The NY Scheme

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.

Tags: l train, mta, real time display, subway

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.

Tags: ben greenman, borough hall, brooklyn book festival, david cross, festivals, javits center, lupe fiasco, new york, new york comic con, paul auster, thurston moore

Red Bull Snowscrapers

2009-01-14T16:03:25-05:00

Sixteen of the world's best snowboarders will converge on the East River Park to compete for pieces of a $100,000 purse. An entirely massive jump has been constructed, as well as the usual snowboard half-pipes, to accomodate the "jam session" format preliminary and final rounds of the competition. Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White will be competing alongside Pat Moore, Travis Rice, Kevin Pearce, Mikkel Bang, Danny Davis, Kohei Kubo, Kazuhiro Kakubo, Terke Haakonsen, Andreas Wiig, Torstein Horgmo, Jake Blauvelt, Greg Bretz, Bjorn Lienes, and JJ Thomas. Local metal miscreants and all-around lunatics Anthrax will provide the musical landscape for the event.

Gates open at 2pm on February 5th, and the event will end sometime after the awards presentation, which is scheduled for 9pm.

Tags: andreas wiig, anthrax, bjorn lienes, danny davis, east river park, gold medal, greg bretz, half pipe, jake blauvelt, kazuhiro kakubo, kevin pearce, kohei kubo, mikkel bang, olympic, pat moore, purse, red bull, shaun white, snowboarding, sports, terke haakonsen, torstein horgmo, travis rice

Bulls

2009-01-06T14:07:21-05:00

45 of the country's top bull-riders will descend on Madison Square Garden for a completely rural day of agrarian antics in the city. The Professional Bull Riders Invitational will showcase the cowboys (not the ones in Chelsea) wrangling and straining to maintain their position on bulls that will be trying with all then full-ton might to throw them to the dirt. Prices range from $10 all the way up to $195 and do not include dinner at Hill Country. Get your tickets now because you're not likely to see the bulls win in Madison Square Garden ever again.

Tags: bull riding, bulls, cowboys, hill country, invitational, knicks, madison square garden, professional bull riders, rodeo, sports

Christmas on Fifth Avenue

2008-12-22T09:07:54-05:00

Fifth Avenue is a madhouse at the best of times, and during the holiday season, it's absolute bedlam. The confluence of world-class flagship stores, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park greats a Tholian-sized grid of pedestrian traffic that seems altogether impassable. Whether this is because everyone's trying out our Fifth Avenue walking tour or simply there to see the magnificent holiday displays, it's sea fit for no ship. So for those either unable or unwilling to see the holiday window displays (more information on the whole swath of displays can be found here) of Fifth Avenue, here's a brief tour.

World Of Disney & Faconnable

Louis Vuitton & Henri Bendel

Brooks Brothers & Bulgari

Juicy Couture

Saks Fifth Ave

Bergdorf Goodman

Tags: bergdorf, brooks brothers, bulgari, disney, faconnable, fifth avenue, henri bendel, holiday window display, juicy couture, louis vuitton, prada, saks

Holidays Uncorked @ City Winery

2008-12-17T12:28:07-05:00

Saturday, the City Winery hosted "Holidays Uncorked," a collection of holiday stories performed by New York actors. Though it's been a Chicago mainstay for many a holiday season, this year marks the first time the event has come to New York, and it also marks the inauguration of City Winery as an up-and-coming venue. The rustic winery—New York's first—will soon feature its first annual New Year's Eve show, with chanteuse Joan Osborne. If the stories and performances of "Holidays Uncorked"—which were emotive, resonant, and memorable—City Winery will quickly become the spot to watch.

Tags: city winery, entertainment, live music, new york city, nightlife, wine

Secondhand Serenade @ Z100 Jingle Ball Pre-Show... Free!

2008-12-11T15:36:30-05:00

John Vesely and company--collectively known as Secondhand Serenade--will be performing at Z100's free pre-show concert Friday, December 12th. The platinum-single-selling band will perform with pop-rock outfit the Veronicas for the event, which is taking place at the Roseland Ballroom, will give fans the opportunity to meet some of the performers from the Jingle Ball, including Kanye West, Paramore, Katy Perry, Grandy, and Ne-Yo. The free Secondhand Serenade show starts at 4pm, which gives audience members just enough time to get to Madison Square Garden before the Jingle Ball itself commences. Lines are expected for this free concert, so get there early!

Tags: brandy, chris brown, jesse mccartney, jingle ball, kanye west, katy perry, leona lewis, neyo, paramore, secondhang serenade, veronicas, z100

Holiday Picks: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-10T12:11:11-05:00

Actually, it's looking more and more like Spring here in New York, but that's done nothing to slow the oncoming train of the holidays. Some ideas for your consideration this festive season:

Ice Skating!

