DSNY

New York City has alternate-side of the street parking rules for street cleaning. Whenever it snows, these rules are suspended for "snow removal." As far as I can tell, though, the Department of Sanitation's snow-removal strategy is to let the snow melt.

So cars remain in their parking spaces for days on end. Garbage, salt, and gravel collect in the gutter and between the traffic lanes and parking lanes. The condition is hell on cyclists, who ride along the side of the road.

It also makes one feel as if he lives in a sty. Honestly, I enjoy in my neighborhood a certain level of "grit" (as the New York Times would put it, in an article on the Next Big Neighborhood), but the amount of garbage that piles up when the streets go unswept for a few days is appalling. Get off your keisters, DSNY.
- posted by Brian @ 2:54 PM

 
Long Way to the Top

I was thinking the other day that I ought to pick up my guitar. Truth be told, I've been enjoying the break from playing music—it's been nice for a spell to not have the obligations that come with a band. I've been reading more, and learning, and doing lots of Poekoelan training, and enjoying the lack of routine.

New York City has been nice as of late, considering that it's February. But spring can't come too soon. With it comes a freshness to the city that I relish. One of my favorite days each year is the first on which I can ride my bike in shortsleeves. So I say to you, Mother Nature: BRING IT ON!
- posted by Brian @ 2:42 PM