Suit in Seedy Chinatown Alleyway

Taken near the corner of Walker and Cortlandt Avenue (not to be confused with Cortlandt Street) in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Miss the Bus, Catch the Flu

You hesitantly board the bus, fearing the 'infected one'. A person coughs, you flinch; a person sneezes, you want to scream. You take your seat among the potential vectors and ponder your next move. Desperately clinging to your hand sanitizer, the last drop goes dry, you panic. "COVER YOUR DAMN MOUTH" you blurt out uncontrollably as other strap hangers look upon you as if you lost your mind. Next Stop, Bedford Avenue, YOUR STOP! Thank the heavens for I can leave this petri dish.

City Buses just love to be bearer of bad news. A tribute to the germaphobes out there :) Unlike the germs, this shot is definitely best if viewed large.

Clang, Clang, Clang, Clang, Clang

In rapid succession, the title is the sound you hear when you are walking along and a train passes by. Broadway under the old BMT Jamaica Line (one of the oldest lines still in existence in the entire system) that carries the J,Z, and M Trains through Brooklyn to Jamaica Center in Queens. Taken near near the corner of Broadway and Union in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Morning Stroll through Nolita

Nolita or North of Little Italy is a neighborhood in downtown Manhattan. Its bordered by other downtown neighborhoods such as NoHo, Little Italy, and The Bowery. The majority of these shots are taken near the corner of Bleecker and Bond, with the exception of the first, which is taken near the corner of Bond and Bowery.

High Point

Washington Heights has some interesting terrain when compared to the rest of Manhattan. Taken in the 200's and Broadway, it was the will of the glaciers...

Khrushchev Sighting

Why Nikita Khrushchev, been a long time. Your a long way from the UN building...And out of all the places to go wondering around? The Financial District. I knew you were all for de-Stalinization and what not, but wow! Did you slap any crass capitalists with your shoe while you were down there?

"You Know When I Drink Alone, I Prefer to be by Myself"

Poor Georgie; I guess even his dear old granddad has forsaken him. Mr. Thorogood was seen hanging solo on Smith Street in Boerum Hill, a neighborhood in Downtown Brooklyn.

Best if viewed large.

Strange as it Seems

When you want to find what makes New York an amazing city are always not the things you see on a screen, as a tourist, or in necessarily in the history books, but some of the truly strange and odd things you see when you allow your feet and eyes to wander. They can also be found under a distant elevated line in Brooklyn.

I just love garbage water; nectar of the gods I say!!! Taken in the 5-pointz gallery, which arguably has some of the best graffiti in the world; Long Island City, Queens.

Here's Johnny!!! Taken in Long Island City, Queens...

New York is always under a state of change; a wave of gentrification has been transforming neighborhoods in the city that have historically been working class strongholds in recent years. The displaced classes of people tend to get forgotten in this process. Taken in downtown Brooklyn.

Graffiti, wheat paste, and other forms of street are top notch. This was taken in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Nothing like a little Orwellian logic after a night of fun in the East Village...

Alphabet City has a hip veterinarian, I think I might take my cats here next time; they just 'love' the subway.

Ducks ● Goose ● Chicken ● Rabbit ● Turkey ● Rooster...Oh My. If you look hard enough, you can probably find these stores in more NY neighborhoods than not. This is the one in my neighborhood. Taken Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

The pigeon is just as ubiquitous as the plump NY rat, but with wings. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are afraid or at least have a strong aversion to these things. A rat runs across a subway platform and more than half the people there combat each other for the nearest bench to take refuge and stand on. I, myself, have always enjoyed the challenge of sneaking up on unsuspecting vermin and watch them scurry away when I present myself and shot boo! What can I say, I'm easily amused. Taken in a Dominican neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Long Live the Station Wagon

Ah, The simple joys of a station wagon... Taken near Keap and 2nd in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

School Bus to El Dorado

Taken in in lower 90's of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, just west of Central Park. The prominent Art Deco El Dorado can be seen in the distance.

Life is a Series of Pathways

The Hewes Street station on Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; under the elevated BMT Jamaica Line. Built in the early 1880's, this line is one of the oldest original lines in the system.

This is one of those you should definitely view large...

Ladder to the Sky

This shot was taken earlier this summer from the High Line in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. For those of you that are not familiar with the High Line, its an old elevated freight line that runs on the lower west side of Manhattan; it has been converted to an urban park and public civic space.

Triboro Sunrise

A fire escape and a view of the Triboro, err, Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in the distance. Taken from an East Harlem Rooftop around 6:30 in the morning.

Subway Drama

I encountered a bit of subway drama today. I was on an R train heading back to Brooklyn, which then stopped suddenly. We were stopped for about 10 minutes with cops and MTA employees shuffling about with an occasional announcement about an investigation. As you can imagine, large amounts of speculation began to become airborne within the subway car.

The train eventually began to move and came into the station and passengers from the platform began to fill in other curious passengers on what happened. Apparently an elderly man walking with the assistance of a cane, fell onto the tracks, and the train in which I was riding, missed hitting him within inches. He was rescued and taken off the tracks, and from what I could see, without further incident. I don't know if he is a betting man (I am not), but I suggest he goes and buys a lottery ticket soon (because I would make an exception in this case).

This Train is Going to Canarsie

Part III concludes the Broadway Junction series. These are shots of a Canarsie bound L train departing the station on the BMT Canarsie Line.

