Results tagged “coronapark”

Tonight is the last chance until December 2010 to witness a total lunar eclipse. This is the third such eclipse in the past year. With any luck the weather will cooperate. It looks like there will be breaks in the clouds over the city, which should make for dramatic views. Break out the tripods and cameras!

For the 1964-1965 World's Fair, architect Philip Johnson designed the New York State Pavillion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Besides the well-known observation towers (think Men in Black) and the Theaterama, he commissioned a "130-foot-by-166-foot terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map."

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg speaking at the State of the City address by Mary Altaffer/AP

SHOP: Still looking for that perfect gift? The Brooklyn Historical Society is holding the 4th Annual NY Creates Craft Fair, and they may have just what you're looking for. Check it out today and tomorrow, and it will be back the 22nd and 23rd for the real last-minute shoppers.

Diamond asked the residents of New York City's most diverse nabe about their food preferences and solicited recipes. Her project, which is being presented by the Queens Museum of Art, runs through October 14. The goal of "This Is What Eat," is to "unite and empower its readers through food." Based on the diversity of recipes it seems to be a resounding success. The dishes run the cultural gamut from red beans and rice and macaroni cheese to shrimp ceviche and Belgium Chicken Soup.

MOVIE: The new Hairspray has set up special Sing-A-Long screenings! They begin nationwide today, and there will be three right here in New York. If you don't like rowdy theaters, skip this one!

After hearing about the tragic rush-hour bridge collapse in Minneapolis that has claimed at least four lives, we wondered what the conditions of New York City's bridges were. Like the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, several of our city's largest bridges are undergoing what seems like constant construction. All the East River bridges are either undergoing repairs right now, have plans for the future, just finished construction, or all of the above.

TONY blog has a report on the most endangered sites in the world. The World Monuments Fund released its 2008 list yesterday, which is packed with far off places.

Now we know what happened to the NYPD's 2003 pilot program to have some of its officers use Segways: The batteries (which were eventually recalled) would make the entire Segway stop when they were dead, so officers were fall off. Now, the NYPD has decided the newer models are up to snuff and will make like it's 2003 by having 10 Segways patrol various parts of the city starting today.

Join Denise Landis, recipe tester for The New York Times, as she shares recipes and expertise from her newest cookbook, Dinner for Eight. Free tasting and book signing to follow the demonstration. Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street (between Broadway and University), 3 PM, free.

THEATER: We could try to describe Neal Medlyn's Coming In The Air Tonight, but why bother when there’s this: “The show features a variety of Phil Collins and Genesis music and is about how Neal is starting to slowly fall apart due to how he's all torn up inside from getting his heart broken into tiny pieces. It is also about how Neal steals a lot of stuff from people. Like their belongings and house wares but also their thoughts and ideas…Over the course of which Neal gets progressively covered in more and more blood. The end. As if that weren't enough, it features special guest appearances by Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb), Bridgett Everett (At Least It's Pink), and Adrienne Truscott (of the Wau Wau Sisters).” Read ye olde timey 2004 Gothamist interview with Medlyn. - John Del Signore

We think there is still free access to Times Select articles today, so we urge you to read Dan Barry's column about the NY State Pavilion from the 1964 World's Fair. Here's the opening:

Once there were elevators gliding up the sides of the towers to reveal a city unfolding; now they are rusted in mid-rise. Once there were stairwells winding within those towers; now they are rotted through. The call for a better tomorrow, for “Peace Through Understanding,” is answered by the flutter and coo of its hidden inhabitants.

Continue reading "Pity the New York State Pavilion"

MOVIES: Seriously, like there is anything else to see this weekend besides Snakes on a Plane. C'mon, you know you wanna.

With the weather so nice, it's the perfect opportunity to head to Flushing today to check out the final day of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York. Today's races have already started, but the event lasts until 6 p.m., with the last race scheduled for 5:09 (it will undoubtedly be running late). If watching various teams compete in dragon boats from the shores of Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, there will also be a dumpling eating contest at noon today.

- Get your seersucker suits and sun dresses out! Tomorrow evening is the 138th running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown and horse racing's "Test of the Champion." Races on stakes day begin at noon with post time for the Belmont Stakes at 6:33 pm Television coverage starts at noon on ESPN with coverage on ABC starting at 5. The current favorite for the race is Bluegrass Cat, but the winners of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness will both be absent from the race. Barbaro was injured at the Preakness and the owner of Preakness winner Bernardini decided to rest him. Pre-Derby favorite Brother Derek will also be absent. But that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of fun at Belmont, especially since general admission is only $5.

