Reshaping New York City.

New York is a city rich with history so well known and in your face that it's hard not to reminisce about what once was while observing the swift overtaking of a skyline of cranes (construction cranes, that is). The magnetic pull of New York City is so intense that the population has increased by 2.5% since the 2010 census (that's approximately 250K people, or nearly 35% of the population of Seattle). That's a lot of people. Despite the ebb and flow of populations in NYC, the city has maintained its raw, sometimes ruthless, and oftentimes charming identity. However, on a physical level, it's changing by the minute. The New York Times posted an incredible "newsgraphic" that highlights the significant developmental changes that took place during Mayor Bloomberg's tenure. While the transformations celebrate the use of city space, a scarce commodity in NYC, the implications are still to be determined. What is the path that takes us from dilapidated lot to luxury mid-rise, and is it the path we really want to take? As our built environment evolves, how does it affect the identity of a block, neighborhood or city as a whole? Consider this while checking out the New York times article: http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/08/18/reshaping-new-york/

the start of the present.

(found in Earthship, Volume I)
...

let the world fall away
to snowfalls of dust
and institutions of clutter
demanding dirty dishes and laundry
leave it all along the asphalt
there is lots of jungle left
the birds are blue and green
trees are truer than television
the sky holds a million sparks
for each of us

we are withering in our darkness
under electric light
our bleached sheets and blankets
will never be clean
we will not survive
until we set ourselves free.

Anonymous, 1982


A re-post from my previous travel blog, this still holds the same meaning to me today as it did when I originally discovered it 4 years ago.

Time travels all too quickly,at a startling rate. It's so easy to focus energy on the Past and the unpredictable future, the Pending. This is my first step in thoughtfully exploring and experiencing the third and most forgotten "P", the Present.