Sunday, April 17, 2011

The City Part II


I've been totally addicted to Google Earth for the past year or so. It is one of the best tools for viewing 3 dimensional aerial angles of cityscapes. For New York, almost all of Manhattan is represented in 3D. This allows you to fly through the city as if you were Superman, or Batman over and through the skyscrapers. It's the coolest thing ever.

Since last summer, I have learned to make 3D building models that can be uploaded to Google Earth. It took a while to learn, but I got the hang of it. So far, I have uploaded over 200 models. My account name is "KingofQueenz". My models mostly cover the Queens area, but I have numerous models in the Bronx, and Brooklyn. I did the entire Queens West development. I've done most of the buildings in Long Island City, Forest Hills, Woodside, and Coney Island. Making 3D building models is my obsession. I'd like to have every building in the world represented on Google Earth in 3D. I know of coarse this is an arduous task for one person, but at least I can try to get as many models up in my geographic area.

My Queens West development 3D models:



My models are not the best. I usually don't put insane amounts of details in them. I'd rather make 10 decent models in one week than spend a week to make one perfect model. Some other sketchup artists have uploaded some amazing 3D models that have exquisite detail.

These two models are the Schaefer Landing North and South Towers. They are a new luxury highrise apartment complex in Williamsburg. I'm very proud of these models. There is a sense of great satisfaction when I complete a nice 3D models.

I've been spending way to much time on Google Earth and Google Sketchup, the free program used to make the 3D models.I can literally spend 8 hours straight making models, holding in my piss and not eating. This is real life addiction. But who ever heard of someone addicted to Google Earth?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The City


For some reason I am still obsessed with New York City. I have this romanticized notion of New York, similar to Woody Allen's character in Manhattan. To me, New York is Metropolis and Gotham all in one. It has been leaving its impression on millions and millions for hundreds of years.

I've dated many girls who have moved here from small towns and suburbs. I love that cliche of the small town girl who dreams of life in the big city. She finally realizes her dreams and is overwhelmed by all its audacity. In the U.S. we have this anti urban attitude. We put this emphasis on small towns and suburbs, the quintessential American dream of a house on a quiet suburban street. We've neglected our cities unlike many other countries who celebrated them. New York remained for so long seen as an eyesore in the fold of the American landscape. Americans hated it, mocked it, were afraid to go to it. They called it a cesspool or urban decay. And New York lost population for the 50 years as did virtually every other large American city. Only recently has the trend reversed.

For me growing up in New York, there was never a dream of a house in the suburbs. I liked my high rise apartment with the view of the skyline out my window. Why would I ever want to replace that with a bunch of suburban houses and trees? The city to me was a place of excitement. It has life and energy. Taking the train into Manhattan and emerging out into a "Metropolis" of sorts gave me the impression of what Clark Kent might have felt when he left Smallville, although not quite as dramatic. Suddenly you are in a giant city and you realize how small your are in this world. This allure has attracted many a small town folk, and I think I'd be one of them if I had such a past.

What does New York represent to me? It represents an American dream, American ingenuity, American diligence. Not long after New York was founded (then of coarse New Amsterdam), there was a great migration to move out west where people settled in mostly in small, sparsely situated towns. This gave birth to the rural lifestyle that is so characteristic of early American life. This rural, small town lifestyle somehow became the "real" America, that so many patriots and politicians try to use as their badge of American authenticity. The big cities back east were already becoming over populated cesspools of filth, disease and of coarse, immigrants. This can't be the "real" America. No "real" Americans live in a log cabin, in a tiny town, they know their neighbors and go to church on Sunday.

So there I be, in the big city. You might see me riding the subway, or stretching my neck to see the top of a new skyscraper. You might see me jaded and blue, or you might just be lucky enough to see me crack a smile.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Thinker


As the Sun sets over the Secular Metropolis, the thinker begins his blog, eyes glued to the screen of his laptop, fingers sweaty from their constant contact with the keyboard. What is on his mind that is so important to write about? It is his obsession with New York? His passion for Atheism? His analysis of social dynamics? His love of science? Maybe all of the above.

I love writing in the third person. It requires a bit more thinking when writing about yourself.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Manhattan Memories


Back in the 1990s when I was a fledgling teenager, my father used to live on east 15th street in Manhattan. Since my parents had divorced, I'd go and visit him sometimes on the weekends. He lived in this tiny railroad apartment in a prewar, 6 story walk up that was so old and rickety, the floors and walls were literally caved in. There was this sense that the whole building could collapse at any moment. There was never any sun light that shined through the windows because there was another building about 6 feet away. This meant you had to keep the lights on even in the middle of the day. Depressing at this may sound, what made up for it was the fact that right outside was downtown Manhattan.

My father had close friend who had two sons a little younger than me. He had an Italian wife and they lived in Stuyvesant Town just a few blocks away. They were a typical Manhattan family, politically liberal and cultured, although they were not quite yuppies. This was the mid 1990s, back when a working class blue collar family could afford to live in Manhattan. We would all get together, sometimes accompanied with my dad's girlfriend, and go do things in the city. We'd go to the South Street Sea Port, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Museums. Sometimes we'd just walk around downtown and take in outdoor street festivals and shows. We'd always eat out at restaurants. They were good times. There was always an exciting cultural event that was going on. After all, this was Manahattan, and rarely ever a let down.

