New York City – Page 22 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Donation Point For Japan in Union Square (Manhattan) Today

March 20, 2011September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless3 Comments

New York Japanese-American Lions Club in Union Square requesting donations for Japan.

Earlier today, on my way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I saw members of the New York Japanese-American Lions Club in Union Square, asking for donations for relief efforts in Japan. I made a donation myself, directly to the Japanese Red Cross through Google’s Crisis Response page. Even so, I found myself wanting to donate more, but I had just gone to the bank and only had big bills on me. I know that sounds cheap, but I have a budget I have to follow too, so I don’t wind up looking for handouts. I wish I had more to give, but it’s encouraging that companies and prominent individuals are also giving donations to Japan.

New York Japanese-American Lions Club in Union Square requesting donations for Japan.

I saw a Tweet a few days ago that was reminding people to not forget that the tsunami in 2005 (?) killed about 230,000 people. I wonder why it is that this earthquake and tsunami in Japan is eliciting such a greater response? Or am I misremembering what happened in 2005? I might have missed the outreach efforts. I spent part of that year in Kuwait and the rest of it in Singapore and I just don’t remember it being reported on much. I had actually forgotten about it until I went to Phuket in Thailand with my wife and saw a memorial there for the people who had died on that beach in that tsunami. Is it because Japan is important economically? Is it because it’s a world power? Or is it because of the character and history of the people? Personally, I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese history, the ancient history more than the recent history, and I do enjoy Japanese anime and I’ve been toying with learning Japanese for some time.

New York Japanese-American Lions Club in Union Square requesting donations for Japan.

Anyway, if you haven’t taken the time to donate money to the relief efforts in Japan, there are still plenty of ways to get it done. They’re a wholly deserving people in a time of great need.

Spring Weather and New Camera Photos

March 20, 2011 Bradley Farless4 Comments

Yesterday was awesome. I forgot how good it can feel to sit in the sun and just feel warm. The temperature yesterday got up to 73 F in New York City. People were carrying their coats and unwrapping their neck scarves. The city just felt more lively. Instead of the quick shuffle of bundled people moving up and down the street, people were taking their time, strolling. Unfortunately, the temperatures are going back down over this coming week so I can’t hang up my coat for good yet, much as I’d like to. Still, it felt good, for one day, to walk without being burdened by a coat.

I took the picture above with a camera I bought to replace a four year old Sony DSC-N2. I went cheap and got a Nikon Coolpix 3100. I thought I could get by with a lower end camera, but I was wrong. I suppose I thought that after four years, a lower end camera would still outdo the four year old, near relic I was replacing. Instead, the photos were coming out blurry, or, at best, grainy when zoomed to 100%. It was really aggravating and after 3 days I decided it just wasn’t going to work out for me. So, I packed it back up in its box and took it ‘home’ to Best Buy to exchange it for a better model. I got the Nikon S8100, which has a lot more features and takes some bad ass photos that are really sharp and clear. So far, I’m loving it, and tomorrow I’ll be taking it with me to the MET. I have to go up there to find a sculpture to write a 2 to 3 page paper about.

(Links go to product pages, not sales pages)

Here are some examples of the S8100’s image quality (click for larger):

See that school over there?

A close up of the relief in the top left corner of the center door:

I’m amazed at how clear the image is, despite how long the zoom is.

Just some tree branches. I took this photo to see how clear the small branches would be. It didn’t focus on the closer one, but on the ones behind it.

I wanted to see how good a close up shot would look, so I took the above photo. Can you guess what it is? Purina cat chow. =)

Anyhow, I’m hoping to get some nice photos at the MET tomorrow, once I’m done with my paper.

That Damn L-Train

March 13, 2011 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Friday morning I had an adventure with the L-Train. Sort of an adventure. Well, mostly it was just a pain in the ass that made me late for class. There was something wrong with the 7 train, so all of the people that normally take the 7 to get into Manhattan were taking the L. I didn’t know this, of course, until after I was already in the station and on the platform. I don’t have to take the L. I could just take the bus from Avenue B to Union Square. The L is usually a bit faster though. Sometimes I’ve stood around for 20 minutes waiting on a bus, only to see three of them show up at the same time. The L is usually more reliable. Usually. But when it fucks up, it really fucks up.

