Nicholas Stango

I’m Watching Parts Unknown As a Faux Vacation and So Should You

I’m hooked on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. It’s the best show on Netflix let alone broadcast TV. It’s as entertaining and escapist as any other garbage fictional show you watch but is actually comprised of real-life, incredibly shot documentary content. Learning was never so much fun. The series focuses on the adventures of the very…

Inside the Secret Building That’s Bringing Cell Service To NYC’s Subway

As Hurricane Sandy revealed almost two years ago, New York’s 100-year-old subway is not a modern and robust system. In fact, compared to other cities, it’s downright dirty, unpredictable and technologically behind. But the Metro Transit Authority is currently dragging it into the future—and I got the chance to go behind the scenes of the…

Inside the Disaster Housing NYC Is Testing For City Emergencies

More than eight million people live in NYC. And when a natural or human-made disaster strikes, there’s a good chance it’ll leave some New Yorkers without homes. That’s why this summer, NYC’s Office of Emergency Management is testing out a fast, cheap, and comfortable solution: Meet the Prototype. Technically, it’s called the Urban Post-Disaster Housing…

Fallen Angels: The Stunning Film Synthesized By Two Cinematic Legends

The first time I watched Fallen Angels I was trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen. I wasn’t lost in the way a sci-fi masterpiece like The Matrix makes you question reality, but in the you’ve never seen a narrative film told like this kind of way. Director Wong Kar Wai…

A Nosebleed Tour of the Wind Turbines Taking Over NYC’s Rooftops

According to the New York Times, wind turbines are all the rage in New York City. We decided to find out for ourselves what all the buzz—or whoosh?—was about. So we met with wind turbine maker UGE and its mechanical engineer, Darius Salgo, who was kind enough to show us around the newly-installed wind turbines…

This Blade Runner Art Show Will Hold You Over Until the Sequel

Not long ago we covered an Indiegogo venture that was too good an idea not to let the world know. Six months later Moments Lost: A Blade Runner Tribute has come to complete fruition and it brought some really succulent Blade Runner fanfiction along with it. https://gizmodo.com/moments-lost-a-blade-runner-tribute-thats-more-than-a-1461538176 On display starting at 7PM on May 31st…

A Handmade Horse Bike Will Be Your Gorgeous Lifelong Steed

We’ve taken a look inside Thomas Callahan’s Horse workshop in Williamsburg before, and we know he’s good at making beautiful bikes. But with its second run of set-sized handmade bikes, Horse has outdone itself. Case in point: The Urban Assault 2014, a masterfully sculpted piece of steel. https://gizmodo.com/a-look-inside-the-workshop-of-brooklyn-bike-builder-hor-1173366918 Destined to be a mean machine on…

This Bizarre Looking Device Lets You Draw How Your Eyes Actually See

If walk through the square in front of the Flatiron Building this week, you’ll see an odd sight: Someone with their head strapped into what looks like some sort of medieval brain control device. It’s actually just Trevor or Ryan Oakes, artists (and twins) who invented a drawing tool that applies simple mathematics to produce…

The aeroponic kitchen of the future! You can come see it for yourself (in non-GIF form) if you swing by the home! GIF by Nicholas Stango The Basics Dates: 05/17/2014–05/21/2014 Location: 268 Mulberry Street, near Houston Street in SoHo. Nearest subway: Broadway-Lafayette. Hours: 11:00 am to late. The Gizmodo gang will be working on-site all…

A Rare Trip On The Floating Train Yard Of Hudson Harbor

The only two options that freight trains have for accessing the east side of the Hudson River are to cross a bridge in Albany—140 painstaking miles North of New York City—or to ride a rail barge across the Hudson through the highly efficient marine-rail operation run by NYNJ Rail in Jersey City. There used to…

A bridge crane the size of a city block begins work, laying a new foundation for skyscrapers that will soon stand over the East Hudson Rail Yards. [Nicholas Stango]

This Apocalypse-Ready Solar Charging Station Folds Up Behind a Bike

At the Bike Expo New York over the weekend, I got the chance to meet Jeff Crystal of Voltaic Systems, a New York-based maker of photovoltaic systems. Crystal built a mobile charging station on the back of his bike that can supply devices with a charge within minutes. If there ever was an apocalypse–this is…

The Biggest Bike Expo In the US Is Heaven on Earth For Cyclists

This weekend on Pier 36, tens of thousands of cyclists descended on Bike Expo New York, the most popular consumer bike expo in the country. Sandwiched on the edge of the city between the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges, the show draws some 50,000 people to ogle the latest bike trends and tech—we were there to…

Inside Bell Labs, Where the Future is Being Built

Inside Bell Labs almost 70 years ago, the invention that defined the 20th century was born: The transistor. On a recent sunny April day here in the present, Gizmodo had the rare opportunity to tour the historic and cutting edge facilities at Bell Labs—and get a preview of the inventions that could change this century.…

The History of Modern Type Design Plastered All Over a Single Room

Starting May 1st the AIGA National Design Center in New York City is hosting Century: 100 Years of Type in Design– an exhibition showing the range and progression typography has gone through in recent history. The entire National Design Center has been remodeled for the show. The walls have been covered in periods from all…

The artist Hellbent works on an optical effect for the wall surrounding the construction site at the Domino Sugar factory on the Brooklyn waterfront this week. Hellbent was commissioned by the Two Trees realty, the developer of the mega-project, and should finish up the mural by the weekend. [Nicholas Stango]

Skype just made group video calling available to all users for free instead of being locked under Premium. Looks like someone is catching up to Hangouts.

Ford Built A Mustang On Top Of The Empire State Building Last Night

It’s been 50 years since Ford built the world-renowned 1965 Mustang and placed it high above Manhattan on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. Last night, Ford came back with a bigger, yellower, all around more complicated car from 2015 and decided to recreate the famous stunt as a 50-year homage—only this time,…

Oreo Fed Me Strange Cookie-Concocted Recipes And I Didn’t Die

Traditionally, you’d eat an Oreo straight of the box, or sometimes very recently dipped in a glass of milk. The people at Oreo felt the need to show that their cookie is more diverse than that, however, so they put it in a bunch of weird recipes and made me eat the result in order…

Uber Is About to Be a New York City Courier Service

Starting tomorrow, Uber is adding a new option to its car services—UberRUSH. It’s a local New York City courier service (and experiment) that will deliver your items, either by cyclist or by foot to a specified location of your choosing, all from an app. Uber teased the new service from its Twitter account today: TechCrunch…