whats mah name, whats mah game?

one way to go

suddenly, everything got darker, starker, and more real

just the hall windows

twos of shoes

kids playing famous

silwhoette?

brick-a-brack track

sometimes torn concrete blocks strewn about a side walk might characterize a rundown neighborhood but in the Hook it just seems to add plain old character.

who needs a Manhattan view with Queens catchin rays like these

the Strong Island City commercial district offers a golden view every morning from my home in Greenpoint. It seems pretty soon that this will be the only city skyline Im'a be able to see.

politics collide in historic Hook

apparently, there is a place where even opposing politics can co-exist on the same plane of existence. I had to see it for myself so took a trip to Red Hook this evening to catch a glimpse of future developments. If you don't know, check out what I saw below...

sugar shack

Once upon a time, Brooklyn was a captain of industrial production. Many of us know a little bit about this b/c we live in or rent out all those sweet converted industrial lofts right? But check check it out, long before Loft City was born Brooklyn was sweeting itself up the old-fashioned way. Among its greatest commercial endeavors, Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Greenpoint, Williamsburg and yes, Red Hook, home to the ancient Revere Sugar Refinery (seen above), were sugar capitals of the east coast. Got 30 seconds? Check out Channel 13's microwave history of Brooklyn.

covered

wee tree

bus'ted

retired buses on lockdown in RedHook.

night light

IKEA will soon demolish this eye candy

From WaterWire.net

"The waters of Buttermilk Channel, Upper New York Bay, and the Gowanus Bay border Red Hook in South Brooklyn. Dutch settlers named the area Roode Hoek, or red point, a name which later evolved into Red Hook. When Dutch settlers arrived in Red Hook in the mid 1600s, Native Americans already inhabited the area along the banks of the Gowanus. Three and a half centuries later, Red Hook is a unique residential and industrial neighborhood."

This beautiful snapshot of a working class past will soon concede its quiet place in the peaceful seaside neighborhood as the historic dock yards of Red Hook are sleighted to house the new IKEA co-optation.



Of course, the transition from abandoned beauty to the corporate duty hasn't been seamless by any means. Related articles:

Curbed article detailing IKEA's demolition fines
Brooklyn Papers interview some residents
The IKEA Red Hook development website

get the message?

fauxtography 'Destroy"'ed

graf calf Destroy Toyz colors in my own street art today in Greenpoint.

Haculla, Count Macula's lesser known first cousin spotted in the E.vil

apparently, Barney was actually part of a subversive Anarchist propaganda movement

Velma from Scooby Doo: actually a Williamsburg Hipster in disguise

(f)unk

Ving Rhames on cherry flavor and other vulgarities

Special Safety Announcement from the MTA

this train's seen weather like Eastwood's face

this dilapi-dated train on JMZ track rusts like the spirit of Brookland itself. Tres poetic I know. I caught this shot after an older gentlemen passed out from a heart attack in the car next to mine. With the train stopped indefinitely the natives became restless. One aging, dark skined, velour-clad panther began to rant "Is he black? I dont wanna see another one of our soldiers dyin on the tracks. Wait, he's white? Fuck'em then. And I mean that shit!" I couldn't make this up if I tried. Still evangelizing to everyone in earshot the man trailed me to the local bus running underneath the tracks up Broadway. It was a militant sermon strewn with shout-outs to the crackers (me being the nearest model) and The Man and it ended on Kosciozco St. with the aid of a police escort. The other passengers seemed relieved and looked to me for a nod of affirmation, yet despite being pedestaled as the object of his passionate hatred, there was something connecting my empathy and brotherhood to the man. I could have no anger or hate for such passion. Plus the cat was lyrical, sharper than a Sharpton. 30 mins later I rented a newly rennovated apartment to some nice ladies down the block.

Steve McQueen or some other scene?

i don't think it is, any thoughts on the matter?

only this building and the roaches...

...will be standing when someone finaly decides to atomize this city. Damn, this is the type of building (Lower East Side Projects btw) that says bitch, Ima slap you in the face with a rent stabilized section 8 rent stub every month. And the building's got more surface area than a 90s Winfrey, check it out:

does stucco tan or burn?

sun baked south side m'hattan

the L.E.S. was glowing this afternoon as I left a consulting meeting with the good folks at the Fuck Yoga store on Ludlow on my way to, what else, my yoga studio.

the only pink building outside of Frisco...

...houses a new graphic design firm in the east village. Not quite magenta but surely not salmon, this eye-catcher, sandwhiched between to of the dullest red n' brown brick brownstones I've ever seen generates more "well will you look at that"'s than Morris the male transvestite hooker with double-D breast implants on 28th and Park.

house of pain

anybody recollect the name of this hospital near the Marcy PJs?

BQE poetry

the Marcy/Broadway connection

brookland trends

why is this window smiling?

I've been told that the wrong kind of smile will get you boxed in the mouf.

BedStuy's contribution to the art of landscaping

for $1300/mo. this could be the back yard to your new 3 bedroom apartment (yes, 3 bedrooms. In fact, 3 rather LARGE bedrooms). Use the money you save on rent to pay the window washers...



interested in renting? Call me at 917.697.7616

once words of caution

a sticker fashioned in the style of the cautionary "do not..." signs in the NYC subway cars seems to have been edited by one passerby.

anarchist's and the homage to Dylan

psychological warfare on the Bowery

declare love on the Bowery

on mondays, as I walk down the Bowery to vollunteer at the Jivamukti Yoga Center, I look forward to passing by this long standing declaration.