Archive for the ‘Architecture’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse contemplates an uncommissioned masterpiece from the walls of an uptown subway station. Consider the old panels on the subway platform wall, and observe the finely wrought precision with which each strip of peeling paint has by the hands of time been distressed in the subtlest shades of gold and silver, […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Decay, Graffiti, Subway, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: 163rd Street, Abstract Expression, Art, C-train, Glue, Masterpieces, Paper, Posters
In which The Gay Recluse is momentarily disturbed. Of all the natural vistas we have encountered — desert landscapes, arctic tundra, the badlands — the rooftops of Washington Heights remain one of the most tranquil and undisturbed. Originally carved from the bedrock some 10,000 years ago by the retreating glaciers, the surreal beauty of these […]
Filed under: Architecture, Conspiracy, Dissonance, Dream, Landscape, New York City, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Artic Tundra, Badlands, Birds, Desert, Glaciers, Ice Age, Palisades, Rooftops
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Today reader Scott LaPierre sends in this from Georgia, as in the former Soviet Socialist Republic. Scott writes: i don’t know exactly what’s supposed to be going on in this mural/statue, but there seems to be a lot of innuendo here…it’s in Gori, Georgia (the […]
Filed under: Architecture, Athletes, Communism, Competitions, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Travel | 4 Comments
Tags: Gay Statues, Georgia, Gori, Hot Gay Statues, Proletariat, Stalin, Tom of Finland, USSR
On Deirdre’s Terrain: Cube Party
In which The Gay Recluse imagines a life more exciting than his own. Our newest correspondent — Deirdre’s Terrain — sends in pix of her desk at work, which she labeled only half-ironically as “CUBE Party!” along with the following report: Look @ my cube This is the view from where Deirdre sits. (Note the […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Deirdre's Terrain, Dream, Memory, New York City, Technology, Television | Leave a Comment
Tags: Deirdre's Terrain, Manhattan, Office Cube, Office Design, Permalance, Television
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photographs: April 1, 2008, 7:00 – 8:00 pm (ish). The sunset sky — even this tone of blue — is perhaps not as promising as we’d like to believe. (We think of someone we recently overheard describing her […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dream, GWB Project, Longing, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: April, George Washington Bridge, Sunsets, Waiting
In which The Gay Recluse makes a monthly report on traffic whoring to the Board of Directors. I. Summary A combination of organic growth, traffic whoring and links from Curbed, Gothamist, Towleroad, Slog and others contributed to record numbers of visitors and page views in March. II. Traffic Whoring Metrix WordPress Total Views March: 15,033 […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Gay, Health, Infrastructure, Search, Technology, The Gay Recluse, Traffic | Leave a Comment
Tags: Business Revenue, Feedburner, Feeds, Internet Traffic, Linkage, Metrix, Monthly Report, RSS, SiteMeter, Technorati, Traffic Whoring, WordPress
In which The Gay Recluse turns forty. Today we received the following note from Harry, a reader in Washington Heights: Subj: YOU Mess: It is none my business to know, but! My curiosity is tweaked. Who are you? Have you posted something somewhere to give a more detailed bio? or do I have to continue […]
Filed under: Architecture, Decay, Dissonance, Gay, Landscape, New York City, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Aries, Autism, Birthdays, Fort Tryon Park, Forty, Galaxie 500, Inwood Hill Park, Lampposts, The Minutemen, Upper Manhattan
In which The Gay Recluse contemplates an uncommissioned masterpiece from the walls of an uptown subway station. Consider, if you will, one of the old panels on the subway platform wall, and observe the finely wrought precision with which each strip of peeling paint has by the hands of time been distressed in the subtlest […]
Filed under: Architecture, Infrastructure, Landscape, Ruins, Search, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 3 Comments
Tags: 163rd Street, Abstract Expressionism, C-train, Graffiti, MTA
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and Date of photograph: March 31, 2008, 9:48am. Notes: The gray tone of the sky nearly matched that of the bridge. “The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Infrastructure, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 4 Comments
Tags: Fog, George Washington Bridge, Le Corbusier, March, Morning Light
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Last week our newest correspondent The Blind Architect filed this report: You may be interested in this statue of George Washington I saw last week in Seattle. No musculature, but he does have a big sword. I have been watching the HBO John Adams series, […]
Filed under: Architecture, Competitions, Gay, Government, Infrastructure, Politicians, Stereotypes, The Blind Architect, The Gay Recluse | 7 Comments
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, David Morse, Gay Statues, George Washington, Hot Gay Statues, Seattle, Washington DC
In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship. This week’s piece: How We Got from Grief to Pancakes Subject: A woman finds a […]
