Anecdotal evidence suggests that transit police have been cracking down on musicians and other performers busking in the subway system—even though the MTA's own rules permit low-volume performance under certain conditions. A number of musicians and a busker advocacy group tell amNY that "police harassment has grown to disturbing levels in recent months."
An intense traveling art exhibit that aims to enlighten people about the horrors of sex trafficking has arrived in New York. Called "Journey," the installation consists of seven shipping containers with work by international artists intended to evoke the experience of being a sex trafficking victim. It opened yesterday on Washington Place, and will remain open through Sunday. This video shows the interior of one of the containers, in which Coco de Mer founder Sam Roddick recreates a room in a brothel:
Street gangs used to have way cooler names — like, say, the Devil's Rebels for instance. Now there's some amazing footage that's resurfaced of the '70s Bushwick gang, originally broadcast as part of a 1976 newscast. The footage was allegedly captured using a night vision lens and concealed cameras, and Bushwick BK notes that it all goes down in the 83rd Precinct, "a battleground for the police and young street criminals, where a teenage gang roams the streets at night looking for trouble."
Last night was the memorial for late musician Mary Travers, which took place at the Riverside Church in Morningside Heights. NY1 reports back, saying that her long-time collaborators Peter Yarrow and Noel 'Paul' Stookey were joined by Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton and more. Stookey said, "We dearly miss her. And this thing, death, it's like two shoes dropping. The first one drops when the death occurs. The other one drops a month or two later when you face up to the fact that, yeah, she's really gone."
We happened upon this photo in the LIFE magazine archives. The caption reads: "Construction in NYC: land being cleared for 20 story building in East 60s — still occupied brownstone is soon to go." It was still occupied! The photo was taken in 1959... any guesses as to what block it was on?
Yesterday, a day before its 40th birthday, Sesame Street was designated with a temporary street naming at... 64th and Broadway? While there are many neighborhoods that went into the set design for the show, many seem to think the Upper West Side isn't the best spot to dedicate a street in its name. However, while the show is filmed in Astoria, the corporate headquarters are actually on the, wait for it, UWS.
These Lohan family tapes keep getting released, and allegedly the latest recorded conversation between Lindsay's parents reveals that the actress was dating Heath Ledger back in January 2008... when he died! Dun dun dun. Mama Lohan told her ex-husband during this particular phone conversation, "I don't know if you know that, but I know cause I would drop her off and they were friends. Very, very close, okay? That fucked her up. When she's drunk or takes an Adderall with it, she will do something like Heath Ledger did in a second without thinking." She went on to say that Ledger's death set her daughter off into the downward spiral. And the fastest way to help her out of that downward spiral is to release private conversations about her personal life.
The stage adaptation of Green Day's Grammy-winning rock opera American Idiot is coming to Broadway, following a successful debut at Berkeley Rep. A spokesman for the production tells Playbill, "There is a Broadway future for the show, but at this time no dates or theatre are confirmed." So, you know, get excited... or indifferent. We're no fans of Green Day's simplistic faux-punk mascara rock, but if this thing's a hit, maybe we can look forward to Steady Diet of Nothing: The Musical? Tony Roberts would make a great Justice Brennan.
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It took 40 years, but earlier today Sesame Street was honored with their own corner of New York (64th and Broadway, to be exact). We're told, "On the eve of the program’s big birthday, a temporary street sign was unveiled and a Mayoral Proclamation bestowed by the City of New York, proclaiming November 10 Sesame Street Day.” Do we get off for that?
You've probably walked by the Marble Cemetery on 2nd Avenue before, but have you ever dared peek inside? The Scout recently took a closer look at the pretty commonly known, yet nearly hidden space (between 2nd and 3rd Streets), coming back with some amazing photos of what can be found once you get past the gate and down the narrow alleyway.
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He materializes upstage wearing dark skirts, some sort of plastic tube stuffed in his mouth, his hair tied in a spiky pony-tail, a plastic duck in a birdcage hugged to his chest. The classic Chordettes oldie Mr. Sandman is playing, and in a flash we're once again transported to Foremanland, a singular dimension of feverish theatrical provocation, devoid of conventional narrative but rich with humor and deliciously inspired tableaux.
After news that Goldman Sachs (and Citigroup) received 200 swine flu vaccines out of 5,400 requested, which is the same amount as Memorial Sloan-Kettering received for its 27,000+ request for its workers, Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update decided to tap into the populist outrage.
If you don't have a rooftop or illegal fire escape garden, but you crave the taste of fresh thyme and basil for your homecooking... then you might to check out the possibility of window farming. New Yorkers Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray created Window Farms since growing food inside New York apartments is such a challenge. They simply channeled the "hydroponics research conducted by NASA scientists and marijuana farmers" — now through a drip system made from recycled water bottles, they've been growing beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, basil, lettuce and kale! CoolHunting stopped by to get a closer look:
After speculation the expensive Julie Taymor-directed Spider-Man musical might be on the ropes, it turns out there's a new lead producer. The NY Times reports that Michael Cohl, a rock promoter, "was taking command of the financially troubled project at the behest of U2’s Bono and the Edge, who together wrote the music and lyrics for the show" and said the show would go on next year. While he's never been a lead producer, he did co-produce Spamalot and "is widely regarded in the entertainment community as a man with deep pockets, a Rolodex packed with investors and a knack for presenting entertainment spectacles."
