Contradicted Williamsburg

I’ve wanted to visit Williamsburg since Forever; even before knowing that we would move to New York, I remember reading an article about the neighborhood and that was it, I was instantly fascinated by it.

Williamsburg is a neighborhood of Brooklyn known to be an influential hub for Indie rock music as well as for its local art community. The area, which has been gentrified these past years, is being redefined by a growing population and a rapid development of housing and retail space. Williamsburg is a young and busy neighborhood with numerous popular bars, shops and restaurants; it is equally one of the coolest places I’ve seen in New York. 

The mysterious origin of steam

Have you ever ask yourself what exactly is all this steam that we see here and there in Manhattan, coming out of orange and white chimneys? 

A chimney somewhere in Midtown

With all the crazy pressure on people's shoulders here – perhaps you've read that New York has recently won the title of the world’s most competitive city –, I was starting to believe that the steam may come from New Yorker’s heads while they are in the subway network, trying – and failing – to arrive on time to their "rendez-vous".

Although this hypothesis was sensible, I still wanted to do some research about it; in order to being able explaining this very special phenomenon to my visitors when they come to New York and ask me the question – which typically happens after one or two days.

New York, in fact, has the world's biggest steam generation system. Everyday, this system pumps steam into not less than some 100,000 commercial and residential establishments.

Cabs

This picture was taken around 10th Avenue in the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. I like the old version of cabs and I still can’t believe that the City is going to change them by introducing this too modern “Taxi of Tomorrow”.

  
I used Pixlr-o-Matic, most specifically the filter Sophia, to modify the picture.

Street food

With over 3,000 street vendors in the City and food stands on almost every corner of midtown,New York’s street Food is much more than hot dogs and pretzels. On the sidewalks, you can get almost any food you want from gyros to cupcakes, dumplings, falafel, couscous, waffles and burgers as well as Mexican and Korean tacos.

This picture has been taken in midtown on a cold Friday night.

Graffiti marriage proposal

Did you watch this viral 2011 video about a graffiti marriage proposal in East Village? I did when I was still in Montreal and I was so happy, recently, when this famous street art appeared along my path.

Apparently, the artist’s girlfriend was walking to meet him for dinner when she saw the street art. He promptly got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. How adorable…

Happy Valentine's Day!

Remembering 2012's first snow...

Elevated parkings are for me a kind of signature of New York. They are not always good looking but I found that this one, that I caught from the High Line Park around 18th street, was beautiful covered with snow.

Christmas and the City: Christmas tree disguised World Trade Center

Last but not least, I would like to share with you one of my favorite ways to enjoy the Holiday magic in New York. My last posts about it, here and here, were about more traditional things; but this one is for me a strong reflect of New York’s creativity and singularity.

Go for a walk or a run along the Hudson river and enjoy the Christmas tree disguised World Trade Center
Construction workers who are currently rebuilding the World Trade Center site have recently given a holiday gift to all New Yorkers and visitors; Thanks to the electrical contractor of the building, one tower is getting in the holiday spirit with brightly colored lights that disguise it in a giant Christmas tree.

New York: Flower city

When you’ve lived in a city for a long time, and even sometimes for your whole life, you stop marveling at simple things that are part of your everyday environment. These last weeks, I have visited many corners of the City. I have also observed the judgmental attitude of some people towards me when I was taking pictures of taken-for-granted parts of the New York landscape – which I can understand, I always found it weird when tourists in Montreal were sitting in the stairs of my apartment for pictures –. All of this made me realize that too many New Yorkers are just too busy to appreciate and enjoy their city’s simple eccentricity and all the little details that make it unique.