THEJNSREPORT’S: NYC Subway Scene End of 2014
What do you see in this picture?
I see space for another seat if someone chose to be less selfish. Image is property of THEJNSREPORT.COM (c) 2014.
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Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: The Day’s Climate: NYPD & Protests For Justice
I took the following photos during the day on weekends during this winter’s street protests in the city following both the grand jury’s in Ferguson, MO and NYC failing to indict officers in the killings of unarmed black males Michael Brown Jr. and Eric Garner.
The biggest difference between the two cases being one of the killings was actually captured on video in its ENTIRETY. There can be no justification or excuse as to why after seeing that video his killer is not charged but allowed to continue receiving a paycheck and go about his daily life.
We don’t condone the recent killings of two NYPD officers murdered in cold blood in their patrol car over the weekend. However, this is what was alluded to in previous posts. Now that killings of NYPD have happened people want to have “real serious dialogue” about race relations, the police, their interactions and policing of minority communities as well as Accountability.
It’s important to note that with regards to Michael Brown Jr. he gets lumped in as a “man” even though he was only 18 yrs old because of his size, & ethnicity. Legally Michael Brown Jr. would be considered an adult at 18, but for all intents and purposes most reasonable people acknowledge that being 18 doesn’t make one a “man”. He was a kid. He was not perfect and he did make mistakes in his life as we all have.
The question is, does that mean he deserved to be gunned down in the streets like a wild animal and then be blamed for his death? With regards to 12 yr old Tamir Rice, there is no justification for gunning down a 12 yr old playing with a toy gun in 2 seconds. Can we recall a year hotter than 2014 for the police with the continued rampant reports of their killing of unarmed black males and youth?
Akai Gurley is yet another recent example. This man was shot dead in a stairwell by a police officer who then waited six minutes to call not an ambulance but his union rep while Akai lay dying. Tensions are boiling over and little is being done to quell the emotions of those who are unstable or unwilling to wait for the wheels of justice to turn in their direction especially when justice seems not to turn in their direction at all. 
Whether we like to admit it or not there has been a war waging for a long time against the disadvantaged and/or the poor. Addressing the symptoms or consequences of inequality, prejudice as well as injustice, instead of the source of these issues is part of the problem. The question is where does NYC and the nation at large go from here?
All images are the property of THEJNSREPORT.com (c) 2014
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Have Eric Garner’s last words become a punch line? I thought this a proper question to ask when I saw the following while riding the subway this morning.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Toronto Photo Walk Pt.4
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It was overcast and cool all day yet according to the lights going up the spire on the Canada Life Building the temperature outside was going up.
Here we are outside the U.S Embassy.
The Great Seal of the U.S.A. At the U.S Embassy
Gimme the crown!
Across from the Skating rink is Toronto’s City Council building where they have city council meetings. The building design looks like something out of the Jetson’s.
Much like at Rockefeller Center. Canadians like the ice skate rink.
Absolutely love this shot! Catching the local news doing what they do.
From the skate rink we made our way to a pretty large mall and began to walk through.
Once inside we could see clearly things were already set for the Holiday Season as decorations were up throughout the mall.
Pretty cool decoration.
The reindeer above
From the reindeer to the “Christmas Tree”. I’d never seen a tree quite like this one.
This was exceptional to see in person. And of course I had to get a closeup of what it looked like underneath.
After stopping in a few stores we made our way to the rear of the mall towards Dundas Street.
Once outside we got a taste of Toronto’s version of Times Square.
Dundas Street definitely was certainly alive with lights, signs, plenty of people and foot traffic. If you look closely you can see Spiderman in the background on his cell. LOL
When we spotted this guy we had to stop and check out his performance. We’d seen street performers like this back in the states but not sure they were as good as this guy. 
I included a short video of his performance live. Check it out below.
Street fairs are usually fun when one has the time to walk through and if the streets aren’t too crowded. Fortunately both things were true for us this day.
This street fair wasn’t too big or too small, I think it safe to say it was just right. 😉
I don’t blame him for wearing something to cover the legs it was bit cold out.
This girl came strutting her stuff by & I was obliged to take her picture.
Queen and Beaver??? Nuff said LOL 😀
Never heard of her before now but this woman can sing.
Look who came to the fair. Toronto’s “Frosty” The Snow Man. It was also pretty cool that they had ice sculptures for people to take pictures in, on and around.
It began to get dark pretty quickly and I not loving the cold as I don’t kept my behind far from the cold seat but I did snap a few shots of it as it changed colors as well as some of the other ice sculptures.
Here’s someone that was all about that throne.
Check out this ice sculpture of a polar bear.
Lastly, I leave you with this shot of Santa in his sleigh lead by “Rudolph”. Well, this is where our Photo Walk ends. Toronto until next time (preferably during the summer). This has been THEJNSREPORTS: Toronto Photo Walk Pt.4
All images are the property of THEJNSREPORT.com (c) 2014. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Toronto Photo Walk Pt.III
Picking up where we last left off. We continued to walk the streets of downtown Toronto.
The street car looks like a hybrid between a bus and a train car.
