i'm not sayin, i'm just sayin

Roundup of Apple Tablet Details from Alleged Beta Tester Jason Calcanis, Others

2010-01-27T07:54:00.004-05:00

The blurry camphone pic above may be the first legit photo of the Apple tablet device (yes, name still withheld) seen in the wild. It was posted by tech entrepreneur Matt Schlict around 2:30 am Pacific Tuesday night, just hours after (apparently) the NDAs signed by a number of Apple beta testers expired.

Schlict and fellow tech investor Jason Calcanis tweeted a bunch of new details on the device, which (assuming this is not a hack nor a publicity stunt), include the following:

Tablet will come in 3 sizes / memory levels, priced at $599, $699 and $799

Connects to other tablets over wifi for gaming.

Two cameras - one on the front and one on the back. Video conferencing built-in.

Custom Farmville application (no, I'm not making this up)

Chess application that came in second software build (not all testers had seen it...suspicious?)

OLED screen

Back has solar pad for recharging

Verizon and AT&T connectivity

Two thumbpads - one left and one right side - for mouse gestures and thumbprint security

Battery life is "good in ebook," and only 2 -3 hours when playing games or using wi-fi.

Runs an iPhone OS "with ability to have multiple apps running at the same time"

Wireless keyboard and monitor connection for TV

Built-in HDTV tuner and pvr

Auto-syncs with iPhone

Will NOT go on sale today

Apple Tablet Spoiler! 2 Cams, OLED, Solar Charging and...Farmville?

2010-01-27T07:03:00.003-05:00

Tech entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calcanis appears to have dropped a mother lode of specific details about the Apple tablet device 16 hours before today's big announcement. Calcanis - founder of Weblogs, Inc and owner of Mahalo - an angel investor company with money in electric sportscar startup Tesla Inc - made the revelations on his Twitter account @Jason Tuesday evening.

According to Calcanis' verified Twitter account, "as a pundit," he was given a tablet to beta by Apple ten days ago. Among the revelations he (or a clever hacker) posted to Twitter last night:

The device has two cameras, comes in three versions (priced at $599, $699, and $799 "based on size and memory), and a "custom Farmville for Apple tablet is a huge game changer". That last bit makes us wonder if the comments are really from a hacker.

Another suspicious Tweet: "Yes, there are 2cameras: one in front and one in back (or it may be one with some double lens) so you record yourself and in front of u." One would think a guy as sharp as Calcanis, having had the tablet for ten days, would know whether its two separate cameras or "one with some double lens".

On the other hand, Calcanis appears to Tweet back and forth with other apparent beta testers, who begin dropping their own bombs just after midnight when their NDAs with Apple expired. In any case, here's the text of the Tweets, verbatim. You decide if they're real - and we'll all know in a few hours:

... also, Farmville for Apple tablet is a huge game changer. I know for a FACT Mark Pincus is onstage tomorrow with Jobs. about 4 hours ago from UberTwitter

Off to bed, but I assure you I'm not joking and the specs are real.... Most of all that this is best gadget ever made and NOT overhyped.

apple tablet connects to other tablets over wifi for gaming. There will be LAN parties with these things, people playingFirst personshooters

Sorry, @snappme can't show device or say actual name.

For background: apple asked me to do press tomorrow on cnbc, cnn, etc. As a pundit they gave me tablet 10 days ago. 3people dropped it off!

Apple tablet games are sick. Basically nintendo wii-level innovation. Custom farmville app is insane. Mark pincus is demoing with steve tmmr

Ok, I'm going to bed (with apple tablet after reading nytimes+Vanity Fair on it!), steve jobs outdid himself, its greatest device ever!!!

Apple tablet's 2 cameras is sick feature for video conferencing: u shoot what's in front of you + yourself. Augmented video conferncing!

Yes, apple tablet is oled + back has solar pad for recharging, but it really doesn't work quickly. More a gimmic. Verizon+att,wifi yes!

Apple Tablet has thumbpads on each side for mouse guestures, reads fingerprint for security. Up to 5 profiles by finerprint for family.

Yes, there are 2cameras: one in front and one in back (or it may be one with some double lens) so you record yourself and in front of u.

Well @joshgrenon, I can tell u the battery life is great in ebook reading mode but not great when on wifi or playing games. 2-3hrs

Yes @HappyDrew, the apple tablet is running an iphone os flavor with ability to have multiple apps running at same time (ie pandora, browser

Ok, I will take two questions about the new apple tablet which I have right here. Go ahead... My nda is basically over. :)

The price will be 599, 699 and 799 depending on size and memory in apple tablet. Also, wireless keyboard + monitor connection for tv

Also, the apple tablet is really amazing for newspapers. Video conferencing is super stable, but nothing new.

The best part ofthe apple tablet as beta user has been the built in HDTV tuner and pvr, and the chess game.

Note to press: No, not going to break my NDA w/ Apple/steve so u can get jump on announcement. It is the most *amazing* device ever.

Yes, it's true... I've been beta testing the Apple tablet for the past two weeks and it's amazing.

about 10 hours ago from web

A Burger to Die (on the Cross) For

2009-10-05T18:10:00.003-04:00

Apparently the folks at Bob's - a Brazilian burger chain - have cooked up a Big Mac knockoff that's fit for Jesus Christo Himself. We saw this on Saturday at Rio de Janeiro's international airport. The wall-sized ad shows the 'Big Bob' perched on the outstretched hand of Rio's iconic "Christ the Redeemer" mountaintop statue, as if Jesús is keeping the double-burger handy for the inevitable post-miracle munchies. The slogan below translates roughly to "Brazilian as you like" (we'll leave it at bikini waxing, thanks: Bob's burgers are horrendous).

