The seagull habitués of the China Basin corner of San Francisco Bay, where the Giants play, know how to read the scoreboard. When the game gets into the late innings, a few appear, circling McCovey Cove and the right-field bleachers. If a game goes long, they begin to show their annoyance by trespassing into the airspace over the playing field. Fans have been trained to clap and make noise, scaring them away. But only for a few minutes. Extra-inning games are especially infuriating and the birds show their displeasure at being delayed from scavenging leftover ballpark food by flying closer to the field and in greater numbers. When the game finally ends and the crowd finally disperses, the seagulls invade the stands and devour what they consider to be their entitlement.
The New York Central Railroad ran its last train, three cars filled with frozen turkeys, along the lower-Manhattan West Side Line in 1980. The elevated spur line opened in 1933. For eighty-plus years prior to that, the New York Central used tracks along 10th and 11th avenues to transport commodities it the heart of New York City. Heavy rail did not mix well with street traffic. A 1910 study estimated 548 fatalities and 1,574 other injuries along what came to be known as “Death Avenue.”
The Westside Improvement Project, begun in 1929 and spearheaded by the infamous Robert Moses, included an elevated railroad spur to replace the grade-level tracks. The new line ran through the middle of blocks instead of over the streets, enabling the unloading and loading of rail cars inside warehouse and factory buildings. In true Robert Moses fashion, construction necessitated the demolition of 640 existing buildings.
High Line – now
After the railroad had abandoned the line, property owners along the route agitated for its demolition. A citizens group formed to promote its re-purposing. Thus was born the Friends of the High Line. After years of debate and red tape and searching for funding, work began in April 2006 for the new High Line Park.
The pedestrian-only park has become popular with residents and tourists alike. Visitors stroll along its mile and a half length, in some parts alongside rusted tracks left as a reminder of its history. Since the elevated park’s opening, the storied and deteriorating Chelsea neighborhood has seen a revitalization. New residential construction has risen along the High Line’s route. Rents are higher than neighboring apartment buildings and new residents are now complaining about the tourists. The Whitney Museum’s new digs recently opened at the base of the park.
The Friends of the High Line is responsible for the park’s maintenance and has done major fund raising for its support. They also are adamant that the park is for everyone’s enjoyment, as evidenced by prominently-placed signs.
Are you embarrassed by the quality of the food photos you’ve posted to Facebook? The folks at the App Store want you to know they have solutions: new apps for your smart phone, specifically designed to help you improve pictures of what you are eating or drinking. Your couscous and beet salad not lit just right to impress your friends? There’s an app for that. The artistic design in the foam of your coffee beverage not highlighted just so? There are apps with filters to help you create your own style.
Bridges spanning the Columbia River to connect the states of Washington and Oregon often had tolls to pay the construction costs. The tollbooths were usually removed after the construction bonds were retired. The tolls were generally collected at the Oregon side, leading one to believe that Washington was not to be trusted with the revenue.
The Longview Bridge, connecting Longview WA and Rainier OR was privately built and owned. Lumber magnate Robert Long – namesake of the town – was the driving force behind the $5.8-million bridge that opened in 1930 with $1.00 toll for cars and 10¢ for pedestrians. (No record of which end of the bridge collected the toll.) The state of Washington purchased the bridge in 1947 and discontinued the toll in 1965 when the bridge was paid for. The name was changed to Lewis and Clark in 1980. The bridge, 340 feet above the river at its peak, is 8,288 feet long.
Longview also boasts another privately-built bridge. At 60 feet, considerably shorter than the Lewis and Clark, the Nutty Narrows Bridge opened to squirrel traffic in 1963. Local resident Amos Peters was disturbed by the carnage of squirrels trying to cross Olympia Way, a busy thoroughfare in Longview. With assistance from a local architect and an engineer, Amos and a friend built the bridge. It soon received publicity and fans around the world. With construction cost of $1,000, it never had a toll, but squirrels generally do not carry cash.
The Nutty Narrows Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
A popular trope from environmental zealots has been to tell us about a plastic-garbage patch the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean. Turns out that’s just another attempt to scare us with misinformation about the coming environmental apocalypse. It’s not the size of Texas; it’s the size of TWO Texases. And it’s growing faster than anyone thought.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has attracted so much attention that scientists now use the shorthand GPGP.
Marine Conservationist Charles Moore displays a toothbrush found in the Central North Pacific Ocean whilst holding a banner which reads ‘Is This Yours?’ This is part of the Ocean Defenders Campaign in which the Greenpeace ship Esperanza MV sails to the Pacific Ocean, sometimes referred to as the North Pacific garbage patch, to document the threat that plastic poses to the environment and sea life.
The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. Thomas Ryman, saloon and steamboat entrepreneur, spearheaded the project in an attempt to bring Christianity to the masses. In its first few decades, to help pay down construction debt, non-religious entertainment was often booked into the facility. W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini were among the many to take the stage. Teddy Roosevelt and Helen Keller lectured there. In spite of Jim Crow laws, the Ryman sometimes hosted integrated audiences.
The Ryman became famous as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 until 1974, when it moved in 1974 to Opryland USA, a shiny new entertainment-shopping-hotel complex away from downtown. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge sat around the corner facing Broadway. It became famous on its own as a place where future stars paid their dues. Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Roger Miller got started at Tootsie’s. Ernest Tubb’s revered record store across the street is visible through Tootsie’s window.
When the Opry departed, the core downtown became a seedy place to avoid. Demolition of the Ryman Auditorium was proposed. The venerable hall was saved, renovated, and again became a popular venue for music. Tootsie’s also gained fame and became a tourist attraction of its own. Nashville promoted its reputation as the home of country music, and churned out formulaic recordings of what Tom Petty famously called “Bad rock, with fiddles.”
Gentrification has come to Nashville and along with it, a new type of tourist: bachelorettes. The city has become a destination for “Bach Weekends.” Young women from around the country come for their pre-wedding experience, which does not include the Country Music Hall of Fame. BuzzFeed News recentlyproduced an in-depth report on this new phenomenon.
