The New York City I first saw in 1985 has partially disappeared, and vanishes more everyday. The New York of 50 years ago, the veneer of daily life in the city, is but a memory. The city of 100 years ago is a shadow, remembered by no one.
But the past remains, if not in direct human memory, in
"lampposts, advertisements, bridges, buildings, signs, and things you pass every day in the street that bear silent witness to the NYC that once was." What lies
forgotten below the streets?
The decaying splendor of an bygone age, as well as
the deep roots that have sprouted and nourished the present, living city...
posted by evanizer
on Mar 22, 2002 -
37 comments
N.Y. taxpayers' welfare Viagra bill rises to $6M. Conservative Party chairman Michael Long called the expense "an unconscionable waste of taxpayer money."
I would tend to agree. It doesn't seem right. The money could have gone to those who really need it, instead of a bunch of old folks who just want to get laid.
posted by susanlucci
on Mar 18, 2002 -
23 comments
"Britney Underground takes you on a tour of poignant urban artistry in a time of crisis." it's a
nice collection of graffti from britney spears posters in new york, pretty funny. the
negative emails are possibly the highlight.
posted by rhyax
on Mar 16, 2002 -
10 comments
SmallPox 2002 - Silent Weapon...
It is April 2002, and a smallpox outbreak occures in New York. 4 and a half months later and 60 million people across the planet are dead.
Tonight, The BBC broadcast a fictional documentary
as if it were filmed in 2005, looking back at the smallpox pandemic that swept the world in 2002 and killed 60 million people.
Heavily rooted in fact, it was disturbing viewing, to put it mildly. Did anyone else in Europe see this?
posted by tomcosgrave
on Feb 5, 2002 -
22 comments
Toxic Exposure Near Ground Zero EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said a week after the attacks: "I am glad to reassure the people of New York...that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." Yet now: "Dust taken from an air vent in the apartment building's hallway contained 555 times the suggested acceptable level for asbestos.....Many of those who live or work downtown report strikingly similar symptoms: nosebleeds, sore throats, bronchial infections and an endless racking cough." How long do we need to wait until we see some full blown
investigative reporting?
posted by Voyageman
on Jan 8, 2002 -
29 comments
Two new baseball stadiums for New York! At a time when NYC seems to be barreling towards huge debts, public workers aren't getting raises and the city needs to be rebuilt, the Yankees and the Mets -- two of the richest teams with the highest attendence -- are getting brand new stadiums courtesy of the city budget. Giuliani wants the deal finished as he leaves office.
posted by argybarg
on Dec 27, 2001 -
45 comments
Homebody/Kabul Kushner play opens in New York, has controversial subject matter.
"It's a mixed blessing to have written a play about a country with which one's own country has gone to war at the moment it opens"
posted by asok
on Dec 19, 2001 -
2 comments
A flood of homeless at city shelters. '"I think that there must be a greater segment of our population that has
tenuous connections to family and friends, and therefore has fewer resources to fall back on when something very bad happens like when they lose their job," he said.' How can there be so many people, who have no one to count on? Are we getting some serious payback from the nuclear family society?
posted by mmarcos
on Dec 18, 2001 -
32 comments
This ruined my day. The Yankees are going to buy another World Series. If I ever hear that the Yankees do not buy championship again I am going to poop my pants. They do buy championships. Man, do they suck.
posted by aj100
on Dec 6, 2001 -
58 comments
World Views. This Saturday at the New Museum is an opening reception for the artists who had studio space in the World Trade Center on September 11th. If you are in New York this weekend and are looking for something to do, your presence would be greatly appreciated.
posted by darkpony
on Nov 30, 2001 -
2 comments
A developer is pushing new luxury rental apartments in
this building in Lower Manhattan with ads on
nytimes.com. Rentals are probably slow because the building is
five blocks from a disaster zone. But let's all just pretend it's not. Potential renters, take note:
"actual view south" may not be the actual view south.
posted by davidfg
on Nov 18, 2001 -
22 comments
"Hell, I still love you New York." (WMA or RA) I've been seeing the video for Ryan Adams' "New York, New York" late at night on VH1. At a time when television censors are editing out images of the World Trade Center and words like "hijack" out of old movies, it is a welcome surprise. The video, filmed on Sept. 7th, has a pre-attack NY skyline with the WTC prominently featured. It's the best tribute to NY I've seen in the last couple of months.
posted by eyeballkid
on Nov 14, 2001 -
20 comments
San Francisco is spending about $22,000 every hour on homeless people. "Leave politics out of it. Leave all the issues of needy folks out of it. We're talking about hygiene here," he said. "It's where people walk and take their kids. It's dirty and nasty and not healthy."
"New York City, credited with cleaning its streets of the chronically homeless, offers shelter to every person needing it - 27,000 a night. San Francisco instead focuses on long-term housing solutions featuring full services for those lucky enough to get in." (via
obscurestore)
posted by owillis
on Nov 6, 2001 -
39 comments
5 more Anthrax cases in Fla. Five more people in South Florida have been found to be exposed to anthrax, according to officials of American Media, the company where three other people had been exposed to the disease.
• Anthrax Test Positive in Nevada.
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced today that a second letter sent from Trenton, N.J., contained the anthrax that infected an NBC employee
posted by semmi
on Oct 13, 2001 -
21 comments
You Gotta Love Those New York Firemen Or "How Cartman's Fireman Suddenly Took On A Whole New Meaning". Just to show there is always an upside to everything, it seems some Manhattan girls are doing their bit for their country and enjoying themselves into the bargain. Hey, is this the spirit or what?