Gotta wonder if this campaign came out of DDB's Brazil office? You know, the shop that gave us the culturally-sensitive "9/11 was no biggie" pitch to the World Wildlife Fund last month.

Either way, we're sure glad that Christians aren't as touchy about cartoon images of their deity (for burger-peddling purposes or otherwise) as the Muslims, right?

Brawling Under the Bridge:Dumbo Fight Night 2009

2009-08-01T19:40:00.009-04:00

There's a fistfight going down under the Manhattan bridge right now, and the cops are just standing by watching.

We grabbed a few shots of the USABoxingMetro sanctioned event and posted them here Its the third annual Dumbo Fight Night, but the first time its been held outdoors under the newly-opened archway that runs beneath the Brooklyn Anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge.

The amateur boxing event is a benefit for the Dumbo Improvement District and The Archway, and partners include Dumbo stalwarts Gleason's Gym and Halcyon Records.

Fight Night [flickr photoset]

Gettin Wet at the Pool Party!

2009-07-26T20:00:00.005-04:00

Pool party washout set on Flickr!

As frustrating as it had to be for JellyNYC, having booked another great lineup - to have their funtastic show blown out by Mama Nature before the headliner could take the stage...still, today's crazy thunderstorm was kinda, well...fun!

Arriving around 2:30, we were swept into a long but quick-moving line and soon regurgitated into what's normally the very uptight, NY State Parks-run East River State Park.

Against all odds, the funnest show in New York - whose demise was widely predicted when it's namesake (McCarren Park Pool) was shuttered last fall for (!) a totally paid-for multi-million-dollar renovation (!!) - was in force and holding it down. With the East River and midtown Manhattan as its backdrop, the show that's (in three short years) become a mini Burning Man for Brooklyn's funnest neighborhood - seemed alive and well.

But overhead, the Summer Fun Gods were conspiring. Huge thunderclouds formed, then drifted away, then reformed.

On stage, the Black Lips set resonated with the storm building overhead: lead singer Cole Alexander swung his axe against show security guards sent to protect the band from an overzealous crowd. At times in their set, the green-shirted rentacops outnumbered the band two to one.

Meanwhile, the beer flowed, the sky darkened, and by the end of the Lips' set, lightning bolts began to strike the midtown skyline behind the stage.

The State Park management told the promoters to pull the plug - before headliners Trail of Dead could plug in and play a single power chord. Lightning is kryptonite to outdoor shows (remember the girl that was struck by lightning at the Free Tibet show at RFK Stadium in '98?).

As security guards tried to clear the park, the sky grew dark and the wind began to whip. A hipster couple in the VIP area stood on a picnic table for a wind-whipped photo op. The jib camera op hurried to disassemble his rig, and the crew from Music First set about packing up a quarter-million dollars worth of audio gear as a driving drizzle set in.

With most of the audience clear...shift focus to the grid of pop-up tents that formed the beer and wine bar (and storytelling tense to 'present'!). By now a the breeze has grown to a stiff wind, and has begun to lift the lightweight shelters. We see the bar and security staff hooked to tent corners, adding their body weight to the existing ballast buckets and fighting the gusts that want desperately to pick up the lashed-together tents and turn them into a giant box kite. And we join them in their futile but noble fight!

The park rangers - having been given orders to clear the park (no exceptions!), approach the human ballast insisting that the folks holding the tents abandon ship and leave the park. We protest briefly: We've seen what happens when the wind gets its way with Ez-Up tents. But the state park rangers are insistent, and several of the holders concede. And at that moment, the tent-city's fate is sealed. We bail with the rest of the tent-hangars, and take shelter with a couple of smart Salvadorans who are low and dry, under the nose of the refrigerated beer trailer.

Almost immediately, the tent city blows by our little bunker, tumbling and tangling as the metal frames somersault along, dragged by wind-filled nylon canopies. The sky suddenly opens and an unbelievably hard-driving rain sends anyone still in the open scurrying for cover...except the three girls outside the park fence on North 8th, who - in their inebriated bliss - have decided to embrace and celebrate the furious summer storm. They dance and spread their arms into the gale, accepting nature's fury head-on, and mugging for my camera.

And then - as suddenly as it set in, the sky brightened - the sun cutting through sheets of rain, a rainbow emerging, rain stopping, dripping-wet hipsters emerging from unseen crevices. The Music First guys have somehow saved all their gear and are now plucking up damp-but-intact flight cases into their truck.

The beer vendors are not so fortunate; their pop-up shelters are a tangle of aluminum and nylon - but no-one's been injured. The Converse-branded basketball hoop stands triumphant in the sunset. The music fans have scattered up North 8th Street, absorbed into spontaneous parties that have popped up in garages and backyards, and into Bedford Avenue bars and restaurants, whose managers are thankful. And another successful pool party fades into a hazy, shiny, wet Williamsburg summer evening.

