Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City

@thefoxandthecity.com

2059 Followers 342 Following

The world-famous urban theorist who…wait, this has to be honest‽ Independent Professional Urbanist and Writer, creating in-depth critiques of urban spaces, places, & systems. My work: thefoxandthecity.com Also ED @etany.org She/her

Previous post of mine: I've never seen this particular picture before. Greatest city in the world, indeed. A real sombrita moment.
Looking up at the Woolworth Building
British Rail logo "Pointless Arrows"
Phone screenshot: Emergency alert: Severe National Weather Service: A FLASH FLOOD WARNING is in effect for this area until 6:45 PM EDT. This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.
Torres-Springer said the damage could be traced back to repairs done in 2015 after 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. That’s when “the old MTA,” as he put it, “made some repairs, but left the leaks to be remediated by somebody in the future.” “We’re not doing that,” he said. “We went in and we saw that the leaks were extensive, and we’re repairing them.”
A test panel in the new Train Control Room at Court Square lets MTA engineers switch between old and new signaling systems for the purposes of testing. (Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Daily News)
Mamdani’s commission to review the City Charter plans to put questions to voters this November that, if passed, would consolidate outside review and allow the Department of Transportation to immediately launch street redesigns, such as bicycle and bus lanes, without having to wait on other agencies to weigh in and risk litigation.
AI Overview: BOStrab (Straßenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung) is the German legal and technical regulatory framework for the construction and operation of light rail transit (LRT), tramways, and subways (metros) in Germany. It defines mandatory standards for infrastructure, vehicle dimensions, and operational safety.Because you likely mean "Bootstrap" (a highly popular front-end web framework) rather than the German rail regulations, here are the essential details:
Modern venue serving inventive Italian dishes such as chicken parm and veal martini, plus full bar. : Summarized with Al
Front of the old Pfizer Building
42nd St in the smoke
Smoky and red 44th St
Looking down a smoky Madison Ave.
People backed up with an obscured sign saying to have tickets out and a GCT employee yelling the same to passengers
People backed up with an obscured sign saying to have tickets out and a GCT employee yelling the same to passengers
A white Fisker Ocean without TLC plates
Orange haze descending over the Pulaski Bridge. (It is nowhere near sunset)
Looking down 6th Ave in the sepia fire haze at a barely visible 1 WTC
Intersection with sign saying "After stop left turn permitted on red"
A backstage view of the "Could through-running unclog Penn Station event"
A closed storefront with a fox on the front
Simple B&W title page of "Managing Think Tanks: Practical Guidance for Maturing Organizations" by Raymond J. Struyk
A Limited Edition Toronto Summer 20206 Presto Card.
Ready to Deliver: A Better Way to Travel the Front Range. Colorado Connector (CoCo) is an express intercity passenger train built for the Front Range. Powered by the Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) District, it will link 12 communities with fast, comfortable, relaxing service and it starts with tracks that already exist.
Connecticut-New York Railroad Passenger Transportation Compact Continues and improves the railroad passenger service of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between New Haven, Connecticut and New York City. Connecticut (1967) New York (1967)
Although the two States had not experienced any difficulties heretofore because of the absence of a definitive boundary, it was believed wise to establish it in order to avoid possible jurisdictional disputes in the future and to facilitate law enforcement as regards fishing and navigation.
New York-Rhode Island Boundary Settlement, 1943
National center for Interstate Compacts logo by the Council of State Governments
Another problem is temporal. There is a mismatch between political terms of office and infrastructure lifespans. Most urban jurisdictions operate on 3- to 5-year electoral cycles, whereas assets such as transit networks, utility grids, and water mains have life cycles of up to 80 years. Thus, the consequences of investment decisions arrive long after responsible actors are out of office. Bad investments and flawed strategies are not corrected early because the initial architects are no longer accountable for the results. There is also the issue of a loss of knowledge. Cities are continually losing operational intelligence about why urban systems fail and have become more dependent on external vendors to fix systems without knowing how to diagnose problems themselves. This trend affects a local government’s ability to govern autonomously and manage public funds responsibly.
Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech"