This would have made a great Halloween costume. Fred Lebain has a new series of photographs that blend New Yorkers right into New York. Animal notes that "After shooting the scene, Lebain returned with a large-format print that he then photographed again using tripods and other ubiquitous poster-holding techniques." Perfect for a city where pretty much everyone is invisible.
As you've probably noticed from Google's art this week, it's Sesame Street's birthday! Oh the times we've shared. The television show is in its 40th year (here's the pitch), and there's lots of celebrating going on. This coming Monday "the City of New York will unveil a proclamation and announce a temporary street naming in honor of the program’s permanence and everlasting impact on New York City’s history and four generations of children across the country." Yep, Sesame Street is getting a street! The dedication will take place at noon at 64th and Columbus Avenue.
Click on the film stills for more details and reviews for this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Precious, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Fourth Kind, A Christmas Carol, The Box, Collapse, Turning Green, That Evening Sun, And Now For Something Completely Different, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
The crisp and clear weather was perfect for a Yankees 27th World Series Championship ticker tape parade—so perfect that the streets along the Canyon of Heroes were teeming with excited people celebrating the Bronx Bombers victory. In fact, check out the Gothamist Newsmap and see the incidents of "large crowd," "unruly crowd," and "airmail" (things larger than confetti/streamers being thrown) in the area.
The massive project is falling further behind schedule, it's millions of dollars in the hole, and will need a miracle to meet a looming make-or-break deadline. All we need now are a string of eminent-domain lawsuits, and Julie Taymor's wildly ambitious Broadway adaptation of Spider-Man might as well change its name to Atlantic Yards: The Musical. (Starring Harvey Fierstein as embattled developer Bruce Ratner!) Today Taymor is meeting with producers to decide whether to proceed or postpone the technically insane project, which is hemorrhaging money like Mr. Orange gushing blood in the back seat of Mr. White's car. Is it gonna be okaaay?
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In preparation for its American adaptation of the UK's provocative television knockout Skins, MTV is holding a casting call in Brooklyn in search of 15-18 year old non-actors of all types in its hunt for "the most charismatic and actually edgy kids." They're looking for genuine alpha males, divas, and "shy-types" to portray their naturally stereotypical selves along the vein of the original series which follows adventurous teens who deal with issues like pregnancy, eating disorders, and fulfilled teacher fetishes. While the series will inevitably take place in Baltimore, casting agent Kim Madalinski tells Brokelyn that looking in Brooklyn is a "no brainer."
Eco-experimenter Mary Mattingly is taking her next project ashore. Earlier this year she was living in her waterpod, and now she's off to Metropolitan Exchange Building at 33 Flatbush Avenue to create something called “Air Ship Air City," according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Set your DVRs: Starting November 20th actor/student/dreamboat James Franco will be making his debut on General Hospital—which inexplicably is just way more exciting than his upcoming cameo on 30 Rock.
The Beatrice Inn shut down earlier this year after neighbors had enough of the A-list crowd partying it up at all hours. As the same war is being waged by neighbors of the Jane Hotel, against their late night ballroom antics, word is that the Beatrice may reopen.
The crazy steam-spewing Union Square "Metronome" clock is off by 52 minutes! Does anyone even know how to read this thing? One blogger explains just how to decipher it:
The 15 numbers of the digital clock display time going and coming relative to midnight. Read time going left to right and time coming in the opposite direction. So, if the clock reads 180746***135205 it means that it is 6:07 P.M. (18 hours/07 minutes/46 seconds since midnight) and that there are 5 hours/52 minutes/13 seconds remaining until midnight. The three numbers in between are a blur of moving numbers. It is like a digital hourglass.Let that absorb. Now, she notes that the clock "was 52 minutes early yesterday" and wonders where those lost 8 minutes went to. Is it the end of the world as we know it? Someone call John Locke.
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New Jersey's 2nd favorite son Bon Jovi has signed on to become the first "artist-in-residence" at NBC. In a feature in this week's Observer, Felix Gillette traces the strange pairing, profiling both the pragmatism of self-described CEO Bon Jovi, as well as NBC's love of synergy and refusal to acknowledge criticism.
Revel New York has released another video in their amazing series, which profiles all sorts of New Yorkers. You already met the Pigeon Lady, but they've also talked to Hester Diamond (Mike D's mom) and now their latest piece delves into the world of Brooklyn boxer Danny Jacobs.
