NYC Subway, by Willy Spiller

In 1979, there were 250 serious crimes reported in the New York subway system – per week. There were six murders in the first two months alone. No other subway in the world was more crime-ridden and infamous.

Hell On Wheels” is a joyous and soulful trip in the bygone era of the New York subway system in the years between 1977-1984. Swiss photographer Willy Spiller, living in New York at the time, documented his underground travels with the curiosity of a foreigner, fascinated by the rush and the madness of its time. It’s the period of the first rap music, graffiti, The Warriors in the cinema, Guardian Angels on the trains and Ed Koch in charge of a broke and crime-riddled city. Willy Spiller’s images are as much a visual document of this incomparable realm as they are a syncopated, colorful poem to the city of New York and its people.

(via Vintage Everyday)

Who Drank the Kool-Aid?

Who Drank the Kool-Aid?Yesterday, I took a train to Manhattan to stand among my peers and watch the election results come in. This was the same ritual I performed four years previous—and four years before that—to hear the roar each time the blue strip edged closer to the fated 270.

Last night at 2am, I left Rockefeller Plaza struggling to identify an ache inside me that I hadn’t felt in almost a decade. I kept asking my brother: “how could we be so deluded?” His response was that we weren’t the ones that were deluding ourselves. I understand what he meant, of course. Despite Hillary winning the popular vote, just as Al Gore had in 2000, she didn’t win the election. But this wasn’t the delusion I was feeling. Read more

Cities, Before and After

(via BoredPanda)

Infrared NYC, by Paolo Pettigiani

Taken from various locations within Central Park, Paolo Pettigiani’s eye-catching images portray the Big Apple in a new light. Positioning the city’s skyline as emerging from the park’s bright raspberry treescape, Pettigiani explains, “The purpose is to highlight the majesty and the contrast of nature included in the famous Big Apple’s skyscrapers.”

Having graduated in Visual Design and Communication from the Polytechnic University of Turin, the photographer counts his other big passion as snowboarding, and spends his winters as an instructor on the slopes.

NYC Gardens: On Sale Now!

Own Your Own New York City Garden

Sara gave me a bunch of these little glass vials that came with an order of essential oils for her diffuser. I looked at them, bewildered at what could possibly fit inside them. Then I started to think about how living spaces in New York City are so confined and restrictive—particularly green spaces. I then began to wonder if people around the world would like to share in the cramped, concrete existence that we call New York City living.
Read more