Results tagged “models”

Fashion Week is right around the corner, again, but months afterl the couture is cleared the fashion world will be something for the average man: Victoria's Secret Angels. The winged ones haven't brought their annual "fashion" show here for four years, and The Daily News reports that "runway regulars Marisa Miller and Alessandra Ambrosio, broke the news on the CBS Early Show" yesterday that they would be returning—with Miller stating that New York is exactly "where it belongs." If your front row invite gets lost in the mail, the show airs on CBS in December. Angel Heidi Klum is set to have a baby in October, and told People that "The birth will be very, very close to when the show is. I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk in my underwear quite that fast! We’ll see." Meanwhile, another angel, Adriana Lima (pictured) is due in December, and says she won't be part of the show unless she can hide under a Santa outfit.

Ever wish you could just build your own New York City? Now you can! Sort of. Wurlington Brothers Press has created a series of Build Your Own New York postcards "which can be cut and assembled into miniature paper models of prominent New York landmarks." They note some inspiration from Geoffrey Heighway's Micromodels, circa the 1950s. Each card comes with instructions and a history of the landmark—they've included everything from the Empire State Building to Grant's Tomb, but we sort of love the subway car best. They even offer up some free models—but what buildings are missing? [via Kottke]

After the last month's open casting call for America's Next Top Model Ladies turned into NYC's Current Hot Mess, ladies under 5'7" will get another chance to show they can smile with their eyes. The CW announced that a "final open call" for Cycle 13 contestants will be held , but outlined a number of rules—and didn't reveal where the auditions would be just yet.

The Post is all excited and "EXCLUSIVE" in a "report" on campaign donations made by foreign models to Representative Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign. Back in June, not long after Weiner made headlines by pushing for visa changes to make it easier for foreign models to work here, a fundraiser was held for his campaign at Merkato 55. According to the Post, the gala was co-hosted by an immigration lawyer whose firm represents some of the top modeling agencies, and several foreign models in attendance made donations ranging from $300 to $500. That's illegal—not because Weiner is rallying to their cause—but because they're not citizens. Weiner's spokesman says it was a simple mistake; they never even deposited the checks, which were returned months ago, and one the models doesn't actually recall attending the party (no surprise there). So why is the Post even talking about this? Because who can resist a headline like, "Weiner's Naughty Hottie$" Certainly not us!

                    

The 11th annual New York Chocolate Show is taking over the huge Pier 94 space at West 55th Street this weekend, and the serotonin surge started last night with a colorful "Super-Hero" chocolate fashion show. Almost everything you see the models wearing here is edible, and the sweet threads will be displayed on mannequins until Sunday or until someone breaks past security and eats them, whichever comes first. But take it from us; security is tight!

Dennis Riese, CEO of the Riese organization that owns the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, is coming out against allegations of sexual assault and rape involving a Tropic manager filed in a lawsuit against the chain this week. Riese claims that Giulietta Consalvo, the woman who accuses manager Anthony Rakis of raping her in a cab, told him in 2006 that she was in fact not raped and even recommended a friend of hers to be Rakis's personal assistant after the alleged attack. Riese claims that the women who filed suit are simply trying to shake the company down and had asked for $100 million a year ago if they would remain silent on the matter. Another former employee Tiffany Studstill tells the Post that she thinks the women who filed the suit "are doing it for money" and that while she worked at the restaurant, she "never saw anyone in management do anything inappropriate." She also denies the suit's claim that she and Rakis had a relationship.

More sordid details have emerged from that explosive $600 million discrimination lawsuit brought by four ex-employees of Hawaiian Tropic Zone, who accuse executives of ignoring their complaints against former manager Anthony Rakis. At a press conference yesterday, one of the plaintiffs, former manager Giulietta Consalvo—who accuses Rakis of drugging and raping her in the back of a cab in 2006—told reporters, "I want to see him pay criminally. Absolutely, he deserves his freedoms taken away from him. I went through the proper channels, through the corporate . . . chain of command that they tell you to do when you have such complaints...and my voice went unheard."

Midtown's Hawaiian Tropic Zone Restaurant, whose bikini-clad waitresses make Hooters look like Chuck E. Cheese, has been hit with a $600 million discrimination lawsuit by four female former employees who accuse executives of ignoring their complaints against one-time general manager Anthony Rakis. The lawsuit declares that Rakis's relentless sexual harassment escalated into rape after a pre-opening party in 2006, when he jumped into the cab of former floor manager Giulietta Consalvo. Rakis allegedly threw money at the driver during the assault and said, "Keep driving, buddy," leaving her at her apartment "appearing drugged and disoriented."