New Brooklyn Bridge Bike Striping:Sure to Have Everybody Griping

2009-07-20T10:43:00.004-04:00

During our morning run across the Brooklyn Bridge today, we got a quick ankle wash from a DOT crew power-washing the old center stripe off the wood planks of the shared pedestrian/bicycle promenade. Passing the bridge's Manhattan tower, we discovered that the workmen were busy replacing the fading center-stripe that's long been the Maginot line between angry, rapacious cyclists and clueless, meandering pedestrians crossing the famous span.

On any given day - especially summer weekends - a crowd of tourists and local commuters clog the south side of the pathway; mostly staying within their 50% of the 13 ft width. But invariably, as the pedestrian side gets maxed out with folks of varying gaits - many stopping for posed photos, or just generally meandering - walkers begin spilling into the bike lane. Some folks - apparently unfazed by the fact that thousands of others have dutifully crammed into the opposite lane - walk defiantly three and four abreast in the bikeway. And cyclists angrily swerve around them, muttering or shouting derisive comments as they pass.

For a second this morning, we though the DOT was acceding to the tangible pressure one feels when faced with a lane heaving with humanity sharing equal real estate with a bike lane mostly devoid of matter (pedestrians on the bridge probably outnumber cyclists by 100 to 1 on any given day). At first glance, the new striping gives the walking lane 15 or 20% more width than the bike lane(!)

But we paced it off, and cable-to-cable, both lanes are still around six and a half feet each - identical! We think there's a bit of social engineering going on here by the DOT: by painting an outside lane stripe on the north side, it appears that cyclists have much less room than the non-edged walking lane. Which - perhaps - will make pedestrians feel slightly superior. And having been awarded additional real estate in acknowledgment of their superiority, presumably they will acquiesce to the cyclists, allowing them to grovel within their skinny, inferior boundaries.

The DOT can play ignorant, maintaining that the outside lane stripe is only necessary on the bike side, where cyclists riding too close to the bridge cables are likely to get their handlebars hung up and have a wreck. And everyone (or more likely no one) will go home happy.

Monday Eye Candy: Unforgettable Sky

2009-06-29T11:08:00.003-04:00

Even though it was beaten to death online all weekend (including one "we saw Michael's face" photo that Fox 5 has since taken down), we couldn't resist one more look at Friday's amazing 'mammatus' (yes - that's Latin for 'boobs') sunset cloud formation. This view taken from Bryant Park.

Mysterious NY HarborWay Banners:Premature Elaboration

2009-06-26T13:14:00.007-04:00

Overnight Thursday, dozens of "NY Harborway" banners were installed on utility poles throughout Dumbo. Having followed the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, the Mayor's PlaNYC 2030 scheme, Brooklyn Bridge Park development - and just about anything to do with the Brooklyn waterfront over the past few years, we were surprised we hadn't heard about this one.

Thinking we'd missed some new Bloomberg pre-election PR initiative, we quickly Googled the phrase "NY HarborWay". Nuthin. Tried all the iterations: "nyharborway". Nada. "NYC harborway". Nuh uh. "+NYC +harborway". Bzzzt!

NYC.gov offered up "did you mean ARBORWAY?" Nah. Google News, Google Blog Search: Nope. Neverheardovit.

A friendly 311 operator offered up the observation "oh yes, you folks have a port in that area, where ships come in, right?" Um, well sorta...but this is on Water Street and Pearl, about half a mile from where the Water Taxi stops.

Following a hunch, we called up the folks at NYC & Company, the city's 'official marketing and tourism organization.' They're the people behind the nycgo.com banners in the city, including the hilariously tongue-in-cheek "Rainbow Pilgrimage" campaign seen recently riding poles around the West Village.

A frustrated NYC & Co. staffer explained that the banners are indeed theirs. NY HarborWay is a new designation soon to be announced by the city, to promote the connection of waterfront districts and parks by bicycle, public transportation, and - eventually - ferry service. The banners were ordered a while back, and were meant to be held and installed in conjunction with the official press announcement. Apparently whoever is in charge of installation (the DOT?) jumped the gun by a few weeks. Maybe they wanted to get them up during Thursday's break in the nonstop monsoon rains.

In any case, keep an eye out for the official announcement from the Mayor's office. We're curious to see how this does (or doesn't) tie in with the Greenway Initiative; how it may impact the ongoing bike lane controversies; and whether there's more city funding in store for East River ferry service. If there's one thing way under-utilized in NYC, its our miles of waterfront. Here's hoping NY HarborWay is more than just a banner campaign.

Gone Fishin'...Be Back Soon!

2009-03-17T15:33:00.003-04:00

Dedicated readers of imnotsayin may have noticed that our posting frequency has dwindled from a trickle to just an intermittent drip lately. We apologize for that and assure you that we haven't given up, closed up shop, nor laid ourselves off ("...another victim of the Global Economic Meltdown...").

Rather, we've begun a three-month gig, traveling alongside a major music tour and performing some relatively modest production chores for the tour's sponsor. We'd love to blog about that - but we promised not to at the beginning, and we'll keep to our word.

The good news is that upon our return to Brooklyn in mid-May, we're planning a long-overdue overhaul of the blog. And planning to expand our scope, posting much more frequently and filling in what we perceive as some gaps in the online coverage of Brooklyn news, history and culture. And more pictures!! (Everybody loves pictures, right?).

So Happy Spring! Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience. We're looking forward to new beginnings. Here's to bigger and better things to come!

