For decades, dozens of forgotten Navy and merchant ships have been corroding in Suisun Bay, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. These historic vessels—the Mothball Fleet—served their country in four wars: WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm. After a decade of impasse, the ghost fleet is slowly dwindling as the ships are towed out one-by-one for scrapping. About 15 retired ships are already gone; by 2017, the entire fleet will be just a memory. (via)
Conde Nast spent millions when it hired Frank Gehry to design its cafeteria in its current headquarters at 4 Times Square -- but the big bucks spent on its upcoming move to 1 World Trade Center will be used for something a little bit different.
The glitzy publishing giant is spending up to $1 million for a huge ventilation shaft that will poke through the façade of the north face of the glass tower at 1 WTC so that the Condé Nast cafeteria can have its own exhaust outlet, rather than tie in to the central flue used by the rest of the tenants that will run up the center of the building.
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Originally, Condé Nast wanted to blast through the shortest distance and out the southern wall, which some sources felt would have marred the aesthetics of the sheer glass façade overlooking the memorial.
The vent will be huge, about one story high and up to 25 feet wide, and would be visible from the ground. Sources said that originally PA Executive Director Chris Ward was going to nix the special exhaust vent, but eventually agreed to let Condé Nast have a special vent. However, it had to be on the north side, which will point toward Midtown. (via)just ridiculous.
Casey Neistat is a documentary filmmaker with a show on HBO. He's also a biker in New York City, which means that he's the target of a crackdown on the part of the NYPD to try to make cyclists more rule-abiding. But when Casey was ticketed for $50 for not riding in a bike lane (which is not illegal when done for safety reasons), he decided to take a stand. He argued that he wasn't in the lane because there was material blocking the lane, and when the cop didn't believe him, he made a video of himself running head-on into such blockages throughout the city. (via)