          

For some unknown reason, many Europeans are smitten with the NYPD. There are more than a few replica NYPD cars over the pond (ranging from quite accurate to comically inaccurate) some available for rental.

Make sure you’re sitting down: Because of a surge in visa requests, America is currently in the grips of a severe fashion model shortage. The problem is that professional good looking people from overseas have to apply for the same H-1B visas that pasty high-tech workers require. According to Politico, demand for the visas is double the 85,000 spots available in the category per year; in the fiscal year 2007 only 349 models from overseas got the H-1B (for which there is no cure).

Continuing their misguided and terribly executed orange bike campaign, DKNY has infiltrated YouTube with a 1 minute 53 second clip of a model speaking out in support of the company's great..."humanitarian cause"? The video starts off showing two models mowing each other down with fake miniature cars as an orange bike lies on the ground...probably not the best way to negate the whole ghost bike thing.

Before the first model walked down the runway, Naomi Campbell spoke out about the lack of minorities at this year's Fashion Week. The Daily News follows up on her initial accusation as the tents emptied out this weekend, saying that "a campaign to promote diversity on the runways during New York's Fashion Week appears to have failed miserably."

The NY Post warns the women of New York that their bag habits may be bad for them. Some women sling up to 11 lbs over their shoulder on a daily basis, and doctors warn that "Any time there's an unequal weight distribution on the shoulders or upper back, it's going to affect alignment of the spine." While we think it's more about living in New York and carrying around what you need to get you through your waking (and walking) hours -- the Post also lays blame on celebs who have made the big-bag trend popular.

Designers and fashion-forward celebrities have turned oversized totes with massive metal hardware into must-have accessories. While many start at over $1,000, they also weigh an average of 4 pounds empty.

Pint-sized celebrities and models who do cocaine on the front page of the London Daily Mirror have taken to bragging about their protruding collar bone indirectly, by sporting an extremely large bag. Seemingly, the largeness of your bag is inversely related to your smallness, thus, the greater the possibility that you could dismember yourself and stuff all of your extremities into it. The trend probably started with the Olsen twins, the originators of all things hip and extremely outsized.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has made it official: Cabs purchased after October 1, 2008 must get at least 25 miles per gallon. Then, after fall of 2009, newly purchased cabs must get at least 30 miles per gallon. As the AP puts it, this means "taxi fleet owners, who must replace their cabs every three to five years, will probably be forced to buy fuel-efficient hybrids, which run partly on electricity." The Taxicab Board...

It's been snowing out lately, and thanks to The World's Largest Snow Globe, it's going to be snowing indoors soon as well. Standing at over twenty feet tall, the monstrosity of holiday cheer will be arriving at The Pond at Bryant Park next week (December 14th to 18th). Throughout the week, the snow globe will feature live models in cheery winter scenes, not unlike an Old Navy ad. Why? Good question. In typical holiday fashion,...

Fort Greene’s Habana Outpost – the Brooklyn spin-off of Nolita’s popular Café Habana – bills itself as New York’s first “eco-eatery”. The indoor/outdoor flea market/café/artist community runs on solar power and rainwater-flushing toilets, uses biodegradable cups, and boasts a bike-powered blender to mix their smoothies and margaritas. Although the funky earth-friendly establishment shuts down during the winter months, they’ve left their clientele with a little parting gift to keep them warm until spring. Inspired by...

While everyone knows that the proposals five development teams have offered up for the MTA's West Side rail yards are likely to change, the NY Times' architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff made it clear that he hopes they do, with a withering review of the five plans. Noting the great opportunity that developers have, Ouroussoff says the designs "are not just a disappointment for their lack of imagination, they are also a grim referendum on...

One of the first rules of using your iPod in the subway is to ditch the white headphones. Apple's tell-tale earbuds can have the negative effect of drawing attention to the fact that you are carrying a ~$400 device on you (we've known this since 2005, when iPod robberies were all the rage). Probably not something that needs to be advertised. When Gothamist first purchased our iPhone on launch day this fact weighed heavily...

A storefront at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street (across from Grand Central) may be a window into the future of the West Side Rail Yards. The MTA unveiled an exhibition of the five proposals to redevelop the rail yards on the Far West Side of Manhattan, and the public will get a chance to see the models every day (except Thanksgiving) through December 3. And what's more, the MTA wants the...

