DOT Watching

OK, I just love turning the sound off on my TV and watching the NYC DOT cameras cycle through their views around the city. My favorite cameras are in Columbus Circle and Times Square, 46th and Broadway looking south, to be exact. I plug in my iTunes and listen to music Genius pics (sometimes that damn thing is creepy good, other times I'm like wtf?) as traffic images bounce into view on my screen. Today has been pure Big Brother fun. I slowly watched the pedestrian-only wedge (thank you Janette and Mike) fill with people, first in snow flurries and daylight then slowly the sun fades and some tube balloons with streamers are passed around. It's like a wiggling blue metalic wave going on and it's only 5:30 pm! I'm impressed. I wouldn't be standing there all day.

UPDATE: Must be raining. The umbrellas are out.

The fun thing is watching the human activity. Cops stopping traffic, puting barriers up, walking around with what I assume are bomb-sniffing dogs. People STANDING all day! Lots of big poofy jackets. Everyone seemly getting along even though they looked like penned in cattle. Once I saw the camera pan around the area; must have been manuevered by some security or DOT person. It's been pretty static for the past several hours. It lost some of the bright signage (Virgin's red neon still glows even it's now defunct) and is now focused more of the street people scene. I'm sure the DHS is using this cam plus lots of others. They wouldn't want NYC to be a target but it's sort of hard to check everyone's underwear.

See you in 2010!