| Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Has it been this long since I wrote anything here? I suppose it has been. I've been promoting FNY with bookstore signings, ForgottenTours, and on the air. HarperCollins got me several high-profile gigs, on WNYC with Brian Lehrer (see link on the homepage) and the cover of Time Out NY. (Since my cover was followed by their annual sex issue, I like to think I civilized them for a week, or at least Walshinized them.) I'd like more engagements, but HC went for the home run ball, the big gigs, and it succeeded in the short term: I attained my goal of the Amazon Top 1000 (#633 to be exact) after the Lehrer show, and they told me they got 50 calls -- by far their biggest hourly total of the week -- the book was offered as a gift for a $100 pledge during their drive week.
I was quite relaxed on the WNYC air and in my element, once I got settled in. I'd like to do more radio stuff. I did an interview with Nigey Lennon in her friend John Tabacco's living room, and I have the Quicktime file, but I'm stumped so far how to link the thing. (since solved.)
The gig at hole-in-the-wall Freebird Books in Brooklyn was the most fun, as forty-five (45!) ForgottenFans turned up, we stormed Cobble Hill and amazed everyone when they found out Winston Churchill's mother was born there. Most of my in-stores attracted about 20 people, which is about par for these things.
Wherever I go, I'm amazed people know about me and Forgotten NY. I was at an indie film screening for Up at Joe's Fish, about the final days of the old Fulton Fish Market and the guys that worked there, and when I introduced myself to the producer, she practically squealed with delight. I'm not used to this sort of thing, but you can get used to it.
There have been missteps. I booked myself into a signing at Book Court in Brooklyn Heights. They didn't promote it and no one showed up. However, the 2nd week of December, I found the Forgottenbook at #4 on their best sellers nonfiction paperbacks list. Go figure.
I haven't been reviewed as much as I'd like. Only the NY Post and the NY Sun. Denis Hamill and Christopher Gray called me, but didn't follow up, and Hamill didn't return my emails. That's how it's done, I suppose, but I return most of mine. Brooklyn Rail has been excellent, with two articles, and the Times did blurb me in their holiday book section.
So the saga of the first Forgottenbook is over. Will there be a second? The only way to assure that is to buy this one!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Today's tally:
BARNES and NOBLE, 7th Avenue and 6th Street, Park Slope: 2nd shelf from the top in the NYC section -- not a bad placement at all. Thing is, though, they relocated their NYC section to the basement a couple of years ago; it used to be on the left as you went in. So, you have to seek it out. Not on the new paperbacks table.
COMMUNITY BOOKSTORE, 143 7th Avenue: no. And, the young sales clerk looked it up and said it wasn't yet on order; directed me to the phone number so I could ring up the owner.
BOOK CORNER, LIRR concourse, Penn Station: one of my most frequented book stores. I was in there the other day and didn't see it, but today I asked the clerk, who pointed to two on the NYC books section as you go in on the right. He was a nice guy: fetched them off the shelf for me to sign, then said "thank you, Mr. Walsh!" (until now, I've been used to hearing "Mr. Walsh" or "sir" as "asshole" substitutes from landlords and clerks; nice to hear an honorific from someone who's honored.
I've gotten 2 (two) pans in amazon already! They don't like it because my entries are too short, not in-depth as they'd like.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Periodically we have these little things called Forgotten Fans Phun Fests in which a few pals meet me in a restaurant of my choice. Yesterday's was the biggest and baddest one yet, as HarperCollins set up the FNY: the Book Launch at Chumley's on Bedford Street and we jammed about 50 into the back room for calamari, White Castles and all you can drink. Left standing at evening's end were me, Larry, Steve G. and the Queen of Queens. Pictures will soon be on their own page, if they're not already.
Started checking stores around town to see if the Forgottenbook is on sale. Results so far:
BORDER'S, 7th Avenue and 33rd Street: no
NYPL store, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street: no
BARNES and NOBLE, 6th Avenue and 8th Street: yes, one copy in the NYC section in he back, not on a front table. Actually one copy on a shelf might be a good sign since they usually put 4-5 out, so maybe they all sold but that one.
COLISEUM, 42nd between 5th and 6th: pile on one of the front tables (good), but not THE front. Also some in the NYC section, but on the bottom shelf (not good)
BARNES and NOBLE, 5th Ave. and 48th Street: no new paperbacks table in front; in NYC section in 2nd or 3rd shelf from the top (pretty good)
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Secret Project revealed: The cover story in Time Out New York, Sept. 21-26.
Cool huh? I have been working on it with TONY features editor Soren Larsen from mid-August till now. All went smooth as molasses, though I had to substitute some items, remove others. My sometimes turgid text was spiffed up for a TONY audience (i.e., all hints of my trademark self-deprecation or sarcasm were expunged) and I'm a bit disappointed it hasn't produced the Great Leap Forward in terms of amazon sales or Forgotten NY hits I had hoped for. But, perhaps those will come when the book hits the stands and I do book signings, ForgottenTours, and radio appearances.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Got 'em today.
Matthew Benjamin sent me a box full of Forgotten New York, first edition paperback, along with plenty of styrofoam Cheez Doodles. I'm very happy with it. The photos are rendered crystal clear and have been Photoshopped into perfection. I can't think of any other NYC guidebooks in which both the text and the photos have been done by the same person, actually, and I'm pretty proud about it, to be perfectly honest.
This is the product of three years of research, hours hunched over the keyboard in 95-degree un-air-conditioned rooms in the summer, hours hunting for research online or hidden in my bookshelves (more than once the book gremlins have eaten the book I need or spirited it off, so I had to buy the book again: in particular, Secret Places of Staten Island and Lighthouses of New York). It's renting a room in Staten Island by the water in February where I battled 20 degree temperatures and snowstorms so I could get the perfect picture in winter when the architecture is most visible. It's not telling anyone at the World's Biggest Store I was writing a book for fear they would use it against me (they used everything else against me there). Battling rising money problems while unemployed (so I went back to the House Where Dreams Come True).
I do what I love to do, and I hope to start work on Forgotten New York II soon if they let me.
Secret Project will be revealed to all during this week.
Now the real work begins: book promotion.
Got 'em today!
Now excuse me, I have to empty the bucket in my living room that has been catching the rain from a roof leak. The sun came out today.
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Secret Project is just about done, and will soon be announced on Forgotten NY (which most everyone reads anyway instead of this page). Also my bookstore appearances, their accompanying mini-ForgottenTours and radio chats will appear there as well, sometime soon. Today met subway maven Stan Fischler, hockey broadcaster and author of 1000 books, and thanked him in person for supplying a blurb that HarperCollins couldn't use right away since they already had the back cover laid out. It will go on Amazon instead.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Official book release date has been moved to September 26. Two days later, the publisher is planning a little book release thing at Chumley's in the Village for about 200. Since I know about 25 people, there better be a lot of press there. That week, there will also be something I'm keeping top secret, since I think I will surprise a lot of people.