For the love of everything that is good and pure in this world, the next time there are multiple Lloyd Doblers around town, please alert us! Yesterday there were not 1, not 2, but approximately a zillion trench-coat wearing, boom-box-over-head-holding Lloyd Doblers right in this very city. Did you see them? USA Today reports that the self-dubbed "Mobler" hit up Penn Station, NYU, Union Square and landed in Times Square to meet up with a band called the Lloyd Dobler Effect, who sang "In Your Eyes."
Jay-Z and Beyonce are spreading the wealth. The Daily News reports that the couple "ran up a $1,200 bill at the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Nello's last week" after savoring their Dom Perignon, white truffles and lobster salad. If they liked it so much why didn't they just put a ring on it! (Sorry.) They were so pleased with the service and food, however, that they dropped a $500 tip. That's over 40%! The News calls out another Nello's diner, a Russian billionaire, for being relatively stingy with a 15% tip of $7,328 tip on a $47,221.09 lunch.
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Where was this hat in Sylvia Plath's day? A 22-year-old designer has created a cute little knit cap that literally stabs you in the skull until you smile. It's like Stepford Wife-chic! The claim is that "Through repeated use of this conditioning device you can train your brain to smile all the time." Goodbye sad affect, hello manufactured happiness! See creepy video after the jump. [via Pat's Papers]
Mary Travers, of folk singing group Peter, Paul & Mary fame, died at the age of 72 back in mid-September. The NY Times now reports that a memorial celebration of her life and music will be held at 7 p.m. this coming Monday at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights. "The service will be open to the public. Tickets will be available on the day of the event on a first-come-first-served basis. Half the seats will be reserved for invited guests," and everyone from Pete Seeger to Whoopi Goldberg is expected to show.
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Have you been asking yourself: where is all this candy coming from? So has the New York Times, and what they found may shock you: It is leftover candy from Halloween! The exclusive scoop reveals that some are so sick of seemingly harmless miniature candy bars that they bring the excess into the the office to unload on coworkers... who were apparently confused about this process until now.
Now that Halloween is out of the way, it's time to talk turkey. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is just around the corner, and it's getting a new route this year. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's. One reason is the new pedestrian plazas in Times Square while another is the fact that 6th and 7th Avenues are wider than Broadway. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's.
The Cooper Square Hotel is draping itself in glamorously gritty graffiti. They've commissioned artists Joyce Pensato, Nick 1, Vizie and Shinique to deck the walls of an adjacent building it recently bought, according to the NY Post. Vizie told the paper, "The only real unifying theme is the colors, black and white," but his section is "a tribute to a friend who died over the summer."
We received our smiley-face laden wristbands so that we may gain entry to the Vice 15th Anniversary + Halloween party this past Saturday — but around 11 p.m. that night we were already hearing that the 1994-themed extravaganza was total mayhem, so we took our flannel elsewhere.
Who can't use a little cute animal "news" on a Monday? Prospect Park Zoo recently introduced "a trio of new yellow footed rock wallabies in the Australian Walkabout on Discovery Trail," and they sent us this photo of one of them with a pumpkin! Since the WCS loves giving its animals pumpkin treats around Halloween, even the snow leopard had some fun with one at Central Park Zoo recently:
As reported over the weekend, the revival of Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" ended its run yesterday after only one week due to poor ticket sales. Today, the NY Times asks what went wrong, and came up with several possible answers: Simon's old-fashioned brand of comedy, the lack of star power, a slumping Broadway economy, an ever-evolving zeitgeist...actually, it seems like everything is what went wrong.
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Yesterday's 40th running of the ING NYC Marathon saw over 40,000 people traveling across the five boroughs to clock in 26.2 miles of running, walking, handcycling, and more. Besides the men's and women's race winners Meb Kelflizighi and Derartu Tulu, there were other champs:
It may have been raining, but the annual Village Halloween Parade still attracted thousands of costumed marchers and spectators. Check out these photographs from our readers (and thank you for sharing them!).
Oscar-winning actress Penelope Cruz and director Pedro Almodovar are the main feature of the NY Times' Holiday Movies section. But don't ask about Cruz's relationship with Javier Bardem! "Asked if a wedding is in the works, she said, with a pleasant smile and eyes of cold steel: 'You are a writer for The New York Times, yes? I think maybe you are not supposed to ask that kind of question.'"
And they're off! Over 40,000 runners are on their way to finishing the 2009 New York City Marathon, which snakes across all five boroughs before its dramatic — and surprisingly hilly — finish in Central Park. All eyes are on three-time winner Paula Radcliffe, the British champ who this summer won the NYC Half Marathon. On the men's side, the Brazilian runner Marílson Gomes dos Santos is fighting for his third NYC Marathon victory against a field of formidable contenders including Kenyans James Kwambai and Robert Cheruiyot.
2nd avenue and 47th- 1 hammarskjold plaza. 15-20 ambulances and trucks.
Info from FDNY: people on 4
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