Bob Guskind: We Miss You

2009-03-09T00:51:00.012-04:00

photo by Flatbush Gardener

Robert Guskind, author of the groundbreaking and prolific Brooklyn blog Gowanus Lounge, passed away on March 4th. His untimely death has been widely published and discussed, especially across the NYC blogosphere.

Though I didn't know Bob much beyond a steady stream of emails, IM's, and cross-postings over the past couple of years, I considered him very much a friend and a mentor. Much of imnotsayin's readership is directly attributable to Bob's frequent coverage of our posts on Gowanus Lounge and Curbed. Indeed, he gave us one of our first external links, and the resulting traffic sparked our enthusiasm for blogging - especially blogging about Brooklyn.

Bob's style and method has always informed our writing here, but his work ethic and sheer volume of posts left us (and perhaps all other NYC bloggers) in the dust. He lived 20 minutes from Williamsburg by car, but would often beat us to stories happening on our own block. Once, we both posted nearly identical stories - completely independent of each other's knowledge - within minutes of one another. We had a good chuckle when we realized we were both wired so close to one another that we wrote the same story at the same time. We cross-posted the piece, each giving the other partial credit for the scoop.

The breadth of Bob's reporting in Brooklyn - even while simultaneously covering the whole NYC real estate world for Curbed - was mind-boggling. He'd post coverage of Greenpoint goings-on in the morning, then somehow have his own photos and story of a demolition in Red Hook or Coney Island up by lunchtime. He was a fixture at neighborhood events - you could pick his big gentle frame with his SLR out of the packed crowd at Pool Party shows, or predictably find him covering a street party or blogger event; but were just as likely to see him walking alone in the Northside, shooting the latest street art, ridiculous bit of new architecture, or laughably-abandoned sidewalk sofa.

In the past year, Bob shared with me that he was having some personal difficulties, and I tried to be supportive from a distance. I'd recently had some tumultuous times in my own world that had worked out for the best, and I tried to reassure Bob that even extremely difficult things can have happy endings. I (and his thousands of devoted readers) were thrilled when Gowanus Lounge returned after several weeks' hiatus in September. But I knew that Bob was still struggling personally.

A few weeks ago, I'd planned to meet up with Bob socially, for a long-overdue dinner. He'd recently been laid off from his paid gig at Curbed, and he sounded a bit desperate to have someone to commiserate with; I had some new ideas I wanted to share about the two of us collaborating. That day I emailed him some encouragement, saying that I thought the economic downturn was camouflaging some potential business opportunities for bloggers and citizen journalism in general. He responded that afternoon:

Thanks for the pep talk. My feelings about this ping pong between, hey, there is opportunity here to "I am doomed, where do I buy hemlock?"

But I was feeling lousy that day, and I wound up canceling at the last minute. Looking back, I wonder if I failed to read between the lines and recognize the extent his despair: had I missed an opportunity to connect and inspire him that could have made a difference? I'll never know.

That said, lets remember Bob for the smiles he brought us: his LOL drubbings of serial starchitect Karl Fischer he dubbed "Hot Karl"; his relentless use of his own renames for some of the projects he was critical of, eg. "The Roebling Oil Field Building" and "The Giant Fart Cloud Building"; and his amazing eye for the sublime beauty in things as pedestrian as an abandoned couch on a Brooklyn street.

Often when meeting up for drinks after work, my girlfriend Christine and our close friend Amy's conversation would begin with "did you see what Bob posted today?" His coverage of Brooklyn goings-on created our subliminal agenda, and inspired us to go on frigid walking tours of far-flung neighborhoods, or crawl down a manhole to explore the Atlantic Avenue tunnel. Bob's Gowanus Lounge was one-stop shopping for Brooklyn politics, controversy, history, and culture, and was truly an unrivaled pulse for Brooklyn residents.

Bob's final post on Gowanus Lounge was this eerily serene musing from his recurring Street Couch Series:

I believe that - if not on the surface - then deep inside, Bob left us at peace with himself.

We miss you Bob, but we won't forget you. YOU brought US great joy!

Last Call at Kent and North 3rd?

2009-02-07T18:20:00.003-05:00

A twinge of sadness when we passed the former Duff's at Kent Avenue and North 3rd this afternoon: the patio was demolished, the sign was gone, and Jimmy Duff's hearse - the Deathmobile - was packed to the gills with what appeared to be remnants of the wonderful heavy-metal-themed hole in the wall bar.

The business was originally a check-cashing business that served (much like the recently-deceased diner next door) blue collar employees of the rail yards and warehouses that lined the Williamsburg waterfront for most of the 20th century. In 2005, Duff closed his infamous Hell's Kitchen dive Bellevue and opened Duff's in the tiny storefront, filling it with decades worth of rocker paraphanalia and effusing it with a friendly bikers' lair charm.

In December, Duff's moved to new digs on Marcy Avenue in South Williamsburg, but Duff retooled the Kent Avenue and North 3rd corner as The Bunker. A wholesale remodel isn't exactly in character with the kind of space it was (we were known to stumble in with our own road-sodas from time to time, and no one ever shot us the stink eye). And we wonder if the apparent closing has something to do with the recent fire and complete blight surrounding the former Miss Williamsburg next door. Our gut says the combined frontage along Kent Avenue is worth more as a development lot than as a great dive bar selling dollar PBR's...

But we'll hold out hope that we're wrong.

