New York City Metblogs » nyc_ami

NYC Street Tree Census

nyc_ami — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 17:47:33 +0000

On walks to brunch, coffee, etc. my roommate and I often conduct totally nerdy but less than scientific surveys of trees on the way. Our classifications (admittedly a little rough) are divided into two categories: cool and uncool.
-Gingko Tree? Nice-shaped leaves, but smelly. Not cool.
-Unknown deciduous Pine? Cool.
That’s why shortly after the activity was invented I was amused and fascinated to learn that New York is conducting it’s own arborial mission called Trees Count. The census takes place over four months and they still need volunteers in some of the boroughs. Now’s the chance to cultivate (or reconnect) with your inner tree dweeb.

Renegade Craft Fair in Williamsburg

nyc_ami — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 07:40:26 +0000

I went to the pre-party this eve for the Renegade Craft Fair and was totally impressed by how well-produced the event was. I’ve been hearing about this event for years now and with over 150 vendors, co-sponsorship by Bust magazine, and conveniently located in “lovely” McCarren Park, it makes for a perfect Brooklyn weekend along with the famed Mermaid Parade or just as a post-brunch stroll.

p.s. frozen margaritas to go at the Turkey Nest on N. 11th and Bedford are summer saviors.

Buddhism and Baubles in Nolita

nyc_ami — Wed, 25 May 2005 22:51:19 +0000

My friend Rebecca met me for an afternoon beer and pulled out a plain brown box adorned with little more than a mail order address label. She opened it to reveal a pair of gold and rhinestone hoop earrings with a tiny white tennis player perched in one and a muscle man type guy in the other. They came from the soon-to-be-closed Nolita shop of Charles Elkaim that she had been visiting since she was a little kid. In a rare moment of follow-through I found my way to the store last Sunday. The interior is lined floor to ceiling with miniatures, jewelry, stickers, and other assorted objets d’kitsch, all being liquidated by Charles and his wife with the kind of down to earth charm. Even as I overheard Charles tell a customer that they close next week his voice was totally free from the bitterness one might expect from an old-timer who is watching the mallification of those parts first hand. It’s like old-fashioned New York Zen.
You’ve got a few days left. This is a can’t-miss in my book, a glimpse at the end of a New York era.
Charles Place
(212)-966-7302
234 Mulberry between Prince and Spring

Hating on the Haters

nyc_ami — Tue, 10 May 2005 18:14:12 +0000

New York is a city of haters. That much is clear. I find myself disparaging a subway line (the 4,5,6) based on a loose set of criteria that ranges from a man warning me to zip up my purse one time to a an entirely unsubstantiated belief that it

Pennies From Underground

nyc_ami — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 19:03:36 +0000

Yesterday, in the 8th Avenue L station, I saw what seemed to be bright, shiny pennies piled underneath those annoying Tom Otterness sculptures. Thinking it was just an extension of Otterness’ didactic metaphor about wealth that I’d never noticed before and, like my fellow passengers, being too hurried, lazy, self-concerned, and/or embarrassed, I went on my way.

But the coins made me think about the sculptures, so today I looked more closely at the bronze figures to try to not be such a hater. As cheesy as they are, on principle I’m for public art, especially subway art. Visiting New York as a teenager, subway mosaics caught my late 90s industrial romantic eye. As the design execs behind Noah