Destination: New York
Cycle Killer
by David Byrne | 09.21.09 | 10:27 AM ET
iStockPhoto In his new book, "Bicycle Diaries," David Byrne reflects on his travels on two wheels. Herewith, an excerpt.
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Yahoo! BuzzNYC: 30 Mosques in 30 Days
by Eva Holland | 09.18.09 | 11:03 AM ET
First came the Ramadan world tour, and now the Ramadan tour of New York. Two Muslim New Yorkers are just wrapping up a very cool project—visiting 30 mosques in the five boroughs over the 30 days of the holy month. They’ve been blogging as they go, and the result is a fascinatingly complex picture of the city’s modern Muslim community.
Here’s a quick sample from day twenty-seven in Astoria: “I looked around and saw people from all over the world coming in cracking jokes among one another. A litmus test I use to see if a mosque is serving the needs of a community, is checking to see if people are smiling.” (Via Ta-Nehisi Coates)
The Voyeurs of New York’s High Line
by Michael Yessis | 09.17.09 | 12:37 PM ET
New York City’s new High Line park looks out at, among other things, the Standard Hotel, which, writes Geraldine Baum, “became New York’s hot attraction this summer after guests were photographed in the buff prancing about, even having sex, in front of floor-to-ceiling windows.” Baum looks at the phenomenon, and puts it into context:
This 21st century urban voyeurism is the next logical step in a society that has been peeping and poking into private lives, with all of us participating, on reality TV, through social networking, and in confessional interviews and memoirs.
At Least One Country Really Cared About the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Arrival in New York
by Michael Yessis | 09.15.09 | 9:50 AM ET
And it wasn’t the U.S. OK, that might not be fair. Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did show up at the festivities, and New York City tourism promoted a days-long 400th anniversary celebration.
But, according to the New York Times, the Netherlands went nuts, covering the just-ended festivities by sending “about 50 reporters to New York, with a major television station running nightly half-hour updates on the proceedings during prime time. And thousands of Dutch citizens crossed the Atlantic to take part, including Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.”
All that to celebrate the achievements of a Brit. So why the hubbub? “[H]is financial backer was the Dutch East India Company. (‘Who paid for the voyage,’ the crown prince said, ‘really counts.’)”
Finding ‘Mad Men’ in Manhattan
by Eva Holland | 09.11.09 | 12:14 PM ET
With “Mad Men” mania gaining steam in the early days of season three, Travel and Leisure offers a guide to the inevitable Don Draper tourist trail. T&L’s Charlotte Savino notes the importance of the show’s setting: “[F]or many, it’s the moneyed haunts and good ol’ boy bars in Gotham that make the late-1950s and early-1960s drama so much fun to watch ... Manhattan—its energy, glamour, wealth, and, well, alcohol—plays like another character flitting around the Sterling Cooper ad agency. Manhattan is the comic foil to Don’s emptiness.”
Fair warning: The story includes some spoilers.
Two Days in the Life of a Rest Stop on the New York State Thruway
by Michael Yessis | 09.08.09 | 3:15 PM ET
This American Life did it again this weekend with a superb program chronicling the happenings at a highway rest stop in Wallkill, New York. Some accompanying photos can be found on Flickr.
Mapping Manhattan in 1609
by Eva Holland | 09.03.09 | 12:32 PM ET
Union Square in the early 17th century? According to The Mannahatta Project, an interactive map that lets users search block-by-block for the ecological and wildlife history of Manhattan, it was home to the meadow vole and the white-footed mouse, rather than the Greenmarket browsers of today. (Via Boing Boing)
The Warm Bacon-y Wind of New York City
by Michael Yessis | 08.31.09 | 12:05 PM ET
Jason Logan walked New York City from tip to tip, chronicling the smells of his journey in a fantastic New York Times Op-Art piece. It looked great in print yesterday. Online, it’s better—and interactive. Click on TriBeCa and you’ll find out that while he was there Logan smelled, among other things, deep-fried something, faux-leather fanny pack and a warm bacon-y wind.
There’s great detail throughout. For instance, roll over the map and your cursor turns into a nose.
Back to the Garden?
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 10:35 AM ET
ERIC THAYER / Reuters On the festival's 40th anniversary, Eva Holland goes looking for the spirit of Woodstock
Interview With Rose Hamid: Flight Attendant, Hijab Wearer
by Andrea Cooper | 08.21.09 | 9:44 AM ET
Photo courtesy of Rose Hamid How does she navigate the tensions between her profession and her faith in a post-9/11 world? Andrea Cooper learns more.
Dr. Phil Hops Aboard the Acela
by Eva Holland | 08.19.09 | 3:29 PM ET
The talk show host and self-help kingpin will film a special episode on Amtrak’s Acela Express on September 9, Gawker reports. According to the press release, Dr. Phil will be “speaking with Amtrak customers about everyday problems.” Somebody see if he can do something about those rubbery, microwaved turkey sandwiches, OK?
A Reporter Explores New York’s Crowded Skies
by Eva Holland | 08.12.09 | 4:40 PM ET
In the wake of the weekend collision between a small plane and a helicopter over the Hudson, some tough questions are being asked about the volume of sightseeing flights in New York City’s airspace. The New York Times’ Russ Buettner went for a ride with a veteran pilot to see just how crowded the skies—and how great the views—can be.
Why Are There no Moving Sidewalks in New York City?
by Michael Yessis | 08.12.09 | 12:30 PM ET
It’s not as bizarre of a question as you may think. Paul Collins looks at plans for moving walkways—the “endless-travelling sidewalk,” in the words of one inventor—in New York and other world cities that never came to be. (Via Kottke)
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Chelsea’ by Counting Crows
by Eva Holland | 08.03.09 | 2:32 PM ET
Google Mapping the Alphabet
by Eva Holland | 07.27.09 | 12:41 PM ET
Over at the Daily Dish, Chris Bodenner has come across a collection of Google map terrain views—all from New York state—that appear to spell out the alphabet. Just one more way that Google is helping to shrink the planet?