Got my check for a chapter I did for Calling New York, an anthology appearing next year on Reaktion Books in England. Jim Knipfel is in it too.
Was out of action, or out of comfortable action, for 2 weeks with a wrenched back. How did I get it? Stepped out of the van they use to get us from the train station to work. Simple as that. Better now.
Donnaville says:
"The phone won’t power up in my car either! I cannot find the regular charger that just plugs into the wall outlet...I am going to have to go to visit my parents and borrow my Dad’s charger. At least to get the phone to hold a little charge and then I can bring it back and charge it the rest of the way on my computer."
What's this? They plug telephones into computers? Phones have to be charged now?
See, I'm still living in the blissful decade of the 1980s. Phones came with jacks and plugged into walls. The handsets connected to the phones with thick spiraling cords that always get tangled. None of this business of purchasing contracts, or charging batteries, or any of that rot.
What would I do with a "cell phone" anyway? I never talk on the phone, and no one calls me.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Last Friday, I met in Flushing Meadows Corona Park to do an official photo that will be appearing with promotional materials when I tour around town in the wake of the book's release. The photographer was Cal Crary, the brother of HC publicist Gretchen; he's a working professional, and according to him, the session went quite well, and both he and Gretchen are quite happy with the picture. I despise it, but it's not on Cal. I am simply not good-looking and resisted having any photos taken for publicity, preferring candid shots taken from the tours, where my face remains indistinct; but HC insisted on it. I'll just keep my eyes shut when entering the stores in the fall till I pass my picture.
In other news, I have been given another top-secret Forgotten NY assignment, the fruits of which will appear in late September. What is it? All in good time.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Monday I met with HarperCollins publicist Gretchen Crary to put together a framework of book promotion strategy. At this point, I'll be hitting some bookstores but with a twist: the lectures will be preceded by mini-ForgottenTours of the areas in which the bookstores are located. In case there's rain, I'll set up a powerpoint presentation similar to the one I did at the Apple Store in Soho on June 2. Efforts will also be made to get me a cover story in Time Out NY and features in the New York Times and other dailies, as well as some radio spots. Sounds like fun; hope it can be pulled off.
On Thursday, I attened Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss' Brooklyn By Name at the Brooklyn Historical Society, an exploration of Brooklyn's street names. Having come in from Port Washington, though, I was late and had to miss most of the lecture; I did chat with Leonard and hope to meet with him for tips on how to flog the Forgottenbook independently of the publicists at HarperCollins, who, after all, will move on to more famous clients after the initial burst. It was a small room and a big crowd, so I got claustrophobic after awhile and split but was impressed with the turnout. I am somewhat less than confident about my abilities to attract interest; unlike, say, Dawn, I don't know any big names and would have trouble getting asked to appear at parties with the heavy hitters, or what to do once I did show up.
Friday I did a photo shoot in Flushing Meadows with Cal Crary (Gretchen's brother), a professional photographer, for the promotional materials to be distributed to the venues I will be appearing. If he can't make me look decent in a photo, it can't be done. After I got home I found my shirt split in 3 places. Fortunately the pictures were taken from the front.
Friday, July 7, 2006
So I'm done with the second batch of 'final' proofs (this time I'm told that there won't be any more, and I discovered that two pictures were still in the wrong spot. It better get fixed this time, or it'll be a major error. Out of my hands now though.
So there will be just 2 blurbs on the back of the book, one by Luc Santé and another by novelist Kevin Baker, who is in the HarperCollins stable. I've acquired 3 more, by Sharon Seitz (Other Islands of New York City), architectural critic Francis Morrone, and hockey/subway maven Stan Fischler, but the editor tells me that due to an accelerated production schedule, the back cover's designed already and they won't take anymore blurbs. Jonathan Lethem's people turned us down (he contacted me a couple years ago for help with an article he was doing for Harper's, and I'm sure they could have squeezed him in had he accepted). So, the other folks will have to go on the amazon page or in future editions of the book, if there be any. I'm having my editor break the news to them.
Monday, I meet with the HarperCollins publicist, to discuss promotion strategy. I better take a step back and enjoy the moment. Might never come again.
One thing I have to increasingly keep in mind as I plunge deeper into my 40s:
Just because I can't do something, it doesn't mean it can't be done.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The good news is I have my first book jacket blurb, from Luc Santé of "Low-Life" fame:
"Forgotten New York has instantly become my favorite guide to the city. Kevin Walsh has a phenomenal eye, fanatical attention to detail, and a passion for all the varied layers of the past, from the grand to the flyblown. With any luck, his fine book will help save some of the things he cites from being bulldozed or painted over."
Great stuff huh?
The bad news is that I've slipped on the Amazon charts from the mid 40,000s to the mid-300,000s but these things tend to yo yo.
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
I am pleased with my chat last Friday at NYC Photobloggers 7, the (you guessed it) seventh such soiree put on at the Apple Store in Soho by Jake Dobkin of Gothamist. I had some flop sweat at first but as soon as I got up, I was completely at ease because I knew precisely what I was going to say. I had selected 25 photos of things that have disappeared since I first shot them for FNY. I didn't get any pix of the event but Cynthia and Russell of prodigalborough did. In my opinion, presenter Matt Weber of urbanphotos had the best pictures (his shots of the WTC on 9-11 should have won Pulitzers). This was a dry run, I suppose, for the presentations I will be doing when he book releases in October.
The bound galleys for the Forgottenbook have arrived as well. I'm supposed to give them out when local media is around (since I work in Port Washington that's rarely to never). It's strange, becuase the bound galleys contain the same ton of errors I found on the galleys.
I must confess to a bit of nonchalance and some blasé-ness about he book by now--I've been working on it for 3 years. I'll have to cure myself of this quickly. It could be the major triumph of my life; I may not do another book. Of course I hope to do another one, and become a Recognized Authority on stuff in the street nobody noticed before.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Got my printed galleys and are looking them over. It's an impressive sight. Lots of errors, though, and have to poke through them very carefully as there were several mistakes made by the compositor working from the bluelined corrections. And several things like choppy or run-on sentences I should have already seen.
Had to turn down, or at least postpone, an offer from Dawn to do a Daily News column, since the publisher believes I'll be nearly blacklisted by other pubs if I'm identified too closely with one. It's a bitter pill but perhaps sugarier treats will come later.
Hired full time by Publishers Clearing House, where I was between 1992 and 1999.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
The wheels continue to turn. I will soon have preliminary galleys to peruse (I have already seen a few and they're knockouts). On Saturday I was in Central Park doing a bit of shooting since Matthew Benjamin said they still need a few statue pics. In a couple of weeks, I will begin doing mini-tours to bookstore managers, hoping to get on the front table.
