Results tagged “fountain”

     

As part of Lincoln Center's extensive (and expensive) renovation, the beloved Revson fountain has been reimagined as well. Instead of the traditional low walled fountain, architects Diller, Scofido + Renfro created a "floating granite ring" around the water. From the press release:

As Lincoln Center approaches the final stages of it's revamp, the NY Times gets real with some fountain talk. They report that there will be a new one with choreographed water effects put in place by the firm responsible the Bellagio Hotel outdoor aquatic explosion. Because nothing says Lincoln Center like Las Vegas. One designer at the firm told the paper, "New York is probably extremely nervous about the fountain. They may be expecting something gimmicky." The final "look" will be unveiled on September 30th, and at least one critic has already spoken out, Andrew S. Dolkart, the director of Columbia University' historic preservation program, "said he did not understand why Lincoln Center decided to replace the fountain, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1964. 'It' the thing that upsets me most of all about what's happened at Lincoln Center.'" Indeed, replacing an iconic fountain that's been the backdrop in many a film, not to mention weddings and other events that have shaped people's memories, is a little bit mind-boggling. Dolkart adds: "You wouldn't want to tear down Grand Central Terminal because Frank Gehry is going to design a masterpiece in its place." Oh wouldn't we?

       

We can't resist—here are more photographs of the newly re-opened Washington Square Park. (Yesterday really was a marvelous day to enjoy it!)

After what seems like ages of renovations, Washington Square Park is back to its glorious self with fountain turned on and parkgoers enjoying the lack of construction material in the way. A tipster told Curbed, which has more photographs, "It's all very pretty, and clean -- but it looks like the local dogs will take care of that pronto. Nothing like days of yore (yet). Neither a guitar nor blunt in sight."

      

Upper East Side French brasserie L'Absinthe opened in 1995, but the namesake beverage wasn't officially served until quite recently, because the the anise-flavored liquor was believed to be illegal in the U.S. According to The Wormood Society, absinthe was banned by the FDA in 1917 because of concerns that a chemical called thujone could cause toxic convulsions, brain damage, and liver damage. While later changes to the law don't specifically cite absinthe, it prohibits any food or drink containing an excess of 10ppm of thujone. When a study several years ago determined that absinthe distilled with traditional 19th century methods contains less thujone than the proscribed amount, the path to U.S. distribution was cleared.

A photographer with the AP snapped this shot of a local entrepreneur prospecting for coins in the City Hall fountain. The Post has no details about how much the individual raked in, or how much hepatitis he picked up, but an NYPD spokesman says that, unlike Italy, it's actually perfectly legal to submerge oneself in the city's fountains to gather change and steal all the heartfelt wishes and prayers attached to them. And what about the maintenance workers who presumably use all the coins for a year-end pizza party? They have only themselves to blame for not diving in there sooner; this is NYC, baby. As E.B. White wrote, "No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky." Unidentified fountain dredger, we salute you!