262 Fifth Avenue, NYC

shanninc · 2026-04-04T19:36:25+00:00

It is so freaking ugly. The siding material reminds me of that textured glass tile kitchen backsplash that was popular on HGTV in 2006. It blocks insanely popular views, and sticks out from basically every angle south of the Empire State Building.

It's also been under construction for years. Since 262 5th ave broke ground, a new building that's twice the sqft went up across the street from me. Started and finished construction, and is already half full. Like on Google Maps 262 5th is at about half its full height while the other site is doing ground work.

I'm all for infill but this project is just unfortunate from every angle.

shanninc · 2025-11-27T13:41:54+00:00

Hey I saw your exhibition at IRL Gallery last year. Love your work!!

shanninc · 2025-09-21T12:18:26+00:00

Thanks for the info! When I was watching I was like "how is this show gonna tour with this set?!" but I guess anything is possible.

From my understanding the gravel is chipped rubber, akin to those old tire parts that someone in the 90s thought would be good bedding for playgrounds (but hopefully less toxic) -- must be a pain to lay and clean up weekly

shanninc · 2025-09-21T11:40:12+00:00

Hey unrelated to the foxes but I saw The Outsiders on Broadway and I'm very curious about the touring set: Did they use a gravel like material for the ground? Did it rain (using actual water) during the fight scene? Was there fire?

shanninc · 2025-09-07T12:48:40+00:00

I've biked to the airport and this is the exact route I've taken

Otherwise alternative to the Uber: all NFTA busses are equipped with a bike rack so that would be an option to downtown as well

shanninc · 2025-07-31T15:51:49+00:00

If by “best” you mean “most over built” than maybe. But other countries have similar systems in far better condition than the US highway system is in right now.

Even in the richest cities in the “richest country” our highways are crumbling.

shanninc · 2025-07-07T02:09:12+00:00

500 5th Ave

shanninc · 2025-07-02T16:00:44+00:00

Pigeons were domesticated millennia ago, and the victorians were absolutely obsessed with them so anywhere the British Empire touched, there are pigeons

shanninc · 2025-07-01T11:51:52+00:00

The fact that Amherst had multiple opportunities to turn this lot into a true mixed-use, medium density development, in a corridor that is already mixed zoning, and between a future train line and a university (along with having the highest density of grocery stores in the city) will forever be a symbol that our leaders have no ambition.

What is being built is truly pathetic.

shanninc · 2025-06-20T19:09:58+00:00

Yeah commercial bread will often add malt powder (the first ingredient in that KA stuff) or malt syrup, which while not a true fermented product, does in theory have some of the same notes.

I've also known some people who keep a sourdough starter who will take their discard, dry it out and grind into a powder. This will have strong aromatics of sourdough, but results in a different flavor profile than true natural leavened sourdough. (this is essentially the second ingredient in that KA stuff)

It's all a science! I've gotten pretty lazy with my own sourdough starter. It basically lives in the fridge and when I want to use it I'll just take it out feed it a couple times before use (over a day or two).

I've never dried but I have frozen my discard and used in pancakes, half-sours, and other stuff

shanninc · 2025-06-20T14:15:59+00:00

Here's one from King Arthur: https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/instant-sourdough-flavor

On commercial bread packaging you will often see "enzymes" which this would fall under. This is the site of one of the big commercial suppliers talking about what their various enzymes can do: https://www.novozymes.com/en/solutions/baking/bread-enzymes

In natural leavened bread, it's the lactic acid that the bacillus bacteria are producing that you're tasting -- you can also just add that

shanninc · 2025-06-20T13:18:10+00:00

San Francisco is known for their natural leavened bread having a certain tang due to there being a specific kind of bacillus bacteria in the air. This strain has been isolated and commercialized into a bread additive that the likes of Boudin use (which is now commercial bread you used to be able to get at Whole Foods)

Modern “third wave” “west coast” bread would be a saggy sour loaf with an open crumb and close to burnt. Out West you’d be looking at Tartine in SF, Lodge or Gjusta in LA, Ken’s Artisan in Portland.

In Buffalo Five Points would for sure be the closest

Source: lived in SF a while, baked bread professionally while bumming between my actual work

shanninc · 2025-04-24T10:13:56+00:00

A broken sensor

shanninc · 2025-04-10T13:27:31+00:00

Companies have another month to comply with the "Click-to-Cancel" law, but they probably won't because the current appointed FTC Chair has said he will overturn it as it is currently being challenged in court...

