The G-Train over Gowanus

Renovated and Re-opened, Smith & 9th Streets F / G Station, Glorious Gowanus / Red Hook, Brooklyn

The new metallic facade of the Smith and 9th Street Station

The sky was the best shade of blue and the clouds were bright, creating patterns that rivaled all of the activity on the streets below. Clouds and sky activated a parked car, below. Reflections on reflections.

A little drama - a silver bubble!

Station interior - complicated angles, lots of light, and in the lower corner you can catch a glimpse of Fathom Points + Compass Bearings, artwork by Alyson Shotz (2013)

The view from inside the silver bubble.

From the platform, you can see scaffolding, nets, and other signs of work still in progress.

And from other windows on the platform, you can see the Gowanus Canal, with downtown Brooklyn and the Williamsburgh Bank Building on the horizon.

A Walk Thru Gowanus, Brooklyn

You can get your car wrapped up on 4th Ave near 3rd Street, Brooklyn

The artists studios building on 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave that I was visiting

It's quite huge, with another warehouse right next to it

And next to that warehouse is a small Muslim pre-school . . .

 . . . right across from the toxic Gowanus Canal

walking past the canal, facing north and east, there's a good view of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank

And up the street from that view is this old building - the cheese stands alone!

beyond that landmark, the various yards on the canal

and the ubiquitous Kentile Floors sign

1) On the street in Brooklyn and Manhattan; 2) at Ikea in Red Hook; 3) on the G-train, overlooking the glorious Gowanus

An Avenue B realtor gives itself a way too literal name . . .

. . . and it looks like you're expected seal the deal while displayed in the front window. I actually like this shot because it has many levels of looking directly and being reflected, including a shadowy one of my own stance as I take the picture

On Ave. B there's a tiny, elegant bird bath set in stone.

The black and white bathroom at Participant Inc.

Another storefront reception area, Ave. B.

And the magazine and candy stand at the Delancey St. Station

Late night ride home, Fourth Ave., Brooklyn

In front of the house there's a fire engine, and the whole street turns red.

On Lexington St., Bed-Stuy, the police have set up a surveillance tower. Artist Duron Jackson referred to this as a process of defining an entire neighborhood as a prison -- a portable prison, as it were. Just add watch towers.

A house on Quincy Street, Bed-Stuy, that has seen a few too many modifications in the style, function, and perspective of its architecture. May be really great from the inside, however, with a tower, a second-story deck, and a bay window in back.

A red house and red stairs and the red and black flag of Trinidad and Tobago, also on Quincy Street.

I walked behind this man on Marcus Garvey, minding my own business, until I caught sight of his t-shirt, which spells out a litany of names of those who have gone before.

This one is from last fall, a shot from an Occupy Wall Street demo that got lost in a folder in a folder.

 

This is not my grandmother looking through my library in my loft space, but rather a shopper at Ikea condsidering the same set of Billy bookcases that I and thousands of others are also considering.

The check-out line at Ikea, above, and bins of impulse items, below.

Returning from Ikea, the bus takes us through Gowanus, and I catch a glimpse of the train that I want to get back to Bed-Stuy, high on the horizon.

From the G-train, on a beautiful day, an elevated view over Gowanus.