City Living

After driving around for what seems like an eternity, you finally find a parking spot. You read all the signs, double check that there's no yellow curbs or fire hydrants nearby, feed the meter, and go on your merry way. A few hours later, you walk back up to your car and see that tiny orange rectangle (the infamous NYC parking ticket) taunting you from the windshield. If this sounds familiar, here's your chance to stop shelling out $65 for being one minute over your last quarter. AwareCar, a smartphone app and Bluetooth device, keeps drivers in check by reminding them where they parked, when the meter is expiring, and at what time they need to leave to head back to their vehicle (h/t CityLab). And all this will only set you back $9.
Find out how this genius technology works

August 24, 2015

Are You Picking Up After Your Dog? Map Shows Neighborhoods With the Worst Offenders

Remember: Don't blame the dog, blame its lazy owner. On some NYC streets, navigating the crap that covers the sidewalks can be like running a gantlet. And as this map created by The Economist shows, there are definitely some neighborhoods that have it worse than others. Compiled from complaints submitted across all the boroughs, as seen above, the shittiest nabes of 2014 include Upper Manhattan on the east side, a good deal of the Bronx, Bed-Stuy and, unsurprisingly, Bushwick, where just last year neighborhood artists were glittering the deserted turds of their furry friends in gold.
find out more here

City Living

August 21, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES

Natalie Raben spends her days thinking about closing time, specifically the gates businesses roll down when they lock up for the night. For Natalie, these metal gates represent blank canvases waiting to tell stories. And over the last several months, she has been focusing on turning them into works of art as she oversees and manages the 100 GATES Project. Natalie spends much of her time connecting interested businesses with artists to support a collaboration that creates a sense of community each evening. With a mixture of well-known artists like Buff Monster and up-and-comers making their debut, these once-bland metallic gates are livening up the area, engaging residents visually as well as inspiring conversations around the works themselves. So far over 40 gates have been completed and more will be finished later this month. We recently spoke with Natalie to learn more about this unique project and how the neighborhood is responding to it.
Read our interview with Natalie here

August 21, 2015

Mayor de Blasio Proposes Ripping Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas

There are a lot of nuisances to be found in Times Square, but apparently for Mayor de Blasio, none are as bothersome as the topless women and aggressive Elmos traipsing around the area's overly lit streets. As the NYDN reports, de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have formed a special task force aimed at ridding the bustling tourist destination of its "jiggly panhandlers." And the solution at the top of their list is tearing up the pedestrian plazas and letting cars back in.
Find out more on the issue here, as well as alternative plans

August 18, 2015

VIDEO: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rats Coming up Your Toilet

Warning: Explicit rat footage ahead. If you don't already live in fear of rats taking over your apartment, you will after this. A new video from National Geographic shows exactly how these rodents make their way up your toilet bowl, which is apparently quite a common city occurrence, according to Gothamist. Though we're used to seeing them scamper around near the garbage bins, rats are pretty aquatically adept; they can tread water for three days and stay underwater without breathing for three minutes. Plus, their ribs are hinged at the spine, meaning they can fit through even the narrowest of pipes.
Watch the video here if you dare

City Living

August 14, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: BriAnne Wills, Creator of the Latest Internet Sensation ‘Girls and Their Cats’

Cats are certainly having their moment. From memes to museum exhibits to full-page articles in major publications, felines are everywhere these days. And for the women who love their cats, there's a chance to join in on the fun thanks to fashion photographer BriAnne Wills. Earlier this year, BriAnne founded Girls and Their Cats, a photography series capturing the intimate bond between New York women and their kitty companions. She initially launched her work on a Tumblr page, expecting it to be a quick project before she got back to the fashion world. Instead, cat lovers found BriAnne, and she now has almost 4,000 followers on Girls and Their Cats' Instagram account. She is currently expanding the series to accommodate the growing community of like-minded women relishing their fondness for felines. We recently chatted with BriAnne about how her small project is quickly becoming a big one and why women and their cats are in the spotlight.
READ MORE