So, like I said, I swiped my card, walked through the turn-style and then down to the platform. I stopped for a moment to take in the huge crowd of people. They were packed in tight from the edge of the platform back, with barely enough space for people to squeeze through behind them. That should have been my first indication that something was wrong, but I rarely ever take the train that early in the morning. This was at 8:30 AM. I have one class per week that starts in the morning and it only meets once per week. Anyway, I took my position at the back of the crowd and waited.

About 10 minutes later, a train arrived. The doors opened and people came flooding out, trying to push through the crowd. Before they’d finished getting out, people were fighting to get in. You know how it is. The person running the train is playing the “Please stand clear of the closing doors” message before people even finish walking off the train. Before I’d even managed to take one step forward, the people boarding were fighting to hold the doors open while they got onboard. I got to the front and realized I couldn’t squeeze in, no matter how I tried, so the doors closed and the train left.

Ok. That was disappointing, but I could just get the next train right? Wrong. About 10 minutes later another train approached the station. Then it left the station, without even stopping. Damn. By this point, I was thinking I should have just taken the bus. I’d have been at Union Square by then. But I thought that by the time I got out of the subway and got to the bus stop, and rode the bus, another train would come and I’d waste even more time. Besides, I wasn’t sure I could manage to get some sort of pass and I didn’t want to pay again. I didn’t have an unlimited card. So, I just waited.

15 minutes later another train finally showed up. People streamed out of it, and then the crowd surged in. I grabbed the pole in the middle of the train, between the doors and listened to a girl next to me screaming about some asshole who threatened her. She had stepped off the train to let people out, and when she tried to get back on, someone stupid got confused and thought she didn’t have a right to get back on ahead of him. Morons.

So, I was finally underway. Maybe I wouldn’t be too late. Or so I thought.

The train pulled into the next station, 3rd Avenue, and the conductor got on the intercom and told us that the train would be bypassing Union Square and not stopping until 8th Avenue. What the fuck? So, I managed to get ONE station before having to get off the train and walk anyway.

When I got to Union Square I got in line at the ticket booth just in time to watch an old man scream at the guy for not letting him back into the train station for free after he had a problem with the L Train. He screamed “Fuck you!” and then stomped over to the turn-style and paid again to get into the station. That wasn’t very reassuring. When I got up the counter, I presented my case, and for being courteous I was let into the station without having to pay again. A small blessing.

So… to get from 1st Avenue to Union Square took me almost an hour Friday morning. Thanks to the L train. And the fun and games didn’t stop there. By the time I got to the school I was thirsty, but all I had was a 20 dollar bill and the café and cafeteria wouldn’t give me change, so I had to leave the campus again, back the way I came, to go to a convenience store to get a drink. What fun.

Luckily, when I got into the classroom, no great fuss was made about my being late. Word of the 7 and L trains’ problems had preceded me. I think from now on I’ll just take the bus, or walk, to Union Square. The L train is too much of a pain in the ass to even bother with.

Boba Fett Spotted Playing Accordion on the L-Train Platform at Union Square

March 2, 2011 Bradley Farless7 Comments

Ya. Really.

Look to the left…

Look to the right…

Play Zelda on your accordion all damn night!

This guy is awesome. A quick Google search shows that he’s been doing this for over a year and he’s had a lot of Internet exposure (obviously) on YouTube and other blogs by people that have spotted him ‘in the wild’.

When I came down the stairs to the L Train platform and heard the accordion music, it sounded vaguely familiar and a little strange. It wasn’t until I got home and Googled the guy that I realized it was Zelda music. There are a lot of acts in New York’s subway station, but this is the best one I’ve seen so far.

Just to elaborate on that a bit, going through the subway is becoming more and more like taking a journey through a road show. On my commute home today, I got to hear a speech from a pregnant woman on a train about how she’s trying to find help and was looking for handouts. I got to hear an elderly black gentleman strum some country chords on a guitar, I heard some gospel music being sung, and then there was this guy. Out of those acts, though, Boba Fett is the clear winner.

Oh, and as if this wasn’t bizarre enough, I saw a squirrel today on CCNY’s campus that was carrying around a shopping bag. I guess consumerism is finally starting to rub off on New York City’s wildlife.

So, NYC Bus Drivers Only Stop When They Want To Now?

February 13, 2011 Bradley Farless1 Comment

I went up to Target today with my mom to give her a hand with her bags. On the way back, we got to 14th street just in time to see a bus pull off, so we walked from 2nd Avenue to 1st Avenue, and right as we got there a bus pulled into the stop. My mom was tired, so we got on the bus and used our transfers.

