Healthcare CEO target fliers in Chinese
The healthcare CEO posters are now in Chinese.
The targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione on December 4th last year has sparked an odd campaign of retribution by some anonymous (and presumably angry) recipients of American healthcare organizations.
Today, for the first time, I saw the CEO target flyers in Chinatown, NY in Chinese.
Cheap way to make your own MTA Subway countdown clock at home
Here’s an affordable way to turn any screen into a Subway countdown clock.
There are a number of unique ways to have a Subway countdown clock timer in your own home, but many of them require a good chunk of investment or technical know-how.
My favorite one I’ve seen is this DIY LED matrix display that looks most like the actual countdown timers in the NYC Subway. But even this one requires quite a bit of elbow grease to get working.
There is also this Arduino Subway Clock that uses a tiny LED display but the final result, while providing the correct information, doesn’t quite look the part.
And there is this small informational display running on a Raspberry Pi that doesn’t quite look like any of the clocks in the stations but still provides relevant arrival information.
The cheapest most affordable option however, outside of the MTA’s official website, is this customizable website from Subway Here. If you have an iPad or a TV or anything with a browser, all you have to do is bookmark the page (or leave it on a TV screen all day long) and the subway information for any selected lines is shown. I’ve had this set up on an iPad and it works great.
Only NY x MTA Table Lamp
My favorite household item I got in 2024.
I have been fan and customer of ONLY NY for years and there is no product that excited me more lately than this MTA Table Lamp. The lamp is modeled after the station lights of yesteryear that can still be found in select stations across the system, showing the iconic dual-tone “M” above a green square indicating the station entrance.
It is wonderfully crafted and the perfect size for a table or shelf lamp. The braided cable with integrated dimmer is perfect and very high quality. My only complaint (if I had to really find one) is that the “M” looks like it is printed onto the exterior rather than screen printed (there are some banding lines that Only NY tells me in email is an unfortunate after-effect of the production). Anyway, I really love this thing in my house.
The Wall of Kindness on Essex St.
The Wall of Kindness encourages people to donate their old coats.
I was walking around Chinatown and the Lower East Side yesterday when I came across this “Wall of Kindness” located adjacent to a construction site. I nearly passed it entirely since it blended in with the construction office trailer.
I’ve never seen one of these “Wall of Kindness” things before but a quick search looks like its an on-going worldwide project to help those who are less fortunate. This one encourages people to recycle their coats on the hooks for other people to pick up if they need. Visit or donate on Essex St across from Seward Park.
Whole block on Bowery nearly demolished
The view of Bowery and Kenmore Streets today.
Bowery and Kenmare Streets
It’s been a long time coming as this whole block on Bowery between Kenmare and Broome Streets has slowly been abandoned over the last few years. Historically occupied by many Bowery lighting stores, the picture above is what this block looks like today. Completely razed except for the end buildings at Broome St and Kenmare St.
I’ve documented the closing and abandonment of these buildings over the years and the sudden disappearance of the 7 buildings is still shocking.
Give Back Thursdays: More Than A Meal x Potluck Club x Phoenix Palace
Another successful community meal with Potluck Club and More Than A Meal.
My good friends at Potluck Club host a community meal event once a month with More Than A Meal to protect and honor those less fortunate in the Chinatown community. I’ve been doing this event with them and I always leave so full of not just food, but joy as I see the older folks in the Chinatown community leave with smiles and happy stomachs.
Seniors members of the community enjoying a sit-in meal at Phoenix Palace
Yesterday, the community meal was hosted at Potluck Club’s sister restaurant Phoenix Palace, located at 85 Bowery. It was a bit of a special event with Assemblywoman Grace Lee making an appearance along with an early lion dance celebration for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
Big thank you to all the volunteers from Vita Coco and beyond for making it out again this week!
Stay tuned for the next volunteer event!
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!