When Aaron C. was visiting New York City from central Florida for the first time back in October, he did all the things New Yorkers do; walk around, see the sights, get questioned by the NYPD for taking photos... you know, the usual.
During a bustling evening in Times Square, Aaron saw a stretch, pink Mini Cooper pass by and recorded it on video. "When I started recording it..." he told NYC The Blog in an email, "the officer asked me what I was photographing." In video he recently shared online, you can hear the office inquire: "What are you taking pictures of, the yellow cab?"
A visiting friend of NYC The Blog is detained momentarily in Times Square by the NYPD last Saturday night after being observed carrying an illegal knife on his persons. While the officer explained the law regarding carrying knives in public in New York City, the perp expressed surprise that "this little thing" was illegal to carry in public. Living with wild animals in the hills of Massachusetts somewhere, he tried to explain: "Where I live, you wouldn't go outside without it!" The officer revealed he was not being arrested nor receiving a summons but did request and record his legal identification.
As seen in the photo below, it was a very pleasant interaction. Which was somewhat surprising. Is this the new kinder, gentler NYPD?
Maybe. But one could easily imagine this scenario playing out in other ways, depending on geography and race or class perceptions, for example.
On a related note, their has been a significant increase in violent crime in New York City in the past year. As if to drive that point home, while reporting a shooting early Tuesday morning on Gold Street in Downtown Manhattan that left the victim dead, @NYScanner noted it was the 10th shooting that night. Shortly after, they reported another dead body in Washington Heights.
Previously:» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter.Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog
Many residents of New York City will attest to taking their work home with them. But how many of them have outfitted their cars as a home office—complete with desk—parking on 7th Avenue in Times Square on a busy Saturday night, "working late at the office?" The guy in the photo at top has, and he means business. Fax machine? Check. Desk lamp? Check. Stapler? Check. Two mobile phones? Check. Miscellaneous items, such as lighters and pens? Check! Trash, flowers, files, and paperwork in hand? Check! Now if only he could find a good time machine repairman who can fix his time machine that has him stuck in the 80s.
» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter.Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog
The NYPD Skywatch towers seen here in Times Square on the second week of April are assumed to have been deployed in response to trouble on Easter evening, when hordes of teenagers filled the area and caused a bit of mayhem.
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.
Tumblr user Zorica, whose father is on a crew currently working at the Shubert Theater, has commented on the evacuation of the Shubert during the closure of Times Square, where they would not let anyone out at intermission as normal:
When the show was over the entire audience was made to leave via the alley rather than the street. So something is going on and it sounds a bit more involved than a car fire.
The underground stagehand network (a pretty cool thing actually, they all talk to each other on IM and gmail while the shows are going on, giving each other advice etc when there are glitches in the automation, or whatever - it’s kind of like no matter what show you’re on, you’re tapped into the others as well) was saying that there were three controlled explosions, the cops detonating things they’d found. It’s possible the source of such things is, to use a tired Broadway joke, a Phantom.
Photo of Times Square at 1:30am via Earthcam webcam
The NYPD has closed off a large swath of Times Square after a car erupted in flames and a suspicious package was seen its back seat. The vehicle was also sporting license plates that did not match the make of car.
Love really was in the air this weekend. WCBTV reported on PDA all over Manhattan. Artist Richard Velloso created his “The Kisses Down Houston Street,” turning bell shaped decorative flourishes on the traffic islands of Houston St into giant Hershey Kisses. And though "nothing says love like a giant, stone-cold heart," one man took the opportunity to propose to his significant other in front of the Ice Heart sculpture at Times Square on Saturday evening.
Jennifer 8. Lee, a New York Times reporter until recently, retweeted the photo as well, and added a perceptive note: "massive times square snow ball fight possible bcbway closed to traffic. thank you mayor bloomberg."
That photo has captivated the attention of many people. Four kids who have laid claim to starting the whole thing have set up a Facebook page to commemorate the event; the wall is currently populated with comments from many who were in attendance, sharing their photos, videos, and comments. "This was the best snowball fight ever," wrote Gary Smith. "I love NY!!!"
But exactly what is so captivating about a snowball fight—an event that happens everywhere, every year? Yes, it was the first major snow fall in New York City, which might have added to the general interest in snow related news. Yes, it took place in Times Square, New York City, arguably ground zero for focus on any number of events. But there seems to be more at play here, something else people find captivating. As Jennifer 8. Lee noted, this could only happen because Broadway has been closed to traffic in that area of Times Square. It is this idea of participating in the city you live in, without fear or concern of constant traffic and noise, free to be part of the landscape in anyway you feel, that must surely be part of the attraction people feel toward this event. To really Own This City, as Time Out NY is fond of saying, sharing it with just yourself and others on the ground.
As I walked around last night in the unusually quite and desolate streets of New York City during heavy snowfall, it occurred to me how nice it was to be able to do this, free of speeding vehicles and the unbearable, artificial noise of this loud city: "I'm pretty sure this is how it was supposed to be."
I am pretty sure this is how New York City is supposed to be. The narrow streets in the interior of our city, made for walking, not driving. Cobblestones and cafes. The vehicles, for the most part, restricted to outlying roads. A city where pedestrians have the run of the place in it's interior, opting to have a snowball fight in the middle of Times Square if the mood strikes.
Though not often sold this way, the issues of transportation and public space are social and political issues. They can be designed to create equality or inequality, and too often they are designed with inequality in mind. Initiatives such as Summer Streets are positive steps in addressing these inequalities. As the issues of transportation and public space get discussed as social issues and not technical one, it seems inevitable that whole neighborhoods will become car free in the future. As Enrique Penalosa, former Mayor of Bogota, Columbia is fond of saying, "We can have a city that is very friendly to cars, or a city that is very friendly to people, we can not have both."
In Times Square last night, people witnessed a city that was friendly to pedestrians, and perhaps every retweet of that photo could be seen as a vote in favor.
The History Channel was recently the first to take advantage of the MTA's new decision to allow a complete wrapping of subway cars in advertisements, when they wrapped the shuttle train in Times Square. And now Google has stepped up as the next concern to wrap a train, wrapping three exterior cars with an advertisement for Google Maps, slightly less understated then the History Channel's ad, if such a thing could be, as Google has only wrapped the exterior of the train, leaving the interior with the more traditional ads we are used to seeing in the square displays or banners up top.
The Times Square station seems to be ground zero for utilization of a number of uncommon advertising uses, with columns, steps, turnstile arms, trains, and many other surfaces being covered in ads. More pictures below of the Google train below.
[UPDATE:Adage is reporting that Google advertisements inside the train which offer directions are erroneously giving wrong information. "Specifically, we spotted this erroneous tip inside the train car: To get from Grand Central to Madison Square Garden, take the 1, 2 or 3 train and then walk to 4 Penn Plaza. Only the 1, 2 or 3 train doesn't run through Grand Central -- it goes through Times Square. Oops!"]
Share This
The NYPD 
Tumblr user Zorica, whose father is on a crew currently working at the Shubert Theater, 
