Walking by the catacombs in the 14th arrondisement, I discovered Madame Rana--a fortune teller operating out of a happily painted palm-tree decorated trailer.
This development is bound to make urban designers a little uncomfortable. "Betaville" is a new tool that lets you do anything to New York City--move buildings around, add structures, change the coastline.
Along the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, not too far from the Jamaica train station, stands a mosque clearly converted from an old factory. A painted turquoise dome rises above the drab factory exterior as well as a simple minaret. The building has been the New York headquarters of the Imam Al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation.
K-Mart: Making flu shots more palatable in the main corridor of Penn Station via Japanese folding screen and potted plant.
Tucked away in a corner of the Botanical Garden is the Yakumo Nihon Teien, a small Japanese garden run by the local Japanese Garden Society. The garden is named after Lafcadio Hearn, a famous resident of New Orleans in the late 19th century.
I was at the Historic New Orleans Collection in the French Quarter this past week to see Jason Marsalis at their Concerts in Courtyard series. Members get in for free, but at $10 with three drinks included, it's not a bad deal for non-members.
One of my favorite passages in Paris, the Passage Bourg L'Abbé still retains some of the imagery conjured up by Walter Benjamin's descriptions of the arcades in the 19th century. Places that blurred the line between interior and exterior, not just through the architecture but by the nature of the objects on display.
On Saturday, I checked out the substation at 53rd Street and 8th Avenue, across from Roseland Ballroom for Open House New York. As a member of the Transit Museum, I get first dibs on cool tours like this and the inaccessible Old City Hall Subway Station. This substation was part of the original IRT subway line and was built in 1904. It's still in use and is currently undergoing a renovation.
It's not just the re-purposing of historical architecture that's important about this gesture, it's the concomitant recognition and elevation of the electro movement amongst the venerated art pieces exhibited inside. Still however, there was an element of lo-brow mixed in...
Lots happening this weekend in NYC. Besides Comic-Con at the Javits Center and Open House New York, the Vimeo Festival took over Frank Gehry's IAC building tonight, turning the facade into a digital canvas! Plus a shot of some of the goodies in the goodie bag!