When I spoke at Chapman, Orange County—with a population of over 3 million people—had only two bus routes that cleared the rather modest bar of running every 30 minutes until midnight, seven days a week. In Toronto, virtually everyone in the city lives within walking distance of a bus scheduled at least every ten minutes until late in the evening, and that gap in frequency—far more than anything to do with the built environment—is what separates a city where transit is a genuine option from one where it functions as a last resort.
Reservoir of the Chicago Deep Tunnel under construction.
Three bottles of olive oil varieties all labeled "Lorenzo"
Star and stripes "M" logo on an M8
Indian Point #2 & 3 nuclear reactors along the Hudson River
July 4, 2026 NY Times homepage, including "America Celebrates 250th Birthday With Patriotic Fervor, Despite Political Turmoil Away from Washington, people across the nation will mark Independence Day. Expect rodeos, line dancing, Tejano music and Led Zeppelin. 4 min read"
Photo of Beach Pneumatic Transit
My looking coyly over my plush NH FL9
Canadian flag hanging from a tree outside home.
A small newsstand in the subway named "GATEWAY newsstands"
A VW Taos with Arizona plates
Looking south down narrow Nassau St towards the NYSE
Modified David Letterman billboard reading "Attention transit riders: New Jersey is closed."
Google AI overview for "Vive les islands!": "Vive les islands! Island hopping and coastal escapes are absolute game-changers, whether you're dreaming of the French Caribbean or Michigan's northern archipelago. Let's make that tropical or Great Lakes escape a reality with some real-world options:"
Johann Heinrich von Thünen
Map of transit use by Census tract in New York: it's very, very blue, and dark blue in the city proper.
Fare cards on a windowsill. Left to right: Clipper (Bay Area), CharlieCard (Boston), SEPTA Key (Philly), MyKey (Indy), Orca (Seattle), Presto (Ottawa edition), an Ottawa day pass, and a ticket for Houston METRORail.
Poster with a falcon on a mailbox: BIRDS R US BACKYARD SPACE WANTED FOR LICENSED FALCONER Seeking to rent a small 8' x 8' area in a secure backyard for a professionally maintained falcon mews (housing for a trained falcon). Clean, quiet, and well-maintained setup Respectful, responsible tenant Reliable monthly rent paid on time Fully licensed and regulated activity Long-term arrangement preferred The bird will be safely housed and cared for with minimal impact on your property. Interested? Please contact: X hoo.com Serious inquiries only
Another challenge: Federal “Buy America” requirements require buses bought with federal funding be built in the United States using at least 70 percent domestic components. That means bus makers from countries with more reliable electric buses need to set up shop stateside to build for American transit agencies. So the MTA has just two manufacturers to choose from after the end of Nova Bus’s U.S. operations.
All those red lights make the E Line unpredictable. It averages 47 minutes from the beach to downtown but can take up to 57. Check out the long tail stretching to the right in the graph below, which shows the actual time it took various trains to get from Santa Monica to DTLA. Riders have to plan for the worst to make sure they are on time, which means they need to set aside nearly an hour to go east during morning rush.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Monday dismissed an offer by Amtrak special adviser Andy Byford for the state authority to become a “fully involved” partner in the Trump administration’s reconstruction of Penn Station — saying the federal government’s oversight of the project has been "bizarre" and has “the appearance of impropriety.”
Modified David Letterman billboard reading "Attention transit riders: New Jersey is closed."
Google AI summary: You caught me! There is a lot to love about foxes. They have the playful curiosity of a cat combined with the energetic, loyal spirit of a dog. Their incredible adaptations-like using the earth's magnetic field to hunt-and those famous fluffy tails make them truly fascinating creatures. Reddit - r/foxes +3 Their charming quirks and social behaviors have captivated animal lovers everywhere. Whether it's their adorable yipping, playful pouncing, or just enjoying a cozy cuddle, their endearing nature is undeniable. Since you share an appreciation for these clever canines, I'd love to know more about your interest:
Google streetview of the Old Town station on Old Town Road
A badge on an SUV that looks like the Lamborghini logo but...
OMNY card on top of my wallet
Man at the front of a Metro-North trains watching out the front.
Highlighting only four quote tweets.
We should never have fallen for the term ‘natural gas’. Let’s just call it what it mostly is: 85% to 95% Methane. The glorified gas stove? Just a dirty Methane stove.
Citi Bike is the largest bike share program in America — and the only one that does not receive a cent of public money — but it's also more expensive than peer programs in Chicago, Boston, or D.C.