Final days at the abandoned VITAS Healthcare building in Downtown Miami
A final look at the VITAS Healthcare building in Downtown Miami before it gets demolished.
I am in Miami for a few days and I had to take some time out to see the former VITAS Healthcare building in Downtown Miami with my own eyes. This place was bombed with graffiti from crews worldwide in nearly 1 night several years back during Art Basel. It was one of those huge graffiti “campaigns” similar to the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza in Los Angeles.
As of this post, the VITAS Healthcare building is monitored 24/7 by private security on all sides across the street and most of the building is scheduled for complete demolition within this year. This is a very last look at it before it becomes dust.
Images from ‘Super Saturday’ in NYC Chinatown
A few personal photos from Lunar New Year celebrations on Super Saturday.
It was a fun and chaotic day this past Saturday in NYC Chinatown as many came out to celebrate “Super Saturday” for Lunar New Year. I’ve missed this particular day the past few years due to travel so I was glad to be home for it this year. Super Saturday is always just a fun and free way to enjoy NYC as the entire city descends upon Chinatown to launch confetti, mini firecrackers, and noise makers in an unofficial Open Streets way (no vehicular traffic is allowed in Chinatown during this day).
Cars were gone and people filled nearly every inch of public space at times, especially on Mott St near Pell. I even bumped into some family and friends!
Check out some photos of a special actor filming one of the premiere lion dance groups in Chinatown.
New RoboCup accessory adds a plate to the mix
New accessory for RoboCup owners.
I believe the RoboCup was originally designed for boating to hold fishing poles, but over the years, the place I’ve seen it used the most is on photo sets and photo/video carts to hold drinks. Nobody I know has the “large cup holder” attachment, but I can totally see myself and others buying into this super durable and easy to install “plate” to add to a standard RoboCup setup.
The RoboCup Plate slots directly into one of the RoboCup’s cup holders and lets you have a protruding surface to place phones, other cups (like mugs), keys, and even hard drives or small routers. No drilling necessary. Plus, at the end of the day, you really can toss this across the room and into a case without having to worry about it breaking.
New wayfinding signs at W 155th St in Washington Heights
New WalkNYC Wayfinding signs have made it to Washington Heights!
These signs must have popped up in the neighborhood rather recently. A quick check on Google Maps shows the latest imagery there from August 2024 without these signs so I am assuming they were placed some time after the end of year holidays in 2024.
This sign here on W 155th St and Broadway is part of NYC’s WalkNYC Wayfinding initiative, originally designed by Pentagram. Uptown doesn’t always get the love for this kind of design until much later (we might not have the visitor foot traffic for it), so it’s nice to see we’ve finally been graced by the beauty of Pentagram. :P
Snow days in Washington Heights
A few shots I took in Washington Heights.
It finally snowed a significant amount this past week in NYC and I went out to give you all the photo report: IT STUCK!
Here’s a few scenes from the neighborhood as the white fluff came down. DSNY snow plows were out and scraping the streets every few minutes.
A crane fell over in Madison Square Park
What is this toppled crane at Madison Square Park?
Well, not quite.
This giant toppled crane, titled Fixed Crane, at Madison Square Park is the artwork of Nicole Eisenman. It is currently on view until March 9, 2025 and features a vintage crane with a 90-foot arm leaned over on its side. The art piece takes over the entire Oval Lawn in the center of Madison Square Park and invites viewers to walk right up to it to get a closer look. While you can’t climb the crane, you are welcome to touch it and interact with it as this massive metal structure sits idle.
Check it out before it gets disassembled and move elsewhere!
Toyota Crown NYC yellow cab
A look at the rare (for now) Toyota Crown yellow cab.
I know you all care about this as much as I do, so here’s a look at the new-ish Toyota Crown NYC yellow cab. There are only a handful of these in the NYC yellow taxi fleet and this one in particular is even more special because the front face covers and bumpers are painted yellow (note: it looks weird).
This one here is marked #6E84 which I haven’t seen until I took these photos. Pretty cool, huh!
WPL D12 RC Car Kei Truck is now over $100
This popular RC car is now nearly double the price.
Those tariffs on China sure are working! Maybe a little too well! The very popular WPL D12 RC Car Kei Truck, which normally sells for about $60, is now over $100 on Amazon.