Fascinating issue and your Times Square photos really are the best. I think I shall devote the next ten issues of cafe Anne to Times Square. That place is so fucked up in the best way. It’s so fucked up it almost unfucks itself but not quite!
I have memories of Times Square from 1981 when I was a clueless teenager. I was used to London but this was another level of dirty, smelly and sleazy. So, of course, I loved it. Congrats on this milestone edition and on the release of your album.
Digging the tunes. Chris at Big Ego has a great little label. Really love his Psychic Temple releases that has re-imagined Eno's Music For Airports and Black Sabbath's Caravan for jazz ensemble. Are you planning on putting out any physical copies? It reminds me alot of Pullman, who was a twangier, rootsier post-rock group who put out stuff on Thrill Jockey in the late 90's and early 00's.
Thanks for checking it out! Chris is great, so glad we got to work with him. We planned a vinyl release for our first record but back then the production backlog was so long and we kind of lost motivation. We may try to do it again this go round. Nice to have something you can actually hold. We both started playing music together in Chicago around the same time Pullman was recording so there is definitely a little of that Chicago vibe - good catch!
I'm so glad you included the Time Square Hum! Something I've had on my to-do list forever is to get to Time Square just before midnight so I can have a chance at actually hearing the Hum with less crowds around and also catching the Midnight Moment art installation.
I briefly considered checking out the midnight moment installation but then I realized I would need to kill another 4 hours in the belly of the beast and gave up on that. Best time to hear the Hun without Empire State of Mind in the background is early in the AM
I visited Times Square when I was a tourist but never later when I lived in Manhattan back in the early aughts (I lived at 33rd and 8th). The closest I got was going to a Broadway show now and again or the time I took the bus to/from IKEA from the Port Authority and decided it was a good idea to buy some shelves (which my partner in crime and I then had to creatively maneuver them down the —seemingly endless— blocks to 33rd street). We wandered around the city exploring on foot when we had the time but was never interested in that “touristy chaos” if we could avoid it.
Thank you for introducing me to Andrew Moore. I just went and purchased his Russia book online. Looking forward to it.
Great pics and excellent history! I spent too much of my young adulthood in that neighborhood, mostly in the pre-Giuliani days, but it was always a sensory assault. I remember the first time my dad took me into Manhattan and I saw that billboard puffing away, not unlike my dad.
A different kind of sensory assault back then@ Too bad they couldn't have converted the billboard into something else, but it had its run. The days of the “More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette” are thankfully long gone. Thanks C.L.!
What a great read and pictures, thanks. Late last year I visited a port outside of Dunedin (New Zealand) which had a timeball. As I read the plaque it clicked - having always known about Times Square having a ball that dropped, I finally knew why.
Thanks Lucy! You’re ahead of me in the time ball department! I only learned this week. I always thought it was kind of strange spectacle but now that I know the backstory, I still think it’s strange.
Haha yeah I guess it’s strange in the middle of Manhattan, but it made sense that the ship workers could find out the exact time without having to get off the boat.
I've been a subscriber since March 2024 and enjoyed every issue of The Neighborhoods since then. I thought your 100th neighborhood would be a nice time for my first comment.
Your photography, audio capture, and retelling of history shows an inspiring love and appreciation for the world. And now that you've shared a beautiful musical album with us, my regard for you as a prolific artist grows even higher!
As a fellow recorder of photons and sound waves, I'm especially impressed with your commitment to capturing stereo audio. These days, we are so accustomed to quick hits of media, and I appreciate that you are asking your fans for intentional attention through several minutes of immersive audio.
Thank you for sharing your hard work with all of us.
I grew up in the Bronx and didn’t have much occasion to wander into Times Square until a graduate school internship in the fall of 1980 at the Chelsea Theater Center on W. 43rd. Yes - it was pretty rough in TS then, and I tried to walk as much as possible on the avenues and 42nd St to avoid the dimly lit, dangerous side streets. Now I do what I can to take those same side streets so I can avoid all those hawkers and slow-moving tourists!
One part of old Times Square that I do miss is Playland - loved thoseold pinball machines.
Revive the American Horse Exchange!
Bring back the pinball machine raids!
Maybe ICE can shift its focus?
Fascinating issue and your Times Square photos really are the best. I think I shall devote the next ten issues of cafe Anne to Times Square. That place is so fucked up in the best way. It’s so fucked up it almost unfucks itself but not quite!
You've got to see The Gods of Times Square!
I have memories of Times Square from 1981 when I was a clueless teenager. I was used to London but this was another level of dirty, smelly and sleazy. So, of course, I loved it. Congrats on this milestone edition and on the release of your album.
