JP Chan

jpchan
jpchan
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  • The Gates 3

    (Central Park) ——–

  • The Gates 2

    (Central Park) ——–

  • The Gates 1

    Here we go…(Columbus Circle) ——–

  • The Color of the Day

    …is going to be saffron (known in the other boroughs as just plain orange). This is a sign of things to come.(49 Street Station) ——–

  • Such A Deal

    Is it still Tax-Free Week in NYC?(Trinity Pl & Rector St) ——–

  • Four Minutes

    You’d be surprised how many New Yorkers are willing to give up several minutes of a busy day to fight a crowd and listen to a sidewalk sales pitch about romantic getaways to Quebec — all just to get a free polyester scarf.You’d also be surprised …

  • Respect the Cock

    …because it’s the Year of the Rooster, 4702.Happy Chinese New Year to everyone, especially my fellow chickens, roosters, and cocks. It’s our year, peeps.(Artwork by my dear Aunt Michiko of Kobe, Japan) ——–

  • On the boats and on the planes…

    If our country is going to detain lots of immigrants for no good reason, then it probably makes sense to also lock up a few sculptures related to immigration, just to be on the safe side.(“The Immigrants” by Luis Sanguino, Battery Park) ——–

  • Birds Above

    The sign, if we were in France, might say: “Des chapeaux sont recommand??s.”(Battery Park) ——–

  • Lions in Winter

    Alternate names for Patience & Fortitude, the New York Public Library lions:1. Bookish & Dateless2. Chicken & Broccoli3. PlayStation & Xbox4. Siegfried & Roy5. Illiteracy & Unemployment6. Brad & Jennifer7. Drunk & Disorderly8. The New Hot 97 Morni…

  • What in the world…?

    DINDUPG(Tugboat Helen McAllister, South Street Seaport Museum Collection. Call +1-212-748-8610 to join the volunteers restoring this and other historic vessels.) ——–

  • Civic Serendipity

    I know plenty of people live by the motto “seek and ye shall find,” but it’s never worked for me. Many of the best things in my life — friends, jobs, bags of unmarked $100 bills — eluded me until I gave up looking for them.Photoblogging is no di…

  • From A to B

    I was waiting for the B train back to Brooklyn when the A pulled up. Not my train, but something caught my eye. “Far Rockaway via JFK Airport” the sign said. I blinked.The chime rang and the doors began to close. A quick step and I was inside. The…

  • Waiting for the Eye Doctor

    my yearly examdoc’s chattin’ away next doortrying my patience ——–

  • Whitehall and I 4

    You can see Governors Island just beyond the ferry ramps from the comfort of the new waiting room. I wish I’d been able to catch the always-gratifying sight of a boat about to dock during this visit. Well, that’s just another reason to come back. …

  • Whitehall and I 3

    The use of supergraphics seems dated to me (although I enjoy it at the entrance), but I really like the interplay of line, light, and shadow when the sun is out. (Whitehall Ferry Terminal, Manhattan) Related posts: Whitehall and I 2 Whitehall and …

  • Whitehall and I 2

    The new waiting room is a junior version of the soaring steel and glass pavilions you see at newer airports. (Whitehall Ferry Terminal, Manhattan) Related posts: Whitehall and I Always A Diversity of Opinion

  • Whitehall and I

    The starting point (if you don’t live in SI) to NYC’s best cheap date just went upscale, so you can feel a little less like a cheapskate bringing someone here before splitting the check at Gray’s Papaya. Can it really be that the spectacular State…

  • Forever in Bluejeans

    I’ve been meaning to blog about the numerous health benefits of drinking at least eight glasses of water a day and eating a diet rich in fiber. And as soon as I can spend more than 15 minutes away from the toilet, I will. ——–

  • Androids Dreaming of Electric Sheep

    Help me, I cannot escape the Cult of Mac. I own a PowerBook. I own an iPod. I want to buy more Apple stuff, even though I don’t need it. A power adapter, some extra RAM, even one of those damn iPod socks — I need to buy something…Or help you bu…

  • The Big Drink

    Quench a City’s thirstWith Hudson River CocktailIce cold refreshment(Battery Park) ——–

  • Heavy & Light 2

    (Broad St) ——–

  • On a Rooftop in Brooklyn 2

  • On a Rooftop in Brooklyn

    I guess it was a bona fide blizzard after all.

  • Heavy & Light

    Not sure if what we’re getting this weekend qualifies as a bona fide blizzard, but whatever it is, I love it. A good dumping of snow always transforms the City, hushing its noise, covering its eyesores, lightening its mood.All kids love snow — an…

  • What in the world…?

