New York, New York
New York City Sights – Times Square
Saturday, May 9th, 2009This week’s installment of New York City Sights features “the heart of little old New York,” Times Square. Interestingly enough, this takes some explaining. There are a few pictures involved, so I’ve put them below the fold to save some space.
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Photo-Op Fiasco: Update
Friday, May 8th, 2009
First of all, here is the picture that F-16 photographer took of the Air Force One 767 flying over the Statue of Liberty. At least they got a good picture out of it. I’m told if you blow it up real big and look real close, you can see New Yorkers on the ground pointing at the sky and running in panic…
On the upside, Louis Caldera, the director of the White House military office who authorized this stunt, has resigned. From his resignation letter to President Obama:
I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group’s aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office. Moreover, it has become a distraction to the important work you are doing as president. After much reflection, I believe it is incumbent on me to tender my resignation and step down as director of the White House Military Office.
As the saying goes: No shit, Sherlock. Maybe he should consider a job in Hollywood Special Effects? On second thought…
Categories: New York, New York, Political Rantings | 1 Comment »
Meta-Weather Forecasting
Thursday, May 7th, 2009Just returning from lunch – passed Al Roker getting into a cab on 49th Street and Sixth Avenue (sorry – no picture, I don’t bring my camera with me to lunch).
Anyway, Al was carrying an umbrella. ‘Nuff said.
UPDATE: We just had thirty minutes of intense downpours. ALL HAIL THE GREAT AND POWERFUL AL!!
Categories: New York, New York, Primetime TV | 2 Comments »
New York City Sights – The Empire State Building
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009Since last week’s NYC Sight was Ground Zero, former site of the World Trade Center (then the tallest building in New York), I thought this week’s should feature the current tallest building in New York, the Empire State Building.
And while my camera doesn’t do extremely well in low-light situations, I’ve always preferred to view the Empire State Building at night. The famous lights on it’s top section are often colored to reflect some city-centric event or holiday (blue for a Yankees’ championship, green for St. Patrick’s Day, Red & Green for Christmas, etc.). When nothing of import is going on, it’s white:
If you ever get the chance, walk south down Seventh Avenue in Manhattan from 35th Street to 34th Street. On your left, you’ll see Macy’s Department Store (the “largest store in the world”). As you walk past Macy’s and approach 34th Street, the Empire State Building appears in your view like someone opened a curtain at a Broadway theater. It’s very dramatic (moreso if you can imagine Also sprach Zarathustra in your head).
Categories: New York, New York | 2 Comments »
Photo-Op Fiasco
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009OK, quick quiz: This picture was taken in lower Manhattan within blocks of the World Trade Center site. Question: on what day was it taken? Wrong, guess again. It was yesterday, April 27, 2009.
In what was clearly the dumbest move of the Obama administration thus far, a gentleman named Louis Caldera, the director of the White House military office, decided to fly one of the modified 747’s that serves as Air Force One when the President is on board, over and around the Statue of Liberty, in order to take pictures of it, which would later be given out to family, friends or supporters. The pictures were taken by someone in an F-16 fighter jet, which was trailing the 747.
According to the New York Daily News, the planes flew as low as 1,000-1,500 feet above the city, circling the Statue of Liberty and then flying over Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey. As a point of reference, the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers were roughly 1,360 feet tall.
At first, Mr. Caldera and officials for the FAA claimed the flight “was approved and coordinated with everyone” via a confidential security memo that went out last week to the NYPD, the mayor’s office, the NJ State Police and other agencies. The Star Ledger (a local NJ paper) reports that the memo said, “[we acknowledge] the possibility of public concern regarding Department of Defense aircraft flying at low levels, [but] the information in this document is considered FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and should only be shared by persons with a need to know.” They all changed their tune when the mayor of New York and the President of the United States both used the word “furious” to describe how they felt about this little stunt, and promptly apologized for the fear and panic they caused.
The reaction in New York? Well, workers in many of the surrounding buildings evacuated. Some of them ran down long staircases, just as they had on September 11, 2001. Several thought the F-16 was in pursuit of the 747, rather than escorting it, and were convinced it was going to shoot it down over lower Manhattan. One Wall Street worker said, “It’s like someone coming up to you, sticking a gun to your head for 15 seconds, walking away and hearing 20 minutes later it was an undercover cop posing for a photo.”
This woman took cell-phone video. Listen to the fear in her voice:
I believe she said, “Oh my God! That’s not normal. It’s a hijacking, I know it. It’s going around.”
Hearing about this, I can’t help thinking back to Bill Clinton’s infamous Air Force One haircut, which kept two runways at LAX closed for an extra hour back in 1993. This one wasn’t directly Obama’s fault, but it reminds me that new Presidents and their administrations are learning on the job, and don’t always comprehend the consequences of their actions.
