Despite a reasonable tenure in NY, including a substantial amount of time spent on or below 14th st., I still couldn’t explain the ever rolling digital numbers on the southern buildings of Union Square. Until now.

Today’s ventures online somehow pointed out that the fixture is called the Metronome Clock. I believe this includes the odd, steam puffing maroon wall to the right of the digital numbers as well (on a side note, the hand at the top of that fixture is said to be an exact replica of the statue that sits directly across from the wall of a man on a horse).

Now for the interesting part. Decoding the clock:

In addition, there are seemingly meaningless numbers which actually represent the time: if the clock reads 070437XXX235516 it means that it is 7:04 A.M and 37 seconds. (7 hours and 4 minutes since midnight) and that there are 16 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds remaining until midnight. The three middle digits are a blur and cannot be read.

Thank you Wikipedia.

I ventured over to 11 Spring yesterday because I wanted to check out the Wooster Collective goings-on. Of course, so did half the city. The line was literally all the way around the block, about 5 people deep across the side-walk. In fact, Wooster Collective noted a scrawl near the door that read “hour 5. almost in”.

I’m a little torn. This was an art/culture happening the likes of which haven’t been seen in years. And its unlikely to happen again for many more years. I really wanted to see the art inside the building. But, having arrived back from L.A. at 11 Saturday night, I just wasn’t up for a five hour wait.

I did manage to get some shot of the exterior and the crowds when I swung by. But the good stuff was inside. Check out the flickr pool to see it all. I’ll try to get a few shots up soon.