Mirroring

This does remind me a bit of that Marx Brothers movie where Harpo was acting as if he was Groucho as reflected in a mirror.  Someone suggested to me that this was posed.  I couldn't have posed it.   

Mirroring

Stop, Pop and Roll

I think the bubble gum is a nice touch.  

Stop, Pop and Roll

Construction Workers

StreetObservations.com - I am constantly surrounded by construction workers.  It seems the building and rebuilding of New York City never stops.  There are huge holes in the ground for foundations, walls just right for billboards that surround them, cranes, bulldozers and construction workers.  They aren't hard to miss, with their colorful vests and hardhats.  They can even be spotted high above the city as I spoke about in my post Fear of Heights.

Just be careful not to stand behind one on line at a coffee truck at breakfast time.  That worker (I almost said "that guy", but there are more and more women as well)... that worker may be ordering for 10 people.  

My first construction worker shot was taken more than 20 years ago up around 57th street and Lexington.  That building is long finished, as capturing a construction site is a temporary moment in time.

This is the shot.  At one point, an Australian woman spotted the photo on the Internet and wanted to purchase it to market a men's skincare product.  She said, "...it is the intimacy between the two men that you have captured that I want to exploit, as I want to challenge men to cross their comfort zone and come and see me for concerns with their skin, so what I envisaged would have speech bubbles between the two men talking about their concerns with their skin health, and of course reference to me as the person/business to help them."  I'm not sure I see the intimacy, but I can understand they are supervising the job as well as being concerned about their skin.   

Here are few other construction worker shots.  This photo seemed rather musical to me, I called it "Construction Conductor".   

These guys were camped out at breakfast, taking a break from work on the World Trade Center site.  

This is a similar shot, at another historical building, but a later meal since now it's lunch time.  Or, as I called it "It's Only Lunch time..."

I'm not sure if these guys are bonafide construction workers, but they all seem to have an opinion on what to do next.  It seemed to me like they were from the 1920s so I gave them a sepia look.  

I called the shot "Digging Buddies".  It's like they are a bunch of little kids talking about the best way to dig a hole to China.  

Fear of Heights?

They continue to slowly dismantle the Deutsche Bank building which was damaged by fallout from the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings which were next door.  A monstrous crane sits on top and slowly lowers pieces of the building to the ground.  It's slow going with maybe only 12 stories being removed over the course of the past year. It amazes me how strong the crane must be to lift these massive steel beams. 

My office window overlooks the scene.  Click each picture for a large size version of it, it really can only be appreciated large. 

Deutsche Bank Crane

Today, I noticed there were a couple of guys way out at the tip of the crane.  And, then I saw another one walking the length of the extension like it was a bridge.  He walked quickly and didn't appear to have any kind of tethering. 

Deutsche Bank Crane 2

After he joined the group out at the tip, the crane started slowly moving horizontally with the entire arm moving as the workers stood out at the tip. This is not a job for those who might be afraid of heights. 

Deutsche Bank Crane 3

Burying Pipe

Burying Pipe
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

The town of Harrison, New Jersey (located just across the river from Newark) is being completely redesigned. Harrison is an old factory town. Most of the old industrial buildings have now been abandoned. Broken windows, graffiti, weeds.

Harrison's claim to fame now is that it is a "park and ride" location for commuters who take the PATH train into Manhattan. It is a relatively painless 20 minute ride. And, the grounds of the factories have been used as parking lots for the travelers.

Harrison Factory before demolish
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

About four months ago, many of the parkers were displaced and had to move to lots 5-6 blocks further from the train. And, virtually all of the surrounding blocks were completely razed. There are now blocks and blocks of empty space. Starting to emerge is a new condo complex along the river and they will be building a new soccer stadium that will home of the Red Bulls professional team that now plays at Giants Stadium.

The first photo shows one large land mass that will be occupied by a complex that includes 30,000 square feet of retail stores. And, the giant pipe that the worker is standing on bring some sort of liquid to site (water?). This picture shows the pipe being buried, to be hidden for generations. I like the orange areas in the picture and the dirt falling behind the guy.

The second picture shows what used to be here. Ultimately the mile of land surrounding the train station will be built up with a new glistening town. I suspect then the commuters will have lots of company and will need to find a better place to use as a base.