Results tagged “event”

Saturday night's New York Wine and Food Festival dessert extravaganza, SWEET, wasn't a competition, but Anne Thorton's offering had people raving, and her table was cleaned out long before the night's end. So we're calling her the winner. Thorton's the pastry chef and event manager at Hotel Griffou, which has become both a trendy nightspot and critical punching bag (Pete Wells at the Times says, "I was treated worse each time I showed up.") We've never checked into Hotel Griffou, so we were pleasantly surprised to find Thorton's dessert—Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie—outshining chefs from such critical darlings as Locanda Verde and Per Se (not that their creations were anything to sneeze at, either.)

The folks who put on this weekend's Pup Crawl, which we mentioned in our newsletter last week, sent us some photos we just couldn't resist posting! (If you have glow-in-the-dark leash envy, you can pick up your own here.) They also tell us that through their event, which brought dogs and their owners across Brooklyn Bridge—taking it over from cyclists and pet-free pedestrians, they "raised more than $3,000 for local animal shelters."

Park(ing) Day is observed tomorrow in New York City and in other cities around the world. The international holiday, which turns boring old asphalt parking spaces into whimsical urban oases, was started back in 2005 by Transportation Alternatives and Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design collective. It became an annual event, and every year the curbside creations have gotten more elaborate and inspired. Last year saw parking spaces transformed into such curiosities as a meditation garden, a geodesic dome, and an urban arbor.

You may not have been invited to sit cross-legged in the front row of Ungaro, but that doesn't mean that you can't put a little fashion in your week.

Those likable Dutch, to celebrate the quadricentennial of Hudson's arrival in New York harbor in 1609, are busy right now building a replica colonial village at Bowling Green. It's part of the NY400 Week celebration, which officially kicks off Tuesday September 8th, and includes a massive Dutch music, art, and dance festival on Governors Island (The New Island Festival), tours of the replica of Hudson's ship The Half Moon , sailing races, the unveiling of the New Amsterdam Pavilion (a gift from the Netherlands at Peter Minuit Plaza, Battery Park), an historic walking tour co-hosted by Russell Shorto, author of the stellar book The Island at the Center of the World; and a boatload more activities! [This pdf has it all.]

       

If you didn't grow up with extended family members partaking in Civil War reenactments, then you always have the annual Civil War Weekend on Governors Island to familiarize yourself. This year's event took place on Saturday, and istolethetv's flickr has full visual documentation, also noting that "the National Park Service, 119th New York Volunteers, The GawdAwful Mess and Battery G of the First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, and the Soldiers of the First Minnesota provided family friendly activities, living history demonstrations, music and other programs designed to introduce people to the men and women of the Governors Island Garrison and Confederates imprisoned on the Island." In the early 1800s Castle Williams and Fort Jay were constructed on the island, and used as defensive structures from the Revolution onward. Also, here is a Tropic Thunder/Guns n' Roses "Civil War" mash-up.

Like every other American raised in the Reagan era and versed in such quotable phrases as "Drinking and driving don't mix, that's why I ride a bike," we were saddened to learn of John Hughes's untimely death yesterday. But now we're also angry, because today's Times obituary fails to make any mention of Hughes's funniest movie, and one of the best comedies of the '80s: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Here's just a taste of comedy gold—anyone recognize that actor playing Owen?

The litterbugs are speaking up. Following their annual Heatwave BBQ that left Prospect Park looking more like a landfill than a public oasis, hosts of the event, MIHventures has released the following "explanation":

Summer is upon us, and Mayor Bloomberg has declared July to be Good Beer Month. And there's nothing quite like riding ones bike to a bar and imbibing in some cold ones, right? Actually that sounds like a dangerous idea, but it still didn't stop some folks from putting together a Bike to the Bars event.

Currently the band Phish is recording an album in an unidentified "fun city" (New York?) before they head out on the Most Important Reunion Tour of Our Time. Tonight, however, something related to the band is going down at Brooklyn's Monkeytown, and it's called Gamehenge. For those who don't know, Gamehenge was frontman Trey Anastasio's senior thesis at Goddard College (you can read it here, though we suggest listening to it). But what exactly is going down at Monkeytown tonight?

In the spirit of experimentation, collaboration and fun, 100 sound artists have re-interpreted Phish's coveted Gamehendge album to create Gamehenge '09! This is a kaleidoscopic joyride through bizarre sound demi-genres.

