As more people take to the bicycle, intersections and crossings become more and more complicated. Here's a bird's eye video created by Ron Gabriel of close calls at one midtown intersection.
This week we salute John Randel, who had the idea for the street grid in Manhattan; which makes New York City the easiest large city to move through in the world. We are celebrating the grid's 200th birthday this year. In honor of that, I bring you Manhattanhenge, which only happens twice a year.
And 25th Episode on the 25th only happens once in a lifetime...
Before the snows completely melt and we bid adieu to the winter, let's enjoy one of our favorite video-makers, Improv Everywhere, with their homage to ice skating at Bryant Park.
Here's Part Two from our visit to "old" New York. It's amazing how quickly this city changes.
From THYRDEYE:
Documentary about the changing urban backdrop of New York City. Join your host Jerry Rio as he takes you on a nostalgic tour as he explores the disappearing icons of this metropolis and find out what New Yorkers think about unchecked development and the corporate homogenization that has altered and destroyed much of the uniqueness of the New York City landscape.
The below video, filmed about 16 years ago, begins by declaring: "Our purpose is to capture video images of Manhattan's historic sites before they disappear forever. Follow the Urban Eye as it scans the city's landscape in search of historic artifacts. Watch as we compile footage for our 1995 time capsule." These clips are part of a one hour documentary, where host Jerry Rio talks to New Yorkers about the changes the city is going through (back then, Tower Records was the enemy!). At the 8:30 mark (in part one) you'll meet our villain, who tells Rio, "I would hope the whole city would turn into a giant Wal-Mart! It'd be like white bread, which I love. I want no help for struggling, old companies. No room for entrepreneurs, no room for individuals." (If he's alive today, that guy is psyched).
Happy Snow day! Today we have a great video that Robert discovered in his travels across the internet. Sure, you love New York, but do you love the UNDERCITY? Sit down, relax and let the snow fall as you enjoy Andrew Wonder & Steve Duncan exploring the fascinating underground(and bridge beams) of Manhattan:
FYI: ALL the Video Fridays represent the opinion/expertise/vision of Cayce Crown, not Robert Westfield. So if I LOVE something don't assume he loves it.
We're on the eve of another new year and how better to enjoy the transition but with a lovely song written by a local boy and performed at a local venue by a not-so-local boy. The song is "Out In The Cold" by the award winning composer Bob Levy. The performer is the exquisitely talented Dane Vannatter. The venue is the ever popular Laurie Beechman Theater in Manhattan. Perhaps in 2011 we'll be so fortunate as to hear those great Bob Levy songs performed live by Mr. Vannatter. What do you say, gentlemen?
...or Ryan Seacrest birthday episode, depending on what you celebrate.
So, it's the "HOLIDAY SEASON" and there are a lot of great, old movies that get replayed at this time of year. One of the greatest to New Yorkers is our local story, Miracle on 34th Street. In honor of that tradition, we bring to you the 1947 trailer for the movie. Times have certainly changed, but this is fabulous.
It's Black Friday. Many of you have been out shopping for hours. Remember, if things look bad, many people have faced defeat and still achieved great success.
You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying in the water....
My taxi driver this morning, told me that today was the start of "Gridlock Fridays" because of the beginning of the Holiday Shopping season. While you are stuck in that traffic, this is a great place to spend some of your time.
Today's video comes to use very fresh, recorded yesterday at the NextGen conference here is NYC. It comes to us from Tony Martignetti's Nonprofit Radio and features Regina Walton of Organic Social Media interviewing Seth Godin(American Way Magazine calls him, "America's Greatest Marketer," and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual. His latest book, LINCHPIN, hit the Amazon top 10 on the first day it was published and became a New York Times bestseller.)
This is New York: Seth, Tony, Regina & NextGen. Really smart people doing really smart stuff. It doesn't happen like this anywhere else.
"Fail, and fail often...In 1920, there were 2300 car companies in the United States." - Seth Godin
It's been rainy recently in NYC, so let's step inside the Met(Metropolitian Museum of Art) and view the the exhibition of John Baldessari's work, "Pure Beauty." This video by James Kalm* also includes the artist responding to questions from the interested crowd.
In 1970, he burned all his paintings created between 1953 and 1966. He baked the ashes into cookies.
"If I saw the art around me that I liked, then I wouldn’t do art." - John Baldessari
*James Kalm is a working artist living in Brooklyn New York. He has been an active critic for over twelve years writing for the controversial Brooklyn Rail http://brooklynrail.org/. For higher resolution videos, writings by James Kalm and views of the paintings of Loren Munk visit http://www.lorenmunk.com/.
With Halloween fast approaching, there is nothing more New York than the infamous Village Halloween parade. Its been going on for 38 years! As a former participant, I can vouch for the insanity, diversity and ferocity of the paraders. Although things have become more homogenized in recent years, one thing we can thank the internet and social media for are all the large groups performing together. One of my faves is the "Thriller" contingent. Here's a clip from last year's parade. (If you want to be a part of it, go here: Join the Thriller Gang!)
Celebrating the births and mourning the deaths, it's just another week in New York City.
First, the sad news. Joan Sutherland, famed Opera star died 10/10/10 at her home near Montreux in Switzerland. Known as "La Stupenda," her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York was so anticipated that fans started lining up at 7:30 in the morning. In 1961, this was unheard of... They were not disappointed. Her singing of the "mad scene" garnered her a 12 minute standing ovation. The video below is from 1981 with another great NYC Opera company, the City Opera. Please listen and enjoy, Ms. Sutherland singing "Tu del mio Carlo ... Carlo vive!" from Verdi's I Masnadieri.
Now, on to cheerier news. The Bronx Zoo hosted the debut of the 3 tiger triplets born this Spring. Nice to have good news about the name Tiger....
As always, we would LOVE to know what YOU think.
Please leave a timely comment below.
Episode #2 of Little Bytes Video Friday, brings us a classic video from the past. In case you aren't one of the 23 million previous viewers, it stands the test of time. In more ways than one.
John Seabrook wrote a great article about the new Revson Fountain in last week's New Yorker. This video on their blog shows the sad decline of the original Revson Fountain...from its starring role in The Producers (I never saw that fountain doing ANYTHING like this) to its sad little cameo in Sweet Home Alabama. Make sure you see the most recent performance at the end of the video--as part of the massive renovation of Lincoln Center, the fountain was redesigned by WET (Water Entertainment Technologies) Design, the leader in liquid architecture. Their work includes the Fountains of Bellagio in Vegas and the Dubai Fountain, which opened in May and is the world's largest fountain and features blasts up to fifty stories high! In New York, their work can be seen at the Brooklyn Museum and Columbus Circle.