The first time I went to the West Coast was by car and it occurred to me at the time that one of the special new experiences to come was to see the sun set over the Pacific Ocean - the first time I would see a sunset over water. However, the assumptions regarding East Coast sunrises and West Coast sunsets over water are mistaken.
Although it is not the rule, there are many places where it is possible to see sunsets over water on the East Coast (and sunrises over water in the West Coast) - it does occur in special situations like bays and peninsulas. In these places, sunrises over water are also typically visible by making a short trip across the peninsula or island.
In most cases, however, land is visible between the water and horizon, but there are locations where no land is visible at all and the sun sets entirely over water. The bay side of Cape Cod is one good example. Technically these sunsets are not over the open ocean, but when there is no land in sight, the experience is virtually the same.
I thought I was the only one who gave serious consideration to the phenomenon of East Coast sunsets over water. But, surprisingly, there are others who share my interest and I even found a blog on the subject it with locations, criteria, and discussions about horizons.
I haven’t met a person that doesn’t enjoy a beautiful sunset and on my recent excursion to Broad Channel, I was told that sunsets were some of the most spectacular. So, it became an immediate agenda item for the afternoon. Being in the center of Jamaica Bay, surrounded by water, sunrises and sunsets over water can be enjoyed with a short stroll across town.
When the sunsets at Broad Channel or at the Jamaica Wildlife Refuge, one can see land at the horizon, so for the sunset-over-water purists, Broad Channel does not strictly make the grade. But I doubt anyone really cares, because when it comes to sunsets like this, who’s getting technical?

Read the rest of this entry »

Comic Con hits the Javitz Center this weekend with a host of geek treats on display. Here’s five NYCC-approved after-parties where everyone will be able to tell you that Han shot first.

With a new kiosk from Porto Rico Importing Company, Essex Street Market gets its
first bona fide coffee shop.

What made Bernie Madoff, a man who helped revolutionize Wall Street and built a completely legal billion-dollar business, perpetrate the greatest fraud in history? And what led Ezra Merkin, born to immense privilege, to enable him?

Grieve recently reported on the story behind the closure of the original Two Boots on Avenue A, adding that he was “curious what will happen to the illustrations.” I was curious, too, so I asked JVNY reader Julie Wilson–the artist who created this signage and the “Two Boots look.” I interviewed her and here’s what she told me.

Read the rest of this entry »