Gowanus, Brooklyn.

To change it up a bit, all shots this evening are recent scans from 35mm film. I am happy to have found a little shop in downtown Brooklyn that seems to do great processing. It generally takes me a while to make it through a roll, so these are from the past few months.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Partially inspired by a string of cherry blossom shots that Terry Richardson posted on his fairly-new photoblog (link). His blog is really fascinating to check out occasionally — he mixes up his standard white-wall studio snaps of scantily-clad celebrities with an assortment of street ephemera he finds in the East Village / SoHo / Lower East Side area.

At the end of Long Beach, on Long Island, NY. From left: Erik, B.Davis, Erin, and Mr. Appalachia. It’s a 65-mile round trip from the Park Slope area, and even with 2 water bottles, I couldn’t seem to stay hydrated. If you’re in the Brooklyn area, definitely take advantage of the nice beaches out by the Rockaways if you aren’t already doing so. To get to this spot, we passed through some areas that had tiny back-alley-like streets that were closed to cars, only open to pedestrians headed over to the beach or hanging out.

Plum Beach, Brooklyn. Initially I thought this may have been a fox, but I’m starting to wonder if it was a raccoon, which I’ve seen a lot of around town.

Shane and Echo invited Jenn and I up to Scarsdale for a bike ride a few weeks back, right before Echo left for China. This is a highway that they close off on Sundays for cycling traffic. Its amazing how much ground you can cover with vast highways cleared of cars and trucks.

David Downs and I got in a good ride from the Manhattan Bridge, through Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, along the coast past Coney Island to Plum Beach before needing to turn back. That’s his fixed-gear Bridgestone townie on the left, and my Mercier on the right.

A skeletal saddle in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Ran into Sef the other weekend, hadn’t seen him since he got stuck in Vancouver for something like 10 months due to customs at the airport, pretty crazy situation. He was hanging out with Johnny Juice (not pictured) who had a new mountain bike, and was also in great spirits.

This is the Salt Lot, which I’ve mentioned in the past as being headquarters for our Gowanus operations (the blue storage container can be seen through the trees on the left side). Also worthy of mention here is the white porsche: it’s stolen. Someone seemingly used a crowbar on the driver’s side door for entry and dumped it here after a ride, tucked behind some concrete blocks, far from the street, for safekeeping, and with the passenger side window all the way down. A city worker had just questioned us about the vehicle shortly before this shot, and the vehicle has since been impounded.

The other, unrelated thing I’d like to mention about this shot is that the other month, a friend I was hanging out with was able to crawl and climb around to gain access to those somewhat-abandoned storage silos to get a vantage point on roosting birds. He described them as having many ledges covered in droppings, as you’d expect. He also took a few shots of stray cats on the property. James’ site is here: The Origin of Species.

James Stacher (left) and Conrad (aka DJ Dirty Finger) of Black Label, were on the tables during Bicycle Fetish Day, a day-long block party in Williamsburg, dedicated to beautiful bikes. Way too many distractions to hold long conversations with people; great bikes in all directions.

Over the past 2 weeks, I think I’ve joined the South Slope crew for possibly 4+ grill outs (my North Carolina heritage prevents me from calling them barbecues if there’s not slow-cooked pork involved). Here Alison and Mr. Appachia are keeping things under control. We’re lucky enough to have some small plots in the community garden near Pedo Park.

• And speaking of North Carolina roots, thanks to John Prolly over at Prolly is Not Probably for the kind words the other week. To return the favor and introduce him, he’s an architect by trade, and more recently, a mover-and-shaker in the fixed-gear freestyle scene here in New York. He hosts weekly “Peel Sessions” under the BQE in Williamsburg, has acquired grassroots/small-company sponsorships for riding, and is always quick to give shout-outs to new riders and small start-up cycling organizations. And yes, he proudly hails from North Carolina as well.

My Kogswell during a street art-focused bike tour hosted by Jake Dobkin of BlueJake, Becki Fuller of StreetSpot, and Times-Up. Great fun during a hot afternoon, covering ground between Williamsburg and Bushwick, checking out pieces by Gaia, Revs, Roa, Robots Will Kill, Imminent Disaster, and others. Not much mention of the recognizable tags and simply claiming space with one’s name, but instead the intricate wheatpastes and large-scale spray-painted images of people and animals.

I may always love abandoned lots. They’re such a happy surprise; a fissure breaking up the monotony of connected building after connected building. They are always taunting the real estate market with their reckless disregard for property value. This one is in Fort Greene, and is littered with plastic beverage crates, and has a massive pit that will likely slowly be filled in with the weeds that surround its edges.

Also in Fort Greene, a beautiful and condemned church. Some more info about the property here.

Inside the decaying US Canning Factory in Northside, Cincinnati.

• Jenn and I just spent a little over four days in Cincinnati, allowing for me to explore areas of town that were new to me, thanks to rides from Nate, John, Sylvia, and Kelli, to name a few. We didn’t have easy access to bikes and the region is sprawling, like most US cities. Happy birthday to John (Senior) and Johnny (the Third).

A massive, old KFC bucket sign in an industrial corner of Cincinnati, with some ailanthus in the background on the left.

An area of Cincinnati called “Over the Rhine,” referencing it’s strong German roots. These days, crack addicts and sad alcoholics are seen roaming the streets. Definitely more closed businesses than open ones.

A trail down the hillside near the Gorman Heritage Farm. With the recent spring rains, all of the plants were super healthy, and not yet beaten down by the upcoming heat of summer. (This past July we were also at the edge of this farm: here).

We were happy to see a marching band had arrived, coincidentally, outside of Kelli’s children’s book store in Oakley, Cincinnati, in the early evening. I’m not sure that the girl with the red balloon was actually involved, but she seemed to demand attention from the crowd.

Definitely a lot of dogs. That’s Charlie in the cone on the left, Moonlight on the right.

Also, a reader told me about People of Public Transit recently, some great daily, candid shots of riders – somewhat in the vein of Vice magazine’s “Do’s and Dont’s.”