While the first snow of the year came and went with alarming speed (it lived for about five hours, by my count), there are some places in New York that stay frozen throughout the winter months. If you're into teeming masses, yearning to buy Brookstone products, the Ice Rink at Rockefeller Center is like riding an icy subway train at rush hour, but you can get a lot of great shopping done, check out a show at NBC Studios, the Christmas Tree, and Top of The Rock. The Polar Rink (at the American Museum Of Natural History) and Seaport Ice (at South Street Seaport) are the city's newest skating attractions, and both have ameneties and features above and beyond your standard ice rink. Wollman Rink in Central Park even offers a holiday-specific skating event, Chanukah On Ice, on December 23rd. That's hardly all the city has to offer for the ice-obsessed, so we've cobbled together an Ice Skating Guide.

Let It... Show?

Broadway's holiday offerings include the usual classic productions like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and Irving Berlin's White Christmas, but this season has also brought the world-class clown antics of Slava's Snowshow--a mind-bendingly beautiful production and the perfect cure for a snowless New York Christmas--and the likewise brain-busting theatrics of Cirque du Soleil's new production Wintuk. And just to the wintery north of Broadway, the New York City Ballet's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

Off the Great White Way, there's a Holiday Train Show to be had at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo, an origami Christmas tree at the American Museum Of Natural History, and Winter Solstice celebrations at Symphony Space and the Cathedral Of St. John The Divine.

Shopping

The window displays of Fifth Avenue are a must-see every holiday season; perhaps you'd like a tour of the area? Or maybe you haven't finished your shopping and are in need of some great bargains? Woodbury Common Premium Outlets could be just the thing. Or if you've got a fashionista on your Christmas list this year, it might do you (and them) some good to explore fashionable SoHo & Nolita on a shopping tour!

New Year's Eve

As we hermetically seal 2008 and drop it into the undraggable depths of the East River, you can enjoy a beautiful New Year's Eve dinner cruise or, if you're less interested in eating and more interested in drinking--there's the standard New Year's Eve cruise. This is all assuming, of course, that you don't want to be in Times Square for the New Year's Eve ball-dropping festivities. And finally, to start (or end) the year on the right note, why not enjoy the New Year's Midnight Run?

Tags: american museum of natural history, ball dropping, broadway, bronx zoo, central park, chanuk, christmas, christmas spectacular, cirque du soleil, cruise, dinner, hanukkah, holiday, ice skating, new years, new years eve, nolita, radio city music hall, shopping, slavas snowshow, soho, st john the divine, symphony space, train show, walking tour, white christmas, wintuk, wollman rink, woodbury common

The 2008 Global Cities Index

2008-11-24T13:46:47-05:00

High-brow journal Foreign Policy put forth an index of "global cities" last month, ranking the world's 60 best cultural, financial, cosmopolitan hubs. New York City--which some might think doesn't have the cachet of, say, older and more historic cities like Paris and London--was at the top of the list, followed--appropriately enough--by London and Paris. For the "Business Activity" and "Information Exchange" categories, the city scored at the top of the list, as well as ranking #1 as a "Human Capital," a rating of "how well the city acts as a magnet for diverse groups of people and talent." Well done!

New York was trounced in "Political Engagement" by only one city--Washington, D.C.--and we say fair play to that, with the caveat that this was determined a month before New Yorkers queued up all day on Election Day and then had raucous post-election celebrations throughout the night. Not surprisingly, New York's "Cultural Experience" rating was bested by both London and Paris (in that order), no doubt for their long and rich histories of high culture and appreciation of the arts. The top ten, in order: New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Singapore, Chicago, Seoul, and Toronto. Washington, Boston, Miami, and Atlanta also made it into the top 60, with no sign of a showing for Philadelphia despite their status as the World Champions of baseball.

Tags: atlanta, best city ever, boston, business activity, chicago, cultural experience, foreign policiy, global cities, hong kong, human capital, information exchange, london, los angeles, miami, new york, paris, political engagement, seoul, singapore, tokyo, toronto, washington

The Thin Ice Of Modern Life

2008-11-20T11:19:09-05:00

The temperature in New York is finally starting to drop, although not precipitously so yet. Nevermind that, though: on Saturday, November 22nd, the American Museum Of Natural History will open their brand-new Polar Rink for its very first holiday season. Located at the rear of the museum (79th & Columbus), the rink--which employs eco-friendly, water-saving synthetic ice--sits on a terrace that gives skaters views of the beautifully round Rose Center For Earth And Space and Theodore Roosevelt Park, which bounds the museum to the north. There's also a seventeen-foot steel bear in the center of the rink, so take that into consideration if you're bringing easily freaked-out children (and hang your camping food from a nearby tree for safety). Admission ranges from $6-10 and includes rentals, with the lower prices going--of course--to Museum members. All things considered, the Polar Rink is your cheapest skating solution in the city.

The following week--on November 28th--the South Street Seaport will open it's 8,000 square-foot skating facility, Seaport Ice. Located on Pier 17 right next to the humungous heated tent, the new rink will offer Lower Manhattan harbor views while skating, and a relatively cheap $5 admission ($7 rental). Live music and lessons will also help this historic district-addition to cut a new path for recreation.

For more on New York's endless ice skating opportunities, check out our ice skating guide.

Tags: american museum of natural history, central park, ice skating, lower manhattan midtown, new york, polar rink, rink, rockefeller center, roosevelt park, rose center, seaport, seaport ice, skating, south street, upper west side, wollman rink