One World Trade Center is just starting to poke up into the downtown skyline. I can just see the cranes from my Lower East Side rooftop. This photo is shot from Canal and Chrystie Streets. You can see the Beekman Tower, looking sleek without its scaffolding, on the left.

Usually you don’t see a flag on top of a steel structure until the steel has reached its complete height.

Where the added red lines meet is where the roof of the building will be. “The roof (including a 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m) parapet) of the top floor of One World Trade Center will be 1,368 feet (417 m), the same as the original One World Trade Center. With its spire height, One World Trade Center will stand at 1,776 feet (541 m),[33] a figure symbolic of the year of the United States Declaration of Independence.” One World Trade Center – Wikipedia

Jake Dobkin of the Gothamist has some great shots of the site from up high.

Viewed from the northwest.

Filed under: Architecture, Downtown, Manhattan, New York City, Photos- , WTC - by gamma
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I’ve always liked this meandering path, inlaid on the sidewalk in front of Red Square on East Houston Street in 1989. Kids love it, parents in a rush are often not as thrilled. This section will soon be torn-up in the ongoing replacement of water, gas, electric and electronic infrastructure all along East Houston Street. The red spray paint is instruction to the diggers. You can see that the concrete has already been cut. Who knows, they may preserve the slab.

Filed under: East Village, Manhattan, Photos, Street Art- , Red Square, Sidewalk Art - by gamma
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I just noticed this. The fire escape exits on the west side of this building at the corner of East Houston Street and Avenue B are shuttered. This is a sure sign that the apartments there have been emptied.

The building exterior is fairly famous for the giant NORM tag and Chico’s murals.

The east side, facing Avenue B is not blocked. I’m not sure if those apartments are still occupied. The Liquor store at the base has been closed since 2009 when “Mom,” the proprietor, died.

This building must be the major cell tower for the neighborhood.

The building has some finely wrought terracotta decorations.

Filed under: East Village, Photos, Street Art- , Chico, Construction - by gamma
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You can still see a bit of Kenny Scharf‘s colors on the side of the wall. JR is noted for his politically themed ultra-blowup photos. “Lakota, North Dakota” will highlight the Standing Rock and Pineridge Native Reservations — some of the most important Native American reservations whose impoverished and forgotten communities have suffered unspeakable hardships. – Goldman press release.

You need to be on the south side of Houston Street to really see the image, up-close it is hard to read. I think the vertical white stains are an excess of paste.
Bowery Boogie has photos of the transition, links and story..

Filed under: East Village, Manhattan, Photos, Street Art- , Houston Bowery, Kenny Scharf, Pasted Paper - by gamma
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The Con Ed Tower from Third Avenue.

Filed under: Architecture, East Village, Manhattan, Photos- , Weather - by gamma
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I had lovely light and breathable air after the short burst of rain this evening. East Houston Street at sunset. I shot this in RAW format, and used RawTherapee to process it. So far I am liking this free and open source program much more that the program that came with my camera, noise reduction is far superior.

Filed under: East Village, Manhattan, Photos- , East Houston Street, Sunset - by gamma
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I missed the main action of him camouflaging himself with paint in front of the Kenny Scharf mural. EV Grieve explains.

Filed under: East Village, Manhattan, Photos, Street Art- , Houston Bowery, Kenny Scharf - by gamma
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Competing with Eviair.

Filed under: Photos, Street Art- , Environment, Pasted Paper - by gamma
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