Update: Oreo, Dog Thrown Off Building, Was Euthanized
Access-A-Ride Renders Bike Lane Inaccessible
The UWS Gets Its Very Own Apple Store
Emily and Sarah Kunstler, Filmmakers
People Wait For Tomorrow's UWS Apple Store Opening
CNBC's Money Honey Money Honey Says Mind the Gap
Earlier this week, while in Grand Central Terminal we heard a familiar voice reminding us to “Mind the gap.” It turns out it was CNBC “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo. Apparently Metro-North riders aren’t the only ones who are being reminded, as the Post reports that Long Island Rail Road commuters are getting similar reminders. The recorded messages were the brainchild of MTA board member Mitchell Palli. So apparently MTA board members do other things than raising fares, albeit of questionable benefit.
WGA Strike: A Separate Pact
The Writers Guild may have stalled in talks with the big studios, but they are negotiating with some small independent film and television production companies. Some deals may be announced next week and, as we mentioned earlier this week, one of the possible deals could be made with David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants to get the two late night shows it produces for CBS back on air. The WGA released this statement earlier today: "Representatives from Worldwide Pants and the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East met today. A lively exchange of information took place. The WGAW and WGAE will not comment further."
NBC’s Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien will be back with new shows next month along with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will be back on Comedy Central and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live - all sans writers and on the other side of the picket line. NBC’s Carson Daly began new writer less episodes a few weeks ago.
The strike is also causing the People's Choice Awards, scheduled to air on CBS next month, to be produced in a pre-taped magazine show format.
Dupont-Columbia Winners Announced
The Dupont-Columbia Awards, the Pulitzers of broadcast journalism, were announced this week and no local TV or radio stations have snagged one. The award ceremony will be next month and PBS will broadcast a special airing here on January 29 on WNET at 9 p.m. The complete list of winners can be found here.
News 4 WNBC at 5
WNBC is doing some more late afternoon shuffling. Starting January 2, there will be a 5 p.m. newscast, but there is some bad news, it will still be a half hour and infotainment show Extra will be in the 5:30 slot. WNBC's 5 o'clock hour has suffered in the ratings since the demise of Live at Five while rival WCBS has made gains in the time slot.
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Way to go, Diaper Dan [and yes we have the videotape] ...
August 2007:
[T]he change had been 'in the works for years,' as audience research and ratings showed a collapsing audience for the 5pm slot. “There has been a 40% decline in viewers for the 5pm news over the past decade, ... “The audience is not home at 5. Even my own neighbors tell me that."
December 2007:
"We tried something different, but found that the available audience had a habit for news at 5 p.m., and we're going to serve that need"
I have to ride the LIRR out to Long Island about three days a week for work, and those Maria Bartiromo announcements are the most irritating things I've ever had to listen to. Repeatedly.
But maybe that's the idea: use someone who sounds so irritating that the announcements can't easily be blocked out.
Anyway, when did she become a recognized expert in the field of transportation safety?
It could be worse.
In Los Angeles, the canned station announcements on the sparse subway system are loud, slow and so loud that a deaf person can probably hear the vibrations. Too, the announcements reiterate all the most annoying aspects about the L.A. MTA: that eating and drinking, smoking and whatnot is not allowed; that one must have proof of fare (there are no turnstiles here, and the incompetently engineered token machines—no booths or clerks, mind you—are far from the train platforms as well as difficult to manipulate owing to the sundry ways one can purchase tickets) and other things that anyone who can walk and chew gum simultaneously SHOULD be able to do.