    ZRFONE PTSI ——–

  • Golden Touch

    If you want to avoid severe confusion, don’t read more than one self-help book at a time. Just take my word on this.(1 St & 4 Av, Bklyn) ——–

  • Lost in the Land of the Lost

    Although it’s a fairly common belief here in Brooklyn that early humans spent their days battling dinosaurs for food and real estate, it simply isn’t true. The fossil record unambiguously shows that dinosaurs and humans never co-existed, which pre…

  • To Serve or Protect?

    They seemed awfully young, they were wearing dress uniforms, and they didn’t have guns. They looked alert, scanning the throngs of busy commuters quietly and methodically. I thought they might be a symbolic sort of protection, not unlike the unarm…

  • NYC > AC 8

    When choosing a beachfront condo, make sure beach chair storage is included in your common fee. If it’s not, you may find yourself, er, saddled with unanticipated charges.(Atlantic City) ——–

  • NYC > AC 7

    Lucy the Margate Elephant has been around for a real long time, but she still looks great.(Atlantic Av, Margate) ——–

  • NYC > AC 6

    Ventnor City is a quiet town (at least in January) next door to Atlantic City. There’s a lovely beach and some beautiful old homes here.(Ventnor City Beach) ——–

  • NYC > AC 5

    Woof.(Ventnor City Beach) ——–

  • NYC > AC 4

    Das upsidedown boot.(Boardwalk, Ventnor City) ——–

  • NYC > AC 3

    Finally arrived in AC, in a quiet residential area far from the casinos. Between losing my shirt at Pai Gow and getting slapped by a cocktail waitress last time I was I was at TropWorld, it’s just as well I’m nowhere near the floor.(Boardwalk, Atl…

  • NYC > AC 2

    EZ-Pass is great, but old-school toll baskets have their own charms. If we had a sunroof, I might have tested my hook shot.(Atlantic City Expressway) ——–

  • NYC > AC

    Helping a friend move some stuff to an apartment in Atlantic City is as good a reason as any for a road trip. Getting behind the wheel every now and then is fun.This stretch of the Autobahn Gardenstaten is where NJ’s version of the Ruhr Valley beg…

  • Public Service Announcement 2

    And this is for everyone in sunny climes who could use a little change in the weather.(Brooklyn Heights from Lower Manhattan) ——–

  • Public Service Announcement

    This small bit of sunshine and warm weather is for everyone enduring a gray rainy day in NYC (and elsewhere).(Long Beach, CA, March 14, 2004) ——–

  • Always A Diversity of Opinion

    NYC’s high density of zealots and smart-asses of all stripes means that signs and ads often become mini public forums. I love the juxtaposition of messages, the multiple layers of meaning, and always the humor — intended or not. (Whitehall Ferry …

  • What in the world…?

    This is my own version of something I remember reading as a child – the “What in the world…?” feature of World magazine, now known as National Geographic Kids. Every issue they’d print a closeup photo of something from nature and challenge the y…

  • Meet Me at the Corner of Dirt & McGirt

    I’m a fan of Mayor Bloomberg. I think his pursuit of educational reform is nothing short of noble and I hope he’s re-elected this year by a large margin. Fixing the City’s schools is a politically risky and hugely complicated task, but he’s shown …

  • Old & New

    I was taking a short nap in the corner when Clocks burst into the break room. (His real name was Hoyt, but everyone in the precinct called him Clocks because he always wore two watches [“in case one dies,” he’d always say].) Clocks was balding, pl…

  • The Lean

    Maybe in other cities’ new-fangled subways they have those screens and announcements that tell you when the next train is coming, but here in NYC, we do it the old fashioned way. ——–

  • Truth in Advertising

    This sign still makes me laugh every time I pass it. Are they being modest or evasive? It’s funnier not to know.(Factory Shoe Outlet, 1 Rector St) ——–

  • Church vs State (vs Market)

    I wonder what would happen if there were only one spare bulb left and both the flag and the tree needed it.(New York Stock Exchange, Broad St & Wall St) ——–

  • A Six, A Gull, A Statue

    I was going to make this entry a haiku (what else?) that would be this homage (aka look-how-smart-I-am-reference) to the William Carlos Williams poem “The Great Figure,” which I know only by way of the Charles Demuth painting “The Figure 5 in Gold…

  • DT via EC #1

    This is Hell, this is HellI am sorry to tell youIt never gets better or worseBut you’ll get used to it, after a spellFor heaven is hell in reverse-Elvis Costello, “This Is Hell”(Trinity Church, Wall St & Broadway) ——–

  • Monday Music

    Top 5:1. Father To A Sister Of Thought – Pavement2. Queen Bitch – David Bowie3. Clocks – The Casual Dots4. You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory – Johnny Thunders5. Siboney – Connie Francis ——–

  • Happy New Year

    I’m not one to impose my views on others, except everytime I open my mouth or send an email or post a blog entry or ‘tag’ a beloved neighborhood landmark or spray urine on the trunk of a tree, so I will only *gently* suggest that a good New Year’s…