MetaFilter posts tagged with NYC

Next stop... your bedroom.

adamms222 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:02:40 -0800

Underground Signs is a company in Brooklyn creating customized NYC subway signs. Other products have horned in on the distinctive look of the MTA's designs, including the map, the train line logos, and the neighborhoods serviced. But this is the first I've seen of the option to create a replica from the NYC underground with one's own name, street, etc. (the site allows you to generate a"Create Your Own" image). Notwithstanding questionable trademark issues that may arise with NYC's transit authority (others have tussled with the MTA over similar matters), this looks like a great idea for transit enthusiasts and others looking to bring a little of the Big Apple into their own home.

Your Guide To Living Out The Don Draper Dream

netbros — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:40:04 -0800

One of the best parts of watching Mad Men is the perfectly recreated world of 1960s New York. Who doesn’t wish they could simply step into their tvs for a moment and experience the romance of sipping a cocktail in an elegant 60s bar? Guest of a Guest put together a list of Mad Men inspired locales, consisting of places that have been around since the 1960s as well as their modern counterparts. Here’s everything you need to know to dress, drink, eat, and live like a character out of Mad Men.

"Post-recession Meccas for the young"

Marnie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:29:27 -0800

The Next Youth Magnet Cities, even with double digit unemployment.

More Web Magazines

netbros — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:35:28 -0800

The New York Review of Ideas is a web magazine reporting about New York commerce, literature and politics. The Manzine is actually £2 for the print version, but some of the its best is also online.

Park(ing) Day NYC

cristinacristinacristina — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:08:10 -0800

Park(ing) Day NYC is a one day event of taking over automobile parking spots throughout NYC and converting them into miniature parks, bicycle parking, art installations and performance areas. "These small, temporary public spaces provide a breath of relief from the auto-clogged reality of New York City, and aim to spark dialogue about our valuable public space and how we choose to use it." Plan your day with this map of Park(ing) locations and schedule of events.

30 Mosques In 30 Days

gman — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:38:55 -0800

30 Mosques in 30 Days. Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq's Ramadan journey through NYC's Muslim Community.

He was a friend of mine

escabeche — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:43:04 -0800

Jim Carroll has died. Avant-garde writer, punk rocker, doped-up downtown scenester, never-made-it schoolyard hoop-dreamer. He couldn't have expected to live to see a master's thesis in English at San Diego State written about his journal/novel The Basketball Diaries, or to be interviewed by Jon Stewart about being played by Leo DiCaprio in the movie of his (early) life. Jim Carroll interviewed in Cleveland in 1991, hiding behind a big hat, a big cup of coffee, and a big accent. Obligatory (but follow it if you haven't heard it!) "People Who Died" link. catholicboy.com, as thorough a collection of Carrolliana as you're going to find.

What we're gonna do right here is go back...

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:39:36 -0800

Join a young Jools Holland and Leslie Ash for a night out in NYC in the early 80's. Clubs visited include Danceteria, The Roxy (with Bambaata spinning) and Paradise Garage. Acts featured include Quando Quango, New Order and the Peech Boys. (SLYT)

One in 8 Million

ocherdraco — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:06:52 -0800

One in 8 Million "New York is a city of characters. On the subway and in its streets, from the intensity of Midtown to the intimacy of neighborhood blocks, is a 305-square-mile parade of people with something to say. This is a collection of a few of their passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions. A new story will be added weekly." A photo and audio series from the New York Times. A few of the stories:

You were lookin' in the mirror and you wish you had some pot?

rottytooth — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:52:51 -0800

Potbellies: the fashion must-have hipster accoutrement for the summer, according to the NYTimes. Rebuttal from Flavorwire. via reddit

"A mental and visual release for New Yorkers, who may find it exhausting to live in the most identifiable city in the world."

ocherdraco — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:49:06 -0800

The Last Parcels of Nowhere Remaining in Manhattan. Photographs.

For the scope of the project, "nowhere" is defined as a place that has been neglected, and from this neglect has achieved the status of an organic non-place; a perfect combination of the built and natural. From these places, one cannot say, "I am in a park" or "I am in the city" because neither appears to be true.

