Paris vs. New York
With titles like “la façade” and “les mains” , Paris versus New York displays the subtle similarities and differences in the life and culture of the two cities.
[via @shin27]
One small step for readability
New York City street signs will soon be getting a much needed overhaul. They’ll be abandoning the horrific all-caps text in favor of the federally approved Clearview font that is popping up on municipal signs across the nation.
True American Leadership
We need more of this. Not enough politicians are willing to stand up and say what is right, at the expense of their popularity.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg:
This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions or favor one over another. The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan.
Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.
[via Daring Fireball]
Locals and Tourists
Taking city maps and overlaying them with the frequency of photo taken and posted to Flickr by local residents as compared to tourists.
Blue pictures are by locals. Red pictures are by tourists. Yellow pictures might be by either.
[via Kottke]
If the TSA were running New York
In the wake of the bombing attempt in Times Square, everyone that lives in New York can be thankful that the TSA in fact is not running the city.
So far we have seen a New York-style rather than a Washington-style response to the threat. And while New York is the least “American” of U.S. cities, its emotional and social response is just what America’s should be. Let me explain:
The point of terrorism is not to “destroy.” It is to terrify. And for eight and a half years now, the dominant federal government response to terrorist threats and attacks has been to magnify their harm by increasing a mood of fear and intimidation.
[via Hacker News]
New York City subway ridership
Subway ridership in New York City changed quite a bit in 2009 for a variety of factors (ie. job losses, new stations, expanded routes, etc). The New York Times infographics staff has collected some of those reasons with the data in a handy-dandy map.
Travel posters
Beautiful and simple travel posters of the great American cities from The Heads of State.
[via Swissmiss]
Big upps to the BigApps
Voting has now commenced for the NYC BigApps software application competition. There are lots of creat submissions, many of which revolve around eating and New York City restaurants. One of my favorites is the PlayaroundNYC map, which aims to help New Yorkers identify areas that are well supported by playgrounds and have suitable conditions nearby (ie. not underneath a highway overpass).
[via information aesthetics]
