Along with many of us it appears that Mother Nature is also taking a lazy, long holiday weekend. Onshore winds circulating around a high pressure system centered near Nova Scotia will keep the high to around 75 today. There will be a mix of high clouds as a storm off the Carolina coast shoots some moisture northward, but no rain is expected. Perfect for a Carnival!
Today is Labor Day, which was first celebrated in NYC 127 years ago, and is, as the Department of Labor says, "dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers." Government buildings and post offices, financial markets and banks are all closed. Alternate-side-of-the-street parking is suspended and there is no garbage or recycling collection. Mass transit is running on a Sunday schedule. The first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City, after the Central Labor Union decided to hold a demonstration and picnic (it became a national holiday in 1894). The NY Times has an editorial where Labor Day falls in the year between two political conventions, while the Daily News' editorial notes how many workers are cheated out of overtime pay and the Post revisits songs from the Workers of the World.
Today marks the start of the long Labor Day weekend. The AAA thinks 39.1 million travelers nationwide will make a trip of 50 miles or more, which is a 13.3% drop from last year. Why? Because Labor Day is occurring later than usual (and in other states, their school years start in August) and that probably means many people are staycationing! The later Labor Day is a mixed blessing: One retail worker told the NY Times, "My personal reaction is, it’s more time to enjoy summer. But my business reaction is that it will make the fall tough," while a high schooler said, "Very few people want to go back to school. It gives us more time to dread it." Are you staycationing (the West Indian American Day Parade is on Monday!) or really vacationing? And remember, you can wear white after Labor Day (or so we hear).
Very recently Thor Equities' Joe Sitt shut down Dreamland, Coney Island’s biggest amusement park, after a rent dispute with the park’s operator Anthony Raffaelle. Sure, half a million dollars is nothing to scoff at, but the summering masses want their amusements! So Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. has stepped in, and his intervening has gotten the padlocks taken off the site. In a statement we received this afternoon, he says, “Dreamland provided jobs to the community and was a big attraction for visitors. After discussing the issue with Thor, they agreed to reopen for the Labor Day weekend. I would like to thank Thor recognizing the importance of Dreamland in Coney Island. Thor and the site’s operator have agreed to work out their rent issues in the coming weeks." Upon the closure, Raffaelle had told NY1, "First of all they came down here, they quadrupled everybody's rent in Coney Island. Nobody in Coney Island can pay their rent now."
Not only is it the first day of September, it's also Labor Day. Government buildings and post offices, financial markets and banks are all closed. Alternate-side-of-the-street parking is suspended and there is no garbage or recycling collection. Mass transit is running on a Sunday schedule. The first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City, after the Central Labor Union decided to hold a demonstration and picnic (it became a national holiday in 1894). The NY Times has an editorial about how Labor Day is a respite between two political conventions, while the Post blasts unions.
Like many, whenever we traverse any streets along Grand Army Plaza, we basically run (or bike) for our lives.
A spectator at Fenway Park in Boston took to the field and interrupted the game during last night's Red Sox-Yankees rubber match. With the game still tied 1-1 at the bottom of the 7th inning, Boston first baseman Eric Hinske was leading off for the Sox and was the first batter to face pitcher Joba Chamberlain, who relieved Roger Clemens. Hinske managed a double to left field after facing a full count at the plate and was practically chased to second base by an idiot who leapt to the field and raced to high-five the Boston baserunner.
There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and several smiles as well as lots of cash were raised by some plucky urban ironing. London is apparently full of lies and whales: one of these things is true. We leave that up to you to figure out.
A fine way for the Seaport Music Festival to send off the summer, with two of the year's biggest breakout bands on a lovely evening. We were taking in both Battles and Dearhunter for the first time last Friday and were massively impressed by both bands. Deerhunter, down a man and with their usual shtick toned down, sounded like a young Sonic Youth or stripped down Broken Social Scene. A much lighter and more accessible experience that we had prepared for by listening to their thumping album. Battles was more what we expected, playing a hypnotizing hybrid of Math-Metal and some Jammy-Groove stuff that somehow works. Stereogum has some pretty pics.
Police are investigating the death of a woman found in her apartment. A roommate of the 36-year-old woman found her alone in the Crosby Street (at Grand) apartment - with two stab wounds. The roommate had been away over the Labor Day weekend and apparently neighbors had noticed a smell.
The weather has gotten into the Labor Day spirit and decided not to work this week. Tomorrow will be a near-repeat of today. A weak cold front will cool us down slightly midweek. Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will be in the upper-70s. It should be warmer by the end of the week when the center of a high pressure system sits to our east. The National Weather Service says it will warm up to 90 on Friday and Saturday. Gothamist has no idea why they think it will get that warm. The Weather Channel's low-80s by Friday prediction seems more realistic to us. All in all an excellent week for the U.S. Open.
