Musicians in Central Park are making noise over the decision to turn the Bethesda Fountain arcade into a "Quiet Zone," a decision which has led to a blitz of tickets that the musicians say is for the sole benefit of a food concession coming to the area soon. But chef John Fraser, who will be running the concession (and who has his own legal issues to worry about these days), says you shouldn't blame him. more ›

While last week was definitely Long Island City week on Gossip Girl, this week's version of the "exclusive" Upper East Side dropped squarely in Brooklyn Heights. The opening scene, featuring some sort of perverted choir singing Fergie's "Glamorous," was shot on location at Packer Collegiate Institute's 3rd floor chapel. The gang revisited Packer later on at the contrived 'Ivy' reception, which went down in the school's backyard garden. From there, the gang didn't have to travel too far for their extracurriculars. The fantastic field hockey practice/Serena-Blair catfight took place only a few blocks away from the school at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in Cadman Plaza Park. more ›

Two years ago, we wondered if there was a big list of all the fountains in New York City. We haven't made that much progress with the list, but at least now we have a list of the "display fountains" the Parks Department maintains. And it's interesting - Brooklyn only has three while Staten Island has eight. Of course, there are many fountains outside of the Parks Department's jurisdiction (for instance, the fountain outside the Brooklyn Museum), so if you can help remind us of others in the comments, that would be great. more ›

The Parks Department is opening up the arcade at Bethesda Fountain Terrace tomorrow. The Terrace Arcade had a Minton tile ceiling and the the tiles were removed for cleaning in 1984. Now, after a $7 million effort funded by the Central Park Conservancy, the 16,000 tiles are ready to be seen by New Yorkers again. more ›

The Census Bureau just released a study that shows over 200,000 residents left the NYC area between 2000 and 2004. [You can read the PDF here.] The NYC metro area is represented by NYC, Northern NJ and Long Island; Los Angeles lost about 110,000 people and Chicago had a drop of over 60,000. People are heading south (Florida) and west (Nevada, Arizona...Idaho?), though there are increases in Maine and NH as well. Hmm, will this lead to more US Census versus the city's City Planning office fights over the numbers, as big numbers for NYC may mean more federal dollars (not that our mayor wants all the federal money...). So, as we think about a smaller Big Apple, Gothamist likes to think about Legoland's Miniland NYC. waltermonkey on Flickr has an amazing set of Legoland photographs, with a focus on the MiniNYC, where there is a Freedom Tower, Bronx block party, and Bethesda Fountain recreated in teeny tiny blocks. more ›

Doctors Without Borders will be pitching a tent in Central Park this fall. There will be an 8,000 square foot exhibit that looks like a refugee camp placed in Cherry Hill (near Bethesda Fountain) to give an approximation of what's it's like to live in a refugee conditions after disasters. Here's what Doctors Without Borders says:

Guided by MSF aid workers, visitors to this outdoor educational exhibit are asked to imagine that they are among the millions of people fleeing violence and persecution in, for example, Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, North Korea, or Sudan. more ›

Yesterday was a beautiful, mild day, perfect for walking around Central Park. However, the weather - and nightfall - seemed to make crime more possible. There were two separate robberies in the park last night. The first occured around 6PM at East Drive near 102nd Street: A 63 year-old man was mugged by two robbers who got away with $250. Then, around 8:30PM, a 52 year old man was surrounded by five men near Bethesda Fountain. The Post reports he was punched and kicked, with robbers taking about $300. more ›

Anne Pasternak,
Executive Director,
Creative Time more ›

Help me settle an argument. My friend claims there are no statues of women in Central Park. I swear I've seen a couple. Am I wrong? She could list a bunch of statues of men like Alexander Hamilton and Hans Christian Andersen, but I was having trouble coming up with even one female statue. more ›

Central Park's 150th birthday celebration was filled with various races, including ones for the kids, a dog parade, archery, people reenacting colonial New Yorkers, opera in the evening, and a birthday cake that looked like Bethesda Fountain, to name a few of the actitives offered. more ›