New York is a beautiful, fascinating city, full of architectural wonders, stunning women, and plenty of “only in New York” moments begging to be captured on film. We encourage you to catalog every minute of your trip here, so that you will never have to return.
Yes, we are laughing at you as you snap photos of Deutsch Bank memorial 9/11 fountains when behind the photographers’ right shoulder is the stunning wonder that is the Brooklyn Bridge. We question your studious cataloguing of random office buildings and street urchins banging on five-gallon plastic drums. I guess it’s all just a matter of taste….
At any rate, when shooting photos in New York City, don’t expect everyone in the vicinity to pause while you line up the perfect shot. Try and find a place out of the flow of traffic, keep the light behind you, and take your shot quickly. When shooting photos that you intend to show people as evidence of your family trek to Gotham, try and get your clan to stand in front of something that is instantly recognizable as New York. Remember, one office building looks very much like another at 5 by 7 inches.
Should you decide it is necessary to sit on the ground to get the perfect perspective, don’t be surprised if people step right over you. Here in New York City, we are accustomed to seeing people lying on the ground, and we won’t miss a beat circumnavigating you. If that doesn’t sit well with you, so to speak, do you part and avoiding sitting in places where people will be forced to step over you.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Where Not to Walk
If you are on your way to somewhere else and a prime tourist destination lies in your path, it is imperative that you find another way to circumvent that area. Knowing what these areas are will be invaluable in avoiding them.
--Times Square, at any time of day or night. Unless you are on your way to a Broadway show, there is no reason to ever go into Times Square, from 42nd to 50th Street, Broadway to Eighth Ave. This area is a Mecca for slow-moving tourists worldwide, who meander dragnet-style, gawking at the bright lights and street performers, and taking photos.
--Union Station during the Greenmarket, or at night when skateboarders fill up the back lot doing tricks, or on the weekends when every seat in the so-called park is full, or during construction, when hurricane fences and orange caution tape redirected large numbers of people through tiny spaces. Basically, do not go to here.
--Canal Street during the day—impossible to get down the street until after the shops close, around 8 p.m., after which it is a virtual ghost town.
--SoHo on the weekend—particularly Broadway between Spring and Prince Sts. Large groups of teenage tourists tend to gather in front of the Victoria’s Secret on Prince Street, somewhat inexplicably.
--Amsterdam and the West 80s—Loads of museum crowds looking for a cheap lunch spot, and slow-moving, rich elders. Just try and look cool after you’ve accidentally kicked some septagenarian's walker out from under them.
--The Meatpacking District at night—limos vie for position in front of mega bar/restaurants while drunken socialites attempt to navigate cobblestones while wearing stilettos. Hill-fucking-larious!
--Wall Street during rush hour—banksters rush blindly ahead toward subway entrances en masse. Tourists block the way, shooting pictures of the NYSE. Cops with semi-automatic weapons and K9 units glare dauntingly. Beware.
--Times Square, at any time of day or night. Unless you are on your way to a Broadway show, there is no reason to ever go into Times Square, from 42nd to 50th Street, Broadway to Eighth Ave. This area is a Mecca for slow-moving tourists worldwide, who meander dragnet-style, gawking at the bright lights and street performers, and taking photos.
--Union Station during the Greenmarket, or at night when skateboarders fill up the back lot doing tricks, or on the weekends when every seat in the so-called park is full, or during construction, when hurricane fences and orange caution tape redirected large numbers of people through tiny spaces. Basically, do not go to here.
--Canal Street during the day—impossible to get down the street until after the shops close, around 8 p.m., after which it is a virtual ghost town.
--SoHo on the weekend—particularly Broadway between Spring and Prince Sts. Large groups of teenage tourists tend to gather in front of the Victoria’s Secret on Prince Street, somewhat inexplicably.
--Amsterdam and the West 80s—Loads of museum crowds looking for a cheap lunch spot, and slow-moving, rich elders. Just try and look cool after you’ve accidentally kicked some septagenarian's walker out from under them.
--The Meatpacking District at night—limos vie for position in front of mega bar/restaurants while drunken socialites attempt to navigate cobblestones while wearing stilettos. Hill-fucking-larious!
