Victims of the Victimized

In this Time article about Khaled Kasab Mahameed, a Palestinian man who is trying to make other Palestinians aware of the Holocaust and the horrible things done to the Jews by the Nazis, he says:

"[W]e Palestinians are the victims of the terrible things that were inflicted on the Jews by the Holocaust."

which is a powerful and true statement.

Chasing New York City's Waterfalls, Brooklyn-Rail Style

My photo essay in the upcoming July/August issue of the Brooklyn Rail. Click the image to see the full version.

Chasing New York's Waterfalls

The Waterfalls under the Brooklyn Bridge.

In New York City, you can find cascading waterfalls right in the middle of the East River. This sounds impossible in the city, but of course, these aren’t natural waterfalls. Instead of falling from cliffs or mountains, these waters churn from metal structures—but at least the water’s real.

The waterfalls are part of Dutch and Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s current exhibit: The New York City Waterfalls, unveiled on June 26. The four waterfalls are located throughout New York Harbor: Under the Brooklyn Bridge, between Pier 4 and 5 in Brooklyn, on Pier 35 in Manhattan and along the north shore of Governors Island.

Courtesy of New York Water Taxi’s “Unofficial” Tour, I was able to check out the waterfalls, as well as the rest of New York Harbor, and learn about New York’s history a bit more. Launching from South Street Seaport’s Pier 17, the four waterfalls could be seen. Before we saw the waterfalls up close, we explored the rest of New York Harbor first. Our guide pontificated on the origins of Battery Park City, the Hudson River, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge Park.


The Waterfalls at Governors Island.

The metal structures resemble scaffolding, stirring up imagery of New York City construction. Using intake filter pools located in front of the waterfall, East River water is collected without harming fish. The pump sucks the water to the top of the scaffolding. The water falls down into the East River through a filter that resembles a cheese grater and creates the frothy waterfalls-look. Around each waterfall is black piping to deter boaters and swimmers from approaching too closely. At night, the Waterfalls will be lit up with LED lights powered by renewable energy. The heights of the Waterfalls vary slightly from 90 to 120 feet tall, mimicking New York’s skyline.


A close-up of the Waterfalls under the Brooklyn Bridge.

New York City is surrounded by water, and Eliasson wants New Yorkers to become aware of their aqueous environment. With that, you have the waterfalls, which showcase New York’s relationship and proximity to the water.

“In developing The New York City Waterfalls, I have tried to work with today’s complex notion of public spaces,” Eliasson said in a press release. “The Waterfalls appear in the midst of the dense social, environmental and political tissue that makes up the heart of New York City. They will give people the possibility to reconsider their relationship to the spectacular surroundings, and I hope to evoke experiences that are both individual and engage a sense of collectivity.”


The Waterfalls at Pier 35 in Manhattan.

The Public Art Fund and the City and State of New York, and especially Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pushed for these temporary exhibits throughout the city.

Eliasson describes his inspiration as coming “from natural elements and phenomena to create sculptures and installations that evoke sensory experiences.” He often plays with light and water in his works, such as the Green river in different Asian, American and European cities.

Eliasson is also featured at the Museum of Modern Art and P.S. 1 with his exhibit Take your time, a retrospective of his works, including new pieces.
Plans for the waterfalls began in March, 2006 and construction started in March, 2008.The Waterfalls will run through October 13, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.


The Waterfalls under the Brooklyn Bridge at night.

Jason Bateman

Since Hancock's coming out today and one of the loves of my life is starring in it, I present you pictures of the love of my life: Jason Bateman. Courtesy of ohnotheydidnt, we found out that Bateman was being interviewed by MTV and that the public was invited to the taping. Of course, we jumped on that and waited patiently at Sony Plaza. There weren't as many people as I thought there would be, though I did see a New School kid there. Josh and I got to sit in the front row, right in front of Bateman himself. Interviewed by Josh Horowitz, Batemen discussed filming Hancock, working with Will Smith, and, of course, Arrested Development and the hopeful movie version. See more here and here.

Hudson River Rowing

I just wanted to share some rowing pictures because I haven't been in a very writerly mood lately.






This picture was taken on an earlier excursion to Maxwell House Beach (also known to Pier 40 folk as Playa de Hoboken). We found this abandoned boat that we wanted to take back with us, but there was a hole. Still, it was a cool looking boat.

Butters & Gob

About two weeks ago, Josh and I decided to buy a guinea pig. (We originally wanted a bunny, but bunnies are expensive and require more attention; guinea pigs are more low-maintaince.) We headed over to PETCO and picked out a light brown and white female guinea pig. We named her Butters; the name fits, despite not being gender-appropriate. The following week, we decided that Butters needed a friend, so we went back to the store and brought home Gob, a dark-brown-with-white-splotches guinea pig. They get along wonderfully. Look at their adorableness.

Billy Goat

This guy is amazing.

Talkin' Politics with a Six-Year-Old

While walking to Clinton Hill during a recent babysitting-adventure, Claire, Rob's six-year-old daughter, we passed by a brownstone with a "Support Obama" flyer in the window, complete with his silhouette.

Claire, being the weirdly-observant girl she is, noticed it. "They like Obama," she said. I looked at the window and agreed with her.

"Who do you like?" she went on to ask.

"Obama," I answered. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I asked her, "What about you?"

"I like Obama," she said. It made sense because Rob was supporting Obama too.

Deciding to go further with this, I said to Claire: "Did you know Hilary Clinton dropped out of the race? So now only Obama's left and he's running against John McCain."

Claire smiled and said, "Good." She paused.

"Do you want to know something really funny?" Claire asked with a smile. I nodded.

"There's a boy in school and he couldn't remember McCain's name, so he said 'you know, that really old president!'" she said, laughing.

Longer & Longer

Doesn't this go against what (one of the things) journalism stands for: providing short, to-the-point information? Yes, features and investigative pieces are the exception, but overall, readers want shorter articles where the writer/journalist doesn't ramble on and on. Who would want to read that?

Nasim Mama

My dad woke us up at 7 a.m. to tell us that our uncle, my mother's oldest brother, died. My Nasim Mama ("mama" is the Bengali term for your uncles on your maternal side of the family) had a lot of health problems. He has been in and out of hospital for a long time. He was the reason my mother finally went to Bangladesh last December, though, he seemed fine at that time. Out of my family in Bangladesh, he was the closest to me, thanks to e-mail. We'd email each other at least once a week, talking about school, family, etc.

He died around Tuesday night (Bangladesh time) of a stroke.

On the phone, while my mother talked to her sisters, she told them, "At least you were there with him," in between sobs. It made me think of the guilt she must feel for being here in the U.S. while her entire family is back in Bangladesh, struggling on practically nothing. She didn't get to spend enough time with her parents, sisters and brothers as someone should get to.

It's sad.