Archive for the ‘ New York City ’ Category
While I waited for street cleaning to take place this morning, I explored a new portion of Orchard Beach: Hunter’s Island. Some spectacular sights and great, two-plank-wide walkway out to a rise with benches, chairs, and a spraypainted chessboard. About Mr. Hunter. [ READ MORE ]
Yep, NYC on the forefront: Res. No. 1723 Resolution declaring a symbolic ban on the negative use of the word “ghetto” in New York City. By Council Members Baez, and Seabrook Whereas, The word “ghetto” is derived from the Venetian term, “ghèto,” a conjugation of an Italian word that means “to pour” or “to cast”; and Whereas, The term “Ghèto” [ READ MORE ]
The NYTImes reports that the city will close Broadway to vehicular traffic around Times Square and Herald Square from May. changes could become permanent. I like this idea. Not that it’s going to bring me to Times Square… [ READ MORE ]
The NYTimes reports that: the financial services sector that powered the city’s prosperity will shed 65,000 jobs as a result of the financial crisis. Almost half of them will come from the highest-paying pursuits like investment banking and the sales and trading of stocks and bonds [and] what remained of the sector would be far less [ READ MORE ]
I’ve only started reading this long piece on the urban impacts of the crisis from the Atlantic by Richard Florida. But, since it will shape many people’s understanding of the the crisis’ effect on cities, it’s obviously something for urbanists to check out. [ READ MORE ]
In a sad tribute to bad methodology, Men’s Fitness has ranked NYC as the fifth fattest in the nation [via digg]. Why? The local commute is much more oppressive than in most cities — 54 percent more oppressive than average, leaving less time to exercise and prepare healthy meals. Our survey has found 87 percent fewer sporting-goods [ READ MORE ]
Bloomberg announced that the city would get involved in sustaining the city’s housing market by financing rehabilitation of foreclosed homes for resale to families making $80–90,000 a year. “What we’re trying to do is to not acquire a lot of land and properties and have it just sit there,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “What we’re trying to [ READ MORE ]
JJR sends out the following message about Coney Island’s “last hope” (sans caps): happy new year’s notwithstanding, it looks like we’re about to go to the mattresses. just about all businesses in coney, including astroland, have lost their lease. lola was told that hers would not be renewed. meanwhile, the city continues to peddle [ READ MORE ]
Thirteen.org’s “The City Concealed” has a brief tour and history of Newtown Creek. Could be worth a couple of minutes. My favorite quote: “The hard bottom is 35′. The soft bottom is 20′. That’s 15′ of mayonaisse with everything that’s ever been put in there.” But why is it that the only thing activists think to do [ READ MORE ]
According to the NYTimes, chief executives at the meeting organized by the Partnership for New York City and The Wall Street Journal demonstrated their lack of shame and self-serving greed in the face of a public crisis to which many of them contributed. Just as New York City and State are exploring ways to raise [ READ MORE ]
JS and team (?) have entered this proposal in a competition to redesign the bicycle infrastructure of Red Hook. Lots of great ideas, including free movies from the “Beer Barge”. [ READ MORE ]
The NYTimes reports the (unsurprising) fact that real estate projects have begun to freeze up in NYC. What caught my eye, though, was the frank description of the City by Richard Lefrak, “patriarch of a fourth-generation real estate family that owns office buildings and apartment houses in New York and New Jersey”: This is the company [ READ MORE ]
JS sends this example of pretty poor GIS work from Crain’s. This map of restaurants per zipcode is what I mean. The problems: 1. The pull-out map really conveys no useful information. It doesn’t add streets or anything of use. Who really needs to know the actual zipcodes if you know where it is? Sending mailers [ READ MORE ]
The mayor and the MTA must be reading my blog. (Where else could they possibly have gotten the idea?) Congestion pricing is being reconsidered as an alternative source of revenue to offset the MTA’s plan for increasing transit fares. Clearly a match made in heaven. [ READ MORE ]
I was thinking about my reading group’s discussion of a paper by Peter Marcuse on my way home. His argument, as I understood it, is that racial oppression is still full force, but the expression of conflict has been muted through the jailing of the most oppositional and the cooptation (or pacification) [ READ MORE ]