Archive for the ‘Pics_slide’ Category

The Prince of 125th and Lexington

December 6th, 2010 by Kahliah Laney

Prince Arala Osula has no lavish palace but rules the downtown train platform at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. If you’ve taken a four, five or six train, headed downtown from that stop, you have probably heard him. And if you had a hankering for some reggae or rock that day, you may have even spoken with him.

Prince isn’t into performing just to get the royal treatment. He claims he was called by God to play not just at 125th and Lexington, but specifically to play on the downtown platform. Whether it was a calling from God or the desire to be discovered, Prince is serious about his work.

He’s been at the station for five years and has regulars. Fans range from school kids to the New York Police who Prince ubiquitously calls “Finest”. But Prince also welcomes tourist and often has a song from a visitor’s native country.

Here is a brief “backstage” tour with Prince. 

Happy Hanukah – or is it Chanukah?

December 6th, 2010 by Daniel Prendergast

Rabbi Mendel Bendet and his brother Samuel have recently brought their faith from Brooklyn to northeast Pennsylvania – a predominantly Christian area with a small Jewish population (most of which also come from Brooklyn). In an attempt to galvanize this underrepresented population, the Bendet’s hold a public Menorah lighting every year while leading the group in song and prayer.

Fashion at the Intersection of Arts and Industry

December 5th, 2010 by Stuart White

By Stuart White

Arts and industry are colliding in Sunset Park, and for people like fashion designer Baruch Chertok, that’s a good thing.

Chertok held a show last week for his new line of accessories in Sunset Park’s Industry City—an industrial complex that recently began renting affordable studio space to artists.

Last week’s show featured pieces that Chertok—a Jewish designer—says were inspired by the keffiyah, the patterned scarf often associated with Palestinian solidarity. As Chertok put it, “Jews and Arabs are cousins,” and his pieces—some embroidered with Stars of David—are a nod to that.

In addition to holding his show there, Chertok says that he hopes to move into a studio in Industry City in the near future. According to him, it’s no longer enough to just be creative—integrating production into the process is key.

“You can have a terrific line, and it can be beautiful and fantastic, but if you can’t produce it, or you can’t produce it on time, or the fitting is not there, or certain manufacturing things are not there, then it affects the business,” said Chertok. “And if it affects the business, there goes the design.”

“You have to wear a creative hat and a business hat as well,” he added.

To see some of Chertok’s pieces, go behind the scenes of his show, and listen to the man himself talk about Industry City’s “arts incubator” and the future of Sunset Park, check out the slideshow below.

Joe Long, a long time music retailer in Bed-Stuy

November 29th, 2010 by Edouard de Mareschal

Joe Long, the owner of Birdell’s, an independent record store on Nostrand Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn), began working at the store in 1957. That is why he talks about this neighborhood like no one.

NYC Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

November 28th, 2010 by Tuan Thanh Nguyen

by Tuan Nguyen

Street Vendors in the Theater District

November 15th, 2010 by Kahliah Laney

Vendors, selling everything from handbags to hot dogs, are as iconic in New York as the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. No matter what the weather – in this instance rain – their hustling doesn’t cease. Here is a peak into the action of a few street vendors in the theater district.




Food Vendor Catwalk in the Garment District

November 15th, 2010 by Geoffrey Decker

Within just a block radius in midtown Manhattan, between Broadway and 7th Ave. and 40th to 39th Sts., there are more than a dozen vendors selling food on the street. The options are limited to the basics – fruit, pastries, candy and, in one case, baked potatoes. Here are some images from some of the vendors I visited on a recent rainy day.

Here’s the scene set to some nice music (Music Credit: Travis Morgan)

Rain or Shine, the Show Must Go On

November 14th, 2010 by Stuart White

By Stuart White

In the city that never sleeps, the work never stops, a little bad weather notwithstanding.  While many of those who make the daily trek to Manhattan’s Times Square have a cozy office awaiting them, a veritable army of city employees, construction workers, security guards and street vendors are exposed to the elements.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.  So here they are, those hardy individuals who keep the gears of New York turning, rain or shine.

Street Vendors of Times Square

November 14th, 2010 by Jonathan Vit

With more than 26 million visitors a year, Times Square is prime real estate for street vendors. The Center for Urban Justice estimates there are more than 10,000 street vendors citywide, hawking everything from kebabs to used books. Here’s a photo tour of a handful of Times Square’s street vendors.


View Street Vendor Project in a larger map

Soundslides: Ads of Times Square

November 14th, 2010 by Brooks Newkirk


Creative Commons License Skyline Mix by Lasswell is licensed under a Attribution Noncommercial (3.0).