Recent Article on Jimmy Duff [NY Press]

Front Row Seats in 'Burg ForRed Bull Snowboarding Event

2009-02-05T16:09:00.002-05:00

Grab your binoculars and your balaclavas and head on down to Grand Ferry Park at the foot of Grand Street! As of 3:30 pm there was wide-open unobstructed views of the Red Bull Snowscrapers event, just across the water in East River Park...for hardy (or heavily-medicated) snowboarding fans.

The East Side event features Shaun White, Pat Moore and Travis Rice plunging down a 9 story ramp built atop a Jenga-inspired tower of cargo containers. Long-time thrashers Anthrax will close out the show at 8:55 pm. But with the wind chill expected to be around six degrees this evening, there's not likely to be much competition for those riverfront benches.

Diner Fire Irony: 'Rescue Me'Was Shooting Across the Street

2009-01-29T17:18:00.003-05:00

We headed back over to 206 Kent Avenue this afternoon to survey what's left of poor old Miss Brooklyn, and found pretty much what we expected. The interior of the fine old diner is completely gutted. Not sure when the owners of "718" gave up on it, but based on the missing counter stools and no sign of kitchen equipment, we'd say the restaurant had been closed for some time.

A musician who'd been rehearsing in the basement of 210 Kent said he thought that the 'Monster Island' building had been spared, save for the windows that had been broken out by firemen. He also mentioned that when his band left the studio at 1:30 am, there was no sign of fire yet, adding "It was lucky - they were filming something over on the corner, so there were a bunch of cops already there." He pointed across the intersection of Kent Ave and Metropolitan, about 80 feet from the burned-out diner.

We'd noticed a couple of leftover 'no parking / film permit' signs about a block away, so we went back and checked it out: sure enough, Denis Leary's FX drama Rescue Me - based on NYC firefighting - had been shooting within spitting distance, perhaps just minutes before the real thing went down.

That leaves two questions:

1. Since no one was hurt, can we call it 'firony'? Or would that just be wrong?

2. When is groundbreaking for the Miss Williamsburg Condos?

More photos of the aftermath [Flickr]

Miss Williamsburg Diner Burns,Monster Island Arts Center Damaged

2009-01-29T02:00:00.004-05:00

An early morning fire gutted a landmark Northside diner overnight, causing damage to an adjacent arts collective at Kent Avenue and Metropolitan.

A fire broke out in the former Miss Williamsburg diner at 206 Kent Avenue just before 2 am Thursday. Ladder Companies 104, 146, and 108 responded along with several engine trucks, quickly knocking down the blaze, which appeared to cause extensive damage to the diner. The two-story building next door at 210 Kent Avenue appeared to have escaped with just broken windows and smoke damage. The building known as "Monster Island" houses two galleries: Live With Animals, and Secret Project Robot, as well as Mollusk, a surf shop.

The diner was originally a fixture for truck drivers servicing the miriad industrial businesses that lined Kent Avenue for most of the 20th century. Later it was reincarnated as an Italian bistro called Miss Williamsburg, and its authentic 1940's interior made it an irresistable location for television and films including Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and Stay, which starred Ryan Gosling. More recently it changed hands and reopened as 718.

The exterior of 210 Kent is known for its mesmerizing artwork - often photographed, and recently glimpsed in Charlie Kaufmann's Synechdoche, New York.

More photos of the fire [Flickr]

Flight 1549 Salvage Update:Plane Now Completely Submerged

2009-01-17T17:15:00.009-05:00

At 5 pm today, Twitter user jefns1 - part of the Weeks Marine salvage crew down at Battery Park City posted this photo, showing that the US Airways plane being lifted from the Hudson had slipped entirely below the water.

His 4:50 pm Tweet said simply "running in to snags plane is completly under water".

Update as of 10:30 pm Jan 17th: "tail is up wings starting to break mud lift is good so far"

We suspect this lift is unprecedented. Any aircraft being dragged out of a body of water is typically broken into parts...or at least severely damaged and not holding water. This bird is fully intact and holding the better part of a million pounds of nearly-frozen water - and the goal is to NOT damage it in the process!

Update as of 11 pm Jan 17th: Flight 1549 is out of the water! Again, thanks to Twitter user jefns1, who is working on the salvage operation, for up-to-the-minute coverage.

(click to enlarge)

Friday Eye Candy: Fire & Ice

2009-01-16T18:42:00.002-05:00

"flare" on Flickr

Why we chose a 15 degree evening - with wind chills below zero - to go up to Greenpoint and shoot the back side of the Department of Environmental Protection's Newtown Creek Water Treatment Plant, we're not sure. But now that our hands have thawed, we think Fire & Ice is an appropriate headline.

The DEP's 'digesters' (see our earlier obsessive post re: same) at New York's largest water treatment plant have been online for a couple years now, but got the fantastic purple lighting just last summer. And we think the lighting along with the open flame (likely a 'flare', burning off methane released in the 'digestion' process) - and all the stainless steel, makes for a wonderful, surreal scene in a really narsty section of Greenpoint.

Gotta love New York!

Wider shot of the scene above [Flickr]

US Airways Fight 1549 Crash Flight Path

2009-01-15T17:54:00.013-05:00

Here's a flight path map from the miraculous crash/water-landing of US Airways Flight 1549 we threw together using automated latitude / longitude, altitude, and airspeed tracking data from flightaware.com. We mapped the GPS coordinates onto Google maps, then drew in the approximate path and added the labels.