The Times Square of 1981, as you know, is worlds apart from the Times Square of today. Impressed you ventured in as teen. Thanks Will!
I wish I’d taken more photos though. But I have some great memories.
Actual Place is fantastic. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was digging it right from the start.
So glad you like it!
Digging the tunes. Chris at Big Ego has a great little label. Really love his Psychic Temple releases that has re-imagined Eno's Music For Airports and Black Sabbath's Caravan for jazz ensemble. Are you planning on putting out any physical copies? It reminds me alot of Pullman, who was a twangier, rootsier post-rock group who put out stuff on Thrill Jockey in the late 90's and early 00's.
Thanks for checking it out! Chris is great, so glad we got to work with him. We planned a vinyl release for our first record but back then the production backlog was so long and we kind of lost motivation. We may try to do it again this go round. Nice to have something you can actually hold. We both started playing music together in Chicago around the same time Pullman was recording so there is definitely a little of that Chicago vibe - good catch!
I'm so glad you included the Time Square Hum! Something I've had on my to-do list forever is to get to Time Square just before midnight so I can have a chance at actually hearing the Hum with less crowds around and also catching the Midnight Moment art installation.
I briefly considered checking out the midnight moment installation but then I realized I would need to kill another 4 hours in the belly of the beast and gave up on that. Best time to hear the Hun without Empire State of Mind in the background is early in the AM
Thank you for the history, the images...and the music!!
Thanks for reading looking and listening!
The ball drop tradition has always baffled me, but now it makes sense in a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" sort of way.
Thanks for the history lesson once again. It's always interesting and sometimes shocking to see what made an actual place.
Speaking of, I'm listening to the album now, and it's lovely!
I was the same way. I say bring back the dynamite. Good to know there is some rationale behind it though.
Thanks for checking out the record!
So interesting!
I visited Times Square when I was a tourist but never later when I lived in Manhattan back in the early aughts (I lived at 33rd and 8th). The closest I got was going to a Broadway show now and again or the time I took the bus to/from IKEA from the Port Authority and decided it was a good idea to buy some shelves (which my partner in crime and I then had to creatively maneuver them down the —seemingly endless— blocks to 33rd street). We wandered around the city exploring on foot when we had the time but was never interested in that “touristy chaos” if we could avoid it.
Thank you for introducing me to Andrew Moore. I just went and purchased his Russia book online. Looking forward to it.
Yeah I’m relieved to check TS off the list. It’s exhausting, even without furniture.
So glad you got that book, Andrew is great!
Wow. Yet again.
Great pics and excellent history! I spent too much of my young adulthood in that neighborhood, mostly in the pre-Giuliani days, but it was always a sensory assault. I remember the first time my dad took me into Manhattan and I saw that billboard puffing away, not unlike my dad.
A different kind of sensory assault back then@ Too bad they couldn't have converted the billboard into something else, but it had its run. The days of the “More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette” are thankfully long gone. Thanks C.L.!
What a great read and pictures, thanks. Late last year I visited a port outside of Dunedin (New Zealand) which had a timeball. As I read the plaque it clicked - having always known about Times Square having a ball that dropped, I finally knew why.
Thanks Lucy! You’re ahead of me in the time ball department! I only learned this week. I always thought it was kind of strange spectacle but now that I know the backstory, I still think it’s strange.
Haha yeah I guess it’s strange in the middle of Manhattan, but it made sense that the ship workers could find out the exact time without having to get off the boat.
"Come and meet those dancing feet/on the avenue I'm taking you to/42nd Street..."
I've been a subscriber since March 2024 and enjoyed every issue of The Neighborhoods since then. I thought your 100th neighborhood would be a nice time for my first comment.
Your photography, audio capture, and retelling of history shows an inspiring love and appreciation for the world. And now that you've shared a beautiful musical album with us, my regard for you as a prolific artist grows even higher!
As a fellow recorder of photons and sound waves, I'm especially impressed with your commitment to capturing stereo audio. These days, we are so accustomed to quick hits of media, and I appreciate that you are asking your fans for intentional attention through several minutes of immersive audio.
Thank you for sharing your hard work with all of us.
You have written the entire architectural history of Manhattan, amazing.
I grew up in the Bronx and didn’t have much occasion to wander into Times Square until a graduate school internship in the fall of 1980 at the Chelsea Theater Center on W. 43rd. Yes - it was pretty rough in TS then, and I tried to walk as much as possible on the avenues and 42nd St to avoid the dimly lit, dangerous side streets. Now I do what I can to take those same side streets so I can avoid all those hawkers and slow-moving tourists!
One part of old Times Square that I do miss is Playland - loved thoseold pinball machines.
Oh boy this is gonna be soooo fun!