Continue reading "Gamehenge Revival in Brooklyn"

Trend alert! Aging hippies are now pairing up classic rock with their favorite vintage. On March 17th at Becco restaurant, Joe Bastianich is hosting an "unprecedented evening of wining, dining, and grooving with the music of Led Zeppelin." He'll be joined by author Mike Edison (also former publisher of High Times!) and David Lynch (not that one). For $175 you'll be served up a 6-course dinner (one for each Zepp album), tunes, and a whole lotta wine. What pairing possibilities could occur as we wine on down the road? Last year Sammy Hagar poured his tequila at La Esquina. How about a Creedence Bottled Water Revival night, or a Steely Dan Kid Champagne tasting?

            

Yesterday around 2 p.m. New York's first Ice Box Derby went down in Central Park. Sure, it didn't have Idiotarod's attendance (only about nine competitors showed up with their make-shift vehicles), but those who were there really embraced the race. No winner was announced, the riders just kept going back down the hill (you know, for fun!) as spectators cheered them on. Sounds like there will be a 2nd annual derby, so get thee into the imagination laboratory and start working on the ultimate ice box racing machine.

Something amazing called Zombie Unicorn is hosting a fast, furious and frosty event later this month: The Great Ice Box Derby! This is the first ever ice box derby to take place in New York City (unsubstantiated!), and it all goes down on Saturday, February 28th in Central Park. If you want to be involved in what is essentially the Idiotarod on Ice, all you have to do is "create a soapbox vehicle, a sled with caster wheels, a big wheel with skis, trike with tin foil or some similar creation that can roll and slide. Make sure you can turn or can crash into a fence." While skateboards are welcome (if you sit down), they ask that you leave your bikes at home. What do you think, is this just a recipe for a disaster on the rocks?

As well reported by now, New York's botanical gardens are facing massive budget cutbacks as part of Gov. Paterson's proposal, and the NY Times reports today that both the Queens and Bronx gardens have already been canceling programs. But now you've got a chance to help bail out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The annual Idiotarod is just around the corner, taking place on January 31st, and registration is now open (a spot costs $25). Free Williamsburg (whose scribe was part of a team called Kraftwerking for the Weekend last year) points to the good and the bad about the event, saying: "the Idiotarod is kind of fun because you get to act like an idiot but also kind of lame because people make a giant mess in other people's neighborhoods and don't clean it up." Clean up your acts this year, kids!

Snowboarding in Manhattan? Whatever! It's really happening though (it's actually happened before), thanks to the caffeine-pushers at Red Bull who will debut their "Snowscrapers" on the banks of the East RIver next month.

              

Once a year a large troupe of handmade Saint Nicks flood the city with red, white and green. SantaCon is taking place right this second, after being kicked off at 10 a.m. at 33rd Street and 6th Avenue. Expect for these marathon Santas to pop up on the subway, in the bar and of course the city sidewalks. As the site notes: "They will shrivel at the end of a frantic 15 to 48 hour life cycle, gorging on booze, fornicating, and spreading an overwhelming stench of cheer." Here are some photos from the scene so far today...

MUSIC: Stellastarr* kicks off their 5-night run at Pianos tonight, but if you want to hear "My Coco" then you had to buy tickets a while ago--as they're all sold out. What isn't sold out is the Dr. Dog show at Webster Hall; the Philly band (pictured) will lull you into the week with their sweet psychedelipop.

              

NY Magazine threw their 10th Annual tasting frenzy last night at Skylight, with chefs from dozens of the city's best restaurants corralled to raise money for City Harvest. Some of the bolder-faced names included April Bloomfield from The Spotted Pig and, supposedly, Tom Colicchio, but he was nowhere to be seen at the Craft table when we were there. As for the food, the big standouts of the night were definitely L'Ecole's Smoked Arctic Char with Pickled Tomato and Goat Cheese, Adour's Hazlenut Croustillant, and the Witch's Kiss tequila cocktail from PDT.

We have some more details about Gothamist House (there's even a Facebook page!), open during CMJ next week (October 22nd through 25th). The shows will run from 2:30 to 8 p.m. daily...and you'll want to get there early because we'll have a limited amount of gift bags each day (a reusable grocery bag from Whole Foods with goodies from Babeland, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Penguin and others).