About halfway between Avenue A and Avenue B, I pressed the strip to light up the ‘Stop Requested’ sign at the front of the bus. Instead of slowing, the bus driver accelerated. People yelled at him to stop, but he kept going anyway, right on past the bus stop. I guess he just didn’t feel like stopping there tonight.

After everyone shouted at the driver to stop, and he ignored us, he got on the bus intercom and told everyone to hold still, because he was going to take our picture. Why was he taking our picture to start with? And why are buses equipped to take still photos of passengers in the first place? Isn’t video enough? Does a bus driver have the authority to arbitrarily take photos of passengers? And what systems are in place to prevent abuse?

The next stop was in a dark part of 14th street and would have left us having to cut through a back alley in the projects to get back to where we wanted to be, so we had to stay on the bus until it turned down Avenue D and stopped at 12th street. That still left us having to cut through the projects, but at least the area was more lighted. People have been shot and killed in that area fairly regularly over the last few years.

The driver wasn’t done being a jackass, either. When he pulled into the stop at 12th street, he positioned the rear door so that a pole and a pile of snow were right in front of it. Besides the fact that I was hauling a heavy cart out of the bus (which caused me to slip and almost fall on that snow, by the way), my mother has bad knees, so it created a very dangerous situation for her. A guy in the bus was nice enough to hold the doors for my mom while I was struggling with the cart, since the bus driver tried to shut them on her while she was getting out.

We pay good money to ride these buses. They’re constantly jacking the fare up. Wouldn’t it be nice if they’d raised the level of courtesy and customer service they offer riders as well? Or at least stop at designated bus stops when the ‘Stop Requested’ light is lit.

Luckily, there was a red light, so after getting out of the bus and onto the sidewalk, I took a photo of the back of the bus and then used the plate number and bus number to file a complaint with the MTA. I wonder if I’ll even hear anything back on this?

Oh, and the kick in the ass of it all is that we wound up having to walk further than if we hadn’t gotten on the bus in the first place.

The Tokyo Circus in Lower East Manhattan

February 3, 2011 Bradley Farless6 Comments

Tokyo Circus in Union Square Station, Manhattan, New York City.

On my way home from class tonight, I passed through Union Square station, and I happened to hear some really funky music playing. There was a crowd so I stopped to see what was going on and saw this wildly dressed group of Asian people dancing around and having a good time. I won’t lie. My first thought was, “WTF Asian people. Ha ha ha!” They’re obviously slightly off center from normal, but they were holding signs that say “Be Yourself” and “Your smile is beautiful”. It’s an encouraging, positive message, and I felt it was worth a dollar in the hat they had sitting on the floor.

When I got home, I took a look at the photos I’d taken and noticed a web address on the sign the guy on the right was holding that led to a site that identifies them as “Tokyo Circus”. It has an ad that says they performed at a local bar on the 26th. I guess they’re still hanging around to raise funds. Maybe their performance wasn’t as profitable as they’d hoped. This sort of thing seems a little out there, even for NYC.

After looking at some of the … unusual… videos they have displayed on their site, like the ones below, it makes me wonder just what my dollar is going to support, but at least it’s entertaining!

The Return of Spring, by Jack Beal (2001) Glass Mosaic at Times Square Train Station

January 30, 2011 Bradley Farless4 Comments

The Return of Spring, Glass Mosaic by Jack Beal at Times Square subway station.

I happened to see this glass mosaic when I came up the stairs from the 1, 2, and 3 train platform, heading towards the N, Q, and R train platform. I’m surprised I’ve never seen it before, but the place is usually packed with people, so that’s probably why I overlooked it.

Times Square station is surprisingly drab, with a lot of uninspiring colors and unadorned walls. You’d figure the place would be better decorated, if only to drive more tourism. The plainness of the station really made the bright colors of this mural stand out.

This is the accompanying plaque, which is located on a central pillar in the middle of the hallway the mosaic is in:

Awesome Snow Pictures of Annoying Snow

January 28, 2011 Bradley Farless5 Comments

Yesterday, in the early afternoon, I took some time to go out and see the snow. First, I took some pictures from the balcony, and then I took a few photos while I was out in the street, on my way to Newport Centre Mall in New Jersey. These photos were taken on the 26th, prior to the big snowstorm that night (last night).

A photo of the snow from our balcony.

These are photos I took from the balcony before leaving the house to head to New Jersey.

14th Street, between Avenues B and A, facing towards Avenue A.