Amazon has begun listing Forgotten NY though there's no jacket image yet. It has risen to as high as the top 50,000. My goal is to hit the Top 1,000 a la Overheard in NY. When I get a jacket image on Amazon I'll link to forgotten-ny.com. Buy early and often!
For now the iPod issue is moot. Soon as I got it, iTunes banned me from buying anything. A "keychain" issue. If anyone knows anything about this particular problem let me know. I got a $400 machine and can't buy anything to put on it.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
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| So, the book, in its in initial stages, is finished. I have completed the review of the HarperCollins copy editor, and returned it to my editor Matthew Benjamin. The two covers have been decided upon, as has the book format and general layout. The index has yet to be done; that begins when the final edits have been entered in. I have to pay for the index to be done. As with the maps, I will deduct payment from my royalty payments when they begin to appear. I have done the acknowledgements and dedication. Now, I wait for the galleys to appear, when I have to go over them all and catch anything that wasn't caught in the editing process.
It has been a gruelling process especially last summer, when I edited in a non air conditioned room.
I even spent a little of the advance. I got a new Mac OS, iLife software, a 60GB Ipod. I was going to get that new USB turntable that transfers vinyl right to MP3's, but reviews have been mixed and I'm going to delay it for now. I'm told it was better to just bank the check, since the IRS knows I have it, and I'll be taxed for it if I have it. So I did that, but spent just a bit of it.
I'm not going to use the iPod the way people usually do. I'll use it strictly around the house, to listen no matter what room I am in, as well as when I am in a hotel room. Few things bother me more than iPod people in the street, with that tinny noise emanating from their too-small earphones. You also leave yourself open to theft by listening in the street, and besides, I'm the type that wants to see every threat coming.
The major process is over; most of the work is now by the publisher, until the fall, when I hit the road for promotion.
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Wednesday, 2/22/06
Got my second check for the book today, completing the payments. I got my first check when I signed the contract. Here's the thing, though.
I can't afford it!
Before cashing it, I want to wait till I'm on a better financial footing, since if I cash it now, I have to pay mucho tax buckos on it next year. Now, chances are, I will be doing better next year. But who knows?
In other news, I interviewed Cate Ludlam of Prospect Cemetery in Jamaica on Sunday, as the first of a series of interviews for a series in the Daily News called Big Town, Big Heart. I myself will be one of the interviewees; my segment should appear in early March.
Also, the NY Metro wants me to do a column, but for just the exposure, there's no pay involved.
Wednesday, 2/8/06
Nothing new about the book, but newspapers and radio have been calling. I got shot for a Daily News feature today, and will do the interview tomorrow. (I'm going to have to try to avoid being bitter about how things are going in Astoria and Waldheim, where vast acreages of beautiful homes are being plowed under in favor of junk; it's supposed to be a generally upbeat column, and I'm going to have to keep from venting.) I've also been given the opportunity to do some interviews for the News, which should appear in the next few weeks. It will be a new thing for me, since so little of FNY has anything at all to do with others; hence, I'm rusty at interviewing, not having done much since college. (Hey, re the Cyrano quote about newspapers below: they came after me!) BTW, if I look like a triple-chinned rhino in the News photo with the article, that's the real me, which is why I am rarely photographed, but the News insists on it.
A producer at WNYC radio also emailed me about being on Brian Lehrer's morning show, but the publicist at HarperCollins said to wait a few months till the book is out; she called the producer. Not to worry, she says, it's SOP. I would have been on the day after Paul Krugman and the night after Lehrer interviewed Hitchens. My closest cognate in radio personalities is probably Curtis Sliwa, only I haven't been shot by mobsters, yet.
Conceptfarm hasn't called back, which I expected. The place has nice folks but I can tell they're different from me in a fundamental way. It's hard to explain other than that they are much younger. Even when I was young, I was isolated from my own age group. I was called old at 13, it was meant to be insulting, and yet, I never felt bad about that slight. I think it is because many young people seem hopelessly wedded to whatever is popular or trendy at this moment. I have always followed my own lead, never anyone else's. Let me get back to my Stranglers albums. Another band that was called old when they started out.
Sunday, 1/29/06
In a holding pattern, waiting for results from HarperCollins' copy editors.
I have never read Cyrano. No, I found this on a William Shatner album. No matter.
What would you have me do?
Seek out some wealthy patron and crawl like a clinging vine up the lordly tree? Rising by deceit and trickery instead of my own strength?
No thank you.
Imitate what others do and dedicate my works to the rich in the hope of arousing a smile of recognition from some sterile face?
No thank you.
Breakfast everyday on insults, wear our my knees and warp my spine with endless bowing and groveling in the dust?
No thank you.
Become a master of hypocrisy and opportunism? Never letting my right hand know what my left is doing? Burn incense for some glorified idol of the day, pull the proper strings?
No thank you.
Shall I become the captain of some literary cult by writing stupid love songs for wealthy widows and navigate to success with their sighs filing out my sails? Pay some publisher to print my poems and bribe some critic to review them?
No, thank you!
Shall I become the high priest of a petty group of hack writers who dine together once a week?
No, I thank you!
Shall I build my reputation on one flawless poem and never write another, should I scheme to get my name mentioned in the columns of some newspaper and smack my lips over little praises written about me?
No, thank you.
Shall I calculate and scheme, live in fear, make visits instead of rhymes, meet all the right people, seek introductions and favors?
No, thank you.
No I thank you . . .
And again, I thank you!
Oh my friend, I prefer to sing, to laugh, to dream, to travel light in my own way to see things as they are, and speak out without fear, to cock my hat at any angle that I choose, to duel if necessary for a quick “yes” or “no.” I prefer to work alone without any thought of reward, to scorn fame for a journey to the moon. Never write a line that does not ring with sincerity. I shall be content with the fruits and flowers that grow in my garden, no matter how small, because they belong to me. Then if success should come my way, no tribute ever need be paid to Caesar, whatever fortune or misfortune that happens shall be mine and only mine.
And although I may never reach the stature of a great oaken tree, I shall never be a parasitic vine. I will climb perhaps to no great height, but I will . . . climb . . . alone!
Sunday, 1/22/06
So the book is written, at least the initial stages. It goes to the compositors now. All the pictures are turned in. Over the next couple of months I will be getting back corrections or questions from HarperCollins' battery of copy editors. In the immediate future is a quiet time; I will continue with my freelance assignments, work on my 'other' book (I have signed with Reaktion Publishers in England to do a chapter for a book about New York) and begin to look for real work, with benefits. And recover from the cold I seem to be catching.
Wednesday, 1/11/06
I met with the fine folks at conceptfarm.com, who work with a lot of high-end clients on advertising ideas. They produce a show on WNYC called Cool in Your Code, spotlighting different NYC areas by zip code. Seems they want to work with me on ideas for future shows. They seemed practically breathless to meet your webmaster; who knows why. We'll see if anything comes of it.
