One week of Congestion Relief Zone in NYC
My anecdotal take on Congestion Relief Pricing in NYC after 1 week.
It has officially been over a week of Congestion Relief Zone pricing in NYC and so far is it has already begun to change the city for good. I cannot believe how quiet the city is now that there are fewer cars clogging the roadways. It’s quite remarkable. There doesn’t seem to be any less people out and about either and yes, the Subways are a bit more crowded, but nothing so out of the ordinary that I think I’d take notice otherwise.
There’s still a lot of hot takes on Congestion Relief pricing from major news media (especially local news channels who love to interview motorists about how mad they are), and no doubt my take could be considered a hot take as well, but I really do think this will be an overall net positive for all New Yorkers.
Times Square on January 13, 2025
At the height of Monday afternoon on January 13th, Times Square wasn’t even backed up with vehicle traffic as it normally would be in the afternoon. I’d be surprised if they don’t close Times Square completely to car traffic in the future given the drastic change a $9 toll has done to this area.
Seventh Avenue heading south around this same time in the afternoon was also congestion-free. One thing I’ve noticed is that most of the cars traveling are TLC-plates or taxis which does makes sense in a city like NYC. Private cars are unnecessary and should be treated as luxuries one can afford in 99% of cases.
7th Ave looking south, January 13, 2025
Even 8th Avenue near Penn Station/Moynihan Station had smooth-flowing traffic. It really is so jarring after years of bumper-to-bumper traffic here.
I’ll report back on week two next week!
Treb Heining and the balloon industry
Treb Heining is the man who releases confetti in Times Square at the New Years celebration.
Check out this short film by Joshua Charow featuring a man named Treb Heining preparing for and talking about the confetti drop during the Times Square New Years Day celebration in 2021.
As Treb himself explains in the video, the confetti you see on live broadcasts of Times Square New Years are almost all entirely done by hand (a surprise to me!) and have been for over 30 years!
People like Treb really interest me because they’ve basically created a market for a product that so many people today associate with celebrations — BALLOONS. His career started with Disney as a “balloon boy” where he quickly learned to tie 17-20 balloons a minute.
Here’s a video of Treb tying a lot of balloons.
After a stint at Disney, Treb went on to literally invent the balloon garland, a flowing collection of balloons all tied together to help usher in a celebratory mood for a space. It all eventually led up to him forming his own balloon launching business known as BallonArt By Treb, which put him on the map as the balloon guy in an industry of virtually just himself. One thing led to another and he still ushers in the largest party in the world in Times Square each year with hand-thrown confetti!
The NYPD used to have Ford Fox Body Mustangs
The NYPD used to have Ford Fox Body Mustangs in their vehicle fleet.
This is pretty incredible. I just found out that the NYPD used to have a small set of confiscated and re-used Ford Fox Body Mustangs as part of their highway fleet. These vehicles were taken from street racers and re-badged to be working NYPD vehicles (both on the streets and in PR news).
It sounds like all of these were done away with in the early 2000s which might explain why I’ve never seen any of these Ford Fox Body Mustangs at any area car shows. Wish they were still around!
The Last Video Store in Philadelphia
The last video store in Philadelphia shuts its doors for good.
The doors are shut at Philadelphia’s Last Video Store
Underneath the SEPTA line on Frankford Ave at 4456 Frankford Ave is Philadelphia’s crowned “Last Video Store”. On my visit past it, the outside was spray painted with “CLOSING DOWN” but the front door was blacked out with a small CLOSED sign hanging in the window.
I really wanted to visit this place over the years but it always got pushed aside on my visits for one reason or another. It looks like my only glimpse inside will be via The Philly Captain’s video below just before it shut down for good this past week.
Some more photos here.
An unofficial return of the 9 train
A rare sighting of the old 9 train in the NYC Subway.
Late one night recently, I was riding the 1 line uptown and happened upon this roll-sign showing the old 9 number used when I was growing up. From what I remember when I was younger, the 9 train did skip-stops along 7th Avenue on the IRT line after the 2/3 trains split into the East side of Manhattan and the Bronx.
With today’s population boom in Upper Manhattan along Broadway (specifically in Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights), it would be great if we could get skip-stop service back to relieve some congestion on the 1 line.
Nevele Grand Hotel in the Catskills catches fire again
Another fire guts the abandoned Nevele Grand Hotel.
This morning, a portion of the iconic and historic Nevele Hotel caught fire in a two-alarm blaze. The past few years have been hard on this abandoned property with at least one other major blaze happening last year.
Located in what is known as the Borscht Belt, a collection of Jewish resorts located in upstate NY, The Nevele Grand Hotel was once a popular destination for family retreats but since the early 2000s has seen steep decline and abandonment. While the Nevele property is heavily guarded at times, it has more or less been open to the elements and crafty individuals can easily find a way in if they don’t mind hiking through a bit of forest on the backside (that’s how I’ve seen it up close).
There’s no word yet on how extensive the fire damage is this morning, but with heavy neglect already prominent on the structure I wouldn’t be surprised if a large part of it collapsed. I’ll update when news comes out.
Here are some photos from just a few years ago.
Virtual production with Steve Giralt
Steve Giralt shows off how virtual productions are done.
I’ve been running into these types of virtual productions and virtual screens at work more and more lately. The nerdy part of me is always so interested in how these are done, often staying around as they demo the production or set it up, and seeing just how much tech is behind it all.
Photographer Steve Giralt’s quick intro video below is on the smaller scale of what I’ve seen but it seems to still have all the parts of a larger production that I’ve been on, including camera tracking, master clock sync, and Unreal real-time rendering rather than just a static image displayed on the LED screen. The biggest difference his setup seems to have that adds a level of complexity to his specific needs is the BOLT camera robot (similar to what I’ve seen in MKBHD’s video work).
All of this tech comes together in a perfect blend of cost-savings realistic detail for recreating a location in-studio. Even though my heart still longs for and prefers the joys and challenges of a location shoot, I can’t ignore the future of how my work will change as these virtual productions become cheaper and easier to manage and maintain.
The abandoned Abercrombie Castle in Upstate NY
A walk-around of the Abercrombie Mansion near Ossining, NY.
Abercrombie Castle 2024
A few weeks back I took a trip up to Ossining, NY to visit the Ossining Weir and on the way back I stopped by the long-abandoned property known as the Abercrombie Castle (or Abercrombie Mansion).
As you might have guessed, the property takes its name from David Abercrombie, one half of the duo that would lend its name to the brand we know as Abercrombie & Fitch. Records show that the home was built and completed in 1927 and occupied by David Abercrombie and his family until his death in 1937. He had named it Elda, after the names of his children. The structure and land changed hands several times before going completely abandoned despite efforts to turn it back into a home and retreat in the mountains.
A quick walk around the property still shows the incredible stone work laid to build this structure. Most of the wood has fallen but unsurprisingly, the structure still is intact, protected by thick forest on all sides.
In 2022, a large part of the property was burned and today, it has sat decaying and open to the elements.
No trespassing signs at the Abercrombie Castle
On my visit, it was clear that the property had been locked up a bit tighter with large no trespassing signs littered throughout and solar-powered video cameras installed along the exterior of the building. Be aware that if you walk on the property today, you will set off automatic alarms (although in my observations, they don’t really do anything except give an audible warnings), but if you know where to look, you can avoid them pretty easily.
