It didn't help that it was already late in the day, with the sun well past the point where it is due south on 2nd Avenue.
Lighting is one of the critical elements of a good picture and I have to admit that I'd rather take no pictures at all if I'm not happy with the lighting.
For the first half hour the sun was ducking in and out from behind the clouds. i.e. Snap two pictures... change positions... wait a minute for the clouds to move... snap another picture... wait for the clouds to move again... (you get the idea.)
Most of the images are lit with what I call a "dull light." Those that live and work in New York City recognize this as the light that you see late in the day, before the sweet light of sunset washes across the city.
To tell the truth, it wasn't until about halfway that it occurred to me to use this session to only take pictures while shooting through one of the many (many) chain link fences on the site. This actually wasn't as easy as it sounds, since sometimes the camera decided to focus on the fence, instead of the object behind it.
In the end, after about an hours work, I was able to "find" all of the images that I was looking for, as you can see below.
btw. 93rd & 93th - east side, looking W
The rotary drilling machine, shown here in this image, as been working in this block for more than a week now.
Casings for two of the piles that were recently drilled.
93rd - looking N
A portion of the work site office, on the right.
96th - looking S
Trenching work extends, on the east side of 2nd Avenue, from 96th all the way down to 91st. In the distance you can see the rotary drilling machine, at 93rd street.
An access hole into one of the trenches.
btw. 92nd and 93rd, looking east
New water mains waiting to be installed, I guess.
btw. 92nd and 93rd - looking NE
The scene in front of the bars Blondies and The Big Easy.
(Yes, there are a lot of bars on 2nd Avenue.)
91st - looking N
95th - looking S
A large trench in the center of the 2nd avenue.
91st - looking W
96th st, SE corner - looking S
The MTA recently erected large posters, at the north and south ends of the construction site, to promote the shops in the area. The same poster has been posted in the Lexington Avenue 96th street subway station.
96th, NW corner - looking S
91st, SW corner - looking N
(no, this picture was not staged.)
91st, SE corner - looking N
btw. 91st and 92nd
This is a good example of the signage that the MTA erected in late February, at the request of the Second Avenue Business Association. These signs have been mounted on top of the concrete barriers in the center of 2nd avenue.
btw. 93rd and 94th - looking S
By chance I caught Eddie Crowe, the proprietor of The Crowe's Nest and one of the founders of the Second Avenue Business Association, outside on this partly cloudy spring day.
The following 2 images were taken on
Saturday, April 19th, 2008.
91st, SW corner - looking W
The Second Avenue Business Association hosted a Street Fair for the community on Saturday April 19th.
Another view of the fair.
- - -
Recent additions to right-hand column, of the The Launch Box:
The Second Avenue Business Association (SABA)
meeting minutes for 04/16/08:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd2w79zt_19gwvw57dc
A link to the MTA's notice that they are now seeking
bids for the construction of the 2nd Avenue Subway
96th Street station:
http://www.mta.info/nyct/procure/contracts/c26005sol.pdf
