The Benny DoroCollection

July · New York · First time

Ed’s FirstNew
York.

2007

041 · July 16, 2007 · From the original sequence

54 photographs. One first trip to New York. And an entirely unauthorized commentary track.

Let Ed take you through it ↓

Recorded September 2026 · 5:05

The Ed Commentary

Benny pretending to be Ed while talking through the 2007 photographs. Historical accuracy not guaranteed.

NYC presentation mix selected. The untouched original commentary is also available.

About the presentation mix

Added ambience is not sound recorded on this 2007 trip. The original September 2026 commentary remains untouched. No photo-by-photo synchronization is claimed. Added field recordings have been excerpted, level-adjusted, filtered and layered for this presentation.

prospect park traffic A · volivieri — CC BY 4.0. Other recordings are CC0: New York Street Ambience · lazymonk; Brooklyn horn 02 and horn 01 · Brett+Butter; NYC street voices · Lynn174; train arrival and departure · launemax. The train recording’s location is unspecified; it is not presented as a recording of the actual journey.

The Ed Commentary · NYC MixBenny-as-Ed · September 2026 · 5:05

Press play. Follow Ed through the photographs.

Original sequence · Excerpts from the continuous commentary · No automatic photo synchronization

Read the full transcript ↓

54 originals preserved · 52 shown · Two severely blurred frames held out of this preview

From the camera · 01

July 15, 2007

01West New York

The view from here.

01 / 15 · Photo essayJul 15 2007 · 19:00:17—19:01:03
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02July 15, 2007

Across the river.

02 / 15 · Photo essayJul 15 2007 · 20:25:49—20:26:18
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From the camera · 02

July 16, 2007

03Manhattan

Out on the street.

03 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 19:06:24—19:06:49
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04From the commentary

Two pairs. Or six.

04 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 19:06:54—19:06:58
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05E 22 ST

Look up.

05 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 19:59:55—20:00:23
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06In transit

28th Street

06 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 20:30:43—20:31:03
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07Broadway

In the middle of it.

07 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 20:33:37—20:33:59
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08Macy’s · New York

Ed in Macy’s

08 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 20:38:17
Ed in Macy’s

09Pennsylvania Station

Penn Station

09 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 21:44:09—21:44:26
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10Bar Americain

A table for the evening.

10 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 23:37:43—23:46:19
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11Times Square

After dark.

11 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 23:46:28—23:56:55
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12From the commentary

A rock star. Apparently.

12 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 23:57:04—23:58:40
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13Broadway at night

The city keeps going.

13 / 15 · Photo essayJul 16 2007 · 23:58:43—23:58:56
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From the camera · 03

July 17, 2007

14July 17, 2007

Past midnight.

14 / 15 · Photo essayJul 17 2007 · 00:00:07—00:00:20
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15The last frames

Stay tuned.

15 / 15 · Photo essayJul 17 2007 · 00:00:23—00:00:32
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Read the transcript Full commentary · 5:05

Transcribed commentary. Unclear words are marked, not guessed. The recording is authoritative. Timestamp buttons seek the audio; they are not photo synchronization cues.

Hey, my name's Ed [surname unclear], and how did a nice boy from Lynn Valley in North Vancouver end up in big, bad New York City? Well, my wacky friend, Benny Doro, one day said, hey, Ed, want to come to New York City? Next thing I know, I was on a plane there. So I got to hang out in his apartment, which was a [unclear address] in West New York, which had a view of New York City.

That was kind of wild. And I decided it would be a good idea to take pictures outside of his place with the city skyline in the back. And a truck that is not his, let's make that clear, his Lincoln Navigator was parked on the ground. And then we proceeded to go around New York City, and he showed me the sights. So there's a picture of me by a police car on 14th Street, Union Square.

And you can see me also in front of DSW shoes where I went in and I'm pretty sure I bought some shoes because the selection was just fantastic. And there's actually a picture where I look a little confused in front of Whole Foods, which was beside DSWs because I thought, did I buy two pairs or six pairs of shoes? As we move along, you can see I have my whimsical look. I have my evil look. which became later Evil Ed look.

And there's some more photos of me. I have the Empire State Building in the background. And I thought, wow, usually you only see people with pictures by the Empire State Building. And here I am with my own. No Photoshop involved.

Then it was time to take a train ride. So we took a train ride. That looks like maybe if that's a 28th Street, that's probably the R train train. So that'd be the R train. Where we were going, maybe 42nd Street, I'm not sure.

But as we continue along, you can see me on the train, riding it like a boss, and then I get off. And it looks like I'm in the village someplace, but I'm actually on Broadway by another metro station with people all around me. This picture is inconsequential. Just move on from it. Later on, there's me standing amongst people, slightly blurry picture, [unclear phrase] another one by the 34th Street train station,

which is by the Empire State Building. So we took some pictures there since it was a famous street, and it was my first time. As we wandered around, next thing I know, we were in Macy's. So I took one picture of myself and Macy's to show that I had taste and flair and fashion. Because my name is Evil Ed.

Continuing along, we had a journey. So how do you get some place? Let's go to Penn Station. Penn Station has a lot of great things, including bars and restaurants. I'm sure we didn't get a snack.

I'm sure it was a drink. Moving along, all this walking around New York City made us very, very hungry and thirsty. So we ended up at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain on I think it's 43rd Street or used to be. Anyways, it's no longer there, but it was a real hot place at the time when Bobby was rocking on Food Network. with the throwdown, etc.

And there we are in Bobby Flay's restaurant, being treated like kings, drinking like kings, eating like kings, and I'm sure I paid a bill like a king. Moving along, there's a picture of Ed outside, Bar Americain. I wonder what's there now, probably a home hardware or something, or Home Depot. There's some nighttime shots, and of course we want to get a little bit of brighter,

and there's a picture of Ed smiling by the double tree in time. Square. How touristic of Ed to do this, but it's got to be done at least once. So you can see the Kodak sign, Bank of America. We are definitely in Times Square now. Not sure what we did there, but somebody came up and thought Ed was a rock star. As some woman, she looks Jewish, maybe [unclear word], and decided, let's have a photo.

Some more pictures of Ed in Times Square because you just can't get enough of those the first time you're in New York City, and hopefully it'll be the last time that you have pictures in Times Square being very touristic. So that's where we end this particular photo collection of Evil Ed [surname unclear] in New York City, and he was brought to here, courtesy of Benny Doro and probably Charlie McLaughlin. We hope you've enjoyed this tour of Evil Ed in New York City. I'm sure there will be more

pictures of him and his adventures in New York. Stay tuned.

Today’s Note · September 2026

This was my friend Ed’s first trip to New York in 2007. I took the photographs and, because apparently photographs weren’t enough for me, have now recorded this ridiculous commentary pretending to be him.

Looking through these photographs again almost twenty years later makes me laugh.

What I love most isn’t really New York in the pictures. It’s us at that moment in our lives.

I wouldn’t change a thing.

Benny