No, no these photos aren't models from I Am Legend's portrayal of Union Square, but an "Apocalyptic Manhattan" two guys constructed. They've recreated 50 Manhattan buildings (via MUG) in three rooms of their apartment. Perhaps the most impressive part of their Manhattan creation is the background wallpaper - complete with buildings, and clouds/smoke. While there's no mention of any specific neighborhood, the architecture makes it look like parts of Lower Manhattan despite the inclusion...

This week in New York life is like a box of chocolates – on steroids. (Mmmm, chocolate steroids.) The wicked masterminds behind the 10th annual International Chocolate Show decided that this year the usual three day, 40,000 square foot cocoa orgy just wasn’t going to cut it. So they’ve gotten a number of area restaurants to collectively boost the city’s blood sugar levels by declaring the next six days Chocolate Week. Some notable New York...

Because we are a weather geek Gothamist enjoys reading the National Weather Service forecast discussion. The discussion is where the meteorologists at the forecast office give the back story on their predictions. Today's discussion has two interesting tidbits. First, they believe the statistical models that spit out the temperature forecasts are way off. Since it is late October the models are using equations appropriate for the season, and those equations can't handle the abnormally warm weather. The forecasters have adjusted upward the low-70s predicted by the models to a forecast high in the upper-70s.

Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire investor who New York called an "International Moneyman of Mystery" back in 2002, may be set to plead guilty to having sex with underage girls in Florida, but now there are claims that he was preying on the young in the Big Apple. Maximilia Cordero is suing Epstein for "repeatedly" luring her to his East Side townhouse for sex back in 2000.

Showing that there are no bounds to lawsuit insanity, a Queens resident is suing Apple for marking down the price of the iPhone - and she wants $1 million. Why? Because now she can't sell them for a profit on eBay! Damn you, Steve Jobs, and your possibly faltering precious product!

A Westchester couple were charged with promoting prostitution from their home. And what's more, the Journal News describes thirty-four-year-old Robert Werner and his 32-year-old wife Heather Mazzenga as "victims of the housing market"!

New York City is in the middle of Fashion Week, and last night was Ralph Lauren's 40th anniversary as a designer. And, as Style.com reports, he "staged an extraordinarily lavish runway show and black-tie after-party in the Central Park Conservancy" last night. It was such a big deal that Mayor Bloomberg and his lady friend Diana Taylor stepped out! New York magazine's Show & Talk blog wrote this:

Ralph himself seemed blasé. Standing by an unruly, high-spurting fountain (it was spraying guests), he dismissed the idea that he picks special models as openers: His entire shows, he told us, are filled with “the most beautiful models in the world.” Would he be seeing any other shows this week? “No. No one invited me.” (Good thing he threw a party for himself.) But no one beat Matthew Broderick in the “oh-whatever” department: “I don’t know anything about this stuff,” he said, going on to say that even so, he saw the Valentino show in Italy during his summer vacation. How did it compare Mr. Lauren's event? Valentino “was by the Coliseum, which is pretty exciting. This is Central Park.” Touché.

Two types of tropical weather will be the weather story to watch out for over the next several days. You may have noticed that this morning is much more humid than in the past few days. The humidity and warmer air are courtesy of the large high pressure system that has finally moved offshore. The southerly flow of air around the backside of that high pressure system will bring us a day or two of mid-summer weather. Expect today to be sunny and warm, with a high in the mid-80s. A few clouds may move in tomorrow, but it should remain warm and humid. Warm weather, humidity and a nearby front add up to a chance of showers, or a thunderstorm, beginning Saturday night and into Sunday.

The string of pleasant, if not all that meteorologically interesting, weather continues today with another sunny, mild day. More of the same is expected tomorrow, though the mercury may crack the 80 degree mark. The Weather Service has finally come to their senses and backed off their earlier prediction of highs around 90 on Friday and Saturday. They are currently calling for highs around 86, which is more in line with weather.com's predictions of the lower-80s. The next chance of rain is Sunday at the earliest.

MOVIE: It's certainly not the kind of night for an outdoor movie, so we suggest sitting in the cool a/c and watching the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. "Gone is the possibility of mankind’s dominance in this sequel to Night of the Living Dead; the zombies are in control now, with a group of AWOL soldiers and TV producers on the run from the staggering hordes. A deserted shopping mall offers a safe hideout, as well as the setup for Romero’s savage satire on consumer culture." The early screening will be introduced by producer Richard Rubenstein, more info here.

The NY Times explores what happens to celebrity architects’ drawings, models and telephone logs culled from decades in the design trenches. Hint: They’re for sale.