MetaFilter posts tagged with newyorkcity

“Randi Weingarten would protect a dead body in the classroom. That’s her job.”

Oxydude — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:52:08 -0800

The Rubber Room: The Battle Over New York City’s Worst Teachers.

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.

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.

NYC From Above

ericb — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:10:10 -0800

Aerial Virtual Tour of New York City -- navigate with your arrow keys (or the embedded controls). Change views on the lower left. [via Gothamist]

At last, the present is getting Soul!

myopicman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:45:40 -0800

Soul! New York City PBS affiliate WNET have digitized 9 episodes of Soul!, a early 1970's live music program, providing a groovy video interface with chapters to break down each hour long episode. I ran across this whilst looking for Rahsaan Roland Kirk and his multiple saxophone performances and wow, I never would've thought I'd find something like his appearance on October 4, 1972.

Life on the Block

netbros — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:40:04 -0800

A native of Barcelona, Spain, Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu moved to New York in 2002 to pursue a career in photography. Adriana has been capturing the lives of young Puerto Rican women and their families in Spanish Harlem, NYC. There is a hardness that characterizes Life on the Block. Other projects by Adriana include: Mississippi a Year After Katrina — Those that owned land placed the FEMA trailer on their property; the rest were placed into trailer parks. A year after the storm the majority of these families were still living in this temporary housing. Insurance fraud, lack of contractors and mismanagement of government grants postponed the recovery of this part of the US. A Gypsy Life: The Salazar Family The Tompkins — Douglas Tompkins was the founder and owner of the clothing company Esprit. His present wife, Kristine Tompkins, was the CEO of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. After retiring, they each created foundations dedicated to Nature conservancy. The foundations have since purchased over 1.5 million hectares of land in Chile and Argentina. Ultimately, that land will become national parks.

TripAdvisor's Dirtiest Hotels 2009: Don't Let The Bedbugs Bite

milquetoast — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:14:28 -0800

TripAdvisor's 2009 Top Ten Dirtiest Hotels in the USA, Asia Pacific, UK, and elsewhere. Topping the list: the Hotel Carter, Times Square. [The Carter recently mentioned here.]

Mondo Kim's moves to Sicily!

unknowncommand — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:09:47 -0800

Contents of the beloved/historic/deceased Mondo Kim's video store in New York City purchased by the town of Salemi, Italy. The village intends to project the videos as part of a neverending film festival open to the public. Roadtrip, anyone?

I like coffee so much that I have tea for breakfast

parudox — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:04:24 -0800

Christoph Niemann illustrates: his sons' obsession with the NYC subway (previously), bathroom tile art, New York cheat sheets, and his experiences with coffee (illustrated with coffee on napkins). Check out his excellent portfolio of illustrations and don't miss the ones on illustrating. You can see Niemann talk a bit about his work here.

Students Occupy The New School

dskinner — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:29:21 -0800

In protest to tuition increases and the anti-democratic policies of President Bob Kerrey, students from The New School, CUNY, NYU and others have occupied the Graduate Faculty building of The New School at 65 5th Avenue.

Gills, Fins and Psychedelic Thai

aletheia — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:52:51 -0800

There have been precious few times that a restaurant review had me laughing out loud, even on page 2.

When I see three oranges, I juggle. When I see two towers, I walk.

jessamyn — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:55:56 -0800

When Man on Wire won a Grand Jury Prize: at Sundance this year, many could hazily remember Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the World Trade Center Towers in New York in 1974 (previously) but few knew the extent to which the entire endeavor was a wacky multinational caper. Additional trivia: The movie has gotten 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; Debra Winger has it written into her film contracts that there should always be a visual tribute to Petit; [conspirator's] Jean-François Heckel's reward for the twin towers coup was to be unceremoniously expelled from the United States, whereas Petit received a lifetime pass to the WTC observation deck; Petit has been arrested over 500 times and can kill someone with an issue of People Magazine. Longer Petit interview from 1999 on Charlie Rose. In Petit's own words

I found out that the only way to protect my life was to know as much about the wire, about the rigging, about my limits as possible. Life is something to be cherished, and in this very, very dangerous profession of mine, a millisecond of inattention, a millimetre of being in the wrong place puts you out of balance and you lose your life immediately. Since I absolutely don't want to do that, I am in a very strange kind of solid control, in a world that is made of infinite fragility...

"For the rest of the evening my name will be Violetta."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:23:35 -0800

Radar magazine: Secrets of a hipster hooker.

Sky-high gardens and rooftop oases

madamjujujive — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:24:05 -0800

Rich people's rooftops in NYC offers a fun birds-eye view into a few sky-high secret decks and gardens. Roofs are the new frontier for innovative urban architects, but they aren't exclusive to the wealthy. All kinds of people and organizations are starting rooftop gardens. See the impressive results that two Chicago denizens had growing heirloom vegetables on their roofs (2). Prior related posts: Green Roofs by dhruva Vertical gardening in architecture by loquacious A few more interesting rooftop garden projects: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Awards 2008 Chicago City Hall St. Luke's Medical Center Roof gardens at Derry and Toms, London, now The Roof Gardens, owned by Virgin Green roof art school in Singapore Green Roofs - directory and resources

Times are hard for Mom and Pop

Knappster — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:03:48 -0800

Manhattan's bodegas are struggling to survive, and Brooklyn's butcher shops are vanishing. But don't worry, New Yorkers are in no danger of running out of Dunkin' Donuts outlets. The Center for an Urban Future recently issued a report (pdf) on the number and distribution of chain stores within the city. The best that fans of mom-and-pop stores can hope for might be peaceful coexistence.

