I was reading an article in The New York Times this morning that discussed their choices for the top ten ugliest buildings in New York City. Of course Madison Square Garden and the Verizon building made the list. What I didn't know is that the glass acid trip in Astor Place is actually a knock off of another designer's work.
 
Both Ian Schrager and Frank Gehry were involved with earlier incarnations of the project that had hoped to see a hotel on the lot but then 9/11 happened at which point the idea of developing a hotel in lower Manhattan seemed pointless. Gwathmey Siegel & Associates were hired to design the current building, a 14 story residential structure that looks completely foreign to the rest of the neighborhood. The Times pointed out that building was "inspired" by Mies van der Rohe's unbuilt 1922 Glass Skyscraper project, though "the crude quality of its execution is an insult to Mies's memory."

I'm not a fan at all of this new wave of floor to ceiling glass walled building being developed everywhere. Aside from the fact the tenants have no privacy and they are subjected to blinding sunlight all day long, people outside get the lovely view of crooked blinds and cheap furniture. 110 3rd Avenue managed to destroy the Variety Theater so it can subject people passing by to its hideous grandeur.
 
But Mie's work, aside from being well ahead of its time, possessed the elegance that so many architects fail to grasp in their minimalist designing today. 

I have no intentions of joining the real world outside today because it's so miserable. I'm trying to find more Photoshop brushes to play with and I am obviously having too much fun with the free brushes I just downloaded from Brusheezy.

Having lived in NYC for almost 10 years now, I can't say that I am sad to see Chase shut down a large portion of their newly acquired WaMu branches. Banks and corporate chain stores have been devouring the city to no end, making it nearly impossible for local business to compete with their seemingly deep pockets. I remember driving by the 2nd Avenue Deli with Penny Arcade and learning that a Chase branch would be taking over the space. Maybe this is a sign that things will begin to correct themselves and the greedy bitches at the banks will back off.

I know that right now only the blog is working on this site, and even some of that is looking a bit off. I'm juggling a few things while tweaking the templates so hopefully I'll have it worked out by tonight. I'm not a technically inept, just busy.

I spent a fair amount of time this weekend finding new Photoshop brushes so I can keep my work looking fresh for my clients. I am obsessed with anything that looks decayed, crumbling or dilapidated. I found this set of brushes on In Obscuro that are all pieces of crumbling bricks and stone and used it for one of my projects. Loving how it turned out.

Moisha's Luncheonette - 1987 - Flickr / amg2000

The only thing good about getting up early in the morning is that I don't feel guilty for accidentally spending 2 hours on Flickr. Via EV Grieve, I found a link to a Flickr account that has all of these great photos of downtown NYC from the '80s. The landscape changes so quickly here, it's really a shame that developers lack any type of regard for the integrity of the neighborhoods. Loving the 'Then and Now' gallery too.

The above photo of Moisha's Luncheonette reminded me of the Lydia Lunch / 8 Eyed Spy album cover shot at Dave's Luncheonette.

Related: Kill Your Idols

After several days of spanking my misbehaving iPhone I finally gave in and took it to the Apple "genius bar" today to have them look at it. Thankfully the guy who helped me was only a little smug.

Bettina bought one of the first iPhones in July of last year and had the audacity to bring it into my anti-MAC household and flaunt it...clearly I am not a MAC person. It's not the MACS themselves that make me dislike them though my first computer was a MAC and it was a horrid, memory-lacking, constantly crashing piece of debris. Of course that was 1995 and things have changed. What turns me off from them are the smug twits who say things to you like, "...oh, you're a PC person? So you love DLL files?" It's been my experience that wherever there's a MAC there's usually an obnoxious, elitist creep somewhere nearby.

Chinatown, New York - 9/13/08

I was in Chinatown with Bettina today scouring the shops for Buddhist offering cups for my altar, (which I finally found at Emperor's Curio Shop - 238 Canal Street, #111). We walked past this street and I snapped off a few quick photos of this dank alley, I want to say its Cortlandt Alley. It caught my eye because to me it's reminiscent of the Kowloon Walled City that I am obsessed with. Now I have this fantasy of getting a loft in one of these buildings and decorating it like an opium den. I better do so before the anorexic hipsters move in.

New York has changed drastically since I moved here ten years ago. Even then, the gentrification process was well on its way but I am finding it harder to tolerate the recent transplants I run into on a daily basis.

I went out last night with some friends to have a few drinks and shoot some pool. One of my friends wanted to go to the god awful Nowhere Bar on 14th Street. I had been there once before and hated it. The crowd is mostly uninteresting, dorky college kids, the drinks are weak, and the bartenders are personality-free. I tried telling him that he wouldn't like it but he insisted I be "open-minded" and give it another shot. Within two minutes of walking through the door he hated it and wanted to leave. We both agreed it looked like the Lobo, the bar on the TV show Roseanne. We chugged our PG-13 drinks and left for the Boiler Room.