LinkNYC and Chelsea street art: 8th Avenue between 20th and 21st Street

This block in the Chelsea neighborhood is bookended on either side by street art. At 20th Street is a piece by Dasic Fernandez, whose work I previously came across at St. Mark's between 1st Avenue and Avenue A in the East Village. Here is his art on this Chelsea block:

You can see how talented he is. On his Instagram account he posted a photo of this work about 17 weeks ago, so I'm assuming he did it around that time. 

On the 21st Street side of our block is this work by Case Maclaim, an artist from Frankfurt, Germany:

His real name is Andreas von Chrzanowski. On his Instagram account he posted a photo of this work 28 weeks ago and wrote:

case_maclaimthey make you walk | they make you stumble | they make you fall

My first Manhattan wall is brought to you by the Bushwickcollective. Thank you so much @thebushwickcollective and @montanacans @montanacans_usa for all the love and support #thisfamilyofmineisgettingbiggerandbigger #bushwickcollective #montanacans #chelsea #manhattan #streetart #nyc #case_maclaim #powerofmovement

That was a lot of hashtags. He thanks the Bushwick Collective, which was also mentioned in the previous Dasic Fernandez work that I saw in the East Village. 

It's nice to be able to just walk around and see great art on the streets that is thoughtful and interesting to look at. 

This block also features a Link, which is part of a city kiosk program that has been replacing payphones in the city starting in January 2016:

Each LinkNYC kiosk includes Wi-Fi internet, USB phone charging, internet browsing, and phone service to anywhere in the country, all for free. At the top of the kiosk it says 'beta,' indicating that the program is at an early phase where people can use them and provide feedback. 

The city's website for LinkNYC says that they plan to install over 7,500 of them throughout the 5 boroughs during "the next several years." That would be very cool and I hope the program works, it seems like it would make the city more hi-tech and improve quality of life. They are completely paid for through advertising. 

Here's the area on the side of the kiosk that offers the services I mentioned and others:

Here's me successfully charging my phone:

I also tried browsing the internet and it worked very well.

Near this kiosk, on a little area between the bike path and street, is a patch of land with a nice tree and flowers:

Every little bit of nature in the city helps.  

There are two 'adult entertainment' stores on the block, which seem left over from previous, seedier decades in the city. 

And for balance there is also a Salvation Army thrift store on the block. One entrance is only for donations, and the other is for store browsing and whatnot.

Of course this wouldn't be a New York City block without several food options. What are you in the mood for? Italian? Thai? Mexican?

You can see that the Mexican restaurant, Temerario, shares a wall with the Dasic Fernandez artwork.

If you haven't found the right type of cuisine yet, the other side of the street has Chinese food, pizza, and a grocery store.

Oh, and a diner type of place called The Dish.

There are also some nice buildings on the block that have the look of classic New York apartments:

I think that wraps it up from this Chelsea block. I enjoyed the street art and learning about the LinkNYC program, which I hope will be a big success.

P.S. - Here are a couple of examples of the political mood that has come over much of New York in the lead-up to the primary votes. The focus in much of lower Manhattan will naturally tend towards the Democratic side, first in this Hillary Clinton-inspired car I saw parked on 7th Avenue at West 11th Street:

The Hill Car was decorated by the Bisbee, Arizona artist Gretchen Baer, originally for the 2008 election season. 

You may be able to see the phrase Border Bedazzlers in the above photo, which is another project that Baer is involved in, where people go to the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and paint and decorate it to bring people together and beautify the otherwise drab-looking wall. 

Here's a look at the front of the car:

This past Saturday afternoon I was near Astor Place and came across a pro-Bernie Sanders rally marching up Lafayette Street and eventually making its way to Union Square at 14th Street. 

Here were some marchers near Astor Place:

Then in between Astor Place and Union Square on 4th Avenue:

And then after they turned left at 14th Street and were walking to Union Square:

I suppose all the political fervor will die down a bit after the primary voting, at least until the general election heats up in the fall, that is.