TD bank is also seemingly the bank of Canada because I saw locations just about everywhere we went.
As we approached Queens Park I noticed this massive glass building looming in the distance. It looked pretty awesome with it’s curved shape.
Toronto General Hospital in the background.
Heading to class I guess.
This statue is for a famous doctor of the university. His name escapes me but obviously he was important enough to have a statue erected for him by the medical school.
Back to back street cars were approaching, reminding me of the good ole days of the MTA, where late off schedule, bus drivers put on their (Not in service/Next Bus Please) signs and sped off one after the other leaving many of us strap-hangers stranded.
We began making our way back towards the way we came to Queens Park and the downtown financial district.
Nice play pen for the kids. From here, we encountered the flags of the G8 in Toronto. They are comprised of the 8 leading industrialized economies (Canada, United States, UK, Russia, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, & European Union).
I didn’t even know there was a Mount Sinai Hospital in Canada.
We wanted to go up to the top of the space needle building here but alas we thought better of it and would plan that for another trip when the weather was more amenable.
I have to say I really like the architecture of the buildings in Toronto. This city is pretty cool I must say.
And then my attention was drawn towards something in the picture. 
I’m like what in the world???
No he’s not like… “I’m about to go to sleep. I got my smoke on, now it’s nap time.” This isn’t uncommon in the states though. Especially NYC.
There’s something on its head.
Right outside of a subway entrance I found something that reminds me of back home. Trash just dumped and left on the street. Toronto’s such a beautiful city you’d almost have to consider this a “beauty mark”.
We continued making our way downtown as the temp got warmer.
Stay tuned for Toronto Photowalk Pt.4
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Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Toronto Photo Walk 2014 Continued…
When we arrived in front I was tempted to stop in and try a burger but brunch had already satisfied the appetite. We continued mosey on down the road. However, I vowed next time in Toronto it’s going to be a battle of the burger joints visit to find out which burger joint in Toronto offers the best burgers especially when the name of your place is called “Hero Certified!”
One would think a store with this name would be located in NYC.
Having recently been to a day spa back home this too looked like a place to stop in but it wasn’t to be. There was much more to see.
This building used to be a Hockey Arena but had been transformed into a Giant and I mean GIANT Mega Supermarket known as Loblaws. I mean, Good God!!! The sheer size of this place is enough to make you have several seats.
Inside Loblaws 
They have their own Sushi section. Tells me they are serious about Sushi in Loblaws.
The aisles in here extended as far as the eye could see.
Uh yessum!
I think I put on 5lbs just looking at the display case.
That little girl was mesmerized as was I.
They thought of everything didn’t they.
The Cakelets son!!!
We want cakes, we want cakes lol 😉 !!!
Now I don’t know what they were trying to say here with those two between the Gingerbread men. LMAO!!! 😀 Loblaws ya’ll got some splaining to do.
This is absolutely cake heaven.
At this point it was time to get out of this massive food tease and head for more sights and sounds of down town Toronto. We made our way out of the store and found an exit to the street.
Even in a city as clean as Toronto homelessness exists.
Crossing the street here in Toronto, you have to stick your finger in a hole in the light poles so that the signal will change. I’d really only ever seen this down south or in the mid-west back in the states. I think we need this in NYC.
Stay tuned for more of our Photo Walk through downtown Toronto. All images are the property of THEJNSREPORT.com (c) 2014.
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Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Toronto: Photo Walk 2014
It was overcast and chilly throughout the day but not as cold as the day before where temps were at -3 degrees Celsius.
My friends and I were on our way to the metro heading toward downtown Toronto when we saw …
Those are some pretty large nests.
Looks like we’re about to enter a portal ahead.
When you enter the station you can purchase tokens to enter the subway. These tokens are smaller than the ones the MTA used to use decades ago. One thing that stood out to me once inside the station was how clean it was as opposed to New York’s subways. The difference is night and day. It really shames NYC to be such a wealthy city and yet be so dirty compared to other large cities. 
The other thing I noticed was the width of the tracks and subway cars is larger than that here in NYC. Someone had foresight here and realized cramming many people into tight subway cars isn’t in the best interests of the riders.
Once outside the metro we made our way through the streets in search of somewhere to have brunch.
We ended up on the famous Church Street of Toronto the LGBT area of the city.
The first place we encountered that looked good for brunch was Lola’s Kitchen.There was a small wait once we got inside as this place seems quite popular for brunch.
The decor inside was interesting and had quite a bit of art work throughout.
Once we looked over what Lola offers we settled on our selections. 
The margarita wasn’t that good to me. I guess I’m just used to getting more alcohol in the states. 😉 Once we finished brunch I decided to make a pit stop to the restroom before our photo walk continued. When I entered the restroom I was pleasantly surprised to see the stall door painted.
Pretty cool I think. Anyway after paying our tab we ventured back out into the cold with full stomachs bidding Lola’s a fond farewell.
As we walked further down Church Street we came across the Rainbow crosswalk.
Church has some pretty interesting things out on display.
Incredible public art displays were all over the place. Stay tuned for Toronto: Photo Walk continued…
All images are the property of THEJNSREPORT.com (c) 2014.
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