New York April NYC Meet-Up

[Calzone]

Agreed, in comparison to NYC the Spanish cities are like small towns. However, I didn't find most of Madhattan dirty. Maybe it was just "character".
I talked with a Portuguese and Brazilian at the hotel and we did a critic on those trash bags on the curb and the subway. My opinion in the subway is that it's gritty and with character.

Basically as you said Cal, NYC isn't beautiful but it's Cool.

If you get to less touristy or older parts of the city, like Gothic quarter of Barcelona, it can be dirty and with a bit of dog pee smell. Modern center and such is usually spotless.


That puts it out real well. As an European I found NY so vast in all ways.
Didn't get to see the rudest part of NY, actually I get along with the New yorkers I find. Perhaps is because "doing your own business" which I often do too.
A friend asked me about my NY visit and told me that his flatmate from Texas once asked some random New Yorker how he was, to which was answered "f* off".

Jorde,

Recently they finished the Second Avenue Subway and made it operational. It kinda hurt my eyes because it was not only brightly lite, but was shiny because it was entirely brand new. I turned to this woman who likely was experiencing the same thing, and I mentioned how odd it is to see a clean subway.

Her response was, "Give it about two weeks and it will be as bad as the rest of the system." LOL. Not too much of an exaggeration. Already I am starting to see rats acting boldly at the 96th Street station. I see litter collecting on the tracks that often start track fires. The "Q" train is the new luxury housing for the homeless.

Downtown is kinda sanitized, but up in East Harlem I frequently see "Pancaked Rats" on my block. My neighborhood is kinda famous for rat infestation.

Tony is a black man who works at Sotheby's who is one of my neighbors. Tony is a long term resident. He tells me at one time our block on 101st Street was segregated: one side of the street was black: the other side was Italian. He explained that the racism was so bad that you had to walk around in a gang to avoid getting beat up.

So my luxury building on 101st is what I would call a "Ghetto Buster" meaning a building that stands out and does not fit in the ghetto. Tony tells me back in the day where my building stands some squatter ran an automobile repair business on an otherwise vacant lot. Pretty much it was like Willit's Point in Queens.

Somehow the land was appropriated and the government built a brand new Social Security Office on the vacant land, but because the subway runs right underneath my building this Social Security Office immediately became rat infested. People would be at work and rats would be frolicing on worker's desks.

Tony told me this brand new building was only open for about two years before it was condemned due to rat infestation. This building was torn down to build the Ghetto Buster that I now live in. One Penthouse on the eighth floor sold for 1.8 million, but realize that East Harlem, AKA SpaHa, is the worst neighborhood in Madhattan because of mucho poverty.

BTW the Bronx is a lot worse.

"So I'm minding my own business." I go to Guitar Center to buy some guitar strings, and there is this old black man playing some tasteful stuff on a cheap immitation De'Angelico.

I compliment him on his chops, I find out he worked for the NYPD as a civilian fixing electronics and is now retired. One thing leads to another, and then I find myself in a sit-chee-A-tion because the guy I'm talking to is basically a registered crazy, who also happens to be a minister.

So he starts telling me about all these remarkable stories, some perhaps credible, but the one where he blinded himself accidently with a pair of pliers by and fully recovered made me aware that I needed to get away from this guy because he was a nut job.

So anyways, they say it takes one to know one, but it does seem like I draw in more than my fair share of crazies.

When walking the entire city of Toronto and Montreal I did not see not one dog turd. On my way to 2 1/2 mile walk to work my route is boobly trapped. Does not matter if it is a rich neighborhood like the Upper Eastside, or East Harlem.

Cal

 

[JeffNYC]

Cal.
It's getting time for another RFF road trip. Last year was Philadelphia...
What about an overnighter to either DC or Boston...

Jeff

 

[Calzone]

Cal.
It's getting time for another RFF road trip. Last year was Philadelphia...
What about an overnighter to either DC or Boston...

Jeff

Jeff,

I'm cool with that.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

So coming back to NYC was an assault on the senses. The pollution, the noise and the hassle was in stark contrast to Mad-Rid.

We flew Business Class to Madrid and because of a tail wind we arrived earlier than expected, but the hotel's Mercedes Limo had difficulties getting to the Gran Melia because of the Madrid Marathon. Pretty much we got a limo tour that skirted onto fringy neighborhoods. Our driver apologized for the inconvenience, but it became a great way to experience a broad area around Center City. Eventually we got within a reasonable distance and had to walk the rest of the way.

Mad-Rid like Montreal and Toronto is a clean city by American standards. The people are Uber polite and well mannered, and then I realized that I am an American Savage. It was really rude having an understanding of how raw and unrefined I am, but I really enjoyed being civilized. More so than coming from a Canadian city. NYC is a total free-for-all, and pretty much it is like being in a UFC match inside the octagon.