I have few pictures from that era; this was the days before digital cameras. I do have memories however. There were these neighborhood kids several years older than me who we knew that would hang out on the stoops of the apartments. They were Latino, new-yoricans, most likely. Downtown kids, before it became so fashionable. We went to Katz Deli over on Houston street, and my dad, always the outgoing one, would joke about the orgasm scene from the movie When Harry Met Sally that was filmed there. We'd go to Greenwich Village when it was still very bohemian and absorb the culture. I think one time we even went during the gay pride week or parade and my dad's Irish girlfriend pointed out a bald headed man in full drag. "Only in New York" she commented. We all laughed.

I was along for the ride. My dad would pick me up in Queens and drive me to the city. We did an awful lot of driving around the city back then come to think of it. My dad after all was a limousine driver. That Lincoln Town Car I remember took us so many miles.

We'd all go out to Veniero's on 11th street and indulge in the Italian pastries while making a lot of noise. We'd walk out into the hot summer night air feeling a little relieved, still cold from the air conditioning. The hustle and bustle of the city providing the ambiance around us. Summer nights in the city when you're a teenager, so many unforgettable memories.

And it was all so secular. Religion was never a part of our adventures on the town. There was never any church or inculcation into any faith. We seemed like a bunch of secular humanists/cosmopolitan New Yorkers. There was a slight Buddhist/Hindu element from my dad's side, but never anything actual meditation or chanting. It was more like the occasional wishing to an unknown energy that you'd strike it rich. It was more like the self-serving god than anything real, whether tangible or otherwise. The secular element made it that so much better. There was no religion trying to make me feel guilty or for me to rebel against. There were no forced rituals or scriptural memorization. Religion simply just wasn't there. Thank god for that.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Dead of Winter


I haven't been able to write any good posts lately. Not much is going on in my life. All I've been doing is going to work and then coming home pretty much. I watch the occasional Hitchens video on YouTube, and listen to the Real Time With Bill Maher podcast on iTunes. Religion still intrigues me and my obsession with the Secular Metropolis. Other than that, work takes precedence over all things fun and endearing. I don't mind staying home on a freezing night and spending time on work related jobs, or creating 3D GoogleEarth sketchups. When the weather gets nice and warm, as it is about to do in a few weeks, I'm going to start minding.

I plan on doing more outdoor things this Summer. Bike rides, camping, bars yes, and outdoor music festivals. Oh man I can't wait for Summer. I'm planing on going down to Washington D.C. for a weekend to visit an old friend. That should be cool. I'd love to properly check out our nation's capitol.

So there is much to look forward to. I need another vacation badly, let me tell you. And all I have to do is wait.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Going to Brooklyn: A Bike Ride


One morning last Summer I got up really early and took a bike ride down to the Brooklyn promenade. It was a beautiful sunny day in August. Here are my pictures:

The industrial area on the Queens/Brooklyn border has a sense of desolate grace to it:


This is an old rickety bridge that spans Newtown Creek:



Headed to Brooklyn:


Downtown Brooklyn rising. New highrise apartments:



Downtown Brooklyn Baby:



The Oro Condominium:



DUMBO:





The East foot of the Manhattan Bridge:


The Lower East Side "Skyline" as seen from Brooklyn:


Standard Lower Manhattan Skyline Shot:


The New Beekman Tower topped out and almost ready for its close up:


The New Brooklyn Park Under Construction:


And Now for Some Brooklyn Heights, One of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York:


One of the many hidden treasures tucked away on the quiet, shaded streets of Brooklyn Heights:




You can get a hickey on Love Lane:

Downtown Brooklyn is brown stone country:



On my way back I pass through South Williamsburg, the Dominican part:


McCarren Park on a beautiful August day. I stopped by to work out in the outdoor exorcise area, and even took my shirt off.


Midtown Skyline from the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge:


That's all folks!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

New York: A Love/Hate Relationship


I'm going crazy because of work. I am working 11 hour days and getting barely half of that in sleep every night. Everyday I commute into the city, packed into to a train like a Sardine. I take an elevator up to the 23rd floor. The view from up there isn't as spectacular as you would think. Then I do the same routine on the way back home.

I know that in New York you have to work hard. I love this city but the amount of time you have to work is draining me on my life and energy. I almost long for a slower paced, hippie retreat in the middle of nowhere.

But, I still love this city. I still love its energy. Maybe the reason I have no energy is because the city is absorbing all of mine? I was watching some old newsreels about New York. They're fun to watch. Newsreels were shown in movie theaters during the intermission. It's interesting to watch these old newsreels to see how things were way back when.

In one called City of Magic from 1956, you can hear the narrator's enthusiasm for the big apple. I too carry that enthusiasm for New York tucked under my jaded expression. I know if I move away, I will get that longing for New York that I've had on extended trips away. New York was the biggest city in the world at that time, an unrivaled metropolis. It had to tallest building in the world, the Empire State Building. The city must have exhilarated so many imaginations and thrilled so many hearts back then, as it still does today.



Transportation in New York back in the 1950s:



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