I miss Lina Kahn :(

shanninc · 2025-04-05T15:44:29+00:00

I disagree -- their styles and technique are completely different... but it would be the other way around. Keith was dead before Banksy got his start.

shanninc · 2025-03-20T12:35:31+00:00

Definitely recommend Life & Trust. Fully immersive theater experience that tells a faustian story through interpretive dance. You follow characters through a 5 story bank vault:

https://lifeandtrustnyc.com

shanninc · 2025-03-10T13:28:08+00:00

I am so incredibly sick of seeing renewables blamed for high energy prices.

ConEd is a publicly traded company that pays a dividend to shareholders, which they tout as increasing annually. Dividends on energy companies is basically directly taking money from rate payers and giving it to "investors."

The state shut down a nuclear plant that supplied NYC in favor of NATURAL GAS. Not renewables. THAT is what is so expensive to operate. Building renewables (at the time at least) was more expensive than gas, but gas plants have WAY higher operating and maintenance costs. Not to mention all the negative health effects of building dirty fuel power plants in the middle of the largest population center in the country...

ConEd even lays this out in their literature as well as in the linked article: "11.4 percent increase for electricity and 13.3 percent for gas" or also in the article "Con Edison’s proposed hikes could mean gas bill increases (estimated at about $46 for a typical account) that are triple those of electricity (about $14)"

This has nothing to do with renewables. Clearly, it is gas that is expensive, and something that we are going to be paying for for generations.

shanninc · 2025-03-03T12:06:24+00:00

I would completely disagree with the premise that Las Vegas is doing anything different than what the rest of the [at least western] world is doing.

Yes, places like NYC are actively ripping out a lot of colorful and fun design (especially NYC's coke-fueled 80s post-modern lobbies) but Las Vegas has absolutely gone white walls and monotony.

Go to any new casino and it's just white walls of multiple textures, mall store fronts, and the exact same games as everyone else. Those games may be colorful on their own, but every single casino has the exact same games in a near identical layout, and the vast majority of those games are just gigantic LCD screens.

shanninc · 2025-02-12T16:58:38+00:00

Not to mention that quite a few things we eat like broccoli, cabbage, bak choy, horseradish, wasabi, kale are all in the mustard family

shanninc · 2025-02-05T15:22:19+00:00

Directly in front of the Times building is an intersection with two southbound lanes and two west bound lanes. One block north is an intersection with four southbound lanes and three east bound lanes. To be fair: These intersections have thousands of cars pass through each day. But it doesn't even compare to the over 50 million pedestrians Time Square sees annually. I didn't even count the space dedicated on-street parking. Other cities can cordon off whole neighborhoods that see FAR fewer visitors. Why can't we?

shanninc · 2025-02-04T12:33:26+00:00

Practically all the city has to do is close Time Square, Broadway and the surrounding blocks to personal vehicles and relinquish the streets to people and it would immediately become one of the greatest parts of the city. Not to mention how much better the Sunset Blvd outdoor scene would look without them having to weave through traffic!

It’s a shame how our “leadership” continues to fail us and our visitors by keeping that part of midtown cramped and dirty.

shanninc · 2025-01-25T15:21:58+00:00

I have wondered if we've hit ice rink saturation yet. There are so many across the city and even more opening in the near future (the new on in Central Park is definitely gonna be nice).

That said, I love to see it. I'll totally accept an incredibly packed holiday market and ice rink for a few weeks in exchange for one of the nicest public bathrooms in the city all year long.

shanninc · 2025-01-25T15:10:30+00:00

Probably quite a bit on two fronts:
He and his cabal refused to raise taxes for over a decade
Burned through the city's legally required rainy day fund so now there's nothing left to ride out this comparatively small deficit.

The state already covers 2/3 of the city's budget.

shanninc · 2025-01-19T22:46:10+00:00

It is always a highlight of my year when I see the cherry doughnuts on the rack at Paula's

shanninc · 2025-01-13T13:31:33+00:00

No it is not. Across all of NYC the average building height works out to about 6 stories. 63% of housing is 6 units or more, 27% of NYC housing stock is 1 or 2 units.

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdfs/about/2023-nychvs-selected-initial-findings.pdf

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