What do cyclists, and surveyors have in common?
We spend a lot of time looking down at things that other people ignore.
This a small selection of the thousands of enigmatic symbols one finds spray painted onto the streets of New York.
The blue double arrows on the right appeared all over the place just last week.
I never actually noticed any of these until I rode in last year's NYC Century, when, about a week before the ride, these started showing up.
I have come to realize that they mark the roads for everything.
I was just never looking for it.
So, a few days ago, I started seeing these as well -
I don't know about you, but I thought they were freakin' brilliant.
What do you think of when you see this blue glyph?
I think waterfall.
And what do you think of when you think of waterfalls in New York City?
 Well, unless you've been living under a rock, you think of Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfall Public Art Installation which is due to open in less than a week.
They've been building the scaffolds in four locations around Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan for the last few months, and they've been testing the falls for the last few days.
There's a festival, a temporary park at Pier 1 next to the Brooklyn Bridge, and major goings on all along the waterfront in Dumbo.
The DOT has even put together a plan for a bike tour of the falls - which leads me back to the mystery glyphs that are appearing all over the place.
Just follow the blue arrows for a pre-planned tour of the official waterfall viewing locations.
download the map from the NYC DOT
Hullo London. URaQT :)  This steampunk art project proves that it isn't new technology that makes modern communication shallow, it's us. And you know what? I couldn't care less.  This fabulous thing is the 'telectroscope' and it lived at the Walt Whitman Pier in Brooklyn for the past month. (Sorry, this post fell victim to my flickr debacle, so the installation closed this Sunday) The brainchild of British artist Paul St. George, there is a whole backstory to this project which can be found at tiscali telectroscope
 The short version is that he asks us to imagine that there is a transatlantic tunnel connecting London to New York that has remained undisturbed for a hundred years awaiting the installation of a nineteenth century communication device known as a 'telectroscope'.
Sound familiar?
For those of you who don't know, Brooklyn is home to the oldest Subway tunnel in the world, which was actually 'lost' and remained undisturbed for more than a hundred years until it was rediscovered in 1981. Atlantic Avenue Tunnel
It's pretty amazing. You go down through a manhole cover in the middle of Atlantic Avenue into this perfectly preserved abandoned space.
Go. Do it.
Back to the telectroscope...
Considering how cool the thing itself is, the majority of people looking at each other through it are remarkable only for their unremarkableness. The telectro - helpers have whiteboards on which to write messages, most of which say things like "Hi", "You're Cute!" or "How's the weather?"
On the London end, even the Queen joined in the fun to look through the simulated 'viewer' and wave randomly to passing New Yorkers.
I wonder what she wrote on her whiteboard?
(Photo of the Queen by Matthew Andrews)
Why did I like the telectroscope?
Well somewhere in London there's a couple that wrote this message to me...
"Nice Bike"
 Oh, the lonely cycles of winter. Left outside awaiting better days. For some, that day will never come. The Fall saw them stripped of useful parts, and undisturbed through the Winter snows, they are left to rust in the cool Spring rains. Not so for others whose hard existence beats down upon them day after snowy day.  These "iron horses" work until they drop, and like the sign on the big building says, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Summer, please come back. I miss you.
Cyclists Court Death DailyIt's dangerous, but Miami is getting friendlier to bikes. By Isaiah Thompson Published: January 31, 2008 in the Miami New Times "Before the sun rises over Miami — before the highways swell with traffic and the streets begin to hum with the sound of a million motors turning at once — the first bicycles appear. From the east — the beaches, Key Biscayne — come the racers. Clad head to toe in thousands of dollars' worth of Lycra, they glide along in tight, silent packs, their wheels producing a collective whirring like a hive of wasps set loose. From the west come the construction workers, mounted on cheap, heavy mountain bikes, outfitted with hard hats and packed lunches. For this brief moment every day, Miami is full of cyclists, rich and poor alike. As the sun peeks over the horizon, and I-95 begins dumping cars into downtown, the bicycles vanish; the city gives itself over to the cars. At first glance, there is nary a place on God's green Earth better suited to biking than Miami. It's utterly flat, with weather that lets a cyclist pedal year-round without donning so much as a scarf in January. Its streets are wide and, for the most part, arranged in a tidy, easily navigable grid. But to ride in Miami is to be among the few and the hunted. Florida ranks among the highest in bicycle fatalities in the nation — second only to California — and in 2006, eight cyclists were killed on Miami roads; nearly 400 were injured. Such statistics are nebulous, though; many bicycle accidents go unreported. Even a crash that results in death might not be recorded as a bike fatality if the victim dies at the hospital. ... While most of the county's bike planning exists in a cryogenic freeze, Miami Beach's has begun to thaw. The city went from having a single four-block bike lane in 2004 to boasting five bike lanes, four of them within the past year — by Miami-Dade standards, a revolution. The lanes are largely the result of the efforts of local busybody, neighborhood activist, and BPAC member Gabrielle Redfern, who is running for Miami Beach City Commission in the fall of 2009. A true Miami Beach patriot, she rides the requisite beach cruiser, a bright olive green Trek painted with little flowers and equipped