Part 1

Part 2

Subway Spaghetti II

A continuation of Part 1; this is the lower level where passengers board the J and Z trains on the BMT Jamaica Line at the Broadway Junction station.

THP: Recent Updates

The Heidelberger Papers quietly passed its second year in existence. The primary reason for this; a certain blog author forgot the anniversary of his own blog ;) On October 12, 2008, The Heidelberger Papers opened with its first post using a cheap, single mega pixel camera.

Originally, this blog began with photographic content exclusively from my home town of Indianapolis. It then transitioned to content from cities around the United States in which I travel with primary focus on New York City, where I currently live. The spirit of the blog, however, has not changed; it celebrates the streets of cities, locations both storied and unsung through a medium in which my talents reside: photography.

I have recently been engaging in changes to enhance The Heidelberger Papers experience:

1. Blog Layout: I have been playing around with templates and deciding whether to keep Blogger or go with another blogging service such as WordPress. I have decided to stick with Blogger at this time. The interface and templates may be undergoing changes regularly as I experiment, please be patient :)

2. New URL: www.thpamerica.com: The Heidelberger Papers now has a new address. The old address mheidelberger.blogspot.com, does and will continue to work, so your bookmarks and subscriptions to feeds will not require changing. At the moment, the domain change deleted the blogrolls and am in the process of entering those back in. An unforeseen glitch.

3. Blog driving with Flickr. Flickr is an awesome application for displaying, sharing, and managing photos and can be quite...addictive. Some of the valuable features Flickr offers are the ability to view larger sizes, geotagging, organizing photos in sets and enhancesd tagging. You may click on any image within the blog and instantly have access to this information. You may also want to visit my Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmheidelberger/.

4. New Links and other content from myself. I have included links to other content I deliver to the web including other blogs, Flickr, and my Facebook page. I have also included an interesting page, Hate Mail. I don't particularly think of my blog as being provocative, but on occasion, I do receieve comments from a troll or negative email message, which are available here.

5. Thanks for reading, it is very much appreciated!

Subway Spaghetti

When one thinks of a large station within the City of New York, one may think of Grand Central/42nd, Times Square/42nd, Fulton Street Transit center (currently being constructed), and Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street Terminal. In the heart of Brooklyn, there lies Broadway Junction, a station that connects three subway lines. The elevated BMT Jamaica Line, the elevated BMT Canarsie Line, and the subterranean IND Fulton Street Line unite here to provide passenger connections. The station also connects to an MTA train yard facility.

Pigeon Toilet

Ever been the unwitting victim of a volley carried out by a fleet of pigeons? For those of you who haven't ever experienced the honor, allow me to provide valuable insight: It sucks. If you ever find yourself walking near Grand and Essex, watch yourself from above... Taken on the Lower East Side of Manhattan...

Autumn in Brooklyn II

Early morning autumn sunrise. Taken above the Fulton Street subway station at the corner of Lafayette and Fulton in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

Best if viewed large, you may click the image to do so...

Autumn in Brooklyn

A recent hail storm quickened the leaf fall to the sidewalks. A contact of mine on Flickr likened it to cream spinach, I'm inclined to agree. Taken on Fort Greene Place, in where else, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

Fun With Yellow

All of the shots in this post are all connected by one small factor, they prominently feature the color yellow. Yellow is not a favorite color of mine in particular, but I really do like the way it looks in photographs.

These first two shots were taken from the same intersection in Dumbo, Brooklyn; Jay and York Streets...

A yellow handrail in the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Downtown Brooklyn.

A yellow cab and sign stands out in front of Boss Tweeds Saloon on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. For some reason, the man to the left kind of reminds me of Boss Tweed, the 19th century of equivalent to Elvis; thought to be dead, but gets spotted on occasion...

Yellow Cab and an In God We Trust decal on the white van. Upon closer inspection of the large size of the this shot, you will also notice a Playboy Bunny decal on the side of the same van. Taken on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn...

More yellow vehicles on 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village, Manhattan...

Taken at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Manhattan side of the East River...

Bayside Fuel Oil Depot

Taken on Smith Street, near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn...

Exact location is geotagged in Flickr, you may see it by clicking on the image...

He's Stressed

Taken in the heart of the Financial District in Lower Manhattan...

Best if viewed large, you may click the image to do so...

Late Night Trinity

Trinity Church is located in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan and was built in 1846. This was taken from Trinity Place, near Rector Street.

Nearby Rector Street; I shot this playing around with my 50mm Prime at f/1.8, which has been sitting unused at the bottom of my camera bag for quite a long time.

Good Morning Chinatown

These shots were taken in Chinatown, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. It was a chilly fall morning about 6:00am; I exited the the subway and walked towards the East River because I wanted to get some strong sunrise shots over the water. This motivation was fueled by the fact that it had been raining for days, followed by more overcast skies. A certain excitement was upon me for autumn is my favorite season for photography. Autumn is comfortable and colorful to both my lens and I and provides a renewed sense of inspiration. I will stop the rambling before it starts; here are some early morning shots of Chinatown in Manhattan.

G Train Al Bundy

"Selling women's shoes" can really take a lot out of a man. Kind of a marvel here, for I can barely fit in these seats sitting upright, let alone laying across them...

Untitled

Taken on a sidewalk in East Harlem...