The Shadowy back alleys of Brooklyn

mattbucher — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:08:36 -0800

The Unnamed Streets of Crown Heights. Another scintillating journey through NYC's back alleys with the movie scout from Scouting NY.

The Misspelled Signs of New York City

milquetoast — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:29:15 -0800

"Even though my glory years of competitive spelling are long past, some things stay with a person. As I explore, I can't help but notice signs which contain spelling errors. I capture them for posterity with my handy digital camera and present them here for our collective education and entertainment." Thirty-two pages of misspelled signs in the New York metropolitan area -- each one lovingly annotated.

Realness

nosila — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:00:44 -0800

Dorian Corey was the articulate elder stateswoman of the New York City ball scene featured in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning. When she died in 1993, police found the body of a murdered man 15 years mummified in her apartment. In December 2008, a message popped up in a thread from 2007 at the Motherboards, a forum dedicated to NYC nightlife and alternative lifestyles. It was posted by a man claiming to be the off-duty police officer who found the body in Corey's apartment after she died. He says he wants to set the record straight, though according to most sources I can find (including the Cunningham article linked below), Corey did that herself with a note that said that the man broke into her apartment and she was forced to murder him. Unfortunately, what is likely the most definitive article on the debacle appears to be unavailable online. Vogueing, brought to the surface of culture by Madonna, originated in the ball culture. Though Dorian herself was of the older Vegas showgirl-inspired feathers and sequins school (so she says in Paris is Burning), she too could vogue with the best of them. According to the Village Voice, Paris was still burning circa 2001: In reality, Madonna's video and Livingston's film were station stops on a cultural continuum, affectionate but voyeuristic peeks into a tradition dating back to the 19th century and going strong into the 21st. Even 16 years after the documentary Paris Is Burning shed light on New York City's gay underground house ball scene, misconceptions linger about the scene's past, present and future. (from 2007) The Hours author Michael Cunningham writes about Angie, Dorian, and the ball and house cultures in The Slap of Love (Part 2). Consider another tragedy of racial, class, and sexual subordination–the life and death of Venus Xtravaganza (Dorian Corey's voice narrates the beginning of the clip and describes the Realness category in the balls), a young, poor, Puerto Rican, transsexual male [also] featured in the film Paris is Burning.

Occupy, not gentrify

puckish — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:23:07 -0800

The National Coalition for the Homeless announces that anti-homeless attacks are up, while Maryland becomes the first state to expand hate crimes legislation to include attacks on the homeless. Meanwhile, new DHS restrictions in New York close drop-in shelters and up restrictions for faith-based homeless shelters, while New-York based advocacy group Picture the Homeless take over a vacant J.P. Morgan lot to protest rising vacancies in the face of the housing crisis

underground designs

nickyskye — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:21:50 -0800

The World's Best Alternative Subway Maps, including Eddie Jabbour's NYC Kick Map.

Talk to the Hand

AceRock — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:34:46 -0800

Meet the Federer and Nadal of NYC handball.

Discover, Explore and Document

netbros — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:27:13 -0800

NYC Grid is a photo blog dedicated to exploring and discovering The City of New York block by block and corner by corner. Updated every weekday, each post covers a new block with a focus on the mundane and ephemeral. An optimistic snapshot of New York as it is now. Vs. The Lamentations: Lost City is a running Jeremiad on the vestiges of Old New York as they are steamrolled under or threatened by the currently ruthless real estate market and the City Fathers' disregard for Gotham's historical and cultural fabric. Jeremiah's Vanishing New York — a bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct. Still hunkered down in the East Village, waiting for the wrecking ball of gentrification to find me. Until then, I'll write this ongoing obituary for my dying city.

You Don't Have to be a Rockefeller to Collect Art

Extopalopaketle — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:29:19 -0800

Herb & Dorothy Vogel is a documentary about a postal clerk and a librarian who amassed over 4000 works of conceptual and minimalist art on their modest income. Their only criteria: it had to be affordable, and it had to fit in their apartment.