with a pretty reed basket. "I'm a middle-age Jewish lady who's running for commissioner," she explains, pedaling in the slow, comfortable way that people on the Beach do. "I have to ride a respectable bike." Five years ago, during her first, unsuccessful bid for a commission seat, Redfern raised a stink when Miami Beach was designated a Bicycle-Friendly City by the League of American Bicyclists. The city had won only a bronze medal, but even so, Redfern's suspicions were immediately aroused: At the time, Miami Beach didn't have a single bike lane. According to the league's director, Bill Nester, the city's application — submitted by its former director of environmental resources, Bruce Henderson — boasted of 11 miles of bike lanes. Miami Beach has since been removed from the organization's Bicycle-Friendly roster. The city hasn't reapplied. ... "They say it's not safe to ride on Alton Road. But it's not safe because there are no bike lanes. Bicycles will never be transportation vehicles until people feel safe to use them." As we cruise down Meridian Avenue, a driver revs his car engine and pulls in front of us. The passenger's head juts out the window. "You don't bike in the middle of the fucking road, bitch!" he yells, and the car tears off." To see the full article go to The Miami New Times
The Good - The South Dixie Highway Bike Path  The bike path utilizes the space beneath the elevated Miami Dade County Metro, paralleling South Dixie Highway (aka US 1). For long stretches, it weaves beneath the concrete supports, offering shelter from the hot southern sun. This is a smart, smart way to utilize what would be abandoned space beneath the rail line. The Bad - The Intersections  The Metro's elevated track intersects all the major Avenues and weaves back and forth across US1. Every time it does, you've got to find your way across six lanes of homicidal traffic. It's unlit at night, and the blind curves and improbable exits make for a thrill ride equaled only by skitching in wool mittens. The Ugly - Hey Ma, lets go play on that jungle gym under the Metro. You know, the one right next to the power substation?  What are they, kidding? I'm the first to admit that just about everything looks better in the early morning Miami light, but nothing saves this pathetic attempt at 'public space' from looking exactly like what it is - an abandoned, dirty, miserable, your tax dollars at work, boondoggle. I mean who in their right mind would let their children within 100 yards of the power substation, much less play right next to it. The electrical buzz is so strong, my metal fillings vibrate as I ride by. At least the sand might slow down the homicidal motorists.
 Damn, but ain't she sweet? I mean, I feel guilty and all, but you know how it is? It's cold in NYC. And this sweet thing practically jumped in my lap and said 'ride me sugar'. Look at those classic curved lines, that phat round rear-view. And it's not like she hasn't been around the block once or twice. The girl may look good, but she's pushing 30, at least. Baby, it's cold outside - but not in Miami where I found this cream puff listed on Craigslist. Now, Miami is not the most bike-friendly of towns. Uber-car-culture makes for much unpleasantness when trying to navigate this city, but like many auto-centric areas, the main thoroughfares are hell, and every other street is smooth, flat and empty of all traffic. For some reason, people in cars are willing to sit in traffic and honk at each other rather than hit a few back street stop signs. This means more road for those of us on two wheels, but unlike NYC, here the streets don't all connect. It is actually impossible for me to get where I'm going without braving some of the worst intersections I've ever seen. Miami is criss-crossed with canals which make navigation more complicated than I'm used to. You may be headed in the right direction, but the only way over the water probably involves eight lanes of traffic, none of whom have apparently ever seen a bicyclist before.  I'd say it's frustrating, but really, when I get stuck or get yelled at, I just take a deep 70 degree breath and gently reassure my new-found love that all will be well. As they say on Wayne's World - "SCHWINN!" 
 This has nothing to do with my personal experience of bicycling. But I'm always telling people who bitch about trying to bike in traffic in NYC that there are a million different ways to enjoy riding in this city. It doesn't have to be about exercise, or efficient transportation, or 'being green'. It can be about exploration, or community, or I guess, even about rockin' the beats. This is an excerpt from today's NYT. For the full article, go here. For the phat photos, go here.By COREY KILGANNON Published: November 29, 2007 A new biker gang is roaming the streets of Richmond Hill, Queens. This crew of mostly teenagers can be seen riding along 103rd Avenue just west of the Van Wyck Expressway. The bikes roar, but the booming sound has nothing to do with engines — because there are no engines. They are ordinary bicycles, not motorcycles, although these contraptions look and sound more like rolling D.J. booths. They are outfitted with elaborate stereo systems installed by the youths. “This one puts out 5,000 watts and cost about $4,000,” said Nick Ragbir, 18, tinkering with his two-wheeled sound system, with its powerful amplifier, two 15-inch bass woofers and four midrange speakers. It plays music from his iPod and is powered by car batteries mounted on a sturdy motocross bike. The riders are of Guyanese and Trinidadian background. In those countries, turning bicycles into rolling outdoor sound systems is a popular hobby. “It’s really big where I come from in Trinidad,” Mr. Ragbir said. “When I first came to New York, I started with two little speakers. People here thought I was crazy because no one here has really ever seen it, except maybe for some Spanish dudes with a radio strapped to their handlebars.” He added: “People say, ‘It’s the next best thing to having a system in a car.’ But it’s better because you don’t even have to roll down the windows.”
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