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Sep 29, 2001 -
27 comments
My Mom just got back from the
Ionesco festival in New York. It sounds cool - it's usually hard to find stagings of even Ionesco's most famous plays, but these people seem to be doing everything.
posted by crunchburger
on Sep 28, 2001 -
2 comments
A few WTC things to start the day: 1) If you have a desire to move "off the grid" or just simply disappear, has the City of New York got a new program for you! Now you can
get yourself declared dead with nothing more than a copy of Acrobat Reader and an ability to lie through your teeth. 2) The arguments over what to replace the WTC with
are starting to gather steam. 3)
That last piece standing of the WTC has been removed for probable use in a memorial. God please save us from another huge OKC-style Memorial From Hell.
posted by aaron
on Sep 26, 2001 -
16 comments
Come To New York And Learn About Life Are New Yorkers really superior? It seems so. Where else, in a supposedly fuck-you culture, would volunteers be turned away for being too numerous and too willing to help?
A friend of mine returned today and was utterly transformed by the new spirit there. I urge foreigners like me not to stop visiting and can recommend a hotel tailor-made for MeFi members: the brand-new Library Hotel.
My friend stayed there and can't shut up about it.
Each room is classified according to the Dewey system
and has a library of 60 essential books in any given field.
The great, typically New York thing, is that they've apparently slashed their prices. The ultra-comfortable rooms cost $300 just a week ago. Now they have a "compassion rate" of $150 per room.
Is it exploitation or solidarity? Who knows? Only traitors need keep away.
(Click on "Concept" for the full megillah)
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Sep 18, 2001 -
24 comments
Who benefits from the bombings? A rather controversial piece. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I thought it would be interesting to throw into the discussion. The author's assertion definitely a possibility (since anything is possible), but I'm leaning towards the 'this is quite a nutter' assessment. Thoughts?
(I did a search and couldn't find a reference to it on this site, maybe for good reason.)
posted by jetgrrl
on Sep 17, 2001 -
17 comments
GE pledges $10 million to a fund that will assist the families of the firefighters, police officers and emergency rescue personnel who perished while responding to the attack on the World Trade Center.
Cisco Systems has made gifts to key relief and support organizations serving the New York City and Washington D.C. areas, including a $6 million donation.
Microsoft is making a donation of $10 million in cash and technical services. Know of any other companies that are doing something similar?
posted by riffola
on Sep 14, 2001 -
23 comments
Reuters is publishing photos of those unaccounted for. I thought that this was a nice gesture on the part of Reuters, and of the AP if they're doing this as well. It's eerie to glance through yahoo's archive of the Reuters photos and to find random pictures submitted by families. They're not obvious, but if you look through enough pages, you'll find a few.
posted by moz
on Sep 14, 2001 -
0 comments
Is it too soon to see the brighter side? I'm torn. The words of the tragedy have turned from "The horror" to "let's kill the gays" in less than three days. But at the same time, I know there's a brighter side. Crisis brings (generally) the best out of Americans (if not the world). We will rebuild, re-design, re-shape our world. After WWII, America had a huge upsing economically and socially. People remembered to be happy to be alive, had kids, made families, partied like Hugh Hefner, and created one of the most amazing periods in our history. The same will happen again: unimaginable horror, work, then prosperity. But this only happens is
these idiots don't screw it up. Your thoughts?
posted by rev-
on Sep 14, 2001 -
6 comments
Financial/NY people add your name If you
were expected to be downtown in the area. Also, the FISD has set up
this site to post questions about missing people and anything else.. that you're ok, if you need help.. if you can help... (one thing.. some places had decided to use the UBB to tout their wares.. how screwed in the head are you?.. I can understand people with a skill.. but a company trying to sell something...).. But use the sites responsibly, please.
posted by rich
on Sep 13, 2001 -
0 comments
'Oh my God they are jumping.' The British press covers the attacks with an emphasis on the people who jumped [
graphic photo advisory]. I noticed the same thing watching BBC World on cable Tuesday -- is the U.S. press showing restraint with images like this?
posted by rcade
on Sep 12, 2001 -
39 comments
What happened? Plastic.com has been down all day. I know that the site has experienced server problems in the past, but usually they get fixed within hours. So this is unusual. Does anyone know if the site's server went down in connection with the World Trade Center thing?
posted by MAYORBOB
on Sep 11, 2001 -
18 comments
Are we sure it's over? I don't mean to play the role of doomsday prophet here, but as happy as I am to be alive (I watched the buildings fall from my office on 23rd St), I feel utterly trapped on Manhattan and completely vulnerable to an attack which would dwarf today's tragedy as much as today dwarfed the previous WTC attack. Anyone want to allay my fears?
posted by Sinner
on Sep 11, 2001 -
27 comments
The Latest:
- An in-depth story on the methodology the attackers used to hijack the plane (flight-attendants stabbed)
- A third World Trade Center building has collapsed
posted by bloggboy
on Sep 11, 2001 -
1 comment
More NMD to make you nervous. If you're in an area about to be vapourised then you are safe. If you live anywhere else you are not. I live about half a blast radius away from
one of the radar stations in the UK (it doesn't look like that picture anymore - some of the golfballs are now pyramids). From direct assault I maybe won't be hit but the bombs falling out of the sky on their way from Iraq to New York are pretty much going to land on my head. Cool.
posted by vbfg
on Sep 3, 2001 -
8 comments
Brooklyn Tenant Is Charged With Murdering City Marshal "As the marshal, Erskine G. Bryce, lay injured and disoriented, the police said, Ms. Jones bounded down the steps, beat him with an aluminum rod and stripped him of his .380-caliber pistol. The attack ended, the police said, only after she splashed him with a flammable liquid, took out a cigarette lighter and set him afire." (Free NY Times registration required)
posted by dayvin
on Aug 23, 2001 -
29 comments
