John's Blog

Ever Get The Feeling God Is Trying To Tell You Something?
This recent image from Gothamist made me chuckle, since many of us on this side of the bridges jokingly refer to NYC's Staten Island as "Saten Island" already. Many people from Staten Island head to Jersey on the weekends to "shop in the country" although it used to be to avoid the sales tax. Bloomberg fixed that problem, to the detriment of NJ cash registers, but old habits die hard, and we still see a substantial exodus.

Last night I was returning from a wedding in Queens, and after having traversed the BQE and going through SI, when you hit NJ the difference is dramatic. The development is less dense, not as tall, and not as well lit. Damn; I DO live in the country after all! (Ironic, since where I grew up you could walk to an actual farm, and I didn't consider that living in the country till I moved here.)

Passing by the site of the old NY World's Fair and seeing the neighborhoods that were bisected by the insertion of these not-so-superhighways, reminded me that I've been meaning to pick up a copy of The Power Broker : Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Thanks to the convenience of online shopping, that's finally taken care of!

During the time while we were driving around in circles looking for parking, I noticed a "Kennedy Fried Chicken" store. A great photo essay on the subject from Forgotten NY featuring bastard chicken shacks.

And while I pile-on the NY related links, an informative view of just what goes on beneath the ground from National Geographic (also VIA Gothamist)