August 13, 2015

Study Says: The 4 Train Is the Worst Performing, the L Train the Best

The L train may be painfully packed during rush hour, but at least it can tout the title of being the best performing of all of NYC's subway lines—which appear only to be getting worse. The Journal reports that an audit recently conducted by the state comptroller’s office revealed that, on average, the subway system's on-time performance (how frequently a train reaches its last stop within five minutes of the scheduled time) is on the decline, falling to 74 percent on weekdays and 81 percent on weekends in 2014, from 81 percent and 85 percent in 2013. But the worst performing train of all? The 4 train.
More on the best and worst trains here

August 12, 2015

Map Lets Users Draw Where They Think Their Neighborhood Borders Are

Back in the day, there was no East Village; it was all the Lower East Side. The Upper West Side was one big neighborhood; there weren't subdivisions like Broadway Corridor or Riverside. Brokers didn't invent acronyms like NoMad and DoBro. As time goes on, areas in New York City seem to multiply, but this really all depends on who you're talking to. Since the city has no actual neighborhood boundaries (they divide the city by much larger community districts), everyone has their own idea of where one neighborhood ends and the other begins. And a new interactive map from DNAinfo allows New Yorkers to draw what they think their neighborhood borders are and see how their approximations compare to others.'
See how we did at our first attempt

City Living

August 11, 2015

New Census Fact Finder Sheds Surprising Light on Neighborhood Demographics

Think you live in a hipster 'hood? Constantly complaining about the stroller parades down your block? While you may think you have your neighbors pinpointed, a quick look at the hard facts may surprise you. Last week, the Department of City Planning revealed its updated Census Fact Finder, an interactive application that uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey to provide highly detailed neighborhood profiles. Take for example the Lower East Side, often thought of as a playground for well-off post-grads. As The Lo-Down noted, 47 percent of the neighborhood's population is unemployed, only 34 percent have a college degree, and 35 percent pay less than $500/month in rent.
More findings right here

City Living

New Yorker Spotlight: Lori Pailet of Aquaskills on Teaching Water-Fearing Adults to Swim

Like many who work in the Financial District, Lori Pailet heads to work before the sun is up. But instead of jumping into an early meeting at an investment bank or law office, Lori meets her clients poolside for a morning dip. As the owner and director of Aquaskills, she spends her days helping New Yorkers reach their aquatic potential. A former artist and designer, Lori has been sharing her passion for swimming since Aquaskills was founded in the early 2000s. She is driven by a desire to help individuals engage safely and happily with the water. Through her hard work and determination, the school has become a go-to for all walks of life looking to learn to swim for the first time, or refine their technique. Along with a team of trained instructors, Lori offers a wide range of classes and lessons depending on skill level, but specializes in adults who either have aquaphobia or who never even learned to dog paddle. Lori was even featured in a NY Times piece last summer about aquaphobia, the story following drummer Attis Clopton as he overcame his fear of water. We spoke with Lori to find out more on her own journey into the pool, and how she approaches those learning to swim for the first time.
Read our interview with Lori here

August 6, 2015

Map of ‘Subway Deserts’ Shows Outer Boroughs Left High and Dry

By Michelle Cohen

Though we may already know there are places in NYC that we can't easily get to, transit data junkie Chris Whong lays it all out on a map that points out the city's lesser-served regions, at least by underground means. The interactive map shows all NYC land areas more than 500 meters (about .3 miles) from one of the city’s 468 subway stations–that’s about two avenue blocks or six or seven shorter street blocks (around a seven-minute walk) according to Google maps. A big blue dot blots out this radius surrounding the station; everything outside the dot, well, you’re hoofing it (or taking a bus, car or rickshaw).
Find out more

August 5, 2015

POLL: Do You Still Shop at Your Local Bodega?

Yesterday we asked the question, “Are the city’s bodegas becoming a thing of the past?” As we noted, “many of these tiny shops have been scrambling to stay in business. The city’s roughly 12,000 bodegas are losing customers.” According to the Times, 75 have already shuttered this year. Typically, we pin this on rising rents […]

City Living

August 4, 2015

Are the City’s Bodegas Becoming a Thing of the Past?