We've heard the same before, from Time Out New York, whose editor left, and from NYPress, whose Tim Marchman promised me some loot owed me by a previous regime. So far, no loot...
Almost done with the Sources editing, and have almost all the rest of the pictures I need assembled. After that we're done...until the galleys arrive and we have to edit those!
I'm having a tough time with an article about a folk-art decorator for Harris Publications. Not my field of expertise, and it's going slowly. Rolling Stone used to have this writer (I think his name was Fenton) who they called the Stonecutter since he took a long time to turn in his stuff.
Have I ever confessed that I have always felt somewhat detached from the rest of humanity? Do those who know me concur?
Saturday, 12/31/05
Working the past couple weeks on Sources, and it is slow work. The Chicago Manual dicatates that every book referenced has to show the city of publication. That means I constantly have to pace around the ForgottenApartment tracking down books, just so I can look this up. I also need to find pictures to go with sidebar sections between chapters. But, the end of the tunnel is in sight.
Editor Matthew says HarperCollins people are quite pleased with the book and predict success. Of course they say that to every author. But not everyone gets to hear these things, especially someone working in their very first book. We are working on publicity; been speaking to a NYTimes reporter about a couple of stories, and we intend to renew talks with Time Out New York about a cover story in the fall. Also broached a column for the daily Metro, which wants to talk about story ideas, at least.
I have a contract ready to sign from a British publisher for a chapter in their anthology about NYC. I intend to write about how tourists are routinely disrespected in NYC, even though the city is increasingly dependent on tourism. Not much money, but it'll be fun to be published under two different colophons in 2006.
I have to photograph some statues and doorway gnomes for sidebars. The weather will be, of course, dismal.
Saturday, 12/10/05
Home stretch! Final edits due this week at the editor, along with most photos. I also have to assemble my sources to match the Chicago Manual of Style. 2006 will be he fun part, going over page designs, covers, checking the galleys, and finally making arrangements for promotion before the book hits he shelves in October 2006.
Wednesday, 11/30/05
What I have to do this week is mark up icons. The book is going to have graphic elements every other listing or so that correspond to categories like "Quiet Places", "Truly Forgotten," "History Happened Here", that kind of thing. It's my editor's idea.
My first couple days at work have been quiet and uneventful which is exactly the way I want them to continue.
If you haven't guessed yet, you are dealing with a slacker. I'm Gen X 10 years too late. I want to do the exact same thing at work, every day, till the day I retire. I don't want office politics. I don't want to compete with co-workers. I don't want to yell at subordinates or fire them. I don't want a challenge. I don't want to think out of a box, or in a box, for that matter. I am not a self-starter. I want others to start me. I want a pile of work on my desk when I come in that is empty when I leave. I want to be left alone when I work. I want to listen to the radio and I want to surf the net to take a break when I damn please. I don't make a lot of errors and I don't want it to be a federal case when I do make them.
Sunday, 11/27/05
I see more people got konked in the head from stray Macy's balloons. Their parade is dangerous, and their director is a phony, but I won't get into any of that here. At least this time nobody went into a coma and had brain damage.
Why are the parade announcers decked up like Eskimos? It was almost 50 degrees. I firmly believe they tell all these people to overdress to sell the mood. My father never wore an overcoat the last 20 years of his life. He had a leather jacket he would wear, or a heavy shirt jacket. It has to be below 20 for me to wear gloves.
When Black Friday comes. The Friday after Thanksgiving has turned into an unseemly spectacle of greed as hundreds of thousands, spurred by schmaltzy advertising and Christmas music that now begins playing on November 1, gather at the malls at 4AM like slavering Pavlovian mutts. They are driven by guilt as their spouses, girl/boyfriends, kids and family will lay the hurtin' on them if they don't get exactly what they asked for. Me, I just get gift cards and let people buy what they damn please.
The perfect antidote to this frenzy is to circumambulate the deserted streets surrounding the Gowanus Canal on Friday and a visit to remote, windswept Old Springfield Cemetery in Cambria Heights Saturday, topped off with swinging by the new jazz mural at the St. Albans station. Lest you think I'm a misanthrope, I was in West Windsor NJ visiting the cousins, aunts and uncles. Till my visit was cut short, as usual, since the cat dander was clogging up my pipes. But I do spend much of my time alone. I'm never lonely; I got over all that years ago.
I've been asked to appear in an omnibus volume featuring disparate writers' takes on NYC. I'll be appearing alongside the likes of Jim Knipfel, so for me this is a prestige project. I'm trying to get Christina involved as well. My topic will be restoring respectability to NYC tourists, who are disrespected every which way. Why, even the Catholics take less abuse than tourists.
Thursday, 11/17/05
Very busy week, and fruitful as well. Saturday, discovered a short cut to Far Rockaway from Jamaica, the Q113 bus, which had me there in just an hour; got all the shots I needed there, wandered around in the desolation that is Edgemere, then grabbed a Q22 bus out to Fort Tilden, between the Marine Parkway Bridge and Breezy Point. I was mostly alone except for a lot of kids' soccer teams using the athletic fields. The November sun is low in the sky and quite intense, and I appreciated the solitude. I took a Q35 bus across the Gil Hodges Bridge to "the Junction" at Nostrand, then got on a #2 train. Then I made a couple of errors.
I decided to get off at Atlantic Avenue to catch a LIRR train to Jamaica, where I could get a bus back to Flushing. That part of the plan worked, more or less. But while I was at Flatbush Terminal, I spied a track indicator, one of a pair that will probably be lost during station renovations. I grabbed a picture of it while leaving the flash on. That was all the local constabulary needed to see; they compelled me to erase the photo, since photographers are terrorists (see this page for a full recount of the incident).
One reader has come just shy of accusing me of anti-Americanism for complaining about this incident. I would have resisted erasing the picture, but such an action would probably have earned me a trip to the stationhouse, a Legal Aid lawyer, and at least the impounding of my camera, which I need. The MTA may have rejected an official photo ban in the system, but that doesn't mean the cops won't enforce one anyway.
Thursday, I journeyed to Bushwick and Grand Army Plaza for 2 pictures. Saturday I will be in Staten Island. That will take care of all my book photography, just about, except for the odd picture here and there.
My editor and I have entered the final phase of cutting down the book. We've trimmed the branches. Now we have to take out the bones, skin and blood.
Wednesday, 11/9/05
Feverish activity as I drive toward my first 'real' deadline, the 4th week of November, when I begin a 3-month assignment at a publisher that will keep me indoors for 3 months.
On Sunday, I went to Staten Island to grab shots of Richmondtown and Tottenville. Got into a heated argument with a motorist while walking around Lower Manhattan waiting for a boat. In NYC, and likely in most big cities, all drivers feel the car in front of them is going much too slow, and pedestrians are to be run over and sped away from if hit. Shooting went fine, though because of Daylight Savings and a low sun angle I have much less light than I did all summer. But the debilitating heat and humidity of summer left me sluggish. I can't win. What I really need is the long sunlit hours of summer combined with cool fall weather, which I can't really have.
