Greenpoint
Cafe Cito Bogota
Long Island City Photo Du Jour: Pepsi Cola
Taken August 8, 2010.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Slide Show Du Jour: Break On Through To The Other Side
Filed under: 10002, 11211, Brooklyn, Lower East Side, Lower East Side Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
This week I did something I have never done before: I walked across the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan. I saw a number of interesting things, including a man urinating off of said bridge. At one point he even rested his member on the rail so as to free his hand to forage for his cell phone. It was quite the sight, I assure you. If there is a lesson to be learned here it is this: if you are walking down South 6 Street near the waterfront, carry an umbrella. Or better yet: walk on the other side of the street.
In any case, here are some highlights from my sojourn to Manhattan. I have tossed in some shots from Chinatown as well. Enjoy!
You can view this slide show in large format by clicking here.
Miss Heather
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part III: (speechless)
I hadn’t planned on running so many images form my photo pool today but when I saw this one (by Erik Jauli) I simply had to share it here. Cavorting in the East River is not exactly the way I’d beat the heat— but to each their own. WOW.
Miss Heather
New York Shitty Day Ender: Thanksgiving Day Sunset
I want to give special thanks to Greenpointless for giving me permission to post this wonderful Thanksgiving sunset courtesy of the Garden Spot of the Universe!
Miss Heather
Meet U Thant Island
Filed under: Queens
One of the really neat things about taking a cruise along New York City’s waterfront is it enables one to (re)discover many hidden treasures* that cannot be appreciated from dry land. Such is the case with the above little island nestled between Roosevelt Island, Long Island City and the U.N. in Manhattan.
It is unofficially named after the third Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant. Here’s a little information about it courtesy of Wikipedia:
The island has its origins in the 1890s as a side-effect of William Steinway‘s construction of trolley tunnels under the river to link bustling Manhattan to his eponymous company town in Steinway, Queens. The island was built up on the existing granite outcrop Man-o’-War Reef using excess landfill from a shaft dug down the reef to the tunnels. Steinway died before his tunnels’ completion, and it was financier August Belmont, Jr. who finished the project in 1907, leaving the finished islet as a bonus.
The Steinway Tunnels are still in use as part of the 7-Flushing line in the New York Subway, and trains still pass directly beneath the island many times a day. Belmont Island, named after the financier, became the legal name of the island.
The small inconvenient island was unused and almost forgotten for nearly a century, until in 1977 it was adopted by employees at nearby UN headquarters following the guru Sri Chinmoy, who served as an interfaith chaplain there. The group, called Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, leased the islet from New York State, greened its surface and unofficially renamed it after Burmese Buddhist United Nations Secretary General U Thant, a friend of Chinmoy. Although unofficial, U Thant Island has stuck as the common name for the island. The islet is now the site of a thirty-foot “oneness arch” preserving personal items of the island’s namesake
Be sure to check out Mr. Thant’s biography as well. It is fascinating, especially given the troubled state of Burma nowadays. Not only was he an adept peace maker and a Buddhist, but U Thant was a U.F.O. buff to boot!
Miss Heather
*Including a giant portrait of George W. Bush. As you will see.
NYS Flickr Pool
