NYC.com Blogs: Recent Posts from our Gurus

Being Omniscient About How Impotent You Are

2009-10-30T14:05:56-04:00

The MTA's Twitter (yes, the MTA has a Twitter account) posted a photo of the new feature rolling out along the L train: real-time displays of where trains are on the route. This is comforting, somewhat, since simply not knowing when or whether a train is coming is half of the annoyance of public transit, but what about those long weekends, for example, when the F train isn't running between Church Avenue and Jay Street? Do we really want a live display of how bad our commute is going to be? Self-delusion about outages is the only thing, many times, that keeps the thronging masses from open revolt on the subway platforms. This heralds a new era of the MTA either trying to make themselves look better and more efficient or proving once and for all that they truly do not care what we think.

Ernie Anastos: The Michael Vick Of Poultry

2009-09-17T03:14:52-04:00

It's been a while, and we've missed an awful lot of publications going into stoppage time, but we were waiting for something really, truly worthwhile to post about. While Arnold Diaz has the distinction of being New York's weirdest newscaster, thanks mostly to his "Shame Shame Shame!" intro, Ernie Anastos has made a bid to take the throne. Mere hours ago, he advised a coworker—meteorologist Nick Gregory to, and we're quoting here, "Keep ****ing that chicken." It's become so popular in the intervening time, and Wikipedia's introductory paragraph already says that he's "best known for his off-color remark 'Keep ****that chicken,'" and the incident already has its own section on the page. Also, a Google search for Ernie Anastos will yield that page and, in second place, a story about this little gem of a slip. It's this reporter's considered opinion, however, that the gaffe itself isn't the troubling thing, it's that, with full knowledge of what Gregory has apparently been doing, Anastos not only sanctioned but insisted him to keep on doing it. Hopefully, Anastos will escape Michael Vick's fate and not be... dogged by this for the rest of his life.

Atlantic Yards: The Future Of Tomorrow, Today, But Mostly, Let's Say, Next Year. Or Later.

2009-09-15T15:28:26-04:00

Photo: Tracy Collins/threece

We've already seen mockups of the post-Gehry Atlantic Yards design, but this one... well, it's lit up! Barclays, who now owns most of the post-financial crisis world, has its own "Barclays Center" letter blocks forming a V around the plaza, but most interesting is the evidence of the gentrification most feared the complex would bring to the neighborhood: if you look closely, those are all white people milling around the structure. Little, tiny, plastic white people pushing out the lower tax brackets!

Really, these models are just the latest barrage of architectural pornography, since the beleaguered and underfunded project has slowed to a crawl since the gung-ho early days, including the lawsuit that sought to halt it altogether (even though that died in the New York Supreme Court with a win for Ratner and the Yards). Now slated to open in 2011, the home of the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets may just throw off enough ambient light to scare aware the packs of rats currently holding court in the development's footprint. Surely, co-owner Jay-Z can drive them into the Gowanus Canal with his sweet, sweet beats.

Moynihan Moves Slightly Forward

2009-09-14T15:45:34-04:00

Almost a year after Nicolai Ouroussoff's blistering piece on the worthless architecture of New York City, it looks like one of the most hated-by-locals square block of Manhattan may seem some change, and soon. Over the weekend, Amtrak agreed to relocate its Penn Station operations to the proposed Moynihan Station across the street to the old Farley Building. The super-massive structure, which is itself an entire city block in size, would relieve that adjacent block of its long-standing dual roles of transit hub and entertainment venue, something that has remained an uneasy truce since the current Garden was built in '68. It bears mentioning that Moynihan Station—as beautiful as the conceptual renderings floating around the internet are—will always pale in comparison to the original structure that was demolished to make way for the "modern" sports and entertainment venue. The original Penn Station, an airy, steel-and-glass shrine to one of the most beloved American gods—transportation, has long been a cause for nostalgia and wringing of hands, and Moynihan Station is bound to be the girl New York ends up dating simply because it reminds us so much of the first girl that we ever loved, and who we subsequently allowed Mosean developers to raze and pave over.

