is New York City dead?

that guy needs to smoke a blunt and chill out

boomers bitching about marijuana while doped up on opioids is still on trend.

I once didn't air out my car enough when I was a teenager and my ultra conservative dad went to move the car the next morning and it totally still reeked and he was soooo upset "I was in the military, I know what marijuana smells like!!!"

TOURISTS GTFO DAY

related - has anyone ever run for mayor of NYC on the platform of less tourism, bc I think that would be a winner

but the holy revenue

I've lived in heavily touristed places and untouristed places, and I way prefer the former because the latter are boring wastes of time.

nb I live in the 2nd most touristed city in the world

boredom is v underrated, esp when all the fun places (for the nonrich) have been shuttered

I could suggest some boring places then

I was in New York recently (lived there for a bit a while ago, now I'm just an occasional tourist) and as always I like the way New York is so damn big that they can knock down tons of stuff and build tons of new stuff and it's still very visibly the same place it was in the 1980s.

my platform for mayor:

1. less tourism
2. cars banned in manhattan

Brad 2021

get me a cheap apartment to seal the deal

affordable housing for all of course, after i kick all the rich people out of their glass condos

https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/12/30/how-new-york-is-zoning-out-the-human-scale-city/

In 2018, Chase Bank announced that it would tear down the fifty-two-story, black-and-silver-ribbed, early Modernist tower at 270 Park Avenue in order to build a new tower at least seventy stories high. This will be the tallest-ever demolition of a perfectly viable building in New York City. In 2002, Chase began a total renovation of the building to LEED standard, a green building certification that gave it “platinum” status, a rating that acknowledges the value of preserving the embodied energy of an existing building and avoids energy use for demolition, landfill, and new construction. Landmark skyscrapers across the country—from the Empire State Building, Chicago’s Willis Tower (formerly Sears), and San Francisco’s Transamerica—have taken this environmentally responsible approach and upgraded their buildings to LEED platinum standard. And in doing so, Chase also benefitted from the five years of federal environmental tax credits that go with that designation. Then threw it all away.

To achieve the extra height and bulk of the new 270 Park, Chase is taking advantage of the “upzoning” of nearby mid-Manhattan that was applied in 2017 to a seventy-three-block area around Grand Central between 39th and 57th Streets. Upzoning’s relaxation of city planning regulations expands the development potential of new buildings by allowing increased height and density (the number of units or amount of floor area on a given lot), and simplifying the transfer of “air rights” from landmarked buildings to new sites within the district. Chase was thus able to buy air rights from the landmarked St. Patrick’s Cathedral, some six blocks away, and construct a taller, bulkier building. Preservationists have identified at least thirty-three buildings worthy of landmark protection from such redevelopment in this Midtown district, but after fierce resistance from real estate interests, only twelve have been so designated. By no logic—design, environmental, planning, zoning, landfill capacity—does demolition of 270 Park make sense, especially when at least some in the architectural community are trying to advance sustainable design. The planned destruction of 270 Park exemplifies how a vital aspect of the urbanism on which this city has evolved and excelled over decades is now being dangerously eroded.

I weep for my city; it is committing urban suicide.

they really need a broad tourism tax or resident discount for public transport, museums etc. and yeah everything about real estate needs to be overhauled.

at work last week i saw one of those city banners advertising nyc as "the real estate capital of the world" and thought about how that's nothing to be proud of

'money laundering capital of the world' is much catchier.

it's still very visibly the same place it was in the 1980s.

plus the 95-story glass towers w/ empty Bahrainis' apartments

apparently i never mentioned an incident from my nyc trip last april

it was a cold windy day and, being in the area, i decided to see how bad hudson yards really was. the mall was a lot of wasted space, the vessel was foreboding, and something -- either the vessel or some of the residential buildings under construction -- were channeling the wind in a way that created this ungodly howling noise

maybe the vessel just screams? something's haunted

"the vessel just screams" stealing this song title for my metal band

'The Vessel Screams' also a solid name for a metal band.

I'd tweak to "This Vessel Screams" but yes

afaict the streets of midtown during the work day is just tourists asking other tourists for directions

hey some of us are walking to the least abysmal place we know of for lunch

are the corporate feeding troughs still basically places where you can order your own salad to spec, mixed in a big metal bowl, or alternatively order a panino? or is that like 15 years out of fashion by now?

My office used to be right across the street from rockefeller and sometimes a couple of us would walk together to the other building in times sq or to get lunch/run errands. It would be hilarious if one of the ticket touters approached us because unrehearsed all of us would yell "DO WE LOOK LIKE TOURISTS!?!" This usually only happened though when the NJ'ian was vaping.

it was an odd time to visit, compounded by my complete mental fatigue after three full days of training. got to see a mostly-empty high line, and after completely failing to notice my dinner location was next door to the empire state building, i was able to instantly go to the top with no real line! even the high line was relatively empty

fwiw I was both tourist and direction-giver to the confused older visitors

obviously i visited the high line, and my brain may in fact be mush today as well

xpost it is still a ton of salad/sandwich places or the ones that have both of those and pasta, udon, sushi, hot bar options.

I am not a sandwich person but there is this newish awesome cambodian sandwich chain that I would go to sometimes. Num Pang. And also a Lebanese wrap chain, Naya. Both super good.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/business/sweetgreen-salads.html

pushing the envelope of midtown mass salad prep. love it. the best minds.

is there anywhere else that people wait so long in line and spend so much money for a lunchtime salad? ( I have never been to sweetgreen)

I have to say in all about the updated and rebranded “Dig” formerly known as Digg Inn who serve serious chicken thighs. Cava also ranks highly in the lunchtime fast casual scale.

buy lunch? those days are gone for me

I brought my lunch (salad) to work 95% of the time and hate ate that salad at my desk. I hate salad.

I am not a sandwich person but there is this newish awesome cambodian sandwich chain that I would go to sometimes. Num Pang. And also a Lebanese wrap chain, Naya. Both super good.

― Yerac, Monday, January 6, 2020 4:13 PM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I know this is the most obnoxious possible take but num pang was better before it morphed into a chain

(the actual best, for some value of "best," of the somewhat overpriced fast-casual-cafeteria chains with shitty exclusionary no-cash policies is mulberry and vine)

I am looking up which one was first (around NYU?) The one I used to go to was around 48th St. in 2013-14ish.

the one that used to be on 12th street

(maybe 13th? in that area. it might still be there, I haven't been in years)

I think first num pang is the one on broadway around 19th. I used to like it. Would get pork and noodles but they don’t do that any more.

The Num Pang near University Pl is still there

agree that num pang quality has declined over the years. there was one day where the tofu salad container switched from ~8x8" square to a ~8x5" rectangle with no corresponding price decrease = do you take me for a fool num pang

i have many thoughts on the horrible lunch options around union square. long ago i worked way downtown and the breadth and quality of falafel carts and sandwich shops etc was strikingly better.

The best food in union square and flatiron was Taste of Persia which closes end of this month. So if you haven’t gone, go.

What’s good there?

another vote for DIGG/Digg in here

taste of persia is great, i hope that dude finds another spot quickly. the eater thing i read said that the new owners of that nondescript pizza place are kicking him out! why would you get rid of the only interesting thing about your anonymous pizzeria half a block off the avenue!?

calstars he has a couple different things every day but dude will be happy to describe each thing in effusive detail. never had anything less than good.

The chicken thighs are good at Digg but the sides tend to be a bit oily. I kind of like the grilled salmon at Little Beet, but it’s a bit pricey.

I was happy to stumble into Xi'an Famous Foods on my last trip after having heard about it and it hit the spot

they are pretty good for a chain