Our room had this dual glass walled bathroom so it felt connected to the room and salon. Inside the bathroom was a separate glass room with a soaking tub and shower with a "rainfall" head. The stream of simulated rainfall kinda ruined me, and made a great experience. There was a curtain to isolate the bathroom's use of glass walls and create one open space.

Our hotel formally was some palace but a Royal Palace that has 3400 rooms and is one of the larger palaces in Europe was but a few blocks away as well as the National Opera House.

There is a "Red" service that adds another level of service and luxury to this already luxurious hotel that kinda creates a luxury hotel within a luxury hotel. There is a private section where basically it is like having a full service living room and garden that is kinda private. One our second day I kinda used this area as my photographic studio to cover the "Bravo" Project. I moved around furniture, and photographed "Maggie" looking at a selection of art books on display that promoted and capture the spirit of Madrid that were chosen buy an artist and an actress through these five or six books.

Our first full day had a private tour of the National Library, Biblioteca Nacional, that was a walk away scheduled at noon. Pretty much this was like getting invited to the Library of Congress, but when we arrived security told us that all tours were closed/cancelled because of other special events because of celebration of World Book Day.

We started to leave, but was intercepted by our private guide before we left. Pretty much had a spine chilling shiver being shown all these treasures and history. Every year an author is selected for distinction, and there was this hall of portraits where the writer picked the painter and directed the painter how to portray the writer.

One writer had the artist depict him standing on a city street with people walking around him. Pretty much was a street portrait, and it made me wonder about the likelihood of how this writer connected to being urban, connected to the street, and I wondered if this writer considered himself a "street writer" in the same manner I consider myself a street photographer. Hmmm.

Maggie gets a text and the magazine interview gets postponed to 3:00 PM, and also we are invited to a lunch at another Gran Melia luxury hotel within sight of the National Library. In the hotel lobby I am photographing Maggie when "The Lady in Red" approches and takes us to the eighth floor for a five course lunch. From the balcony I could see a statute of Columbus standing on a tall pedistal like the ove in Columbus Circle in NYC. Not far away is their version of 5th Avenue and Central Park.

Pretty much the food was so rich and tasty that I likely would need a stent right after lunch. Pretty much if I wanted to kill myself eating like this for a week would do it.

So after this lunch we are guided to a hotel suite one floor below us where a camera crew, videographer, stylist, and PR people are gathered for an interview that basically is really two interviews. Later two designers who dressed Maggie would appear, and in all about a dozen people appeared and crowded the suite. There was a lot of fun going on. It seems that the magazine doing the feature has a reputation for being a bit conservative, but the stylist wanted to go a little crazy. I said, "Crazy is good," which is what she wanted to hear, and that set the tone for the curation of the shoot.

Took about 4 hours before we got back to our hotel room to get ready for the formal cocktail hour that began at 8:30. I used my SL to capture this guy dressed as a horse. His costume was more of a theater costume made for perhaps an opera that utilized this gauzy white sheer fabric that displayed the armature underneath that gave him a height of 10-11 feet. I captured him entering on these elegant stairs without the clutter of crowds. Looks like an editorial fashion shot.

Then there were these two women with their skin powdered white to resemble ghosts wearing flemish gowns and white powdered big hair wigs all dressed in white. Again I captured these two models like a fashion shoot near the hotel entrance in great light.

So the trip to Madrid was only 3 1/2 days in Spain if you remove the time traveling. Our last full day involved a private walking tour that included an entourage of two young girls. We walked to the areas where the 80 "Maninas" were out in public display. Manina is the term used for the young girl of nobility who was the caretaker of the future Prince or Princess of Spain. We ended up going to the Prado and visiting the Flemish section to specifically view the Valasguez " painting "Las Maninas."

Really interesting in Valasquez's work the usage of motion blur way before photography was invented. Also his use of scale and viewing distance. In real life these paintings are huge.

Anyways, what gets amplified coming back to NYC, is how filthy and polluted NYC is, and for me the quality of life is rather low. I find Madrid mucho muy pleasent and not so rude.

BTW had difficulties with the New York car service going to the airport (late) and on the way home (pay dispute) as a reminder of all the constant hassles here. Also immigration at JFK on the way home was a disaster for Maggie. What a rude city I live in.

Cal

 

[JeffNYC]

So coming back to NYC was an assault on the senses. The pollution, the noise and the hassle was in stark contrast to Mad-Rid.

We flew Business Class to Madrid and because of a tail wind we arrived earlier than expected, but the hotel's Mercedes Limo had difficulties getting to the Gran Melia because of the Madrid Marathon. Pretty much we got a limo tour that skirted onto fringy neighborhoods. Our driver apologized for the inconvenience, but it became a great way to experience a broad area around Center City. Eventually we got within a reasonable distance and had to walk the rest of the way.