Brooklyn Book Festival 2009

2009-09-14T14:39:49-04:00

Given its size and attendance, it's strange that the Brooklyn Book Festival didn't span more than one wayward September Sunday this year. The 4th annual festival brought publishers of all types out to the plaza at Borough Hall to ply their wares on a literary public, from giants like The Paris Review to college literary magazines (some clumped together at the same booth). As with the three previous installments, the main attractions were the panels and lectures from some of literature's most luminous talents. Brooklynite writers like Paul Auster and Ben Greenman and comedian David Cross shared schedule space with musicians Lupe Fiasco and Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth). Even the more graphic sort of novels were represented, with a full New York Comic Con alley as an appetite-whetting exercise for next month's convention. at the Javits Center.

Harvest Season on the High Line

2009-08-31T14:01:00-04:00

Featuring an abundance of freshly-sickled wheat.

Young Frankestein

2009-07-30T12:49:48-04:00

Good news for the rest of the country! It was announced today that Tony Award winners Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley will reprise the roles of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and The Monster in the first national tour of The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein. The Young Frankenstein tour will launch September 29, 2009 at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, where the show will run until October 4th. The rest of the national tour goes as follows: October 6-11, 2009 Mortensen Hall in Hartford, Connecticut October 13-25, 2009 Palace Theatre - Cleveland, Ohio October 27-November 1, 2009 Ohio Theatre - Columbus, Ohio November 3-December 13, 2009 Cadillac Palace - Chicago, Illinois December 20, 2009-January 10, 2010 Kennedy Center Opera House - Washington, DC January 12-24, 2010 Hippodrome Performing Arts Center - Baltimore, Maryland January 26-31, 2010 Fabulous Fox Theater - Atlanta, Georgia February 2-7, 2010 Cobb Great Hall at the Wharton Center - East Lansing, Michigan February 9-14, 2010 Orpheum Theatre - Minneapolis, Minnesota February 16-21, 2010 Music Hall - Kansas City, Missouri February 23-March 14, 2010 Detroit Opera House - Detroit, Michigan March 20-April 11 Kennedy Center Opera House - Washington, DC April 20-May 2, 2010 Boston Opera House - Boston, Massachusetts May 4-9, 2010 Benedum Center - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania May 11-23, 2010 Fabulous Fox Theatre - Saint Louis, Missouri May 25-June 6, 2010 Sarofim Hall at the Hobby Center - Houston, Texas June 8-13, 2010 Majestic Theatre - San Antonio, Texas July 27-August 15, 2010 Pantages Theatre - Los Angeles, California

Con Ed Pothead

2009-07-22T19:07:00-04:00

On it, as always.

How to remove trash from The High Line

2009-07-18T11:29:00-04:00

Seen on West 21 Street.

Boba Fett walks among us and plays accordion

2009-06-30T15:58:00-04:00

Seen near The High Line.

The High Line Opens

2009-06-09T10:35:00-04:00

Get there before the tourists do.

The Decemberists @ Radio City Music Hall, June 10th

2009-06-04T15:48:34-04:00

Super-literate rockers The Decemberists will play Radio City Music Hall on June 10th. The Portland-based band, formerly of local label Kill Rock Stars and now with Capitol, has been bringing their considerable knack for performance to bear on their tour in support of their brilliant new album, The Hazards Of Love. I'm going to keep this short and sweet because the bottom line is that you need to see the Decemberists perform live once before you die. If you see them twice, you might actually become immortal. Sold yet? Not until you get your tickets!