I have spent more time at HarperCollins lately than I ever have, with my editor going over photos to be used and discarded. This is a lengthy procedure that leaves both of us prostrate, but it assures that the optimum photos are used. I also have to cut about 100 more laser-printed pages out. I'm there so much it's like I work there. (I realize that if I wasn't an author I wouldn't be allowed within a mile of their offices.)
Tuesday, scurried about Coney Island (grabbing a dog at Nathan's) and then around downtown Brooklyn. Then had to go to work at the Bayside Times from 6PM to 1AM. Now, the paper has a demanding owner who squawks at me if I show up at 6:03. I wouldn't care about that stuff.
I have never been a supervisor; there's probably a reason.
I still have much to do, especially in Far Rockaway and St. Albans, Queens, where I require about 5-10 pictures.
Sunday, 10/30/05
Spent day in Wave Hill, Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil with Christina. I needed several pix there. Mission accomplished, but the roads in Riverdale are a disaster area. It looks like the aftermath of a bombing with all the potholes. We ate in a diner on Tibbett Avenue. Generally I like diners, and this one was classic and clean, but my grilled chicken had the texture of shoe leather. Have to try something else next time, or another diner.
Saturday, 10/29/05
After expecting the worst after noticing several pix I took were missing after going through the latest pile, I went to the drugstore, which fortunately still had them. I was dissatisfied with a picture I have of Kingsland Manor here in Flushing, so I went there and got a better shot. A cloudy day made for even lighting.
I bought a round trip City Ticket, expecting the LIRR to actually show up. It didn't (a "medical emergency" --why not get the sick person off the train and move the train on its merry way? --they don't do it that way). But City Tickets are good only on the day of purchase. I hope to get a refund.
Monday, 10/24/05
After a dentist appointment, I went to Fontbonne Hall High School on Shore Road in Bay Ridge. I needed a picture of this mansion Diamond Jim Brady once bought for "Diamond" Lillian Russell. However, it was 2:45 and the girls were all coming out. Now, I suspect that a 40-ish guy with a camera around a lot of high school girls would be looked at suspiciously, so I wandered around for awhile till they dispersed, and I got my shot.
Found out I have a cavity and have to go back again.
Sunday, 10/23/05
Today I went to Brownsville to get a picture of an air raid siren on the roof of an el station at Sutter Avenue. Unfortunately the siren has been recently removed, so it can't go in the book. Went back to Williamsburg, where I got shots of the fantastic banks that line Broadway between the river and the el. That's a rather weird stretch of road, as I will prove in an upcoming page. Then stalked off through Williamsburg, mostly along the waterfront along Kent Avenue, uncovering some surprises which will also be apparent at length.
Of course Williamsburg has been overrun by hipsters over the past decade, and since it's all concentrated over a couple of blocks, it looks like they're trying too hard. For lunch, I dropped into Sparky's on North 5th. The counter girl had a head band and some sort of metal pierced through her lips. I'm not a hipster, I wore my purple shirt-jac and sunglasses. She kind of tolerated my presence; when I asked if they had Snapple, she rather haughtily and wordlessly pointed to the empty bottles signifying their beverage selection. No Snapple. They do have Coke, but it's in these tiny glass 8 ounce bottles, which from past experience I know they don't keep all that cold. I got water, a hot dog and fries, which were kind of overdone and pretty salty. Still, Sparky's is my go-to place in Willie B, until they get a Blimpie's which I know the hipsters will all look down their snoots at ... I'd be in there alone!
To get around on the weekend, you have to outwit and outplay the MTA. I took the LIRR to Penn, and A to 14th and changed to the L, which ordinarily goes to Brownsville. Not today though: you have to change at East New York for a separate L that is Canarsie-bound. All right, OK, waited there abt 15 minutes, got to Sutter, no air raid siren. Took the J to Williamsburgh. At Myrtle, the conductor announces he's going express to Marcy after he blew by the confused 'customers' at Kosciusko. Of course, he stops at Hewes before he stops at Marcy.
OK, I walk around Willie B and have an inkling about getting the 61 bus to Court Square to pick up the #7. Nothing doing--street fair on Manhattan Avenue, so I dunno where the 61 is. Grab the G train at Nassau instead, figuring I'll change for the #7 at Court Square. Blocked again. No #7 to Manhattan this weekend, so no 7s at Court Square. I change for the E instead, which takes its time coming: and I have to make the 4:30 LIRR at Woodside. It's 4:10. The E arrives and it's fortunately an express to Broadway-74th, so I hustle up the escalator and wait for the Queensboro Plaza bound (normally Manhattan bound) #7. It too takes its time coming, but I am finally able to get to Woodside at 4:27, in time to make the LIRR.
Yeah, gimme the Christmas discount, you f!@#s.
Tuesday, 10/18/05
My editor is now expressing some mild words of doubt about whether the book can be released in October 2006. The maps are so complicated and involved that he's not sure they can be completed by the artist on time. Just spent the week of rain and toothache marking locations on a variety of maps and atlases. Her preferred map, for reasons known only to her, is the Rand McNally NYC atlas, which is small, cramped, and rife with errors. But I does what I'm told.
Monday, 10/17/05
Working this week at a location in Manhattan I'm not supposed to blog about, but did get some snaps in Madison Square Park, where I needed a few.
Sunday, 10/16/05
The weather is slightly better after a week of rain and spent the day filling in missing spots in Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook. I was surprised to find a new park at the end of Conover Street and a new pier providing access to the Waterfront Museum (actually a barge) but unfortunately the new pier obscures the barge, so I climbed the broken pavement and the weeds at the end of Conover, reached through the fence over the water, and snagged the barge that way. One false move, and no more camera.
Unfortunately the trolley cars from Bob Diamond's ill-fated trolley venture are now uncovered and can now be visited by the full force of the wrath of Mother Nature. Somebody better rescue them.
Wednesday, 10/12/05
Nothing much to report, since haven't done anything but the most mundane copyediting and map preparation for a few days because of the rain. We haven't had a good stretch of sunny, cool weather; either it's roasting or like the last few days, we have had extra-tropical monsoons. I did do a review of what I have so far, and out of 645 items for the book I still need about 100 photos. So I'm itching to get out there, but this rain has me tethered to the doghouse. A deadline looms: I will be working every day again in November, so there's about a month window for there to be a good stretch of weather. What, you say, the whole summer was nothing but sun. Yeah, but nothing but humidity as well, which flattens me. I have come to hate summer.
Did attend Open House NY on Sunday and saw a variety of buildings, but I'm doing a page on that, so nothing further on OHNY at present.
FNY traffic has been excellent lately due to liks in espn.com, the Sunday Times, and there will be one this week in Cool Site of the Week, which looks like a pretty cheeseball website but is apparently heavily trafficked.
