5 POINTZ

I'm getting lazy. I'm going to use the copy from the 5 Pointz website to explain this outdoor art space. I live eight blocks from here and frequently pass it to get on the M train.

From 5POINTZ website: "5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc. is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building.

Legendary writers from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States have painted on the building walls, including Stay High 149, Tracy 168, Cope2, Part, and Tats Cru.

On any given day, 5Pointz visitors can expect to find prominent artists, musicians, deejays, Emcees (rappers), and B-boys (break dancers) on site, in addition to filmmakers, photographers, and entire tour buses full of admirers soaking in the more than 350 Technicolor murals."

Using the Bus in New York City

After two years of living here, I decided to take a shot at riding the buses. Bus schedules confuse the heck out of me, but I use "Hopstop"--a subway and bus app--which gives step-by-step directions for NYC public transportation. 

My first step was to catch a bus at Queens Plaza in Long Island City. I found the bus stop just fine, but after waiting 23 minutes, no bus ever crossed my path. According to Hopstop, there should have been two busses in that time frame. So, I took the subway into Manhattan.

By the way, the signs at the bus stops say this: NO STANDING. What? Excuse me, I'm waiting for a bus. . . what am I supposed to do, a yoga pose?

Turns out NO STANDING refers to vehicles, not people. (I found this out when I came home and looked it up.) Unoccupied, as well as occupied, vehicles--not people--will be ticketed if they "stand" in that zone. Seems like they could have come up with a little better phrasing.

In Manhattan, it was easier to fine the bus stop because several people were actually STANDING near the NO STANDING sign. I got my pre-paid card out but noticed people weren't swiping them to board. So I asked the person in front of me me if this bus was free. He retorted, "Hardly!" So, I asked the driver how to pay, and he started giving me instructions so fast, I had no idea what he he meant. I said, "I'm sorry?" (I think that's a Midwestern phrase only that means "huh?") Then he said, "You didn't listen to a single thing I said, did you? You have to get a paper pass to get on. Use your card over there," and he pointed to a little machine on the sidewalk. As I stepped off the bus passing others trying to get on, he shouted, "You gotta press the start button to begin!" 

I got my paper pass and boarded that same bus, and minutes into the ride, the driver starts ranting loudly so that everyone could hear how "Nobody reads! Nobody listens! People don't pay attention!" and on and on. Well, that made everybody in the bus look at each other with their eyebrows raised. Then they started yelling back, "That's right! You tell 'em! Let it all out!" 

A woman next to me said that there are periodic searches by the NY police for people trying to ride the bus without a paper pass. She said the fine was about $100.

Just then the driver gets on the loud speaker and announces, "Ladies and gentlemen! We have the distinct honor at the next stop of being searched for people without paper passes." So the next stop we were indeed boarded by two cops asking to see our paper passes. They kicked two people off the bus.

There's more to this story, so ask me next time you see me. Anyway, I was glad to get home and have my favorite evening drink, Coors Light in a wine glass. 

Fireworks on the East River

Daily Observations in Long Island City

"I teach lawyers how to write."

A woman sitting next to me at the park yesterday leaned over and said, "This must be the best place in the city to be right now--or even in the world." She was right--it was a perfect day: 72 degrees and sunny.

We were at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan at the Southwest Cafe, an outdoor eating and drinking spot in the south west corner of the park sponsored by Southwest Airlines. Cute, right? Anyway we talked a little while and I learned she was a consultant to law firms. She gives one-on-one advice and conducts seminars on writing skills. Soon my husband and two of his co-workers arrived and I invited her to join us. That's what I love about New York: conversation with strangers is easy. Actually that may be more related to drinking, but I digress.

I took her business card home and looked at her web address. I liked it so much that I subscribed to her blog! You may like it, too. Here's a good article about the simple but powerful colon. And here's her picture from her website.

Image from roskylegaled.com

The Party Wall at MOMA's PS1 Museum

I wanted to take friends to the Museum of Modern Art's PS1 location near our apartment in Long Island City, but first I needed to check to see if the exhibits were not too weird. Actually, they were just as weird as the last time I visited, but I was prepared this time and that helped.

Anyway, this grand structure was being built at the entrance. It's called Party Wall and is the winner of a contest for a temporary, outdoor installation that provides shade, seating, and water. You can read more about it at www.CodaPartyWall.com. What I like the most: pieces from the wall can be removed and used as seating.

An architect's rendering of Party Wall. Image from http://codapartywall.com

I actually got to meet the designer/architect, Carolyn O'Donnell, who is an assistant professor at Cornel University. She told me a secret about the design--at exactly 1 o'clock in the month of July the wall will cast a shadow that has a message--which she didn't divulge.

Here's another good site to learn more about the Party Wall at MOMA PS1.

Captain's Tip?

Have you ever heard of a captain's tip? This was a first for us.