I have always wondered if these signs are confusing to tourists and other (non-New Jersey) out of towners. Path to what? They come out of the subway in lower Manhattan and there is this huge orange sign staring at them.  Is the Path kind of like the yellow brick road? No, dude. Sorry, it is just a train that shuttles people back and forth from the Garden State, and occasionally has a giant chicken in front of its WFC entrance.

Growing up, skateboarding in the streets of SLC, being yelled at and chased by security guards and 5-0 was part of the sport. It was a part of the sport that was totally lame. Even worse than the perma-scabbed knees and elbows. It has been awesome to see how over the years, society’s perception of skateboarding has shifted so radically. The stigma placed on skateboarders has gone from street-thug-vandal, to talented athlete. Skating around in more youthful days, we assumed that every little plaza, set of stairs, hand-rail etc. was illegal to be skating, unless marked otherwise. The one exception to this was the University of Utah campus, which was a free-for-all. I would be lying if I said that this policy did not heavily influenced my decision to attend the institution for my undergraduate career. Ok, maybe not heavily influence. But it was something that I definitely took into consideration.

In current times, assumptions on whether or not it is safe to skate, have completely reversed. One can safely assume that it is ok to skate, unless marked otherwise. These signs in the plaza bordering the WFC yacht harbor are examples. Even if one errs in assumption, the worst that is likely to occur is a friendly notice by a rent-a-cop. It’s good to live in the 2000′s.

This sign is the product of WTC construction on Vessey Street. Until I saw it, I was completely unaware that there were longboarders in FiDi. Notice the Sector 9 sticker in the bottom right hand corner. Nice. Maybe I can meet up with them some day after work and bomb the boardwalk, hahahaha.

[Liberty Street footbridge that crosses over the West Side Highway. I kind of like it.]

One thing about living at the top of a walk-up building, is that I that I always have my daily dose of stairs. As if that weren’t enough, Reagan always coerces me into taking the stairs with her, even when we are in a (residential) building with an elevator. I don’t really mind it.

Today, more than ever, I could use a good stair workout. I have been having some weird stomach issues lately. I’m not really sure what they are all about. But, I read (and someone told me recently) that yogurt can sometimes help, if it is an ulcer or something. So I dropped by Gristedes today and picked up some yogurt and granola. I didn’t realize until I got back to my office that the type of yogurt I purchased was whole milk with cream on top. Whoa! I didn’t even know that stuff was legal. Anyway, it was really good. Needless to say, I’m feeling a bit sloppy after eating it.

On a loosely related note, Earth Hour is only a month away, so buy some Birkenstocks and incense.

One of the blogs that I keep tabs on is called Public Ad Campaign. Before I started reading it, I had no idea how heavily regulated sign placement was. Jordan, the author, is very opinionated about advertising being visual pollution, etc. I don’t necessarily subscribe to his views in every instance. One thing that has come of it, however, is that I have become more acutely aware of signage. It is amazing how much of it can be found, while looking in any direction, on the streets of Manhattan. I have decided to start sharing some of the stuff that I see, as I have time to shoot it and post it. The shot above is on the corner of Liberty Street and Greenwich, on the south end of the WTC construction site.  It is also right on the corner of the embattled Deutsche Bank Building, which has become a huge blight on the FiDi. I think that it’s great that I could get 6 or 7 signs framed into one shot without even really trying. There are even signs, about not putting up signs, like the one below. These are just a few that I took this afternoon, when I was on my way to fight some parking tickets. More to come.