Monday, 10/3/05
Return to Green-wood Cemetery to snag a couple of pictures I missed on my original forays last fall. The light this time of year is very good for photography (unlike the way it'll be in a few weeks). Then walked down 5th Avenue to Flatbush Ave., a stretch I've never walked, amazingly, though I bussed it every single day from ages 14 to 22 when I was going to high school and college. There are many survivors here, including me, I suppose.
Sunday, 10/2/05
Today's ForgottenTour (number 22) was delayed since the MTA redraws its maps on weekends, and I also should have known that every street festival, bike ride and march in town would include the Seaport on its route. As a result I got there 5 minutes late and was a little off my game when I started, since I had to rearrange the walk and reshuffle my notes, etc. The turnout was again excellent, and hopefully everyone left knowing a little more than they did before they went. Or I do.
Tuesday, 9/27/05
On what would have been my father's 86th birthday, began latest Manhattan edits for what is now Revision 3 for the boro. By this time there are less deletions and rewordings.
Monday, 9/26/05
Labeled pix and finished latest Staten Island edits. Received map samples from the artist my editor is trying to have illustrate the book, provided it's affordable. HarperCollins doesn't pick up the artist fees: I do, out of my advance. I'm told this isn't the case with every publisher, and I'm not happy about it. I am also less than pleased when my editor tells me that perhaps every item in the book can't get a picture due to space limitations. I've been busting my !@# in the winter, spring and late summer getting pics, delaying looking for work, and now he tells me this. Of course, HarperCollins called me, and I didn't have to undergo the usual dog and pony show authors usually do when trying to find a publisher, or applicants do when looking for a job. So I can't really complain too much. We'll see what happens, but my mood has once again deteriorated.
Was in Mount Zion Cemetery with Christina, looking for the old Betts family gaveyard, surrounded by the newer Jewish burial ground. Mission accomplished, but tripped backward over a tombstone, straining my neck. Could have been worse. What would the headlines say?
FNY webmaster stumbles over tombstone, breaks neck
Saturday, 9/24/05
Traveled to Fort Wadsworth and Sunnyside, Staten Island, with Jeannie Siegel and got some very fine pics of the fort and an old house belonging to one of the Vanderbilts on Clove Road.
Friday, 9/23/05
Split the day between Roosevelt Island and 125th Street. I was dissatisfied with the pictures I had of Roosevelt; they had been taken on a cloudy day and were too dark. Wouldn't you know it, the clouds rolled in as I got off the train. Things got off to a tough start, since "Southside" Park, where the Smallpox Hospital ruin and Stecher Labs are, is locked tight once again; Christina says an African diplomat is staying on the island, and they're afraid someone will take potshots from the open spaces down there. My hope to get decent pictures now lies with Open House NY weekend; perhaps the park will open then.
The old Blackwell Farmhouse is sinking into ruin. A sign says the interior was last renovated in 1986, the exterior in 1975 and it shows. The sun reappeared and it got much too hot for September but this enabled me to get terrific pics of the lighthouse on the island's northern end, but scaffolding obscures the Octagon, which is being reconstructed for a new development. I discovered an old 1924 church I had missed, and sculptures by the ubiquitous Tom Otterness.
Traveled to 125th Street where Christina, usually the Queen of Queens but today the Queen of Harlem, showed me some extremely old stuff along 125th Street. But then it was between 6 and 7PM and couldn't get really decent shots, though.
Thursday, 9/22/05
The weather's still way too hot for September, 85 or so; something's going on here, though the weathermen don't seem to be alarmed. They're more preoccupied with the killer hurricanes than with our preternatural heatwave, and with good reason, I suppose. However, esthetic conditions are quite good for photography without a hint of haze in the air; in fact it may be too glaring. I'll find out when the pix come back from the drugstore. The publisher insists I use film, so they can scan for publication as they see fit.
Got most of what I needed in Harlem, including the Renaissance Ballroom, which has been in ruins for quite awhile. CCNY looms over Hamilton Heights like a castle.
My mood continues generally positive. Why ask why.
Monday, 9/19/05
Travis is a small town at the end of Staten Island, the closest community to the old Fresh Kills Landfill. It's a part of NYC by politics only. Otherwise it may as well be in Missouri, Montana or Tennessee. It may be NYC's most patriotic or conservative area, exceeded only by Maspeth or Bay Ridge, judging by the flags waving everywhere. (I get the feeling most of New Yorkers don't consider themselves New York Staters or even Americans; it depends on whether there's a president they like in office.)
Got several excellent photo ops. I introduced myself with my ForgottenCard to a guy with a barn in his back yard, complete with chickens who ran up, expecting bird seed. I will have to carry some next time. Old Sylvan Cemetery has been partially cleaned up by Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries. You don't need a machete to get around in it any more.
Sunday, 9/18/05
Spent the afternon in Norwood and Gun Hill, Bronx. I got most of what I needed, but couldn't get a good shot of the clock tower at a police precinct at Webster Avenue and Mosholu Parkway. It seems perpetually in the shade and the one clock face in the sun was mostly hidden by flora. The problem with returning on a cloudy day in the fall is that the light then is so poor the picture will turn out very dark. The best day to do it would be a day when the clouds form a film over the sun but not a complete overcast.
FNY was mentioned in the NY Times in an article about a couple who found their dream house in Staten Island. Their site, prodigalborough.com, mentions ForgottenTour 16 in Staten Island giving them the inspiration to look there. I find a lot of dream houses. That's why I play Megamillions every week. Just $1.
I am frustrated with the weather this September. It is preternaturally warm. It won't get cool.
Tuesday-Friday, 9/13-9/16/05
Not a lot going on. Summer heat and humidity has reappeared, producing a torpor. Continued going through photos and rearranging Staten Island sections in preparation for a revision. Worked on Christina's new FNY page.
While walking in Manhattan on Thursday I had an unusual sensation. I was actually in a good mood. None of the usual brooding, fear and jumpiness. Of course with the traffic and noise it didn't last long. Friday, I feted Mary Beth's birthday with some of her pals from my ex-employer Publishers Clearing Houseat a Port Washington restaurant. They tell me I have a shrine over there with my press clippings. It's like I'm dead. Outside the restaurant, I spied Jack McGee, who plays Chief on "Rescue Me." I didn't talk to him. What would I say? "Nice show"?
Monday, 9/12/05
Scouted Sunnyside for a shoot, and good thing I did...something that's in the book has been removed. Very annoying. I have to constantly check for this stuff because developers don't care whether anything is notable or unusual: in fact, if it's unusual it will eventually be removed. Since I'll never afford real estate, I can continue to hold developers mostly in contempt. Completed latest Queens edits, except for that.
Later attended a slide show sponsored by the Greater Astoria Historical Society hosted by Richard Melnick, co-author of what's billed as the first book ever about the East River, on Arcadia Publishing.
