians...
We had lunch at the "Burger Joint" located in Le Parker Meridian on 56th Street, and walked to this gallery on 57th. Pretty Cool.
FAO Schwartz
I love this store. We peeked in because of my toy design class.
The Most Popular Toy of 2005
Brilliant, tough to master though.
The Wave... We spent about 45 minutes trying to ride this gracefully. I burned a lot of calories in just 5 minutes.
January 29, 2006
Soul Food and Sunday Gospel Brunch at the Cotton Club in Harlem
March 13, 2006
152nd Street + Frederick Douglas Blvd.
Real Soul Food
Taken at Charles Southern Style Kitchen. This place is a bargain. It's a buffet and they serve a desert and a choice of iced tea or lemonade (the best I ever had, not too sweet).
April 3, 2006
Adicolor: Guerilla Campaign
I went to this Adidas exhibit, which was to give me the "ultimate" experience of making me feel like I'm one with the "in" crowd. When I first arrived to the address 267 Canal Street, I walked into 2 stores, and asked about the Adidas exhibit. This Chinese man, who couldn't speak English told me to follow him, so I did. He walked through the store to the back, and crossed the street and into another entrance to a basement. I started to feel that this wasn't legit, and was wondering if this was a place where they sold fake Adidas. But then, at the end of the hallway, I saw this colorful videotracking projection and a ultra-contemporary sculpture that had Adidas stamped all over it. The experience was pretty effective in making me feel pretty "cool" that I knew about this event, and "special" that I was part of this covert operation. The tennis shoe line emulate printmaking business model, where some shoes are limited edition, and the same went for the athletic jackets. There were some commercial to underground grafitti artists tagging shoes, and popular artists like "Fafi, a French grafitti lady artist. "Fever 1," a dancer, hired for this 2-week event, pitched a great story/sale.
Brooklyn Barge
The Brooklyn Barge holds classical music concerts.
April 13, 2006
World Financial Center at Sunset
October 29, 2006
6th Avenue and 10th Street, October 20, 2006
What's going on here? I tried to track this story in the news and couldn't find it. It looked like a fire, but I didn't see any smoke.
November 1, 2006
New York City does Halloween well (Part I)...
The famous Trinity Church in the financial district had put these pumpkins on their grave site. Famous people buried here are Alexander Hamilton (on your $20 bill) and Robert Fulton, who designed the "first commercial steamboat (there's a street named after him)."
Anyway, this got me thinking... of combining Knott's Scary Farm with cemetaries. What if the Arlington National Cemetary had a haunted tour? I would be the first to admit my fear, but I would still participate for the experience.
Here's that cheesy laugh in text:
BWaHa-HA-Ha-hA
I stand corrected with the Alexander Hamilton fact. My friend, Ben Wilkes, emailed me the corrected information: "Hamilton was never President. Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Secretary of the Treasury (I knew those). Wikipedia remind us he was lead author of the Federalist Papers, too.
Thanks, Ben.
New York City does Halloween well (Part II)...
Okay, went to a real parade with floats... On the way there, I saw some costumes that didn't make it to my list, but I'm going to give them some credit. Here goes:
The one in Los Angeles is equally fun, but this one has parades. Los Angeles' Halloween parade is structured more like a 2-mile street fair.
How many Freddy type monster masks have I seen? At least his eyes light up.
I'm not quite sure what these costumes are suppose to be, but I give them credit for having the courage to wear them.
At first, I wanted to take this photo because of the absurdity of a cow drinking Jamaican beer, but then his "udder" friend stepped in.
Ceci n'est pas un costume de nuit des sorcières...
This is not a Halloween costume...
He is the "moustache man" that works at the Java Lava Cafe. If you're tired of Starbucks, mosey to Waverly and Mercer Streets (293 Mercer), which is behind the Tisch building. Cheap coffee with NYU discounts.
Important Update for OJ lovers:
A small carton of Tropicana orange juice costs $2.00 at All About Food, but it costs only $1.25...go figure
November 15, 2006
The New York Times Building
I was passing by the Center for Architecture when I decided to pop in. There were three exhibits: New York Times building, WTC, and student's work, which I will cover in later blog posts. I really appreciate the process of designing a building, especially when it's a collaborative effort. I think about the chief architect's role and also all of the team members regard to discipline, and attention to detail.
Here's one page of hundreds in a book the size of half a coffee table:
This series of photos are of four models. I am not sure what the scale for this model is, but keep in mind, all of these were constructed in scale (e.g. ¼ = 1 foot).
The building with the city:
Just the building:
The entrance:
Close up of the same entrance:
Floor view:
November 27, 2006
A Second Read
This is for my friend Ronald Valenzuela, who I have known since the early part of this decade. He wrote one of my letters of recommendations and is a mentor of mine. Anyway, I sent him a card with a drawing, which is suppose to match this photograph, a cross the street from Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, facing Manhattan. I was eating a "pie" for him. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Ronald! Maybe I'll publish the drawing later.
November 29, 2006
Coffee Ground Recycled
I thought this was an innovative way to recycle coffee grounds. In this image, it is used as soil, and the plant structure is a pineapple top. I heard from the "Moustache Man," Austin (Java Lava) that the reason why it could be used is because of the acidity. Very interesting...
December 2, 2006
Junior's Cheesecake
Now this cheesecake is better than any I have ever had so far. I like it better than the Cheesecake Factory. I had two slices of it, and it was still a little bit frozen, which tasted kind of like ice cream cake. I wonder if the starters for ice cream cake had the same experience.
They've been around for 50 years. I think they have one at Penn Station.
December 6, 2006
Care Package Story
So my mom sent me a care package, which saids "Mommy loves you more than anything else." I bro