At least Clinton’s faux pas didn’t scare the crap out of a few thousand people, though…
Categories: New York, New York | 4 Comments »
New York City Sights – Ground Zero
Sunday, April 26th, 2009For my recent visit to Yankee Stadium, I treated myself to a new digital camera (one that takes video), which means I now get to carry my old camera around every day, and photograph all those things I see in New York that make me think, “I should post that on my blog.”
I’ve tried weekly or monthly features on this blog before, all to eventual failure, so I won’t commit to any regularity, but when I see something worth capturing, I will post it under this heading – New York City Sights. Time will tell how regular it becomes.
Anyway, today’s edition focuses on the former site of the World Trade Center, known today as Ground Zero. I’m guessing that most people still think of Ground Zero as a big, empty pit, mired in political bickering and construction delays. And while it’s true that we’re almost eight years past the terrible events of September 11, 2001 and we do not have new, completed skyscrapers, there has been quite a bit of change since the day they finally emptied “the pit.” Behold:
The structure on the left is the beginning of The Freedom Tower (a.k.a., One World Trade Center). It currently stands at six stories tall, and will eventually rise to a symbolic 1,776 feet (including a rather large antenna). To the right of it (and behind the blue tarp) is the footprint of the South tower (the North tower’s footprint is behind the Freedom Tower at this angle). Those two pieces of now-sacred ground will eventually form the September 11 Memorial, currently scheduled to open on September 11, 2011 (the ten-year anniversary of the attacks).
Here’s another view of Ground Zero – this one from the Winter Garden, which is the building between the two towers of the World Financial Center (which survived the attacks). Here, you can see both tower footprints (hard to see unless you know where to look). Across the street is Century 21, a department store that has become a fixture downtown, the Millennium Hotel (to the left of Century 21), and One Liberty Plaza (to the right), which everyone thought might fall down immediately after the attacks, but turned out to be structurally sound.
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Opening Day at Yankee Stadium – Everything Perfect but the Score
Friday, April 17th, 2009
As I predicted in my post about Citi Field’s Opening Day, the New York Yankees once again showed Major League Baseball, and the world, what it means to have an historic team in an historic ballpark.
The day began with the West Point Marching Band playing John Phillip Sousa marches out in centerfield (back in 1923, Sousa himself led a band into centerfield of the original Yankee Stadium, playing his famous marches). Then, a familiar voice from a missing friend. Bob Sheppard (recorded) saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the New Yankee Stadium,” which is what he used to say back in 1976, after the renovation, when I used to go see games there as a kid. If you’re a Yankee fan, you’ll understand how special that was. If you’re not, I’ll never be able to explain it to you.
Then there was John Fogerty performing “Centerfield” on a guitar shaped like a baseball bat, while video of some of the Yankees’ most famous centerfielders ran on the big screen – Bobby Murcer (who, having passed away recently, was on everyone’s mind amidst all the hoopla), Joe DiMaggio (who is mentioned in the song), Mickey Mantle, and Bernie Williams.
Then Bernie Williams himself took up his familiar position in centerfield, this time to play his own, classical-guitar arrangement of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
After that, forty-six Yankee greats, spanning from the 1940’s to the 2000’s, took the field. Forty-six. As a reminder, the Mets fielded exactly two: Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza, one of whom went to the press box after the ceremony and the other of whom went home to “spend more time with his family.” In contrast, at least one former Yankee, David Wells, took a seat in the bleachers and had some beers with the fans (yes, Virginia, you can drink beer in the Yankee Stadium bleachers again).
The present followed the past, as both the visiting Cleveland Indians and the hometown Yankees were introduced. Then, Kelly Clarkson sang a stirring rendition of the National Anthem, complete with giant American flag and fighter jet flyover (the Mets, need I remind you, had a bunch of unknown Broadway singers, improperly mic’ed).
Then, the game began. The pitching rubber and home plate were the same ones used in the last game at the previous Yankee Stadium, and were removed after this game for immediate placement in the Yankees Museum, located on the premises of the new Yankee Stadium. One might have thought the pomp and circumstance was over at this point, but no – the Yankees had one more trick up their sleeves. On loan from Dr. Richard Angrist of Point Pleasant, NJ, owner of the largest game-used baseball bat collection in the world, was the bat that Babe Ruth used to hit the first homerun in Yankee Stadium back in 1923. It was laid down across homeplate and announced. Derek Jeter, the Yankee Captain and leadoff hitter, picked it up and jokingly handed his actual bat to the bat boy, as if he was going to hit with the Bambino’s lumber.