Sunday, 9/11/05
As we've seen, where you live can be wrested from you by people who do not believe you should be living the way you do or want something you have that they cannot obtain by legal means, or by indifferent forces of nature. Enjoy every sandwich, as Warren Zevon said.
Traveled to the Upper West Side and got a couple of the pictures I needed most notably the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Riverside Drive and West 89th.
Saturday, 9/10/05
Spent a few hours at Killmeyer's in Charleston, Staten Island, slowly ridding the tall glasses of Spaten and Weiss with Jean, the Queen of Staten Island, and husband. I'm here to get a couple of pictures of the exterior, and I also shot the tavern's exquisite bar, which has to be seen to be believed. You won't be able to believe yet, since I haven't extracted it from the camera.
The bus barrels down the old roads from the ferry terminal toward Tottenville. Staten Island buses are rather too efficient. I say that since they leave the terminal about three minutes after the ferry arrives. You have to know what ramp to use to get the bus you want, or you're sunk. Now, they've just re-done the ferry terminal. FEMA may have had a hand in it. Each ramp used to be marked with large, printed signs, and you couldn't miss which bus was where. The printed signs have been replaced with an electronic display in small, yellow letters that are very hard to read. Naturally, your webmaster arrived at the ramp to see the red taillights. I paced for a half hour till the next bus.
Friday, 9/9/05
Walked through Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx as well as Woodlawn Heights and Wakefield. Got pix I needed for the book, though I discovered that notables seem to always be buried in the shade, which impedes getting good pictures, obviously. Christina says this is no mere coincidence. If you want people visiting you, you don't want them out in the hot sun, do you?
On these lazy weekdays, I often tell myself that I should really be in an office someplace, working. My savings account is lowering, though I've been on an even keel overall because my investments have done well. They did slip some in August, though. Hopefully soon, I will return to office drudgery. But when I'm on these jaunts, I am working. I'm owed the second installment of payment for my book from HarperCollins, and they will give it to me only when all the text is edited and all the photos are turned in.
Thursday, 9/8/05
Took an early morning train to South Greenfield, Brooklyn, to get a better shot of the Vitagraph smokestack. In the 6 years since my first photo, though, the area has been heavily foliated. You have to get there in the AM because the "Vitagraph" inscription faces east and it's impossible to see when the sun isn't on it. I do manage, by standing in the trash pickup area of Edward R. Murrow High School, to get a good picture of the top of the stack with the "VIT" showing. Everything under that is obscured by brush.
Also obtained pix of the NBC studios on Avenue M and East 14th, and acting on a tip, went to Coney Island and got photos of an old Triton Avenue sign. From there, walked back to Midwood, so I bagged what I needed, pretty much, and got exercise as well.
Wednesday, 9/7/05
Major progress with latest Queens edits and photo labeling.
Monday, 9/5/05
My unemployment runs out this week! Yee-haw! Here's my resume. Hire your webmaster!
Kevin Walsh
Address furnished on request
Home phone furnished on request
E-mail: erpietri@earthlink.net
Career Summary
Highly proficient in both print and Web media as a copywriter, graphic artist and photographer.
Employment Highlights:
Advertex Communications Inc., Macy’s, New York, NY
Copywriter, April 2000-October 2004
-- Wrote, developed and assisted in the design of advertisements in the bedding, furniture, housewares and rug departments in Macy’s, New York City’s largest department store.
-- Produced both direct mail ads and newspaper ads, requiring quick turnarounds and accuracy.
-- Conceptualized new product promotions including slogans and taglines.
-- Copy edited and corrected the work of other writers.
Publishers Clearing House, Port Washington, NY
Copywriter and graphic designer, July 1992-November 1999
-- Wrote, developed and designed sales packages and their components for one of the largest direct mail companies in the country.
-- Devised copy aimed at effectively promoting sweepstakes and products, including magazines and a wide variety of merchandise.
-- Conceptualized and wrote new contest inserts and special product promotions.
-- Reviewed and edited the work of other copywriters. Collaborated with the graphic artist assigned to a given project.
-- Designed and assembled promotional pieces. Produced camera-ready mechanicals in Macintosh
desktop system.
-- Combined text, artwork and photographs to produce stamp sheets, inserts, product flyers, letters, envelopes and brochures using Quark Publishing System workgroup software.
-- Wrote and helped edit the in-house employee newsletter, From Our House.
Center For The Media Arts, New York, NY
Typesetter/graphic designer. August 1991-April 1993.
-- Conceived and produced CMA's in-house newsletter.
Assistant instructor.
-- Taught Mac software.
ANY Phototype, New York, NY
Typesetter/graphic designer/copy editor, May 1988-November 1991.
-- Designed ANY's sales brochure. Designed advertisements appearing in national trade publications.
Photo-Lettering, Inc., New York, NY
Proofreader/typesetter, March 1982-May 1988
-- Proofread and corrected advertising work submitted by major advertisers. Responsible for quality control, requiring familiarity with Photo-Lettering's large variety of typositor fonts used to produce type for print and broadcast. Exhaustive knowledge of 1,000-plus typeset fonts.
Freelance/Related Experience:
Queens Publishing Corp., Bayside, NY
Mechanical artist/copy editing, May 1996-present
-- Produce layouts, design advertisements and write headlines for twelve regional newspapers, including the Flushing Times, Bayside Times, and Little Neck Ledger.
Forgotten New York web site
Writer, editor and photographer, March 1998-present
Conceived, wrote, designed and produced the website, Forgotten NY (www.forgotten-ny.com), dedicated to the unusual or 'forgotten' remnants of New York City life in days past: ancient advertising, trolley tracks, old signage, waterfalls in the Bronx, farms in Queens, and much more. Produced all photography for the website. It has been reviewed favorably by various media, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Daily News, NY1 and WCBS Radio. Created using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe GoLive.
In 2006 HarperCollins will be publishing my book based on the Forgotten NY website.
MusicTrax, Ltd., Northridge, CA 91326-1607, (818) 718-1770 - Fax
Researcher/writer, 1997-present
-- Research pop music data and write content for a new music database for radio professionals and music
collectors, MusicTrax, Ltd., (www.musictrax.com) set to be released in mid-2005.
Education:
Center For The Media Arts, New York, NY
August 1990-December 1991
Intensive program in all areas of graphic arts.
St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY
September 1975-June 1980
BA Sociology. Edited school newspaper, The Voice, 1979-1980.
Equipment:
Apple Power Macintosh G4. Software: QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe GoLive, Adobe PageMill, Microsoft Word. Cameras: Canon PowerShot S1-IS; Olympus D490
References and portfolio provided upon request.
Sunday, 9/4/05
Went to Harding Park, Clason Point, Bronx today, where I've never been. Lots of bungalows and unmapped little alleys.
