Trailblazing performance artist Marina Abramovic's latest project may prove to be her most ambitious yet: she's trying to raise $15 million to build a performance art center in Hudson, New York (a.k.a. Williamsburg-on-Hudson), to be located in a former theater that's fallen into disrepair. The 23,000-square-foot facility is designed by Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas of the firm OMA, and—if it ever gets built—will feature auditoriums for long-duration performances, and specially-designed reclining massage chairs to fall asleep in. more ›

It's been a while since we last talked about ramps... too long. So we were happy to find an announcement in our inbox regarding the 2nd annual Ramp Fest! Save the date: it's going down May 5th in Hudson Valley. more ›

Today the NY Times examines changes occurring in the post-industrial Hudson Valley, and finds enough people who once lived in Brooklyn to frame the situation in a trendy way we can all understand: "Call it the Brooklynization of the Hudson Valley, the steady hipness creep with its locavore cuisine, its Williamsburgian bars, its Gyrotonic exercise, feng shui consultants and deep clay art therapy and, most of all, its recent arrivals from New York City... So many people have moved to Beacon from Brooklyn that people now call it NoBro." Or as finance columnist Daniel Gross put it, the Times, tiring of "Brooklyn is awesome" articles, has turned to "place to which Brooklynites flee is awesome" articles. more ›

Lest you forget that New York is a coastal city, check out these beautiful photos from photographer Shelley Seccombe—not only does much of her work focus on the West Village piers, but they're currently on display at the Lilac, a 1930s-era steamship docked at Pier 25. more ›

You think that salacious Calvin Klein billboard is distracting... how about this new, menacing digital billboard at the corner of Canal and Hudson? NYC the Blog has video of it in action, and declares it to be a "potential mental health hazard" for those living near by (let's not forget what that glowing Kenny Rogers Roasters sign did to Kramer). Then there's the whole problem of temporarily blinding those operating motor vehicles in a pedestrian-heavy city. more ›

Rep. Jerrold Nadler predicts the FAA's new rules for the Hudson River air corridor will make the situation worse, and Senator Chuck Schumer says the FAA needs to "go back to the drawing board." On Wednesday the FAA released its redesign plan, which, as you surely know, was prompted by the August 8th collision between a small plane and a sightseeing helicopter. While the new rules call for reorganizing air traffic over the Hudson into three separate altitude corridors, some critics still want air traffic controllers to start managing all flights over the Hudson. Currently pilots flying under 1,100 feet and over the river avoid each other simply by looking out the cockpit window; that "see and avoid" method will continue, though augmented by enhanced radio communication between aircraft. Despite the fierce criticism, Mayor Bloomberg expressed lukewarm support for the changes yesterday, telling reporters, "I'm just not going to second guess [Administrator Randy Babbitt] or the FAA. I'll ride with whatever the FAA judgment is in terms of making the city safer." See, this is exactly the kind of bold, independent leadership you get when a mayor isn't beholden to the special Interests! more ›

As long as he lives, U.S. Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger will travel the land to tell the amazing story of his successful emergency landing on the Hudson River in January; this morning found him in Washington to testify during hearings held by the National Transportation Safety Board on air safety and the growing threat of bird strikes. (According to the Times, researchers counted 229 people killed and 210 aircraft destroyed as a result of bird strikes in the last 20 years.) And yesterday the Smithsonian Institution announced that isotopic analysis of goose remains found in Flight 1549's engines confirmed that the birds were migratory, thus suggesting that habitat destruction would not have prevented the accident. more ›

Yargh, this town needs more nautical theme restaurants, if only so that we can fantasize we're sailing away to a tropical isle where the bill will never find us. Right now there's Oceana, the midtown seafood restaurant shaped like an ocean liner, The Rusty Knot, the nautical pub-and-grub dive by the West Side Highway, and, opening Monday by popular demand, Harbour, seen here docked in West SoHo. more ›

What's more intriguing than an abandoned island with a rotting castle sitting just north of New York City? Bannerman's Island sits in the Hudson, just about 50 miles north of here, and American Heritage explains "this island fortress was once the private arsenal of the world's largest arms dealer," Frank "Francis" Bannerman. more ›

The weather's looking lovely, just lovely this weekend, so let's just forget all about that big scary financial drama being acted out by those Wall Street divas and get the hell out of town. Fall foliage is reaching its peak in the Adirondacks and northern New England this weekend, and the Catskills and Berkshires are also just about to peak, according to the state's offical leaf peepers. more ›

Swoon's Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea officially set sail last Friday, and the fleet is slowly making their way to the final destination of LIC--where the artist will have an exhibit set up at Deitch. The NY Times checked in on Swoon and the collective joining her on the floating art adventure, consisting of "artists, carpenters, musicians, filmmakers, seafarers and hangers-on." She told the paper that the boats were built with the environment in mind, constructed with salvaged material ("plywood from construction sites, old two-by-fours and packing plastic foam") and are even powered by "recycled motors, one from a 1968 Mercedes, another from a Volkswagen Rabbit. One uses a gasifier, which burns organic waste materials." The seven vessels hold 9-13 people each, and will float back into town on September 7th. Take a look at their voyage thus far in this slideshow (more at Flickr, and in video!). more ›

It was 96 years ago today, in 1912, that the unsinkable Titanic sank in the Atlantic near Newfoundland. The Bowery Boys recap New Yorkers who were lost with ship, well -- the rich ones.

John Jacob Astor IV had run to Europe with his mistress Madeleine Talmage Force to avert attention from the fact that Ms. Force, a native Brooklynite, was 18 years old. more ›

Word is that many a ship are getting wrecked on the Hudson by the George Washington Bridge. Could Manhattan be drawing ships to shore with its sirens? Is this a marketing ploy for Lost? The Gay Recluse reports:

"Those arriving in Washington Heights for the first time are often surprised to hear splintering, cracking sounds in the distance. The shoreline is rocky and treacherous for those unfamiliar with its jagged contours, and what you hear is the slow wreckage of some poor soul who has strayed too close."

Two companies are vying to be chosen to lay an electricity transmission cable from New Jersey to Manhattan and ultimately, both may wind up doing the job to feed the city's need for juice. The deadline is 2010, when the Charles Poletti Power Project in Astoria, Queens is scheduled to shut down. According to The New York Times, the EPA has identified that plant as the third-largest source of toxic pollutants in the city. Two... more ›