"The U.S. hasn't had a fair in two decades. Since they [the committee] opened the door, we felt we had an obligation to look into this seriously." The FMCPWFA is working on the proposal, with the Willets Point junkyards as the base. But there are some roadblocks, namely how the U.S. ended its membership with the BIE in 2001 and that Mayor Bloomberg, and then President Bush, would have to support the effort.

Yay for optimism, because that seems to be the key word at the Department of Sanitation. The DoS and the city have launched a new anti-littering campaign - "Stomp Out Litter." And it features the cast of Stomp traipsing around the city, from Times Square to the Bronx Zoo - even Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Funny, it looks so glamorous, so "Rent" when the cast of Stomp stomps out litter.

With the proposed chill coming this weekend, we thought it would be a good to remind everyone that the city's ice skating rinks will be closing on April 2. Yes, the Pond in Bryant Park has been closed since January and Prospect Park's rink closed last weekend, but there's still the Abe Stark Rink at Coney Island, World’s Fair Ice Skating Rink in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the Staten Island War Memorial Ice Skating Rink in Clove Lakes Park, and Lasker Rink and Wollman Rink in Central Park. And speaking of toe picks, has anyone seen The Cutting Edge 2 on ABC Family yet?

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall really wants the Jets to move to Queens so much that she says she's fine with getting rid of the Fountain of Planets in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Marshall made the point that no one will care about the Fountain of Planets because it's filled with garbage. Mayor Bloomberg was with Marshall when she made that comment yesterday, and he said, "If it's filled with garbage there will be somebody there this afternoon," and wouldn't you know it, workers were clearing out the muck chop chop! Our mayor is so funny. He was so gung-ho about the Jets moving to the West Side, but now when it comes to Queens, he's suddenly concerned about parkland: "I'd love to see the Jets plan any place in New York rather than across the river. The alienation of parkland is clearly going to be controversial and something that has to be looked at. If you take away parkland, the state law is quite clear. We'd have to come up with parkland someplace else." The Jets say they would replace eight acres of parkland, but how one does that sounds more like magic to us. And, of course, the Jets are being accused to grabbing land, since the team rejected a plan to move to Willets Point. The Jets just won't win!

Cue the Jaws music: The snakehead is here! A snakehead fish was found in Queens. Oh, yes, at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park's Meadow Lake, biologists found a couple of the "voracious" snakeheads there. Gothamist remembers when we would read these wild Washington Post articles in 2002 that would get more and more hysterical as more and more snakeheads seems to be spotted. Snakeheads apparently eat everything in its environment, thusly taking over a lake and depleting any other kinds of life there, and officials think that the snakeheads were originally imported from China (of course, as many nutty things seem to originate there) to be future cheap, dish dinners (of course). Biologists will be looking to make sure all the snakeheads are gone, and Gothamist prays they do - rumor has it they can walk out of water, perhaps trying to usurp alligators at the new urban legend.

Other things you can do this weekend: Check out Coney Island Day tomorrow or some music, try some recipes mentioned on Gothamist Food, get ready for the Mets-Cardinals series (the Cards are leading both leagues), figure out the right thing to say in an awkward situation, or think about some books you've read lately and how much they might piss Dale Peck off. Or enjoy the splendors of what looks to be a cool, crisp weekend. Happy weekend, everyone!

Gothamist Sports analyzed the IOC's announcement of the 2012 Olympics finalists and on the fight against the city's bid

More about the 1964-65 World's Fair. And go to Corona Park and pretend you're in your very own rap video - just bring the fish eye lens.

kite aficionados out there. Honestly, Gothamist can't believe the hipsters haven't reclaimed lovable, kitschy kiteflying as their weekend activity of choice. (It's the logical next step after rollerskating.) It probably has something to do with the near-impossible task of finding a safe place to fly a kite in the city.

It's the 13th Annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. Festivites and races take place today and tomorrow, from 9AM- 5PM, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Meadow Lake. (Take the 7 train to Willets Point - Shea Stadium; then walk or take the trolley...check courtesy desk Unfortunately, subway maintenance limits service to Willets Point - thanks reader David). There are races, Dragon parades, arts & crafts...