A couple of interesting things here:

1. It appears the engine trouble occurred between 3:27 pm and 3:28 pm over the Bronx Zoo, where the aircraft, which had been climbing steadily out of LGA to 3,200 feet, suddenly descends to 2,000 feet while still accelerating slightly from 194 knots to 202 knots.

2. The flight path curved inland over the northernmost part of Manhattan - as far East as Harlem River Drive - before the plane curved right to center perfectly over the Hudson. The FAA is reporting that controllers originally suggested a landing at Teterboro Airport in NJ. Maybe the left turn was a momentary adjustment for a Teterboro approach, before the pilot realized that a water landing was the only option?

3. The plane actualy GAINS 100 ft of altitude, from 1,200 to 1,300 feet, one to two minutes after the descent began, while the pilot was centering on the Hudson. News reports are suggesting that all engines were out. Could the plane pull up 100 ft using flaps alone? The altitude data from Flightaware is rounded to 100 feet, so is it possible that the plane was right around 1,250 feet could be explained by rounding errors?

The shared Google Map with points plotted is here. And the Fl ightaware data is here.

UPDATE Jan 16, 10am: What's up with the "ditch switch"?

Last evening CNN reported that perhaps the plane stayed afloat in the river for so long at least partly because the Airbus A320 is equipped with a "ditch switch" - a cockpit control that when activated, seals all ports and openings on the lower fuselage, so that once the aircraft enters the water, it doesn't take on water as quickly as it would normally (via vents, drains, etc).

Not much coverage of the ditch switch this morning either online nor on cable news. Found this 2002 discussion on an aviation forum you might find interesting.

The moderator on nycaviation.com's discussion board says the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft also have a "ditch switch".

UPDATE Jan 16, 12 Noon: Anyone have info on where the A320 will be barged to?

- A salvage dock in Bayonne, NJ - just across NY Harbor? Lots of mechanical equipment, and easy to secure from the press and public.

- Floyd Bennett Field in South Brooklyn? Floyd Bennett Field is a huge, mostly-disused old airfield that served NYC before JFK rose to prominence. Accessible by sea. The wreckage of AA Flight 587 was temporarily examined there in 2001, although that location is much closer to the 587 crash site.

- Hangar 19 at JFK Airport? - The Concorde currently on display at the Intrepid Museum was decommissioned here a few years back. Accessible by water. LGA is also reachable via New York's inland waterways, but is a much smaller airport with fewer maintenance hangars.

Anyone have other ideas or better info?

UPDATE Jan 17, 12 Noon:

Pretty sure the 'undisclosed location' the plane will be taken to is a Bayonne, NJ shipyard owned by Weeks Marine - the contractor with the crane and barge working to hoist the plane out of the Hudson. Found a Twitter feed from one of Weeks' employees, with pictures and reports from the site, including this one:
Guessing the NTSB inspection will take place at one of these shipyards:

View Larger Map

Update Jan 17th, 5 pm: Salvage effort encounters snags, plane completely submerged - see post here

Calling BS on DIY 'NO PARKING' Signs

2009-01-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

Amid the chaos that's followed the DOT's on-street parking purge of Kent Avenue, the remaining curb real-estate on the Northside has become more precious than Obama inauguration tickets. During our frequent 40-minute morning odysseys, orbiting the neighborhood looking for a legitimate space, we've had ample time to contemplate the mysteries and complexities of New York City parking regulations:

- Does an ancient curb-cut for a former garage entrance turned retail storefront still count? Especially when the business in question keeps "NO PARKING" signs posted on their facade?

- What about a decades-old trace of yellow paint, on a curb that otherwise seems perfectly legit? Will I return to a $45 invoice stuck under my wiper blade?

And today's question - perhaps the most frustrating question if you live and park in Williamsburg:

- Does that malicious "NO PARKING - CONSTRUCTION ZONE - TOW AWAY" sign - done up in red and black Crayola Scentation markers by a contractor's seven year old daughter - actually hold water with Parking Enforcement?

Given that the Northside is littered with dozens of semi-active construction sites, and nearly all of them have some sort of homemade NO PARKING signs dangling from their gaping-holed, broken-plywood perimeter fences...the answer to that question is kind of a big deal.

We surfed around the Internets for far too long last weekend, looking for an answer - and wound up mostly confused, but generally convinced that the answer is NO...those signs are pure BS; a product of developers' and contractors' wishful thinking - combined with a general fear and ignorance on the part of residents who can't afford to take a chance on having their rides ticketed and/or towed to the city's shiny-new Navy Yard impound facility.

Back in November, Queens Crap - a great blog focused on development issues in (go figure) Queens - asked the same question, and came back with the answer YES - you DO have to abide by the temporary signs. Their source however was the venerable Fox 5 News, so we watched the embedded clip with a healthy serving of skepticism.

In the the Fox 5 Investigates report, the correspondent says they contacted the DOT, and concludes

"it turns out that construction crews are allowed to create their own signs, as long as they look official, if they have permits for the project".

To which we call BS on Fox 5 on two fronts:

1. "As long as they look official"...what? Who decides what looks official?! The gaping legal holes in that statement are bigger than the gaps in most construction fences around here.

