Results tagged “marriottmarquis”

Around 3:45 a.m., a device exploded outside the military recruiting center in Times Square. No one was injured, but a glass entryway was shattered.

On Monday night there will be a huge, star-studded, red-carpet event held at Avery Fisher Hall with men in tuxes, women in floor-length gowns, and paparazzi galore. Some swanky movie premiere? No -- the James Beard Awards, an annual event that is taking a grand step up in venue this year (in the past it had taken place at the Marriott Marquis). But many question the decision to glam up the awards. Not only did Anthony Bourdain scoff at the decision to have restaurant staff prepare food in a venue with no kitchen, but for an organization that was drowning in scandal as recently as 2004, was this really a good choice?

This is definitely a case of when best laid New Year's plans go awry. An upstate man is now allowed to sue the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for $750,000. According to the Daily News, Jeffrey Dagen and friends got two rooms at the Marriott to ring in 2005 in the heart of Times Square. However, the Marriott decided to kick out Dagen's party when a woman was found "facedown" in a hallway right before midnight.

The swanky hotel was unable to find him and his friends suitable rooms elsewhere. So Dagen took off for his home near Albany - but he only made it as far as the Taconic Parkway, where he drove off the roadway into a tree, shattering his left leg and suffering chest injuries.

Continue reading "Does the Marriott Marquis Care About Drunk Guests?"

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential machinations are getting more serious. He's planning a $2,100 per ticket fundraiser at the Marriott Marquis on December 19 and he's hired Dubya's CFO from his 2004 campaign.

Ask.MeFi has been assembling an eclectic guide to "the best alternative/weird/unusual/eye-opening places in Manhattan." Most of the suggestions are actually located in the outer boroughs, but nevermind that. We've pulled out the highlights and linked everything for your browsing pleasure:

Yes, the TKTS booth is moving from Duffy Square to the Marriott Marquis until December of this year while the new TKTS booth that looks like a huge red staircase (the ticket counters are under the stairs) is being constructed. But why did it take so long? Because the Times Square Alliance decided to spiff up Duffy Square, that sliver of land between Broadway and Seventh Avenues, between 47th and 46th Streets, in a $12.5 million project the meantime. The Times Square Alliance's Tim Tompkins says the TKTS steps will be "the Spanish Steps on steroids (it's okay to say "steroids" in development), and remaking Duffy Square is part of the bigger plan to make Times Square more pedestrian friendly. We can't wait!

It's quite the red letter week for us bookish types, with the prestigious, sometimes baffling, and oft-maligned National Book Awards dinner and awards ceremony tomorrow night where trophies will be bestowed, granted, totally robbed, whatever, at the Marriott Marquis. To that end, critic A.O. Scott has an interesting article about the contradictions and complications inherent to the awards, Medal Fatigue (registration required). Garrison Keillor is the Master of Ceremonies which, frankly, is why Gothamist wishes we had tickets. If you do have a seat at the Ivory Tower's table, enjoy and report back to us lowly slobs. The odds on the fiction winner have already been calculated by New York Mag, with Gaitskill and Doctorow as the favourites to win. It's just like Belmont, really.

So maybe the Oscars aren’t actually watched by a “billion” people each year. The audience is still ginormous compared to the Tonys. Even so, the Tonys are as big as it gets for American theater, and this morning the mostly predictable nominations were handed out at the Times Square Marriott Marquis. For play, you’ve got Democracy, Doubt, The Pillowman, and Gem of the Ocean. Musical: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Light in the Piazza, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Spamalot, in the first of its 14 nods. The same musicals are all nominated for best book and best music; best play revival and best musical revival have no surprises either, though Gothamist’s eyebrows were raised a bit at the inclusion of Sweet Charity, which barely opened May 4, which was the cutoff date for Tony nominations. Considering how touchy theater publicists are about having their shows watched and reviewed before official openings (though it did play in, um, Minneapolis before), this honor seems a little hasty, but maybe the Tony organizers just want to make sure Christina Applegate attends and brings some friends who might get a bigger TV audience.

Chris Foster, Bluesman

Anti-war messages are important and, frankly, Gothamist would like to see more of them. But, oddly enough, we understand a business's decision not to have a 69' by 44' political message greeting its guests. Clear Channel has offered Project Billboard a new space, but PB wants to keep the case in court. Do you think Project Billboard should accept a new placement, or keep fighting Clear Channel? And the Christina Aguliera billboard (which will be in Times Square) from non-partisan, voter-registration group Declare Yourself is pretty S&M-ish.

But if the weather gets to be as warm as it was earlier this week, then check out some places with outdoor eating from New York magazine. Gothamist on bars with views.

The GOP also made sure to compliment and praise the city of New York, after the embarrassing effort from Tom DeLay to have all GOPers sequestered away on a boat. But don't worry, everyone, Gothamist is sure there will be more than enough embarrassment to pass around when they come to town.

NYU is installing barriers to prevent any more suicides in their library's atrium.