Perhaps my favorite moment of the day, though, was when the bat boy brought the Babe’s bat back into the dugout. Every Yankee on the bench picked it up and feigned a couple of practice swings with it – as if just holding it in their hands might help conjure some of the Babe’s magic. Even Hideki Matsui (the “Babe Ruth of Japan”) took a turn examining the artifact.
The game itself was a genuine pitcher’s duel until the seventh inning, when Jose Veras and Demaso Marte joined together to give up 9 runs, including a grand slam homerun to Grady Sizemore and turn the game into a rout.
As for the “firsts:” Johnny Damon got the first hit. Jorge Posada got the first homerun. People lamented that it wasn’t Jeter, but he’s already redeemed himself by hitting a game-winning homerun in today’s game (#2 in the new Stadium) in the bottom of the 8th inning, paving the way for Mariano Rivera’s first appearance and first save.
And as for the rest of the comparisons to the Mets: the first visiting batter did not hit a homerun. The first Yankees pitcher to fall off the mound is an as-of-yet unclaimed honor, as is the first Yankee pitcher to balk in the winning run.
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Some thoughts on Citi Field
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
The New York Mets christened their new stadium last night, making them the first of two baseball teams in New York to do so this week. I’m obviously a biased source
Categories: New York, New York, Sports Talk | 1 Comment »
The Official Blog Post of the New York Yankees
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009With the Yankees and the Mets sporting new stadiums this year, the opportunities for new sponsorship deals were numerous. Apparently, both teams took full advantage.
Some examples from the Yankees:
- Benjamin Moore is the Official Paint of the New York Yankees
- Amtrak is the Official Rail Fare of the New York Yankees (not the trains, mind you, just the fare)
- Met Life is the Official Life Insurance of the New York Yankees (despite the word “Met” in their name)
- Hess is the Official Gasoline & Convenience Store Retailer of the New York Yankees
- H&R Block is the Official Tax Preparation Company of the New York Yankees
- StubHub is the Official Secondary Ticketing of the New York Yankees (for those who are wondering, there is no “Official Scalper of the New York Yankees.” Coincidence?)
So, if you want to show your Yankee pride while you buy life insurance or pay your taxes, you have that option now.
The Mets are similarly opportunistic:
- Davis Vision is the Official Eyecare Provider of the New York Mets
- Geico is the Official Auto Insurance of the New York Mets
- Kozy Shack is the Official Pudding of the New York Mets
- Landmark Concessions is the Official Fried Dough of the New York Mets
- Send In The Clowns is the Official Party Provider of the New York Mets
So, if you want to have a party, and serve pudding and fried dough, you can do it all while supporting your hometown boys from Flushing, Queens.
It gets better: both teams have official hospitals (Yankees: New York Presbyterian, Mets: Hospital For Special Surgery). Nathan’s is the Offical Hot Dog of the New York Yankees, and the Non-Kosher Hot Dog & French Fry of the New York Mets (one assumes the Mets no preference on kosher hot dogs and the Yankees don’t care what kind of french fry you eat…) The Yankees have Official Life Insurance (Met Life) and Official Health Insurance (Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield), and the Mets have Official Auto Insurance (Geico) and an Official X-Ray Equipment Provider (NY Imaging). So you can get sick and/or die as a Yankee fan, but if you crash your car or break a bone, you better be rooting for the Mets.
Oh, one more thing: Zales is the Official National Jewelry Retailer of the New York Yankees. The Mets have no Official Jewelry Retailer. I guess they don’t expect to be buying rings anytime soon.
<grin>
Categories: New York, New York, Sports Talk, The World Wide Weird | 1 Comment »
ISBS Review: The New Yankee Stadium
Saturday, April 4th, 2009So remember that secret mission I mentioned on Thursday? The one that required a new digital camera? Well, it took two days to get all of the online documentation in place, but now I can discuss it. My older son, Avery, and I found ourselves in possession of two tickets to the New York Yankees’ Pre-Season workout at the newly opened Yankee Stadium. This was the first time the new stadium was opened to the public, and it afforded us the opportunity to spend several hours exploring the entire structure, sampling the food, taking in the new amenities and watching our beloved Yankees take batting and fielding practice.
Those who want the whole story of the day can read on below the fold. For everyone else, a collection of 57 photographs is here and a six-minute video retrospective is here. There’s also a separate video of Bernie Williams singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” here (which you can read more about if you continue below).
All in all, it was an amazing, historical, unforgettable day that neither my son nor I will ever forget. A reporter for the New York Post stopped us outside and asked me why I was a Yankee fan. Here’s what I told him:
And now, as they say, the rest of the story:
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 5 Comments »