Video Vigilante

ericb — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:51:24 -0800

I am Jimmy Justice and your days running around this city like a cowboy are over! [video | 2:45]. "He calls himself 'Jimmy Justice,' a self-styled 'cop-arazzi,' armed only with a video camera as he prowls the streets of New York looking for law enforcement officers who are breaking the law. His targets are illegally parked city government vehicles -- particularly cars of traffic cops blocking bus stops, sitting in 'no parking' zones or double-parked. Cop cars blocking fire hydrants make him particularly incensed....He posts his best videos on YouTube and sends regular e-mail to the union representing the city's traffic enforcement agents, pointing out the most egregious parking offenses. And he has gotten results, he said, with some parking enforcers being fined because of his videos. "^* "Sometimes it gets ugly out there. In the two years since he began making his videos, Jimmy said, he has been threatened, punched and spit on, and has had cameras smashed to the ground [video | 0:46]. He said he does not disclose his real name because he fears retaliation by someone whom he has made an unwilling YouTube star. And Jimmy admits that he occasionally crosses the line, sometimes verbally berating traffic enforcers." MSNBC interview with Jimmy Justice [video | 05:32]. ABC News interview with Jimmy Justice. [video | 03:59]. WNBC News segment on Jimmy Justice [video | 02:22].

Urban farming, Architecture, and Art

lunit — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:47:56 -0800

P.F.1 (Public Farm One) is a project designed by WORK Architecture Company for MoMA and P.S.1's Young Architects Program. P.F.1’s intent is to "educate thousands of visitors on sustainable urban farming through the unique medium of contemporary architecture." An artist in Providence, RI developed a similar installation called Green Zone, "an organic vegetable, herb, and flower garden planted in the detritus of wartime consumption: used tires, shopping bags, shoes, and other repurposed containers" at local venue Firehouse 13.

Short and Scrappy

Stynxno — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:17:14 -0800

Mexican and Latin Immmigrants as Superheroes [ via guanabee ]

New York City's High Line

aletheia — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:16:44 -0800

Design plans for the much talked about High Line in NYC were unveiled today. It has been hotly anticipated as one of the most distinctive public projects in generations.

NYC in Black and White (mostly)

cerebus19 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:04:52 -0800

New York City in (mostly) black and white. A huge collection of photos starting in the 1880s—some beautiful, all fascinating. Previously.

Driving fast and jazzing it up in the 1920s.

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:53:55 -0800

The opening shots of 1920s New York City are wonderful, then you get a zany high-speed Harold Lloyd blazing down the avenues, and that's fun to watch, but the real killer is the horse-drawn trolley absolutely tearing-ass through lower Manhattan, full gallop. Ends badly. Then it's over to San Francisco for one last bit of homicidal vehicular activity with a bus. Well, they sure don't drive like they used to! In case that crazy 20s spirit grabbed you, you might want to spend a little time with the archetypical "jazz age" sounds of Jan Garber and his Orchestra, full of pep, silly humor and choked cymbals: There Ain't No Maybe In My Baby's Eyes Don't Bring Lulu! Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down Baby Face Positively-Absolutely "is she nifty? ABSOLUTELY! under fifty? POSITIVELY!" Louisiana Way Down Yonder In New Orleans Of course, Garber's music was lively, entertaining and well played, but, unsurprisingly, the music of the same era and style as played by black folk had that extra swing, that rollicking but relaxed easy groove that was just a wee bit lacking from bands like Garber's. These musicians deserve FPPs of their own, but for the time being, let's drop by and listen to the music of a couple of early pioneers, Freddie Keppard and Joe "King" Oliver. Freddie Keppard Jazz Treasury (two 1920s gems on this clip) King Oliver's Too Bad and Riverside Blues.

New Yorkers and their quirks

SeizeTheDay — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:04:50 -0800

Why do New Yorkers seem rude? A quirky and interesting article about the culture of New Yorkers.

Grand Theft Auto IV graphical comparison with real life

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:13:54 -0800

Liberty City vs New York City

The Great Blizzard of 1888

mosk — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:42:48 -0800

According to the breathless headline in the New York Times, it was "THE WORST STORM THE CITY HAS EVER KNOWN. BUSINESS AND TRAVEL COMPLETELY SUSPENDED. NEW-YORK HELPLESS IN A TORNADO OF WIND AND SNOW WHICH PARALYZED ALL INDUSTRY, ISOLATED THE CITY FROM THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, CAUSED MANY ACCIDENTS AND GREAT DISCOMFORT, AND EXPOSED IT TO MANY DANGERS." It became known as The Great Blizzard of 1888, and it occurred on this date, March 12, 1888. The Great Blizzard of 1888, also called The Great White Hurricaine, was a classic nor'easter. It raged for 3 days and completely paralyzed New York and New England, dumping more than 40" of snow and leaving several million residents in several states without access to food, stores, or transportation. It also had at least two notable lasting effects: because the storm wreaked havoc on New York City's burgeoning but vulnerable spiderweb of power and telegraph wires, it helped spur New York City's decision to place those wires underground, and it also lead the city of Boston to develop its subway system.