                    

Yesterday, Gothamist attended the 34th annual Atlantic Antic along Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. For the uninitiated, this not your typical New York "tube sock" street fair. Sure there are some of the typical food vendors (gyros, roasted corn and Mozzarepas, natch). But unlike most other street fairs, there is a strong neighborhood presence in both food (including freebees from the new kid on the block Trader Joe’s) and vendors, along with many Brooklyn community groups and a wide variety of live music. As an added bonus this year, the New York Transit Museum had free admission along with its annual bus festival.

PARTY: Legendary rocktographer Bob Gruen will be on hand tonight signing and celebrating his new book, also the "first photography collection devoted to the New York Dolls and their iconic and unprecedented style." For the juicers, this event also promises complimentary wine!

It's that time of year again, to sneak into those off-limits nooks of New York! Today Open House New York, a favorite annual event, has opened up advance reservations for some of this year's tours (though some are on a first come, first serve basis). Hopefully you didn't have your hopes up to see McCarren Park Pool, as that one's been mysteriously cancelled. For the rest, they instruct that "advance reservations for participation will be listed online and in the printed event guide. Please follow the RSVP email or phone instructions found within the site or program listing." You can also purchase a passport for the weekend (which will get you into non-reservation events), and tickets for the Launch Party, being held in the raw space of the Penthouse at One York in Tribeca, on October 3rd. View Saturday's tours here, and Sunday's here. Something to note: today's NY Times has a OHNY Weekend Event Guide.

Last year the first Takeover BAM went down, and the number one complaint was that it was a bit overcrowded. Hopefully they've worked out some kinks in the past year, because the 2nd one-night-only, all-night open house party is coming up on September 27th.

Speaking of Moonstruck, this week the Central Park Film Festival is screening movies highlighting the different boroughs of the city. Tomorrow night's kickoff film is Working Girl, starring Melanie Griffith as a plucky secretary from Staten Island trying to make it in the business world. The rest of the films: 8/20, The French Connection (a Bronx candy store under surveillance); 8/21, Strangers on a Train (the Alfred Hitchcock thriller); 8/22, Moonstruck (with an introduction by Academy Award winner screenwriter John Patrick Shanley); and 8/23, August Rush (with a performance by the film's Academy Award nominated choir, IMPACT)

This year Williamsburg has seen its fair share of stabbings and shootings, and in light of that "a number of local politicians and churches are sponsoring a prayer rally and concert to protest the recent spate of violence in the Southside." One of the latest crimes took place over the East River recently at the daylight drenched hour of 4:45 p.m. The Brooklyn Paper reported that "a gun-toting thug tried to mug a 28-year-old man as he walked across the Williamsburg Bridge on July 24, but the courageous victim wrestled the firearm away." The rally will take place tomorrow, August 2nd, at 5 p.m. at Continental Plaza on Roebling and S. 5th Street.

At this year's CitySol event, which took place over the weekend, Baltimore resident Dan Deacon (pictured) was set to perform after making a last-minute announcement following another New York show last week. BrooklynVegan notes that Deacon was a no-show, however, "thanks to some airline screwup that sent his equipment to Cincinnati." See, in order to play the solar-powered show, Deacon had to first unleash no small amount of greenhouse gas. After playing McCarren Pool last Thursday, Deacon flew to Atlanta Friday, only to have to turn around and fly back to New York for Saturday's show.

Spiegelworld returns to Pier 17 this summer...but not until August! Their lineup is a hefty one, however, running through November 2nd. The 100+ year old traveling venue became a seasonal fixture in New York three years ago. Holding 350 people, the shows are pretty intimate, and the views from the garden are on par with the beauty of the tent itself. And this year there will even be a perfect night view of the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall.

This Sunday marks the annual Gay Pride Parade. The march will run from 5th Avenue & 52nd St. to Christopher & Greenwich St. beginning at noon -- so either join in on the fun, or adjust your driving and walking routes lest you incur some delays (NYC DoT has some tips). This year should be especially celebratory given that same-sex marriage is now legal in California!

Charlie Todd's new Urban Prankster site points towards a cryptic online outlet for Prototype161, a company that "provides consulting, investigation, and solutions to clients whose problems cannot be solved by ordinary methods." Todd received a letter, which he posted, saying he'd been selected as a prospective agent.

Prototype161 seeks creative, resourceful, and daring individuals to serve as agents in our ongoing investigations.

Continue reading "Something Cryptic This Way Comes"