We’re not going to spend this space waxing poetic about the farewell to summer and how sad we all are to say goodbye. Folks tend to be so negative on Labor Day – it’s not like the summer immediately ends on the 4th of September. But if this “impending doomsday to summer” is enough to get people to party like they mean it, then we fully support the cause.
Happy Labor Day! Today, government buildings and post offices, financial markets and banks are all closed. Alternate-side-of-the-street parking is suspended and there is no garbage or recycling collection. Mass transit is running on a Sunday schedule. There a number of events today (though we think that the West Indian American Day Carnival is the best bet) and it's also the last day of the year that city beaches and pools will be open.
The NY Times has a slide show of assorted items that could be perfect wedding gifts for book lovers. Suggestions range from whimsical bookshelves to personalized book plates.
With Labor Day weekend well under way, the season of block parties is about to come to an end. The NY Times has a story today on 4 of the 225 block parties that took place in the city last weekend (overall most take place in Brooklyn).
WCBS reports that, according to an Animal Department Supervisor at the New York Aquarium, the shark was a thresher shark, not known for attacking humans. Its attempts to swim onto shore are considered abnormal so the shark could have been sick. In fact, a 10-year-old witness said, "It was like freaking out. Its tail was flopping everywhere...Maybe it got separated from its family. It looked sick."
Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse.
A terrible accident in the Bronx: Police believe that an SUV on East Tremont was speeding around 4AM when it crashed into a telephone pole and flipped over. 1010WINS says the vehicle was "ripped apart" at Commonwealth Avenue. Three men were ejected from the SUV and pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth passenger, a woman, died at Jacobi Hospital.
This Labor Day weekend is not just the unofficial last weekend of summer - it's the official last weekend to enjoy the city's beaches and pools. After Monday, the 14 miles of beaches and 52 outdoor pools (including the Floating Pool - which will be heading to the Bronx for the summer of 2008) will be closed.
EXPLORE: Last call to visit the historic Governors Island this season! Free ferry rides depart hourly right next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Sitting 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and about 400 from the Brooklyn waterfront, it isn't often you can get a view of the city and a house like that one to the right all from the same place.
As Grub Street and others reported yesterday, a letter written last Thursday by Senator Chuck Schumer to Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Friedman may have prevented the forcible closure of the Red Hook Ball Field food vendors this past weekend. While this seems to be a small victory for the food purveyors, doubt remains whether the operating season for the newly food safety-certified vendors will end just after Labor Day, or at the end of October, the date observed by the vendors for the last few decades.
According to the Post, the Parks Department has confirmed that the "Floating Pool Lady" will be towed to another borough next summer.
As it is the week before Labor Day, many area schools are welcoming a new class of students to New York in what is generally known as an orientation week. The New York Sun reports on various efforts schools put into shepherding thousands of 18-year-olds into NYC.
First-year students arriving at Barnard, Columbia, and New York University have many activities to choose from this week, including: yoga classes, exclusive tours of the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, chartered Circle Line cruises to the Statue of Liberty, mini-manicures and aromatherapy at on-campus spas, Coney Island beach parties, scavenger hunts in Times Square, walking tours of the East Village and Park Slope, shopping expeditions to SoHo, outings to popular local eateries such as Magnolia Bakery, and a chance to compete for free tickets and reservations to the city's hottest shows and hard-to-get-into restaurants.NYU has found that orientation is as useful for parents as it is for students. Marc Wais, the vice president of student affairs at the school said "It can be a very emotional time. Sometimes it's a challenge to politely ask them to go home." One parent was quoted in the Sun as if his son was being kidnapped, rather than sent to school. "This is our second child we've lost to New York City."
This is some way to start off the week before Labor Day weekend: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned. The NY Times reports, per a White House source, that Gonzales called President Bush (who was at his ranch in Crawford) on Friday to submit his resignation: "His decision was not immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch." Bush apparently accepted the resignation "grudgingly."
Mid to late August is the perfect time to catch two locally grown vegetables at the top of their game. At the very beginning of the month, bush lima beans are most buttery and vibrant. The very last weekend in August is also the best time to try Long Island corn. It is around Labor Day weekend that local corn is its sweetest and most flavorful.
Karl Rove, the political mastermind who maneuvered George W. Bush to the White house twice, will be stepping down from his role as President Bush's political adviser at the end of the month. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rove explained, "I just think it's time. There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Rove will be returning to Texas and stay out of politics -for now.
Picnick, the new Will Goldfarb double kiosk project at the Battery, is starting to shape up for its projected Labor Day weekend opening. Director of operations will be Kevin Pomplun, most recently chef at the Hotel on Rivington restaurant Thor.
, also known as the shark in a tank by British artist Damien Hirst, will be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Labor Day, according to the NY Times. The artwork, bought by hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen for $8 million, isn't the exact same one that was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art's Sensation show in 1999 - the shark has since been replaced, as it started to rot almost immediately (note to conceptual artists thinking about suspending animal carcasses in formaldehyde- the carcasses need to injected with formaldehyde too).
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