On the job hunt! Roar!

Roar! Being a dinosaur in New York City is no easy task! Plus try being an artist on top of that, it's almost impossible to make a living! Needless to say I've been looking for a new line of work for sometime and today was the day I finally sat down to apply for a new job!

Roar! While surfing the internet earlier this afternoon I came across this ad on Gothamist.com. Let's see what it says!

The ad said they were looking for a new junior-level editor to write about NYC! Since I already do this in my spare time it would be awesome to get paid for it! They also said they were looking for someone with 3-5 years blogging experience. Even though I've only been keeping this blog for one and half years I've been exploring and writing about New York for much longer than that! Roar!

Below is a transcript of my cover letter! I wonder if Gothamist will like it? Roar! 

Roar!

Dear Gothamist,

I am applying for the new position of Junior Editor! There are several reasons I feel I would be a great fit for the Gothamist Staff and have outlined them below:

-I’ve been living in and writing about New York City since it was known as New Amsterdam!

-I love this city and about a year and a half ago I started a blog about my exploits throughout NYC which has met with moderate success!  You can see I'm not afraid to get my claws dirty!

-I  ride a bicycle as my primary means of transportation and feel my views are in line with Gothamist's stance on cycling in New York City!

-I live in the neighborhood of Bushwick, a neighborhood Gothamist seems to be infatuated with!

-Though I don't normally end my blog posts with questions designed to incite comments, I feel I can evolve my style to match that of Gothamist's! What do you think?

Those are the main reasons I feel I would make an excellent addition to the Gothamist Staff! As a dinosaur living in NYC I would also offer a unique perspective on things that would coexist nicely with the other viewpoints on Gothaminst!  I hope you'll take this into consideration when choosing someone to fill the position. Plus wouldn't it be cool to work with a T-Rex? Roar!

Sincerely,

T-Rex

trexnewyorkcity@gmail.com

http://trexnyc.blogspot.com

I wonder If I'll get the job? I hope Gothamist is an equal opportunity employer! I don't want to be the victim of Dino-Profiling! You'd be surprised how many people are reluctant to hire a dinosaur! Roar!

More Art Adventures!

Roar! Today I tried to sell some collage art I made over on Bedford Ave in Willamsburg. It didn't go so well. I only sold one piece. The collages were a personal interpretation of some scenes of old Brooklyn. I thought they came out looking pretty cool and they generated a lot of interest but it turns out no one was buying. I hope I didn't scare everyone away because I am a dinosaur! It was really fun making the collages. I went over to the New York Public Library and did some research in their picture collection. I made a bunch of photocopies of the stuff I thought was the coolest then I went home and cut up all the pictures with my claws. Paper went everywhere! Then I glued them together into these surrealist scenes.

Here I am on Bedford Ave trying to sell my art. It was a really nice day out. Even though I didn't sell any art at least I had fun outside.

Here is a picture of the old Fulton Street Rocket Train. Unfortunately it didn't last very long.

This is what Brooklyn Heights used to look like! Roar!

This is in Dumbo over on Barry Street. That pigeon is looking a little nervous. I don't think he realized this was an owl bar. Not to mention the eyes of the Lindbergh kidnapper are gathering overhead! Spooky!

Roar! This is the only picture I sold. It's a back alley somewhere in Bushwick. I bet the the only reason I sold this one is that girl has a fixed gear bicycle.

Here is an old picture of the Williamsburg Savings Bank.

Roar! Crown Heights sure was crazy in the eighties!

Another one from Crown Heights. Just look at what everyone is wearing!

Here is what McCarren Park Pool used to look like in the winter time. I love ice skating! I don't even need skates I can just use my claws! Roar!

Woah! Check out the sweet fixie that guy is riding!

Here is the Williamsburg Bridge back when the old trolley lines used to run.

This railway yard in Brooklyn is CRAZY! Watch out for all the jazz on the left Mr. Choo Choo train! You don't want to get swept up in it! Roar!

Here is a diptych I made of a cock fight between Williamsburg and DUMBO. There are lots of pretty ladies watching! Roar!

From the Hole to the bowl!

Roar! Today was such a weird day. I decided to ride out to this neighborhood between Brooklyn and Queens I heard about. It's called the Hole and it is with out a doubt the worst neighborhood in New York City. It looked like an asteroid had hit this place! You can see what I mean in this satellite image:


View Larger Map

I couldn't believe a place like this existed here in NYC and I just had to see it with my own eyes.

This is the first street I rode down once I crossed Conduit Ave and rode down into the Hole.

There are a ton of abandoned lots that are now completely overgrown.

There were also a bunch of burned out and abandoned cars littering the streets. It was like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie.

The neighborhood is called the Hole because it's 30 feet below grade and floods every time it rains. I guess that's why a bunch of people in the area all seem to own boats. They need to get around somehow.

Of course since the Hole is 30 feet below grade that means it isn't on the septic line. So every time it floods it just turns into one big cesspool. Here you can see a puddle left over from the last time it rained. Gross!


I decided to leave my mark on this abandoned trailer in the middle of one of the overgrown fields.

After all the riding I did to and around the Hole I was bonking pretty bad. I decided I needed some serious carbs if I was going to get back home so I headed over to Spring Creek for some pasta.

Oh yeah! The Olive Garden, no better place for cheap food! Luckily, they were having their unlimited pasta bowl special so I ate my fill and kept riding.

Roar! Check out this awesome Meat Sauce 2X Combo!

After lunch I rode around Spring Creek park a bit before heading home. The original Spring Creek was right on Jamaica Bay but now it's a protected nature reserve and you can't go in. They did build a small new park by the shopping plaza with the Olive Garden that has a nice bike trail. It also appears to have the only regulation cricket pitch in New York City. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's kept in very good condition. I doubt many people will be hitting sixers at this cricket pitch.

ROARING at the Reservoir!

Roar! I rode out to Ridgewood Reservoir the other day. It was pretty awesome. Ridgewood Reservoir is this old decommissioned 19th century reservoir. Now it's just a nature reserve with all sorts of cool birds. It's fenced off so you can't get inside but everyone just sneaks in anyways.


Here's me hanging out in the woods by the reservoir. It's pretty rare to see unchecked growth like this in NYC. It's almost like being back in the cretaceous period. I had fun stomping around and scaring all the small mammals. "ROAR! Guess who's back guys!" There also were a ton of sassafras trees growing in the woods here. I dug up some of the smaller ones so I could make my own root beer. Should be tasty!

Here I am in front of the reservoir. It's all over grown inside and the water level is really low. You can make out one of the old pumping stations in the back.

Here is a better picture of me in front of the water. You can see all the cattails growing in along the edge of the reservoir. Mmmm... Cat tails... It's really beautiful here. I think I might come back out here sometime later in the fall and do some painting.

Or maybe I'll do a little right now.