They Call Me Birdman

Lyrics for "New York City's Killing Me"

There's just something about this hotel
Got me wishing I was dead.
Gotta get out of New York station
Somewhere I can clear my head.

I was just kicking along the sidewalk
No one looks you in the eyes
No one asks how you're doing
Don't seem to care if you live or if you die.

Just got to get me somewhere
Somewhere that I can feel free
Gotta get out of New York City, boy
New York City's killing me.

Just outside of Nashville
I met one of my dreams
Sure would like to get to know her
Maybe find out what it means.
Get so tired of all this concrete
I guess I'm tired of all this noise
Got to get back up in the country
Have a couple drinks with the good ol' boys.

Just got to get me somewhere
Somewhere that I can feel free
Get me out of New York station
New York City's killing me.

Just got to get me somewhere
Somewhere that I can feel free
Get me out of New York station
New York City's killing me.

Gotta get out of New York station
New York City's killing me.

by Ray Lamontagne. Listen to this track and the rest of the entire album on NPR.

The Science Barge

How do we city folk get our food?

The answer today is grim: our food is grown far away, mass produced on giant industrial farms using harmful chemical pesticides, and transported at a great cost to our environment.

The good people at New York Sun Works are trying to change that paradigm by building a prototype urban farm called "The Science Barge."

The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero cost to the environment -- the farm is completely sustainable, wasting no energy, using no chemical pesticides, and producing no carbon dioxide.

You can visit the Science Barge at Riverside Park South throughout the summer.

NYC's Top 10 Ice Cream Sandwiches

Time for your first homework assignment of the summer: Read this article. Choose a destination. Grab a friend and get a bite. Take pics and write a food review. Publish. I want to know what's good!

Manhattanhenge

Manhattanites take it for granted that their avenues run north-south and their streets run east-west. But truly observant inhabitants know that Manhattan's street grid is rotated 29 degrees away from the north-south axis.

Why should you care? Well, as Geoff Manaugh writes in his delectable BLDGBLOG, this angle carries "interesting astronomical side effects" -- namely, "Manhattanhedge," as coined by Neil deGrasse Tyson. For two days every year (May 28 and July 12/13), the setting sun lines up perfectly with the east-west streets of Manhattan's main street grid. The result, needless to say, is spectacular:




Unfortunately, I'll be out of town next week. Otherwise, I'd be simultaneously watching the sunset and sweeping a lady off her feet in Union Square Park like the couple above :)