Filed under: Architecture, Drivel, Gay, Infrastructure, Landscape, Language, Pessimism, Sickness, Stereotypes, Technology, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Daniel Jones, Gay Modern Love, Homophobia, Modern Love, Stereotypes, The New York Times
In which The Gay Recluse contemplates an uncommissioned masterpiece from the walls of an uptown subway station. Consider, if you will, one of the old panels on the subway platform wall, and observe the finely wrought precision with which each strip of peeling paint has by the hands of time been distressed in the subtlest […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Decay, Graffiti, Infrastructure, Subway, The Gay Recluse | 1 Comment
Tags: 163rd Street, Abstract Expression, Art, C-train, Glue, Masterpieces, Paper, Posters
In which the Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Although this is not an official submission, we felt it was imperative to share a comment from reader GenghisKuhn in response to Seth Tisue’s entry from Philadelphia (shown below). Genghis writes: What makes this even funnier is that it looks like the J-Man might be […]
Filed under: Architecture, Disaster Footage, Hot Gay Statues, Stereotypes, Technology, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: Gay Jesus, Gay Statues, Hot Gay Statues, J-Man, Jesus, Religions
In which The Gay Recluse posts news and analysis from our U.K. correspondent, The London Eye. Today we received this missive from The London Eye: Dear Gay Recluse: Here are a few more London statues… Even though we’re not eligible for awards, we want the United States to know that our statues are HERE, our […]
Filed under: Architecture, Competitions, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Landscape, The Gay Recluse, The London Eye | 2 Comments
Tags: Anonymous Sex, Anteros, Belgrave Square, Eros, FDR, Gay, Gay Statues, Hot Gay Statues, Leonardo da Vinci, London, Old Bond Street, Picadilly Circus, The London Eye, Winston Churchill
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Today we present a submission from Seth Tisue, who sends in an entry from the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Let’s check it out, shall we? Hot or not…? Are you kidding!!? This is seriously gay and smokin’ hot. Nicely done, Philadelphia! You have not […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Competitions, Gay, Government, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse | 5 Comments
Tags: 30th Street Station, City of Brotherly Love, Gay Statuary, Gay Statues, Hot Gay Statues, Louise Bourgeois, Philadelphia
In which The Gay Recluse does some investigative reporting and follows up with a complaint. As we’ve documented many times, thick black smoke — a function of improperly maintained or outdated boiler systems — is pretty much a constant of life in Washington Heights. (No coincidence, asthma rates are pretty much through the roof.) Although […]
Filed under: Animals, Architecture, Conspiracy, Disease, Government, GWB Project, Health, New York City, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 10 Comments
Tags: 311, 671 West 162nd Street, Asthma, Boilers, Exhaust, Fire Department, Investigative Journalism, Lung Cancer, Rooftops, The Smiths, Tuberculosis
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and Date of morning photograph: March 21, 2008, 5:15pm-ish. Notes: This is the view of the George Washington Bridge from the north, in the remotest and most abandoned part of Manhattan. We see the pilings of an old pier and — […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Decay, GWB Project, History, Infrastructure, Landscape, Photography, Ruins, Technology, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Carcass, Green, Hudson River, Nasty Algae, Pilings, Rust, Sidewalks, The George Washington Bridge
In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly gets lung cancer. Time and date of morning photograph: March 21, 2008, 7:54am. Time and date of evening photograph: March 21, 2008, 7:34pm The oily black smoke of 100-year-old boilers disperses daily across the rooftops in Washington Heights, heedless of those who suffer from pneumonia, asthma and tuberculosis. […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Government, GWB Project, Health, Pessimism, Photography, Sickness, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: 311, Asthma, Boilers, Exhaust, Lung Cancer, Rooftops, Tuberculosis
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photograph: March 21, 2008, 7:54am. Notes: The blue sky, almost completely windswept. “I, too am obsessed with the George Washington Bridge, and have been ever since as stoned youths me and my friends cavorted in the park on […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, GWB Project, Search, Technology, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: 2008, Blue, George Washington Bridge, March, Morning Light, Steve
In which The Gay Recluse promotes remembrance of things past. Today we received this letter from reader Steve in Manhattan: I, too am obsessed with the George Washington Bridge, and have been ever since as stoned youths me and my friends cavorted in the park on the New Jersey side that is directly below the […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Infrastructure, Letters, Memory, Photography, Pleasure, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: Drugs, New Jersey, Parks, Paths, Picnics, Readers, Stoners, The Gay Recluse, The George Washington Bridge, Walks, Youth

