Hellman Electric Corp. Repainting Every Traffic Light Pole From Houston Street To Canal Street

Employees of Hellman Electric Corp. clean and repaint traffic light poles on Spring Street at Broadway

Earlier this summer, employees of Hellman Electric Corp. were seen on the corner of Elizabeth and Broome giving traffic light poles a new coat of paint. Later that week, the same men were seen cleaning and painting poles on the corner of Broadway and Spring Street at 6 in the morning.

The company, explained the employee as he scraped a pole, has a contract to clean and repaint every single light pole from Houston Street to Canal Street, river to river. How many is that? "A lot."

Street Fight On Canal And Broadway: How Not To Go About It

Cupcake On Broadway

Cupcake on Broadway, seen somewhere on the east side of the street, below 14th and above Houston.

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Times Square Returns To Normal; Full Of Tourists Again

Everything appears to be back to normal in Times Square after last night's bomb scare, if the crowds and traffic seen here on 7th and Broadway are any indication. (See the same view from 1:30am). The image above taken at 1:48pm comes from a Times Square webcam, one of 11 from the area you can view at Earthcam.

Previously:
++PHOTOS: Times Square Empty After Bomb Scare
++VIDEO: Police Swarm Times Square In Response To Bomb Scare
++On The Evacuation Of The Shubert Theater During Times Square Closure

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Nuts 4 Nuts On 53rd And Broadway

I've since forgotten what the proprietors name is, having neglected to write it down, though I did remember a few details from our conversation. He came to the U.S. from Chile ten years ago, and lives a few blocks west from where he sets up his cart here at 53rd and Broadway, south of the Ed Sullivan Theater, this evening catching everyone waiting on line for the Late Show With David Letterman. He's been working the cart in this spot for seven years, from 10 am to 11 pm everyday; sometimes he set up across the street on the east side of Broadway if the foot traffic is better over there. He tells me that he takes home about 70-80 dollars a day, 100 on a good day. I'm not sure if he was referring to his gross take or his profit and am unaware what his expenses might be, if he rents the cart, pays a fee of his take to someone else, how much the peanuts cost, etc...so I'm inclined to believe those numbers, if accurate, were referring to his profit after any and all expenses, as in the ten minutes I stood there conversing with him, he sold a half dozen or more bags of peanuts at two dollars each; if indicative of his business, that's about 70 dollars every hour.

Jon Oliver's Documentary Portrait Project Along 110th

110th & Columbus 82, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Looking for ways to practice his photography, particularly shooting portraits on the street, Harlem resident Jon Oliver was sitting on a bench along Central Park North and noticed the wide range of people walking by when it occurred to him, these people would be the subjects of his new project.

What followed, on September 7, 2008 at the corner of Broadway and 110th, was the beginning of a documentary portrait series featuring photographs of people shot on the streets of Harlem. One day a week since, Jon has taken his camera and, stopping at each avenue as he works his way east across 110th, stopped to photograph people. 110th and Broadway, Amsterdam, Columbus, Manhattan Ave, Central Park West, Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, and his latest from Lenox Ave each have their own set on his Flickr page.

110th & Lenox 98, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

Taken as a whole, the photos represent an absolutely beautiful cross section of the neighborhood, each photograph silently engaging you as your mind searches for a connection between the the person you see and the person they are. No doubt the series of photos will be a welcome addition the archive collections of any number of community institutions.

Jon told NYC The Blog that 2/3rd to 3/4th of the people he asks to photograph say no, but that some "are really encouraging and enthusiastic about what I'm doing and there are a few people that, against my prejudgments, are really enthusiastic about being photographed."

An exhibition of the photographs might be forthcoming, if the photographer can find a very affordable way to have the photos -a hundred plus at this point- framed, as he has no interest in selling the photos.

You can view the photos in sets here at Jon's Flickr, where he will continue to add a new set every week as he walks east across Harlem along 110th.

110th & Columbus 78, originally uploaded by jonoliver.

110th & Lenox 132, originally uploaded by jonoliver.