Up On The Roof

msalt — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:31:22 -0800

Hello, New York! New York, wake up you f*ckers! Free Music! Free Love! In 1968, two years before those other guys, Jefferson Airplane played their apocalyptic psychedelia from a NYC rooftop, before police shut them down. Filmed (staged?) by Jean-Luc Godard. The song is "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" from "After Bathing at Baxter's" (1967). Amazingly, this was their single which reached #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #24 on the Cash Box Top 100. Filmed for Godard's project "One A.M." aka "One American Movie", which was abandoned and completed four years later by D.A. Pennebaker -- with additional "making of" footage -- as "One P.M." aka "One Parallel Movie." IMDB The film is a fascinating, exasperating mess, featuring Tom Hayden, Eldridge Cleaver (just before he fled the country), Amiri Baraka, Rip Torn, Carol Bellamy, LeRoi Jones and Godard himself. An "American Indian" picks up a tape recorder and spouts/mimics the radical speech on it, etc. The NYT reviewer wrote at the time: "I don't know why "One A.M." was abandoned. There has been talk of Godard's failure to understand the nature of the movement in America. But after looking at the quality of the film work in "One P.M." it seems to me that the reason could quite properly have been despair." One P.M. -- Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10

No more ditching in the Hudson is a plus.

allkindsoftime — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:33:00 -0800

The Manhattan Airport Foundation. From the About Us: It doesn’t take long to realize Central Park squanders 843 acres of the most valuable real estate in the world. From the FAQ: To date, nearly 100 investors have signed on to provide approximately $130M in equity with another $80M from the bond market making Manhattan Airport the most ambitious privately-funded airport development project in US history. Apparently this is for reals.

Why we need Law & Order, SVU, Criminal Intent and CSI: New York

crossoverman — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:40:19 -0800

Murder: New York City. A map pinpointing murders in the five boroughs of NYC from 2003-09. Broken down by time of day, weapon used, age, sex and ethnicity of both victim and perpetrator. Not surprisingly, in the heat of summer the body count rises. Investigating homicides - a Q&A series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Timmies in New York!

235w103 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:21:56 -0800

Tim Hortons, the perennially popular Canadian donut chain, is coming to New York, taking over 13 Dunkin Donuts locations in what some are calling the Doughnut Wars. There seems to be some controversy over the precise reason for the change. Want to know where to get a Double Double in the Big Apple? There's a Google Map! And, Monday morning, FREE COFFEE.

40 Years Ago...

ericb — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:05:39 -0800

In the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969 eight New York City police raided a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn (later deemed a National Historic Landmark). "As the police raided the bar, a crowd of four hundred patrons gathered on the street outside and watched the officers arrest the bartender, the doorman, and a few drag queens [see: police arrest reports]. The crowd, which eventually grew to an estimated 2,000 strong, was fed up."* Thus began three days of rioting and the advent of the modern gay rights movement. In honor of the Stonewall Riots, many gay pride celebrations around the world are held during the month of June, including this week(end)'s NYC Pride, celebrating 40 years of Stonewall's impact on seeking to bring civil rights to all, including the LGBT community. Happy Pride!

Charlie Rose: The Legacy of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 [video | 57:21]. Remembering Stonewall [radio documentary | 38:50] Jim Fouratt talks with Stephen Colbert the significance of the Stonewall riots for the gay rights movement and his frustration with Barack Obama [video | 06:00]. And ...rawrrr... Love Ball Marks 'Stonewall 40' with Skin and Hippies in Times Square.

The High Line, Transformed

zarq — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:56:34 -0800

The first stage of New York City's High Line redesign was opened to the public yesterday, and reviews are generally favorable. The city's newest park (whose concept is similar to Paris’s Promenade Plantée,) transforms an abandoned, above-ground, elevated freight train track into a nine block "lofty expanse of walking and green spaces that stretches 60 feet wide in some spots". It also provides visitors with a unique look at some of the city's architecture and layout. (Previously on MeFi) If you live in or are visiting NYC and would like to see the park, here's a handy guide of "things you should know", including location, directions and entry points. Here's what it used to look like.