New York City life is shaped by the archipelago upon which it lies. Nearly 30 of these islands bear names and distinct, if a little peculiar, backstories. We rounded up 11 such islands, all linked through the common themes of abandonment and obscurity. Many were at one point inhabited, either by individuals or institutions, but today all have slipped out of the public’s consciousness. Indeed, to many native New Yorkers, their existence remains unnoticed.
Tag: nyc
All the Pizza
Ronen V pulls off yet another crazy internet video stunt, ordering pizza from every known pizza joint in New York City, more than 400 of them, to mark the 125th anniversary of the invention of pizza.
Sailboat Race
good times!














Bomb Shelter Under Flushing Meadow Park?
The 1964 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadow Park in Queens had no shortage of strange and memorable exhibits, which included Sinclair Oil Corporations’ Dinoland, a proposed jet-pack, and even a bizarre Protestant film that posed humanity as a circus and Jesus Christ as a clown. It’s strange then that more attention has not been given to Jay Swayze’s equally odd underground luxury home. This especially due to the fact that it may still be hidden somewhere beneath Flushing Meadow Park, which is why historian Lori Walters from the University of Central Florida has just applied for permits from the Parks Department to locate the structure using ground-penetrating radar.
Gov island reopens
it will be open 7 days a week now, instead of just the weekend. on the other hand the ferry will now cost $2
NYAS view




NYC crazy uncles
imagine 6 weird uncles in your attic, and you get New York Historical Society special exhibitions













SF upgraded to Manhattan
turns out you can preserve the suburbia character of sf while also making it affordable. or you can turn it into tokyo, which would be a big improvement.
1 ultra-dense option, at 100K people per km2, included high-rises like you might see in Hong Kong or New York. But it turns out it’s possible to reach Manhattan-level densities with lower buildings that match the city’s existing character. “When we realized that you could actually house 40K people per km2, we wanted to show that” With some additional 6-story buildings in a neighborhood, suddenly it would be possible to accommodate the number of people who want to live in the city.
Shanghai Metro
What a competent subway looks like
meanwhile in NYC the MTA doesn’t want to add these barriers to the “new” second ave subway line (to be completed in 2050) because it would make the rest of the system look bad.
Brenner’s
Those chocolate pipes