2. "If they have permits for the project." Any construction project big and ballsy enough to post fake NO PARKING signs had better have permits! We'll betcha anything the DOT meant "if the developer has pulled permits that approve temporary parking restrictions". Otherwise, any schmo with a permit to renovate a bathroom could play 'make your own parking' in front of their building, for the duration of their permit. It just doesn't add up.

We did a deep dive into the online netherworld of NYC traffic rules, DOB building permits, New York State Vehicle and Traffic laws, finding lots of barely-relevant information, along with lots of unrelated but interesting stuff (Did you know that all of NYC was designated a Tow Away Zone under the State’s Vehicle and Traffic Law in 1959? What's that? Oh, you don't care.).

Our online paper trail having gone cold, we did what we should have done in the first place: we asked a friendly neighborhood Parking Enforcement officer whether he would ticket a car in violation of one of the handmade signs (and trust us, these guys WILL ticket anything they legitimately can). He stopped writing a summons and brought us over to a real NO PARKING sign, pointing out the "DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION" printed at the bottom, saying "I can only ticket against signs that are issued by the DOT".

Monday morning we called the NYPD Press Office, and they agreed with the officer on the street: "They (contractors) have to get a permit specifically allowing a temporary change in parking rules. They can't just make up their own sign," adding that they "think if a car is towed because of construction needs, its just relocated" i.e. not tagged and impounded. But they suggested we double-check with the city's DOT "just to be sure". Good news for residents, but not exactly the notorized 'get out of jail free' card we were hoping for. So we called the DOT.

We spoke to Assistant Press Secretary Craig Chin, who invited us to send him photos of the signs in question - and to entertain us while we waited - directed us to NYC DOT's searchable database of active street construction permits. Forty eight hours later, we had a definitive answer:

"You can search online and the only valid permits to restrict parking will have the code 221 on it. The only legal sign you provided would be this picture,"

referring to the photo below, showing a very official-looking metal, DOT-issued 'No Parking - Temporary Construction Regulation' sign screwed to the fence of the development at Kent Avenue and North 3rd:

We searched the DOT's database for the entire Community Board One area, and as of January 15th, found only eighteen valid type 221 permits in the neighborhood. We've created a little map showing blocks where there's at least one valid permit...we suggest you hit the database before parking in front of a questionable sign (select your borough and community district, then select General Permit Type 02, and Specific Permit Type 0221...its the very last choice in the pulldown menu; you can drill down by street and block, or see all the permits for your district).

So there you have it, Northsiders. A veritable parking oasis around dozens of active (and stalled) construction sites, for your parking pleasure...at least until the contractors run out and get valid permits and signage.

Finally, Imnotsayin's caveat emptor:

PARK AT YOUR OWN RISK. This is only our nonprofessional, semi-informed assessment based on unofficial communications with three city employees. NYC parking regulations span multiple departments across at least two city agencies plus the state's V & T laws. Being improperly ticketed (and towed!) by overzealous Parking Enforcement officers happens all the time. So go ahead and search the database, and if there's no current class 221 permits for the DIY No Parking zone on your block - go for it! But don't block active driveways and crosswalks, stay 15 feet from the hydrants, and if you get tagged anyway, please DON'T CALL US!

NYCDOT Active Street Construction Permit database search [NYCDOT]

Gallery of Shady Parking Signs [Flickr]

UPDATE: Northside Pier isJust Another Part-Time Park

2009-01-09T19:20:00.004-05:00

Oh man, when will this stuff end? At some point between 9 am and 4 pm today, next to an already-ragged quit-smoking ad, someone posted an official NYC Parks sign reading "OPEN SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS ONLY". Guessing they stole the copy from the State Park two blocks north, since by all appearances this will be the city's only part-time park.

If NYC Parks is taking cues from the state, then based on East River State Park's short history, here's what we should expect from the pier:

March, 2009: North 5th Pier emerges from beta; goes to 7-day schedule. Still closes at dusk - er, really about 30 minutes before the sunset gets really good.

July 4th, 2009: City announces pier will stay open late for fireworks-viewing. However, Parks workers panic at sight of large crowd, abruptly locking gates and separating families, forcing many to watch fireworks display as reflected off shiny glass of Northside Piers Tower 2.

October, 2009: Squatters, living in the never-sold Northside Piers Tower 2 - and abandoned Tower 1 condos, crowd the pier with makeshift fishing gear, in a vain attempt to harvest meals from the hopelessly-polluted East River.

June, 2010: In the face of budgetary collapse, 3rd-term Mayor Bloomberg announces the pier will close until September '10, saving the city the $120K in salary and overtime for the lucky Parks worker who's sole responsibility it is to lock and unlock the gate each day.

So there you have it. The near-future history of Williamsburg's second part-time park. See you on the pier tomorrow morning!

Update (Jan 12th): We have it from multiple reliable sources that the weekends-only status is temporary. The Parks Press Office says the pier will be open "seven days a week in the spring". On Saturday morning we spent some time on the pier, but on Sunday around 5 pm we went back to shoot some sunset pics and found it locked. Despite the Park Rules signs saying it "Closes at Dusk", the Toll Brothers security guard said the hours are 7 am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays. We've put our two cents in to Parks, suggesting that 10 am to 7 pm weekends is probably more practical, given that most 'Burg residents are barely in bed by 7 am...and it would be nice to catch the winter sunsets and twilight over the river and Midtown skyline.

Northside Pier Access IsLike SO Five Days Ago...