The legendary Little Richard @ B.B. King Blues Club, June 7th

2009-06-03T16:57:10-04:00

The inimitable Little Richard will play the B.B. King Blues Club on June 7th. The rock and funk pioneer's acumen is unquestionable—after all, he was one of the first seven artists to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986—and even at 76, The Originator is still lighting up stages as though a year hasn't passed, let alone fifty-eight of them. You don't know what you've got til it's gone, so get your tickets before they sell out!

Jenny Lewis @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg, June 9th

2009-06-01T14:10:13-04:00

Pop chanteuse Jenny Lewis will play the Music Hall Of Williamsburg on June 9th. Though she's only half of the songwriting talent in her band, Rilo Kiley, her two solo albums and the extensive touring she's done behind them have been distinctly hers. After an acclaimed first effort, Rabbit Fur Coat, last year's Acid Tongue upped the stakes for the already above-the-bar songwriter. Chances are that this will be one of the last times to catch Lewis on the road as a solo act before she goes in to write and record the next Rilo Kiley record, so you'd better get your tickets now!

The Hold Steady @ Bowery Ballroom & Music Hall Of Williamsburg, June 8-11

2009-05-29T17:19:16-04:00

Brooklyn-based rockers The Hold Steady will hold court for four days during the New York leg of their current tour, playing the Bowery Ballroom June 8th and 9th and the Music Hall Of Williamsburg June 10th and 11th. The post-punks have remained in relatively good standing with critics since their 2004 debut, Almost Killed Me and up through last year's Stay Positive. Not that it matters what the critics think; Craig Finn and Co. have developed such a feverish following—nowhere bigger than it is in New York—that they sell out even their multiple-night stints. The solution: get your tickets through NYC.com!

Jam band Phish @ the Nikon, June 2, 4, 5

2009-05-26T15:21:39-04:00

Musical chameleons and current flag-bearers of the "jam band" genre Phish will perform at the Nikon at Jones Beach on June 2nd, 4th, and 5th. The band has proven only slightly less reliable than rappers when it comes to keeping themselves retired, and the group has reunited on more than one occasion since their "hiatus"/"breakup" was announced years ago. Now Phish are full-on touring again, with a headlining spot alongside Bruce Springsteen and the equally tumultuous E Street Band, Nine Inch Nails, and the Beastie Boys at this year's Bonaroo. Chances are, if you want to go to one of these Phish concerts, you want to go to all three, but you probably know the drill by now: you've got to get your tickets before they sell out!

Broadway in Times Square Now Car-Free

2009-05-24T11:07:00-04:00

Believe it!

Brit Bobbies in Central Park

2009-05-24T09:09:00-04:00

The bobbies flew over from the other side of the pond to race against cancer for charity.

Nine Inch Nails & Jane's Addiction @ PNC Center, Nikon, June 6th & 7th

2009-05-22T17:36:41-04:00

In a move reminiscent of Bowie's Earthling tour, superpowers Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addition will play the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on June 6th and the Nikon at Jones Beach on June 7th. It may be another Dave & Goliath match-up, considering Reznor & Co.'s acumen for blistering stage shows that drain the audience and the band equally, but the finally-reunited original Jane's Addiction line-up (back for the first time since their first breakup in 1991) is no dark horse in this bi-headlining tour. Whatever the outcome of the rather Frankstein-esque matchup, the show is guaranteed to be historic and will certainly entertain a capacity crowd. Just because it's Memorial Day weekend doesn't mean you should completely slack off, so get your tickets right now!

Reunited rockers the Toadies @ the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, May 27th

2009-05-22T04:10:14-04:00

Not doubt long counted out by the mainstream, the formerly disbanded Toadies reunited in 2006 and have released two albums, Rock Show and No Deliverance, in as many years. Nearly fourteen years after their only hit single, 1994's "Possum Kingdom" off the Rubberneck album, the Toadies are still very much alive, albeit without the exact lineup that brought them to fleeting fame in the previous decade. The Toadies will play to their many fans at the Fillmore East on May 27th, and if you've got the inkling to go, you'd better make up your mind and get your tickets now!