--Wall Street during rush hour—banksters rush blindly ahead toward subway entrances en masse. Tourists block the way, shooting pictures of the NYSE. Cops with semi-automatic weapons and K9 units glare dauntingly. Beware.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Avenues Vs. Streets
Thanks to the Commissioners Plan of 1811, all New York streets above 14th are set up on a grid system, with longer avenues running north/south, and shorter streets running east/west.
What this means is that the city is easily navigable when you are walking around on streets higher than 14th Street. For example, if you are at 18th and 7th and you want to be at 26th and 9th, you need to walk up eight blocks, and over two long avenues. (Just be careful if this is actually where you need to go, because it cuts through the projects, and can be a little dodgy at night.)
Keep in mind that eight blocks are easily walkable, whereas eight avenues are much less so. You can walk from 1st St. to 8th St. in four or five minutes; the trek from First to Eighth Avenue will take about forty-five minutes. Make your transportation arrangements accordingly (Tip: For east-west travel, a cross-town bus is often your best option. Whatever street you want to cross corresponds with that bus—the M14 goes down 14th, the M23 down 23rd, the M8 down 8th to Tompkins Square—great for getting to the Lower East Side.)
Thanks to public outcry by old-timey folks, the city’s builders added in a bit of green in the form of Central Park, but archeologists have located the original iron pegs, still planted in the park’s stone boulders, that demarcate where Sixth Avenue was originally intended to flow.
Another remaining exception to the grid plan is Broadway, an old Lenape Indian trail that starts downtown on the east side between Lafayette St. and 4th Avenue, and cuts diagonally west as it weaves uptown, crossing Amsterdam around W. 79th Street. The history is nifty, but know that where Broadway is when you’re downtown isn’t where it’s going to be when you travel uptown.
Should you venture below 14th Street into old Manhattan, all bets are off. Cobblestone streets come together at strange angles, and the natural (and man-made) topography of lower Manhattan narrows. Did you know? Parts of this Manhattan neighborhood used to not exist, until builders filled in the seaside with dirt and dead horses. Totally not shitting you here, people. Dead horses.
Use caution (and a map) to navigate these areas, and think outside the box: 7th Ave South. is a completely different thoroughfare than 7th Ave., and Greenwich Street is a nice long bit of a hike from Greenwich Avenue. Be sure not to mix the two up when asking for directions from New Yorkers, the friendliest people on earth.
What this means is that the city is easily navigable when you are walking around on streets higher than 14th Street. For example, if you are at 18th and 7th and you want to be at 26th and 9th, you need to walk up eight blocks, and over two long avenues. (Just be careful if this is actually where you need to go, because it cuts through the projects, and can be a little dodgy at night.)
Keep in mind that eight blocks are easily walkable, whereas eight avenues are much less so. You can walk from 1st St. to 8th St. in four or five minutes; the trek from First to Eighth Avenue will take about forty-five minutes. Make your transportation arrangements accordingly (Tip: For east-west travel, a cross-town bus is often your best option. Whatever street you want to cross corresponds with that bus—the M14 goes down 14th, the M23 down 23rd, the M8 down 8th to Tompkins Square—great for getting to the Lower East Side.)
Thanks to public outcry by old-timey folks, the city’s builders added in a bit of green in the form of Central Park, but archeologists have located the original iron pegs, still planted in the park’s stone boulders, that demarcate where Sixth Avenue was originally intended to flow.
Another remaining exception to the grid plan is Broadway, an old Lenape Indian trail that starts downtown on the east side between Lafayette St. and 4th Avenue, and cuts diagonally west as it weaves uptown, crossing Amsterdam around W. 79th Street. The history is nifty, but know that where Broadway is when you’re downtown isn’t where it’s going to be when you travel uptown.
Should you venture below 14th Street into old Manhattan, all bets are off. Cobblestone streets come together at strange angles, and the natural (and man-made) topography of lower Manhattan narrows. Did you know? Parts of this Manhattan neighborhood used to not exist, until builders filled in the seaside with dirt and dead horses. Totally not shitting you here, people. Dead horses.
Use caution (and a map) to navigate these areas, and think outside the box: 7th Ave South. is a completely different thoroughfare than 7th Ave., and Greenwich Street is a nice long bit of a hike from Greenwich Avenue. Be sure not to mix the two up when asking for directions from New Yorkers, the friendliest people on earth.
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