Results tagged “googlemap”

Traveling by subway may be an overpriced headache (especially on weekends!) but at least now you can use Google Maps to plan your treacherous trip through it. They've just improved their NYC subway system mapping in their "Transit" layer, making it easier to plot a subway commute to the address or neighborhood of your choice.

The DOT has recently unveiled a Google map interface showing the locations of 5,968 bike racks (out of approximately 6,100) that have been installed throughout the city since 1996. As you can see from the map, there are CityRacks all over, which doesn't explain why it's such a pain in neck finding a spot to lock your bike anywhere near Caracas on First Avenue. The map's certainly a nice gesture, but will cyclists will actually consult it? There's almost always a signpost or something you can lock your bike to within a block of your destination, and seeing a bike rack on a map doesn't mean it will be unoccupied when you get there. At any rate, the DOT will update the map as new racks are installed, and there's a form on the website that lets you request a CityRack for your block.

Google Maps Mania points to a new map offering: Walking, subway and bus directions from GypsyMaps, all laid out on a Google Map. Actually, bus information will be coming in April, but GypsyMaps has a nice start, as it shows the point to point directions all laid out. (We asked for directions between 1 West 57th Street in Manhattan to 1 Centre Street.)

Just in time for winter (as mild as it's been), LICNYC has created a Photo Tour of Long Island City. Photographs of buildings, restaurants, banks, and more are pinpointed on a Google Map. Our favorite spot noted on the might be the "Big rock that nobody owns." You can add your LIC shots by sending in your pictures to editor(at)licnyc(dot)com .

Everyone has taxis on the mind! Mike at Google Map Mania let us know about this new Google Maps mash-up: The Taxi Fare Finder. We ran the imaginary taxi route of Mayor Bloomberg, going from City Hall to his East 79th Street townhouse and got a fare of just under $21 not including tip. The Fare Finder does have a disclaimer:

Please remember that this number is estimated--many factors, such as traffic and weather, will affect the actual fare. Tips are NOT included in the fare, and they are appreciated. This tool does NOT yet take tolls into account, which are your responsibility. Sorry, this site does not yet support fares outside of the five Boroughs and Newark Airport.

Another interesting thing the Indepedent Budget Office found: If you fight your parking ticket in person, you'll have a better chance of beating it. The IBO says that people who fight parking tickets via the mail are found guilty 32% of the time more than people who fight live. The Post printed the numbers:

According to the study, those who mail in their pleas beat tickets just 40.6 percent of the time, while 38.8 percent are found guilty, 17.8 percent have penalties reduced and 2.8 percent have their base fines reduced.

Continue reading "Fight the Power (of Your Ticket)"

Down in our comment threads, a bunch of people have been discussing the way Google Maps stiches together satellite photos. Their process sometimes produces fairly trippy mistakes as photos taken at various times of day get merged. Travis Harris marked up this shot of the South Street Seaport:

After yesterday's posts about Google Map's satellite capabilities and the bi-plane on top of 77 Water Street, we can't get enough. Reader Jeroen sent in this from along 48th Avenue in Long Island City. This makes Gothamist wonder if the proposal took place in a helicopter - or from a neighboring building with a view of that rooftop. At any rate, we admire the proposer's tenacity and hope all worked out well.

Charlie Todd and his merry band of ImprovEverywhere pranksters are famous around these parts-- we've been fans for a couple of years (check out the interview we did with him back in August.) If you've never participated in one of the ImprovEverywhere events, tomorrow is your big chance-- for the fifth year in a row, dozens of improv fans will be hitting the 6 train-- WITHOUT PANTS:

Here's a cool mashup: New York photo tours superimposed over a Google Map. So far they've got tours of a bunch of places in Manhattan, including Central Park and Times Square. We'd love to see something like this over at Forgotten-NY! Kevin, any plans to add maps to your articles?

Today is Historical Map day at Gothamist-- starting with this great map of the Manhattan Coastline from PBS' Center of the World show. Check out how skinny Manhattan was back in the 1650s! Doesn't it look exactly like South America? We haven't been able to track down any New Amsterdam Google Map Mashups, so we've had to hit the archives: check out the maps at Fordham's library, this cute tour of New Netherland, and our all-time favorite map of New Amsterdam. Does anyone else have any good historic Manhattan maps links?

In his bid to be the next Public Advocate, Andrew Rasiej has created a website, We Fix NYC that will track and document potholes," to build a photographic map of where they are and how long it's taking the city to fix them." People can email photos of potholes (here's the address) and their locations (plus whether or not they've been fixed), which will then go up on a Google Map. As Gothamist loves potholes, you can be sure that we've been crossing streets too slowly as we try to capture them with our cameras (but we're being careful). There's even a page to document electrical hazards.

Because there is always room to bridge the divide between geographic map and subway map, Gothamist welcomes onNYTurf's Google Map NYC-Subway Hack. While it's a work in progress (works best on Firefox), it's stll a good look at how far a subway stop might be from your destination (not to mention) which subway stop might be closer). Hopstop gives great walking directions, which Trips 123 does as well, but they lack maps. So, thanks, Will!