The most effective stories have a beginning, middle and end. Just so, the built environment has the narrative arc of a three-act play — arrival to departure, and the occupation in-between.
Liquor Bar
Everyone needs a local. I think one of the best times I had here was after Hurricane Sandy. They opened to serve coffee and hot soup because the neighborhood had no power for 4 days. RIP Schiller's 2002-2017• Mike Brown © 2017 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 160 4.15mm f/2.2 1/30 sec.
Forty Seven
Herzog & De Meuron nail it again. Contentious yes, but I find the juxtaposition of glass and concrete at Public Hotel LES a fitting tribute to the raw spirit and gutsy legacies of the Lower East Side. The views are awesome too • Mike Brown © 2018 • Apple iPhone Xs • ISO 25 4.25mm f/1.8 1/750 sec.
Fortress of Solitude
New York real estate is an existential crisis. For better or worse, real estate development is a runaway train in New York - boom or bust it will never slow as money pours into the reinvention of every street corner • Mike Brown © 2016 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 32 4.15mm f/2.2 1/350 sec.
Heatherwick's Kebab
Panned and praised, the hubris behind "The Vessel" is unshakeable. Stephen Ross was quoted years ago that he wanted to commission "the Eiffel Tower of New York" for the centerpiece of Hudson Yards • Mike Brown © 2019 • Apple iPhone Xs • ISO 25 4.25mm f/1.8 1/1000 sec.
Masterpiece
The ghosts lining the streets of Manhattan conjured images in my mind of a whole city designed by Hugh Ferris. I’ve always been a sucker for New York’s Art Deco architecture and eras long gone • Mike Brown © 2016 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 32 4.15mm f/2.2 1/250 sec.
Bygones
I remember when I had no fear of heights. Daredevil no longer, I’m still mesmerized by spaces in Manhattan that lift you above the concrete and steel to breathe the clear open blue skies above • Mike Brown © 2015 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 64 4.15mm f/2.2 1/30 sec.
House of Magic
NIKE is built on the power of live experience — and giving each of us the personal keys to unlock our greatest potential through it. As brick and mortar makes a comeback, NIKE is reinventing what physical X digital can be • Mike Brown © 2016 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 32 4.15mm f/2.2 1/620 sec.
A Delicate Balance
Cast iron grit and grace. I walked past this cast iron beauty for 20 years daydreaming of those towering windows and uninterrupted views. The Bowery Savings Bank has been a lot of things through a lot of eras • Mike Brown © 2016 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 32 4.15mm f/2.2 1/1250 sec.
Summer Wind
Chase for 28. The magic is palpable here when you step inside — it’s likely the place I miss the most since moving west. But it won’t stop me this fall when October Baseball returns to the Bronx • Mike Brown © 2015 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 32 4.15mm f/2.2 1/6400 sec.
Main Event
If ever there was a space in New York that teased my imagination relentlessly for 20+ years this is it. The Park Avenue Armory. And the visionaries outliers and misfits who’ve transformed it beyond conceivable limitations • Mike Brown © 2016 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 100 4.15mm f/2.2 1/30 sec.
Relic
There are at least 10 crossings over the East River. The Manhattan Bridge stands anchored in the bedrock of two boroughs, a cast iron gate built years after its more famous neighbor. I’m partial to the metal over stone • Mike Brown © 2018 • Apple iPhone 8 • ISO 40 3.99mm f/1.8 1/120 sec.
Mind Fuck
2018 (and 2019 for that matter) were absolute garbage. No regrets, looking over my shoulder, I know it was time to leave New York after all those years. But now, 2020, it's time to regain my feet and live life anew • Mike Brown © 2018 • Apple iPhone 8 • ISO 20 3.99mm f/1.8 1/580 sec.
52 Weeks of Jazz
I made a resolution on my birthday in 2014 to see 1 live jazz performance a week for 52 weeks. Dive bars to concert halls, legendary haunts to surprise performances - it was a truly extraordinary accomplishment • Mike Brown © 2015 • Apple iPhone 6 • ISO 250 4.15mm f/2.2 1/15 sec.