2009-01-09T12:28:00.007-05:00

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: New sign indicates park is Sat/Sun ONLY. Arrrrgh!

What is it about public waterfront access in Williamsburg that makes it about as reliable as Windows Vista? Northside residents waited almost a solid year after East River State Park was effectively complete before it opened in May 2007 - only to be padlocked last week due to state budget cuts.

Monday saw the long-delayed opening of the North 5th Street Pier - the first bit of what is eventually to become a public riverfront promenade behind many of the new high rise developments going up along Kent Avenue. The promenade is effectively a developer incentive - a zoning variance that in return allows Toll Brothers and the other builders to build taller buildings and make more money.

The pier was complete several months ago - benches, lighting - even a silly artistic "shade structure", but remained off-limits to the public while the Parks Department wrangled with the builder over safety issues before taking possession of the pier (under the 2005 rezone, the public promenade is owned and managed by NYC Parks).

But like so many things in New York, blink and you miss it: by the time we moseyed on down to the foot of North 5th to take a look Thursday morning, the city's newest 'park' seemed to be shuttered again.

We checked it out again this morning and found the same padlocked plywood doors (sans the castoff Trinitron) and no one around to ask what gives. The adjacent NYC Park Rules signage indicates the park closes at dusk (sadly, no night photos from this vista!); seems to imply that leashed dogs will be allowed (unleashed between 9 pm and 9 am, when the park is closed?!); but doesn't otherwise give the official park open hours.

We spoke to a contact at Parks who promised to look into the situation. We'll let you know what we find out...

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: New sign indicates park is Sat/Sun ONLY. Arrrrgh!

What STINKS on the Union Square L Platform (besides the music) ?

2009-01-08T22:21:00.001-05:00

Forget the mysterious maple syrup smell wafting over from Jersey...the real chemical threat is the raw sewage stank that's taken up residence on the L Train platform at Union Square the past three days.

Wednesday the stench was strong enough to permeate the hermetically-sealed train car as we arrived at the popular stop...before the doors were opened! And Thursday the skank persisted, causing us to beg forgiveness from our out-of-town guest (and deny being the source...although technically, we guess smelt it dealt it, right?).

Please MTA: before the money runs out, please locate and purge the source of this scourge! We just threw up a little in our mouth :(

Happy New Year! NowPlease Clean Up Your Crap

2009-01-02T09:35:00.004-05:00

The bars and clubs along North 6th Street in Williamsburg had a big night Wednesday - if the quantity of champagne and beer bottles, party hats and vomit strewn up and down the block between Kent Avenue and Wythe Friday morning is any indication.

We've lived on the block for four years now, so we're used to ankle-deep trash. But this morning, returning from a couple of days in DUMBO, we felt like a parent returning home early from vacation to discover our teenage son had thrashed the house with an all-night party, and slept off the next day in jail instead of cleaning up. As if to say 'it isn't a party until something gets broke', it even appears the ATM in front of Public Assembly was stolen.

We know Thursday was a holiday, but now its Friday...so PLEASE, North 6th merchants and residents, get it together and clean up your shit!

Update: As of 10:45 am, Music Hall had cleaned up their sidewalk, and Public Assembly had a Sanitation Department ticket on their door for leaving the dumpster (shown above) in the middle of the sidewalk. The vomit near Sea was making a nice snack for pigeons, and the trash down near Kent Avenue was swirling in little dust devils that appeared to be signalling the end is nigh...

New York City...Welcome to 2009!

2009-01-01T00:47:00.001-05:00

Fireworks from the Battery, over New York harbor.

2008 Is Gonna Blow This Popstand

2008-12-31T14:12:00.002-05:00

Those of you planning to stumble around NYC tonight, ringing in the New Year, should probably plan ahead when it comes to your exit strategy. Weather Underground is predicting 1 to 3 inches of snow, and winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour into the evening...wind chills approaching zero. You get the picture.

Based on the past few years, getting out of Williamsburg after midnight tonight will involve standing in a block-long line in front of the Northside Car Service base on Bedford (they stop answering calls when they get backed up). In those weather conditions (and in your New Years hipster party frocks), you'd better be either well-insulated or well-numbed (or both).

Happy New Year!

Bike Lane Activists Defiant:Illegal Detour Sign Is Back!

2008-12-31T12:23:00.003-05:00

If you've been closely following the ongoing controversy that's pitted Orthodox Jews in South Williamsburg against proponents of the new Kent Avenue bike lanes, you'll know that the homemade detour sign shown above was installed atop a Kabbalah Energy Drink trailer parked on a lot at Kent Avenue and Broadway. The extremely wordy sign offered southbound drivers on Kent a suggested alternate route to avoid the frustration of school buses that will - by the sign writer's own admission - be intentionally "in an angle blocking the road and bike lane for safety".

You'll also know that by the NY Post's account Sunday, the DOT confirmed the sign is illegal, and Gothamist ran a piece Tuesday titled "Phony Detour Sign Comes Down!" with the requisite "had no idea it was there" quote from the owner of the lot, and even a couple of photos of a guy removing the sign.

The thing is...as of this morning the sign is back, in all its safety orange glory!

Is this a defiant first shot in what will ultimately grow into neighborhood anarchy, pitting angry Hasids against neighborhood cyclists, drivers and the DOT?

Or just a 'screw you' to city and state officials who are likely too busy planning their five-day New Years' weekend to do anything about it until Monday? Stay tuned...