By Michelle Cohen

The Times highlights the plight of the city's iconic local bodegas, tiny grocery-slash-beer-slash-whatever-the-local-patrons-need shops that have long been a colorful cornerstone of everyday life in the city's neighborhoods. Photographer Gail Victoria Braddock Quagliata even spent nine months pounding the pavements of Manhattan in a quest to photograph every single one of its bodegas. But many of these tiny shops have been scrambling to stay in business. The city's roughly 12,000 bodegas are losing customers. About 75 have closed this year according to the Times, many in uptown neighborhoods like Inwood, Washington Heights and Harlem. Though that proportion is small, many shop owners are concerned.
Read more on the plight of local bodegas

City Living

New Yorker Spotlight: Author Julia Pierpont on Her Debut Novel and Coming of Age in NYC

Photo of Julia Pierpont via Shiva Rouhani

July 31, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Author Julia Pierpont on Her Debut Novel and Coming of Age in NYC

One of the many books published this summer is Julia Pierpont's "Among the Ten Thousand Things." Her debut novel tells the story of an Upper West Side family–parents Jack and Deb and kids Simon and Kay–following the discovery of infidelity. Published earlier this month by Random House, it's received plenty of praise, including a rave review in the New York Times. Julia, who is in her late 20s, grew up on the Upper West Side and currently resides in Brooklyn. She went a few blocks north to attend Barnard College and then went downtown to to NYU's M.F.A. program, where she began writing the book. The story is peppered with lines New Yorkers will relate to, especially anyone who spent their childhood in Manhattan. "There were things you learned early, growing up in the city, and there things you learned late, or not at all," she writes, exploring the idea of what city kids gain, but also what they lack in comparison to their suburban counterparts. Then there are her descriptions. One line that seems particularly fitting given the temperature reads, "Central air seemed the greatest of suburban luxuries. It was like living inside a Duane Reade." Before she did a reading in Oxford, Mississippi, we spoke with Julia to find out about her life in New York and what role it played in "Among the Ten Thousand Things."
Get the scoop from Julia here

July 31, 2015

1970s Map Reveals Worldview According to New Yorkers

By Shiloh Frederick

Does anything really exist outside of New York? The creator of this map doesn't think so. Made in the 1970s by an anonymous artist, this maps depicts the worldview of the stereotypical New Yorker. The greatest city in the world occupies the greatest amount of space on the map, while the rest of the country is reduced to a narrow strip of land. That is, the rest of the country that's worth acknowledging.
See the full map here

July 31, 2015

Feasibility Study to Address Streetcars or Light Rail for Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront

By Michelle Cohen

In the ongoing discussion of expanding the city's mass transit options to underserved areas, we may be a step closer to addressing the need for transit along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront–between Astoria, Red Hook and Sunset Park, according to CapitalNY. While many of those areas have transit to and from Manhattan covered, a north-west connection is needed (and relying on the G train doesn't help much). An advisory committee comprised of developers, transportation experts and civic organizers has formed to address this need. Recently, the consulting firm of HR&A Advisors (former employers of city planning commissioner Carl Weisbrod) was hired by the committee to study the feasibility of a streetcar service or a light rail line to connect Sunset Park to Astoria, connecting rapidly growing neighborhoods like Red Hook, Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn, as well as burgeoning business and industry hubs like Long Island City and the Brookyn Navy Yard.
Find out more

NYC aka New Netherland: Mapping the 11 Different Cultural ‘Nations’ Within the U.S.

Map via Colin Woodward and Tufts/Brian Stauffer

July 30, 2015

NYC aka New Netherland: Mapping the 11 Different Cultural ‘Nations’ Within the U.S.

Those of us who live in the tri-state area tend to get accused of thinking the country is made up of the northeast, the west coast, and maybe Florida, and then forgetting about the entire rest of the country. A new map that is part funny, part culturally realistic takes a look at the "11 distinct cultures that have historically divided the U.S.," according to Business Insider. The spot-on map comes from award-winning author and journalist Colin Woodward's newest book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures in North America. In Woodward's map, New York City and northern New Jersey is renamed New Netherland, as it was settled by the Dutch and is a very commercial area. The author describes this nation as "materialistic, with a profound tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity and an unflinching commitment to the freedom of inquiry and conscience."
Find out about the other nations of our nation

City Living

Should NYC Implement San Francisco’s ‘Pee-Proof’ Paint to Deter Public Urination?

Image via YouTube/St. Pauli Peeback

July 27, 2015

Should NYC Implement San Francisco’s ‘Pee-Proof’ Paint to Deter Public Urination?