This is a photo of the snow in the trees along 14th street between Avenues B and A, facing towards Avenue A. As you can see, early yesterday afternoon, the snow wasn’t sticking to the street. The snow on the ground wasn’t much more than what was there already. The snow hasn’t ever completely melted since that big snowstorm in December.

This is a photo of some snow covered evergreen trees outside the Newport Pavonia PATH station in New Jersey.

Snow in the trees outside the Newport Pavonia PATH station in New Jersey.

I saw these trees just outside the Newport Pavonia PATH station in New Jersey, where you get off the train to walk to the Newport Centre Mall. At the time, the snow was coming down in fat, wet flakes and it wasn’t really sticking to the ground at all, but it did give the trees a sort of Winter Wonderland feel that I thought was really nice. By the time I got home from my shopping trip, the snow had stopped completely.

Later in the evening, the snow started coming down again, a lot heavier than before. The news was saying that it was going to be a pretty bad storm, and it damn sure was. At times, I could barely see the building across the street. I’m still impressed by snowstorms, so I thought it was pretty cool, but I had a feeling it was going to make my day today a lot more annoying than it would have been otherwise.

You see, yesterday was supposed to be my last day of freedom, before going back to school full time. I was supposed to head out to the school today to register for classes, and then start classes tomorrow, depending on my schedule. Things didn’t turn out quite that way, because of the snow.

When I was going to bed, the news reports were predicting school closures today, and it had me on edge, because I’m really anxious to get my class registrations done. I’ve been out of school for over a decade, so going to college full time is a pretty big deal for me. Sure enough, when I got up, there was a message in red on my school’s homepage, saying that the school was closed.

For a while, I worried about how that would affect my registration, but I realized there wasn’t much I could do about it if the school was closed. I figured I’d just deal with it as best I could, and rolled back into bed for a few more hours of sleep. Maybe it’s a holdover from the time I spent in the military, which gave me a lot of exposure to institutional stupidity, but I don’t put a lot of trust in public institutions to make common sense decisions when things don’t go as planned. I half expected the school to just tell me, tough luck, enroll next semester. You see, I enrolled late because I was outside the US still when the deadline for normal registrations came and passed. I also had a few issues with my direct admission since I went to high school in a different state, and I was given last priority to register for classes on the last day of registration.

My fear was thankfully unfounded. Later this morning, the college updated the message on their website, saying registrations would be extended to compensate for the closure today, so now I’ll be heading up to the school tomorrow to take care of that and all I’ll have to worry about is slipping and busting my ass on the long slope heading up to CCNY from the train station.

East River Scenery from East River Plaza 3rd Landing

January 24, 2011 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

East River Plaza shopping center in Manhattan on 116th and 117th street.

Sitting right at the end of East 116th and 117th streets in Manhattan, flush against East River Drive, is East River Plaza. It’s a recently built, multi-level shopping complex with stores like, among others, a Target, Best Buy and Petsmart. The Target up there usually puts cat litter and cat food on sale. After you consider how much you spend on the fare to get there and back, and the amount of time it takes to travel, you probably aren’t saving anything at all when you’re going there from 14th Street on public transit, but it is nice to get out of the neighborhood sometimes, if for no other reason than a change of pace and a change of scenery.

Scenery is something this place does well too, though unintentionally. It’s not enclosed, like a mall. To get between stores you have to go to outdoor platforms and use outdoor escalators. The very ends of these platforms overlook the East River and if you lean out a bit you can get a good downtown facing view of Manhattan and even a bit of Queens.

Here are some of the better photos I took:

An old pier in the East River, directly opposite East River Plaza, on the other side of East River Drive.

I imagine this is an old pier that is no longer used due to the construction of the East River Drive.

Icahn Stadium, as seen from East River Plaza.

That’s Icahn Stadium. When I first glanced across and was trying to make out the name, I thought it said ‘I Can Haz Stadium’. I think I’ve been looking at too many lolcats.

A portion of the Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge.

In the foreground, the lower bridge you can see traffic on is the Triborough Bridge, also known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. The larger looking, raised bridge in the back is the Hell Gate Bridge, named after the stretch of water it covers, and is used for trains. When it was opened in 1919, it was originally painted a reddish color, with seems more fitting, given the name. It was also the longest steel arch bridge in the world at the time. You can read more about it by clicking here.

The East River and Ward's Island Bridge in New York City, seen from 116th Street. — The East River and Ward’s Island Bridge in New York City, seen from 116th Street.

