A Week of Being Kin Lane - June 23rd, 2025
When I look back over the week for these newsletters I have to depend on two sources of information 1) my iPhone photos 2) my Bluesky. Normally I’d throw Kin Lane and Alternate Kin Lane into the mix, but I am very focused on work right now, so really just what I take pictures of throughout the week and feel necessary to post to my Bluesky performance is how things get documented. This is necessary because when I look back over the week I mostly remember riding my bike with Poppy in the park and around New York City.
Audrey and I started the week with Burger League at Leon’s Italian restaurant. It was a very delicious Lamb Burger and fries. Which I really, really, love when I just get like 5-10 fries and nothing more. It is really all I want.
As we walked out of Leon’s by Union Square we noticed the Strand Bookstore across the street, but Audrey and I have a coffee table full of books we need to make our way through before we continue adding to the pile. It’s down to a one book in one book out policy in this household right now.
The NYC elections are this Tuesday. With the mayoral race being top of mind for all of us. Audrey and I already voted last week as part of early voting, but the anticipation regarding whether it is the status quo or actual change is pretty overwhelming. Both Zohran Kwame Mamdana and Brad Lander were my #1 and #2 ranked votes. I am hopeful.
I am fascinated by how our city systems work or doesn’t work, and how power shapes our lives. I learned this week about the Twin Cities Rapid Transit system and how the successful streetcar system was bought and dismantled so that the automobile can have the upper hand—revealing why our cities are so defined by the automobile.
Poppy and I rolled over 1200 miles on the bike this week and had to take a day off as we waited for new tires arrived. Both front and back tires on the bike got replaced, as well as the sidecar tire. The new tires are super smooth, and as long as the weather allows, we’ll be out each day this week patrolling the park and streets of NYC.
One of the ubiquitous aspects of any city is the scaffolding that arises around buildings. It is everywhere. In front of our apartment there has been scaffolding up across a building right out front of our window for the last two years we’ve lived here.
They recently took down the scaffolding revealing a very wide sidewalk which is always diminished, but also a couple of the trees that were dead. Scaffolding is a reality, but I am interested to learn more of the games that get played around how long scaffolding stays up, and why.
One morning after our usual morning stroll in Central Park we head down Broadway to 42nd street to get a breakfast burrito from Los Tacos #1. On the way we walked past three blocks of people in Times Square doing yoga. I can’t think of anyplace more Zen. Next level shit.
I am sure you can tell by the tone of my weekly newsletter, I am managing a healthy level of escape with our life in NYC. But, I can’t close the week without mentioning how heartbroken I am by the daily images about what ICE is doing to this country, and as I write this, the bombing of Iran. I am angry. I am sad. Hug your people. Let’s get out in the streets.
“A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn