The Panamap, ready for a full page spread (with very little retouching–she is a natural beauty!)

This morning Umibot stood by and watched his fame fade–being upstaged by the Panamap can only be described as bittersweet.

If the Panamap could talk, it would say something like “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close up.”

How many times have you emerged from a New York City subway station, only to feel turned-around and out of sorts? Although Umibot is the pinnacle of logic, we understand how people get caught up in spatial confusion-land–especially in complex urban environments like NYC.

This project, courtesy of the Grand Central Partnership and the NYC DoT, aims to put floor decals outside Grand Central Station-area MTA exits that indicate which direction is East, Downtown, etc…

It isn’t intended as a system-wide project as the GCP is a NYC Business Improvement District, but perhaps city agencies will get involved. Umibot likes this initiative as it acknowledges the highly personal, and very confusing nature of urban navigation–the very things that Urban Mapping seeks to address through its print and digital products.

from Gothamist