Mad-Rid like Montreal and Toronto is a clean city by American standards. The people are Uber polite and well mannered, and then I realized that I am an American Savage. It was really rude having an understanding of how raw and unrefined I am, but I really enjoyed being civilized. More so than coming from a Canadian city. NYC is a total free-for-all, and pretty much it is like being in a UFC match inside the octagon.

Our room had this dual glass walled bathroom so it felt connected to the room and salon. Inside the bathroom was a separate glass room with a soaking tub and shower with a "rainfall" head. The stream of simulated rainfall kinda ruined me, and made a great experience. There was a curtain to isolate the bathroom's use of glass walls and create one open space.

Our hotel formally was some palace but a Royal Palace that has 3400 rooms and is one of the larger palaces in Europe was but a few blocks away as well as the National Opera House.

There is a "Red" service that adds another level of service and luxury to this already luxurious hotel that kinda creates a luxury hotel within a luxury hotel. There is a private section where basically it is like having a full service living room and garden that is kinda private. One our second day I kinda used this area as my photographic studio to cover the "Bravo" Project. I moved around furniture, and photographed "Maggie" looking at a selection of art books on display that promoted and capture the spirit of Madrid that were chosen buy an artist and an actress through these five or six books.

Our first full day had a private tour of the National Library, Biblioteca Nacional, that was a walk away scheduled at noon. Pretty much this was like getting invited to the Library of Congress, but when we arrived security told us that all tours were closed/cancelled because of other special events because of celebration of World Book Day.

We started to leave, but was intercepted by our private guide before we left. Pretty much had a spine chilling shiver being shown all these treasures and history. Every year an author is selected for distinction, and there was this hall of portraits where the writer picked the painter and directed the painter how to portray the writer.

One writer had the artist depict him standing on a city street with people walking around him. Pretty much was a street portrait, and it made me wonder about the likelihood of how this writer connected to being urban, connected to the street, and I wondered if this writer considered himself a "street writer" in the same manner I consider myself a street photographer. Hmmm.

Maggie gets a text and the magazine interview gets postponed to 3:00 PM, and also we are invited to a lunch at another Gran Melia luxury hotel within sight of the National Library. In the hotel lobby I am photographing Maggie when "The Lady in Red" approches and takes us to the eighth floor for a five course lunch. From the balcony I could see a statute of Columbus standing on a tall pedistal like the ove in Columbus Circle in NYC. Not far away is their version of 5th Avenue and Central Park.

Pretty much the food was so rich and tasty that I likely would need a stent right after lunch. Pretty much if I wanted to kill myself eating like this for a week would do it.

So after this lunch we are guided to a hotel suite one floor below us where a camera crew, videographer, stylist, and PR people are gathered for an interview that basically is really two interviews. Later two designers who dressed Maggie would appear, and in all about a dozen people appeared and crowded the suite. There was a lot of fun going on. It seems that the magazine doing the feature has a reputation for being a bit conservative, but the stylist wanted to go a little crazy. I said, "Crazy is good," which is what she wanted to hear, and that set the tone for the curation of the shoot.

Took about 4 hours before we got back to our hotel room to get ready for the formal cocktail hour that began at 8:30. I used my SL to capture this guy dressed as a horse. His costume was more of a theater costume made for perhaps an opera that utilized this gauzy white sheer fabric that displayed the armature underneath that gave him a height of 10-11 feet. I captured him entering on these elegant stairs without the clutter of crowds. Looks like an editorial fashion shot.

Then there were these two women with their skin powdered white to resemble ghosts wearing flemish gowns and white powdered big hair wigs all dressed in white. Again I captured these two models like a fashion shoot near the hotel entrance in great light.

So the trip to Madrid was only 3 1/2 days in Spain if you remove the time traveling. Our last full day involved a private walking tour that included an entourage of two young girls. We walked to the areas where the 80 "Maninas" were out in public display. Manina is the term used for the young girl of nobility who was the caretaker of the future Prince or Princess of Spain. We ended up going to the Prado and visiting the Flemish section to specifically view the Valasguez " painting "Las Maninas."

Really interesting in Valasquez's work the usage of motion blur way before photography was invented. Also his use of scale and viewing distance. In real life these paintings are huge.

Anyways, what gets amplified coming back to NYC, is how filthy and polluted NYC is, and for me the quality of life is rather low. I find Madrid mucho muy pleasent and not so rude.

BTW had difficulties with the New York car service going to the airport (late) and on the way home (pay dispute) as a reminder of all the constant hassles here. Also immigration at JFK on the way home was a disaster for Maggie. What a rude city I live in.

Cal

Love the journal Cal.. Really enjoyed reading about the event. Glad all went well.

Jeff