That’s a long shot of the East River, facing downtown. On the right is Manhattan and that’s Astoria in Queens on the left. The bridge in the middle is the Ward’s Island Bridge. The previous two photos are shots of stuff on Ward’s Island.

And that’s about it, for things to see from that vantage point. There’s always something interesting to see, everywhere you go in New York City.

How Many Times Per Ride Do the Cops Need To Check My Papers Just To Ride The Bus?

January 21, 2011 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Seriously. I feel like I’m trying to enter another country when I’m riding the new, supposedly improved SBS service. If you’re not familiar with these SBS service buses, they’re supposedly a great new way to get around town that will be faster than a normal limited bus. They also supposedly save the city money. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, that’s just bullshit.

These buses use their own, special bus stops. In addition to these new bus stops needing to be built, new machines had to be installed outside, adjacent to these bus stops. You see, even though these new buses are equipped with MetroCard readers, they want you to buy a ‘ticket’ before getting on the bus. That means the city spent extra money on these ‘ticket’ machines as well. It’s not really a ticket. You just get a receipt showing your MetroCard has been debited for the fare required to ride the bus. By the way, that’s more dead trees. Was that really necessary? How is it saving money to have to supply all of these ‘ticket’ machines with paper? Shouldn’t we be moving towards being a paperless society, rather than finding new ways to deforest and kill our planet? Not that I’m an eco-nut, but this just seems like a blatant waste of resources and money, which doesn’t make sense when everyone is screaming about budget cuts. I wonder how many people’s jobs got cut so MTA could afford to print thousands, or tens of thousands, of paper tickets every day?

Now, in addition to the complete waste of resources these ticket machines cause, and the fact that instead of lining up to get on the bus you instead line up to get a ticket, there’s an additional problem. This system creates another opportunity for you to be hassled by the man. Today, I rode one of these SBS buses from 14th street up to 116th street and the bus was stopped twice and left idling while cops searched everyone on the bus for ‘tickets’. Idling. Isn’t that what the new system was supposed to prevent?

Why do they have to do this? Well, the answer is easy. They’re relying on a trust system, that people will pay before boarding, but … seriously? Do they really think this is going to work? What world are they living in? Even on a bus system where people only board at the front, there are people who slip on and try to ride for free, and often pull it off. If you set things up so that people can board at any door and you’re just supposed to trust that they have a ticket, there will always be people trying to sneak on. People were pulled off and ticketed both times our bus was searched, and unless teams of police are set up to stop these buses and search them randomly, all day every day, it will continue. These searches slow down the bus and they’re really not any faster than the regular limited buses they replaced in the first place.

You know what? There’s an easier system than this, and it’s one I learned in Singapore. For a first world country, we sure are doing things real stupid over here in the US. We need to model our transit system off of Singapore’s. Instead of having these flimsy, crap cards we use for our buses and trains, they have cards with chips in them that can be read like the Visa PayWave cards. You don’t even have to take them out of your wallet or purse. You just slide them over a scanner as you enter and exit the bus or train station. That would save time. Not having paper tickets would save time. Not requiring the bus to be stopped and all the passengers to be checked like Nazis searching for Jews would be faster.

And, if you’re going to have cops constantly searching people on the bus, do it smart, not stupid. I mean, really, you want to stop the whole bus and have us sitting there while everyone is checked for tickets? Here’s a better idea. Have cops get on the bus, have the doors close and the bus continue on its route while the cops check tickets. Have the cops get off at the next stop and either get on the following bus, or cross the street and go back the way they came on the next bus. That would allow them to continue writing tickets and providing the city government with this new revenue stream (because that’s what this is all about), and it wouldn’t increase people’s commute times. And hey, since I mentioned Singapore’s system earlier, here’s another spot where it could come in handy. They have people that randomly get on and ride with the bus. These people carry handheld card readers that can read your card and show when you last scanned it. Oh, and they don’t stop the whole bus while they do it. That’s pretty easy, and it’s smart. I wonder why they didn’t think of it?

This whole thing with the tickets was done to supposedly save money on the fuel the buses use while idling at bus stops, and to make things faster and more convenient for riders. The MTA/SBS built a bunch of new bus stops, built new ‘ticket’ machines, are printing paper tickets that aren’t free to produce, and then have the buses idle for police checks, but somehow this is cheaper and faster than just running a normal limited bus. I totally see the logic here.