Saturday-
Meatpacking District
All glowing lights, reflections off our taxicabs, confusion, glamour. And money plays a familiar role, pretending to be abundant, acting as a V.I.P. card, an invitation to every nook and cranny in the expanding district.
So guess where I'm going later.. That's right, a few hours before I go to the garage I'm going to the Meatpacking District. A friend who is rarely in town, is in town. So we're having a little bit of a reunion of old school friends at a place where his cousin works. Surprisingly the prices aren't entirely ridiculous, and they serve food too, so I'll be ordering food while the others get toasted.
Do you see that advertisement in the upper right corner of the photograph? The Gorgio Armani Ad sits on top of the building where a lot of my friends and I would go and hang out. One of my best friends grew up in an apartment there. We would all stay over at his place until the sun came up. When we got bored of the stolen cable television, we'd watch the transvestite hookers and make fun of the odd shapes of their strange bodies. The apartment was huge, so large we could skateboard and ride bikes inside. We'd hang out on the roof, which only got the ad on top in around 2003. The roof was cool for quiet star gazing, but soon it would transform to a tremendous view of this new Times Square that erupted after one or two posh clubs turned into an entire district. Almost everything has changed here, and that friend has moved to several apartments, but never managing to afford a place.
His father, who custom built furniture from a carpentry room in the apartment, and an office on the street which has turned into yet another club, has moved around even further, looking around the country and the world for a place to settle, but hasn't really found anything. Right now he's living in a barn on his x-wife's property in Ohio.
Upper East Side
Well on that note, this photo seems trivial, a privately owned garbage truck pulls to a corner curb to pick up its contracted garbage just as the light turns green, of course. However there was still just enough room to scoot around the truck.
This is the border between Greenwich Village, The Meatpacking, and Chelsea. The Meatpacking District is really merely 2 blocks, the cobblestone streets. But now with it turning to a second Times Square, it has expanded to about 5 times its actual size.
Midtown
This is where I lost my money. Much like today, I wasn't getting enough sleep the night before, so I got my cab really early. I started my shift at 1:30 in the morning. It was going really well until I came to my favorite hotel at around 6:30, and waited in line, and waited, and waited some more. 3 hours later I gave up. I didn't make the same mistake Sunday, I made different ones.
Chinatown
Shopping...
More shopping..
...
Everybody was leaving for Long Island I guess.
Sunday was really slow, especially at this hour, but I got huge luck, picked up an ordinary man on Times Square, and he wanted to go to Weehawken "Just on the other side," he said.
"um, um, umm... 38 dollars." I stated, I mean, asked.
"How about 50 all in. That's what I usually get," He replied.
Never before had I gotten I higher offer than mine. And it was gorgeous, I got a gorgeous view of the skyline, the weather was much warmer and mild then the day before. I filled up with gas to save a few more dollars and used the clean bathroom.
I had made an appointment with a former classmate from college to pose for some portrait shots with the cab, he's working on a project to have a portfolio of individuals in their work environment. So I was trying to make the most of my time before I'd waste it looking for good places for shooting. That said, it was a real nice day to spend a sunday. This blog, my life, the whole thing is really dedicated to keeping myself and everyone aware of all facets of life in the New York area. So I feel my friend and I were on the same page. If we all do our jobs right we can enlighten each other to our own separate worlds that intersect more than we know. We tried to grab a few fares while we searched for good place to shoot, but it was about 30% less successful.
Far West Side
Times Square
So guess where I'm going later.. That's right, a few hours before I go to the garage I'm going to the Meatpacking District. A friend who is rarely in town, is in town. So we're having a little bit of a reunion of old school friends at a place where his cousin works. Surprisingly the prices aren't entirely ridiculous, and they serve food too, so I'll be ordering food while the others get toasted.
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