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Our ever intrepid history editor, Benjamin Waldman (the Peter Parker of Untapped?), spotted this MTA Bus with an ad for The Daily Bugle, the fictional newspaper in Spiderman (and other Marvel comics) by the Brooklyn Bridge.
Image courtesy of Lori Zimmer, Art Nerd New York
ICY (born 1985) and SOT (born 1991) are stencil artists from Tabriz, Iran. Their works are about peace, war, love, hate, hope, despair, children, human rights and Iranian culture. The two brothers have held numerous exhibitions and unofficial street works in Iran and foreign countries. You can view more of what they have been up to in the states recently in their latest East middle west tour / San Francisco/Los Angeles/Houston/Chicago facebook album.
This vintage photograph from 1982 is a reminder not only for what has been lost, but also that urban geography is always changing. In 1982, the World Trade Center complex was not completed yet, and certainly not Battery Park City, most of which was built in the ’80s. The World Financial Center was completed in 1985. The “beach” you see here is from the excavations to build the World Trade Center.
A new show at (Art) Amalgamated in Chelsea strives to test the boundaries of communication and connection in the 21st century. Some Fifty Miles of Concrete Pavement is a collaboration between the artists David Birkin and Jeremy Hutchison. The two kept correspondence from their respective home bases at the time, Birkin in Southern California, and Hutchison in London. The show is a testament to the two artists attempting to bridge the gap between their locales, connecting through each other’s work, ideologies, as well as the similarities and differences between their respective environments.
Mermaid Parade 2011. Source: Flickr.
This year, the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade is in trouble. The Coney Island Museum and performance space, the parade’s main sources of funding, were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and now the parade needs $100,000–well outside its budget–or else the tradition may go extinct. The annual Mermaid Parade is the largest free art parade in America. Every summer, for the past 30 years, the Mermaid Parade has served as a celebration of art and creativity in New York. It is an occasion for artists and “weirdos” to express themselves through costumes and floats inspired by mythology and “honky-tonk” seaside rituals, marching together down Surf Avenue, Mermaid Avenue and Neptune Avenue for all to see.
In case you missed it, this weekend was likely the only time visitors to Brooklyn Bridge Park were treated to the sight of two Watertower works by Tom Fruin. The first is Watertower, which is located on the roof of 20 Jay Street. It was erected in June 2012 and will remain there through next month. Those who can’t get to New York City can have a look through this Live Cam. (more…)
Grand Gallery of the Louvre by Thomas Allom c. 1844
Did you know that the encyclopedists wanted to open up the gardens and galleries of the Louvre Palace to the public long before it was slated to become a museum? The Palais du Louvre was constructed in 1190 by Philippe Auguste as a fortress to protect against Norman invasions. It was home to François Ier during the Renaissance. Henri IV built the Grand Gallery connecting the royal apartments in the Louvre to the Tuileries palace. The Louvre as it appears today was completed under Louis XIV, with additions by Louis XV. But it was only after the French Revolution that the Louvre was finally converted from a royal residence to the museum we know and love today. But over a decade before the Revolution, when Diderot and D’Alembert were compiling the Encyclopedia, their entry for the Louvre not only tells the palace’s history but makes some suggestions for its use that were rather advanced at the time: (more…)
As part of a Municipal Art Society Jane’s Walk with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, we had a chance to check out the Navy Yard Hospital and the surrounding area. 
Our tour was led by Milton Puryear, lead planner and co-founder of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and Michael Porto, an engineer and board member. This site, visible from the BQE, is one of the largest currently vacant parcels we have been to in Brooklyn. This section of the Navy Yard has been abandoned for decades and not used as a hospital since 1948, when the Navy Hospital was moved to a larger facility in St. Albans, Queens. The main building is made of pristine Tuckahoe Marble, while next door is the Surgeon’s house. Both gorgeous buildings, even in decay.
Commuters on the Long Island Railroad are familiar with this sight near Jamaica Station: a vintage car atop a shipping container with the sign WB2AHK@AOL.COM in front of it. Turns out the WB2AHK refers to an amateur radio station which plays a role in assisting during emergencies. The operator of the station, Chester Brown, owns a car shop and set up a Ham radio station there.