Normally, urinating in public comes with a hefty fine, but in San Francisco, offenders might be spending their money instead on a new pair of clothes and shoes. The problem has apparently gotten so out of hand in the city that the Public Works Department is implementing "pee-proof" paint on walls that are hot spots for people to relieve themselves. The special superhydrophobic coating called Ultra-Ever Dry is liquid repellent, and therefore splashes the urine right back on the person.
More details and a video on the technology

July 27, 2015

VIDEO: Go Behind the Super Antiquated Switchboard of Today’s NYC Subway

By Shiloh Frederick

The MTA is showing its age in a new video put forth by the public benefit corporation. "People know the system is old," the narrator of MTA's video opens, "but I don't think they realize just how old it is." The New York City subway system has been running since 1904, and as we previously reported in December, it's been running on the same technology used in the 1930s. In the video, computers are noticeably absent from the West 4th Street Supervisory Tower, which is in control of all of the train movements around the area. Instead there are plenty of pens and papers, as well as old, lever-operated machinery that the railroad industry has long stopped manufacturing. It's no wonder that the MTA has put out this video promoting their Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system, a project that aims to modernize the subway.
Watch the incredible video here

July 27, 2015

IKEA Is Selling a Placemat with a Pocket for Your Phone

We're having a hard time deciding whether this design is brilliant or just plain depressing. These new placemats come courtesy of IKEA and are part of their upcoming SITTNING collection, a limited edition series made up of 40 pieces focused in on "the joys of sharing a meal with those you love." The new mats—which will reportedly be called "Logged Out"—will feature a convenient little pouch for you to tuck your smartphone away so you can finally enjoy a meal with your friends without checking Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, email...
More on IKEA's new design here

July 24, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Gabrielle Shubert Reflects on Her Ride at the New York Transit Museum

On the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn is what looks like a regular subway entrance. But upon further inspection, it becomes clear that there's no uptown and downtown platforms here. This is the New York Transit Museum, the largest museum dedicated to urban public transportation in the country. It's fittingly located inside a decommissioned–but still working–subway station. And over the last 40 years, it has told one of New York's most important stories–how mass transit and city development are intricately connected and how public transportation is one of the city's crowning achievements, in spite of its delays and crowded rides. Gabrielle Shubert has served as the museum's director for the past 24 years. She transformed a young institution into a go-to destination for learning about and engaging with urban history. From vintage cars to subway fares, Gabrielle has offered visitors a chance to go behind the scenes and marvel at the wonders of New York City's incredible public transportation system. On the eve of her retirement, we sat down with Gabrielle in one of the museum's vintage cars and found out about her early days as director, the range of exhibits and programming she has overseen, and the institution's bright future.
Read the interview here

July 22, 2015

How You Can Live in a Billionaire’s Row Condo for Free AND Make Six Figures

Get a job as one of their building managers. As DNA Info reports, if you're just a regular Joe or Jane looking to take up residence in one of the city's priciest towers, you don't need to be a billionaire—or even a millionaire for that matter. The resident managers at four headline-stealing, ultra-luxury towers will live rent-free, in very large apartments, while also earning respectable six-figure salaries for their services.
Find out more here

July 17, 2015

Why Are the Mean Streets of Queens Numbered the Way They Are?

By Shiloh Frederick

It's easy to tell if you're dealing with a Queens address–there's the hyphenated street number and the variety of numbered thoroughfare names (Street, Place, Road, Avenue, Lane, Terrace). The really hard part, however, is actually getting to that address in Queens, especially if you're a resident from another borough to whom it feels like trying to maneuver your way in another country where you don't know the language. But instead of continuing to find ourselves lost, we decided to get to the bottom of this complicated system. Prior to the consolidation of New York City in 1898, what is now known as the borough of Queens was only a hodgepodge of unconnected towns, each of which had its own road system and addresses. Once the towns were combined into one borough, having multiple road systems was becoming a hindrance to fast-growing Queens. So by 1911, the borough hired engineer Charles U. Powell to replace the old systems with a carefully planned grid system.
The rest of the story is right this way

July 17, 2015

Grim Map Shows the Relationship Between Poverty and Pollution