Chances are, when looking at the Chanin Building at the corner of 42nd and Lex… (picture credits: Emilio Guerra) …You’ve probably noticed the incredible friezes running the perimeter of the building, both in terra-cotta and bronze: (picture credits: Emilio Guerra) If you’ve never seen them, I highly recommend taking a moment to stare next time…
It might come as a surprise, but Manhattan has beaches. Yes, they’re small, often submerged at high tide, and you’d be crazy to go swimming in the water, but they’re still beaches. And there are more than you’d think. I’m a huge fan of any property in Manhattan that goes unused or ignored, or at…
Nothing annoys me more than scouting New York for an Ext. Dank Alley scene. For some reason (probably because of the movies!), everyone thinks of Manhattan as a city riddled with dark, grungy, dilapidated, smokey alleys that New Yorkers are constantly walking down and getting themselves into trouble in. The truth is, of course, that…
In keeping with yesterday’s theme of streets in New York that have an other-worldly feel to them, I have to mention a favorite place on West 53rd Street that always reminds me of my travels to the dusty southwest… …This church, a really neat adobe mission-style building nestled in amongst the brick apartment buildings and…
I love streets in New York that make you feel as far from the city as possible. Obvious examples include Washington Mews and Pomander Walk, but a third less noted example is one of my favorites: Centre Market Place in Nolita. Here, hidden in the shadow of the beautiful Police Building, a row of townhouses…
Note: this has since been removed. I was driving along Vernon Blvd in Queens when I spotted something you don’t usually see under the 59th Street Bridge… A bicycle garden! Or, to be specific, a row of flowers made out of old bike parts: Very inventive stuff – check out this sunflower… The group responsible…
Don’t let the squat little Rite Aid storefront on Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint fool you… It has a big history. A movie theater for most of its life, you can see it below in 1928 when it was known as the Fox Meserole showing silent films (the advertised Baby Mine was made in 1928 –…
I’ve been scouting warehouse rooftops in Brooklyn on the East River recently. Though this one in Greenpoint has a pretty great view… …what really impressed me is that I had apparently stumbled into racquetball heaven! There were dozens and dozens of racquetballs all over the roof, which I can only assume are from kids playing…
I’ve been scouting midtown office spaces recently, many of which have had some pretty great views of the city like the one below. I’m a big fan of buildings with ornamentation that is essentially invisible from the street, and I happened to notice something neat on the roof of the building at 108 East 38th…
I was walking down Hudson Ave today in Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood when I realized I’d never taken any of the roads leading east. Why not? I guess I’ve always just assumed everything in that corner of Brooklyn to be ConEd-type utility plants, never a good place to do any sort of filming. Always looking…