
Watch New Yorkers Hurry Across Union Square in Real-Time - infinite8s
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/02/union-square-realtime-map-placemeter/462006/
======
_jomo
The video in the linked article [0] is scary as hell. It reminds me of the
_Person of Interest_ TV series [1].

0: [http://www.citylab.com/tech/2014/08/the-view-from-your-
windo...](http://www.citylab.com/tech/2014/08/the-view-from-your-window-is-
worth-cash-to-this-company/375471/)

1: (intro)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9FuRnyiqk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9FuRnyiqk)

~~~
fapjacks
Person of Interest became one of my favorite television shows during the first
episode of season two when it suddenly is no longer a CSI-like crime show, but
hard science fiction.

~~~
scrollaway
Person of Interest is, to my knowledge, the only show to have _successfully
and naturally_ transitioned between two radically different genres (Monster of
the week style crime procedural into overarching plot based sci-fi).

It is _beautiful_. And it's such a good show, too. Highly recommended, most of
the HN audience would enjoy it - very technical, pre-snowden, talks about mass
surveillance (ethics, implications, ...) and AI. Original and sci-fi oriented
while remaining grounded in reality (Mr Robot tech quality, no CSI bullshit).

PS: If you do watch it, give it a few episodes to grow on you while it
transitions genres over the first season.

~~~
fennecfoxen
> to my knowledge, the only show to have _successfully and naturally_
> transitioned between two radically different genres

I wonder if it compares..... I have in mind an anime series from 2011 titled
_Puella Magi Madoka Magica_ which transitioned naturally from happy-go-lucky
slice-of-life Magical Girls and into dark psychological Cosmic Horror (winning
the best critical acclaim since _Spirited Away_ in the process). And one of
the series it has since inspired, _Yuki Yuna Is A Hero_ (2014), doubles down
on the happy-go-lucky slice of life before transitioning into an anti-war
drama.

(But I will check out _Person of Interest_ anyway :)

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CydeWeys
Well that's creepy ... that intersection is on my commute, and I biked through
it a little over two hours ago.

The bike numbers are low today because it's raining, and yes, I did get quite
wet on my commute in.

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rburhum
I see an OSM map and that makes me happy... however then I attempt to zoom
scroll (in or out) and, instead, it pans up and down (!?!?!?). First instinct
is "this non-sensical UX has to be an ESRI map". Of course, I was right.

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Alex3917
I'm tempted to start running circles around the intersection just to mess with
everyone watching.

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neilyadig
You can also watch the traffic cameras as provided by NYC Department of
Transportation. Many cool projects have been made with the feeds available
here:
[http://dotsignals.org/multiview2.php](http://dotsignals.org/multiview2.php).

Here is the direct link to the one at Union Square:
[http://207.251.86.238/cctv474.jpg](http://207.251.86.238/cctv474.jpg).

------
thwarted
An awesome documentary[0] related to how people move and use public spaces.
"The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" William H Whyte. citylab actually
linked this a while ago [1], but the version embedded in that page has since
been removed.

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjxXTsHgc8g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjxXTsHgc8g)

[1] [http://www.citylab.com/design/2011/10/social-life-public-
spa...](http://www.citylab.com/design/2011/10/social-life-public-space/237/)

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Raphmedia
Here, watch it in full screen: [http://placemeter-arcgisdemo.s3-website-us-
east-1.amazonaws....](http://placemeter-arcgisdemo.s3-website-us-
east-1.amazonaws.com)

~~~
rubidium
Here, watch it in color video :)
[http://wxyzwebcams.com/en/webcam-418.php](http://wxyzwebcams.com/en/webcam-418.php)

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hoorayimhelping
It's raining today, I imagine people are walking faster, not standing around
as much, and jaywalking in a lot more risky situations.

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elbigbad
This is pretty neat! Dubious conclusion on this particular piece of data
though:

"The Chipotle there, for example, has seen around 64 percent less foot traffic
today than that three-week average—possibly because of the news about its
food-safety concerns."

So really nothing to support that conclusion other than a guess and a link to
an article from eight days ago?

~~~
CPLX
Or possibly because it's been pouring rain in NYC all day.

Data is data, conjecture is conjecture.

~~~
ChristianGeek
The Geox store next to Chipotle is up 42%.

~~~
CPLX
...a manufacturer of waterproof clothing.

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jameslk
I've been wanting to build a service like this to watch foot traffic around
retail businesses and restaurants. Then provide the data for investors. Kind
of like that company that uses satellite imagery to watch parking lots to
measure patronage.

~~~
vdnkh
There's a startup in NYC that does this called Placemeter. Buy a camera, point
it out the window, collect data

~~~
Symbiote
There's a link. The article says:

> Thomas Richard and Godfrey Yeung, the former Placemeter interns who created
> the map

~~~
obelisk_
The whole thing the article is about is Placemeter as far as I can tell. Your
quote made it seem like they were formerly Placemeter interns who later
created the map.

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akgerber
You may not see much traffic currently because there is a very heavy rainstorm
in NYC.

