Tag: nyc

The Ugly Giant

The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

wpt20161118_183200

Arrived in December 2015 to rival the Gehry skyscraper – in height but not in beauty. 432 Park Avenue is seen by many as an eyesore; its super tall, super thin square shape appears like rising out of nowhere and bears no relation to neighouring buildings. When the weather is low the top floors are lost in the clouds giving literal meaning to the tallest residential building in the world.

Here in b&w because even eyesores look good in it.

November 18th, 2016

 

 

Vertical Reality

The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

Let’s get to the bottom of this

…..

…..

Keep scrolling

…..

…..
wp120160905_184249

New York by Gehry skyscraper on Spruce Street, Lower Manhattan. Playfully edited but you can see the real thing by clicking on the link. At the time of its completion in February 2011 it was the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. That was before it was vanquished by its rival on Park Avenue (photo coming up next).

September 5th, 2016

The Lincoln Center

The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

wp20160903_205140 wp20160903_2052111 wp20160903_211852 wp20160903_212818 wp20160903_212319 wp20160903_213927

wp20160903_213912 wp20160903_2147261The Met’s Summer HD Festival of free outdoor opera screenings on Lincoln Center Plaza was still on. “The Merry Widow” was a “full house” screening that Saturday evening.

Later, seeking more information about the screenings, I read that people reserve the best seats by putting clothes, shopping bags or even papers with their names on early in the morning of the event, sometimes days in advance! They come, they grab and they go – only to appear again just before the screening to claim possession of their chosen seat. Meanwhile, people who arrive a – reasonable – couple of hours before the start have to seat wherever they can find a ”non-reserved” chair.

Complaints to the organizers have thus far been met with indifference and a generic response like ”seats are offered on the first-come first-served basis”. But shouldn’t there be a rule to define ”first-come” and narrow it down to – at least – a few hours ahead, on the same day of an event? Or, if the free screenings continue in the future, there’ll be more and more such ”reservations” each year.

September 3rd, 2016