Saturday, 9/3/05
Toured Westchester Square with Christina, the Queen of Queens, who is Queen of the Bronx while she is working at Montefiore. Obtained very good pix of St. Peter's Church.
Friday, 9/2/05
Ate lunch and toured Hoboken with Dawn, the Petite Powerhouse. Wrenched back slightly carrying her birthday gift as well as my cameras. That's the price you pay for friendship. Began marking map locations for the book's mapmaker on a map provided me by HarperCollins.
Thursday, 9/1/05
Disgustedly viewing the response to the hurricane, an occurrence worse than 9-11. In NYC, millions were not left without power, food or shelter; I'm sorry. Walked in Astoria and got two crucial photos for the book. Returned to TV coverage and stewed some more. Should have started marking up map locations on my atlas. Didn't.
Tuesday, 8/30/05
Screamed at by owner of local paper, along with other layout artist, for who knows what crime: he wasn't specific about the transgression, and doesn't know who exactly the offender was. I suspect I will be gone from the paper soon. I have been there 9 years; I hang onto all my jobs for dear life; my fingernails scratch the linoleum as H.R. drags me away. I always wear out my welcome, because I am never sufficiently obeisant. I can never be broken, and that's why I may eventually be broke. Sent in latest Brooklyn edits to publisher.
Monday, 8/29/05
Polished off latest Manhattan edits, and got started on Brooklyn's latest. There is a slight urgency now to the proceedings, since the mapmaker needs a final list of Brooklyn locations so she can get started. Napped from 5:30 to 7:30; getting old. Also got a line on some freelance full time employment though nothing definite yet. Dawn, the Petite Powerhouse, wants to use me in an article about online nerds, but I bridled at the characterization. In New Orleans, there's Katrina, there's waves, but they're not walking on sunshine.
Saturday, 8/27/05
Christina and I went on a John J .Harvey fireboat tour of NY Harbor, invading the Kill Van Kull, Erie Basin and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Got plenty of normally hard to reach stuff on film. But did they really have to inundate the decks with spray? They did.
Friday, 8/26/05
Got the ancient posters at the Tenement Museum on film, then went into Soho to shoot cast iron buildings for a future page. I realize that the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, which would have shadowed Broome Street, was rightfully defeated, but on a weekday afternoon Broome is a hell of honking vehicles en route to the Holland Tunnel. What lower Manhattan really needs is a vehicular tunnel connecting the Queens Midtown Tunnel or Manhattan Bridge to the Holland or Lincoln. However, looks like Soho will be a noisefest for all time.
Thursday, 8/25/05
Finally, a stretch of excellent summer weather after weeks of miserable heat and humidity. Spent a great day at SUNY Maritime College in Throgs Neck at their excellent, underpublicized library and museum. Got plenty of photos, and even discovered some leftover Type F and Type G castiron lightpoles in good condition. Unfortunately my unemployment insurance is about to expire, or has already. Care to put an author to work?
Wednesday, 8/24/05
Worked this morning, then went to the Yankees game and saw Mike Mussina get assaulted by the Blue Jays. No real book work.
Tuesday, 8/23/05
Had lunch with a magazine editor who may have a great deal to do with promoting the book before and during its release, but don't want to detail it in case nothing happens.
Monday, 8/22/05
Today is my birthday. I met some of the gang (Mary, Irene, Paul and Eric) from the World's Biggest Store, from which I was unjustifiably laid off, for lunch at the Cheyenne Diner. They ain't all bad over at TWBS. After that I went down 11th and 12th Avenue looking for an item requested by my editor. As Mr. Spock would say, I was pursuing a feral waterfowl. I had already done edits for my Central Park section that morning.
Sunday, 8/21/05
Spent the afternoon in Jackson Heights, where I snapped the Fair Theatre, a preserved ancient theatre marquee. It's a porno palace these days, and sure enough, I arrived in time (3PM) to see the raincoat brigade shuffling out. A block away, 90th Street south of Astoria Blvd, is a block of wonderfully preserved Tudor cottages.
Saturday, 8/20/05
Dinner with friends at the Waterfront Crabhouse after an afternoon of labeling photos. If you haven't been to the Crabhouse, it's in Long Island City and is chock full of NYC memorabilia. You can see it on this page.
Thursday, 8/18/05
I was stymied in my efforts to photograph the Eldridge Street Synagogue for the book --it's covered in scaffolding, the Walsh mojo biting again. Made a major find at the Tenement Museum, though. Walked down Delancey to shoot the remains of old streets otherwise eliminated except immediately under the Williamsburg Bridge. Was cursed out by pubescents playing basketball in the project parks, returned verbal fire and got out quick. Photographers and local neighborhood denizens are natural enemies. Then went uptown and snagged the remnants of the old Duffy Square Howard Johnson's. Went to a bar for drinks with friends.
Wednesday, 8/17/05
A proposed trip today to Westchester Square, Bronx, was postponed. I have always been dissatisfied with the pictures I have obtained there; I think you have to get there in the morning for some places, and evening for others. Worked at the Bayside Times, my regular Wednesday morning job. Probably will do a few laps around the Velodrome.
POSTSCRIPT: stymied at the Velodrome, which is dominated in the evenings by local bike racing clubs. What's with the funny bike outfits, anyway? The helmet, I get, but not the ugly shirts and lyrcra pants.
Monday, 8/15/2005
Cooler today. When I take over, no more heat waves. Anyway, a successful visit to the General Theological Seminary in Chelsea (Manhattan)-- I squeezed off about 5 or 6 shots, finishing my roll, without being hassled. This morning, completed the latest edits for the Lower Manhattan section. Later, watched a Yankee victory over Tampa Bay, and Shawn Michaels got the better of Hulk Hogan yet again. The WWE is a microcosm of life with steroids.
Sunday, 8/14/2005
Not a lot done today --took a bike ride, lots of reps around the Flushing Velodrome. Watched Pedro Martinez blow a no-hitter and lose the game. Read more of The Fountainhead.
Saturday, 8/13/2005
It's a bloody furnace in this apartment. I'm on the top floor and the sun beats in for hours. Normally this is a great situation; I enjoy natural light to work by, but in summer months during heat waves, the temperature can rise to 90 and above.
I am seated in the front bedroom, where I have an air conditioner, surrounded by dozens of envelopes of photographs. The world has switched to digital photography but HarperCollins insists on hard copies, so they can scan them to their specifications for the book. I am labeling the photos I like, or I think they want to use, with Post-It® notes. I am not used to sitting in my bedroom chair; I usually use it to drape pants on. (Being unmarried and living alone, I place clothing where I please. I'm not a slob, and it's not all over the place, but I'm not exactly Felix Unger, either.) Since I'm not used to sitting in that particular chair, as I work, I'm rubbing my elbow consistently against the chair arm and after a couple hours, well, the skin has completely worn away. Yeow. And I can't get a Band-Aid® to stay there, either. Just gotta wait for it to heal.
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