About two months ago, I received a letter from my internet service provider, Optimum Online, stating that my monthly bill was about to increase again, to nearly $60 per month. This price has been rising steadily from $30 about two years ago. Optimum’s service hadn’t improved, increased in speed, nor had the number of internet […]
Archive | February, 2014
The Other Brownsville
When I searched the New York Times website recently for “Brownsville” (the one in Brooklyn, not the one in Texas), the first few search results were as follows: 16-Year-Old Is Fatally Shot on His Way Home from a Party in Brownsville New York City’s Optimistic Tone Feels Out of Reach in Brownsville Brownsville, Brooklyn, Is […]
Event 2/21: Resource extraction and urbanism
Storefront for Art and Architecture Presents: The Petropolis of Tomorrow: Environments of Extraction Join Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York for a discussion with Neeraj Bhatia, Dr. Paul Fennelly, Rob Holmes, and Justin Fowler on the occasion of the launch of new book The Petropolis of Tomorrow. An excerpt from the Storefront’s event […]
A Love Letter To Flemish Cities
I’ve recently become enamored with the historic cities of Flandres, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Whilst I used to only pass through Flandres in the past, often on my way to France, I first discovered Flemish cities on a study trip to the region in 2007. Wandering through places like Bruges or Ghent with a […]
NY’s Snow Parking Problem
When I went to school at the University at Albany, I lived in the downtown dorms which meant that if I wanted to have a car I had to deal with street parking. During my first snowstorm I heard on the radio that a Snow Emergency was in effect, and that all of the cars parked on […]
To my first love in a new city
By Alyssa Campbell Dear Parc de la Fontaine, Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I would let you know what you have meant to me these past few months. Since I first laid my eyes upon you that first day I spent in the city of Montreal, we’ve been intertwined in an inexorable love affair. […]
A love letter to urban scents
Dear urban olfactory overexposers, You’re not quite like the unpopulated wet forest, smelling of mud, decay and heavy timber; nor like my tiny oceanside hometown filling the air with brine and sundried seaweed. Rather you have a grand variety of lowpoints and highs; a combination of heady delicacies and nauseating wafts… The mysterious night bakery […]
Lucknow, India: A City With a Glorious Past
The royal family of Oudh (1722-1858) were the historically-rich and powerful rulers of their north-Indian state. The Nawabs of Oudh were generous patrons of art, poetry and music. Their royal treasury paid stipends and pensions to dancers, musicians and poets. Public poetry readings were held at the expense of nawabs, where poets from all over the India were invited. These free poetry readings […]
A Love Letter to Austin
Dear Austin, Though it’s been some time since we were last together, I find myself wandering back to your memory during the cold vortex evenings in New York. We were a classic case of opposites attract. Me, the seasoned urbanite and native New Yorker accustomed to high density design, a 24-hour transit system and excellent […]
