Results tagged “nakedcowboy”

Whoa: The Naked Cowboy, the barely-clad Times Square attraction, is no longer running for mayor—Mayor Bloomberg, City Comptroller Bill Thompson and City Councilman Tony Avella must be so relieved! The Naked Cowboy, also known as Robert Burck, had announced he was running in July, even staging a press conference and snazzy logo, but told the NY Times yesterday, "I’m absolutely dropping out...What I want to do is stick with what I do best. It’s probably why I look like a naked cowboy, and Mayor Bloomberg looks like a mayor." The Times adds, "The culmination of his struggle was a sharply worded letter he got Thursday from the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, an agency he said he had never fathomed existed until the letter arrived, notifying him that he had failed to file the financial disclosure form as required," requiring Burck to pay a fine; the New York City Board of Elections also denied him a place on the ballot because of "deficiencies in his paperwork" (he apparently didn't get enough voters' signatures). Burck declared, "Politics is not fun and games. It’s serious stuff, and my mind was a little more dreamy."

The Naked Cowboy is running for Mayor, so the NY Post is taking this time to delve deeper into the Times Square busker's life (whose first turn in the spotlight was posing as a prostitute on the Jerry Springer Show). There's just so much going on Behind the Underwear!

       

Seriously, this guy? Alright, so this is happening, living tourist attraction Naked Cowboy has officially announced he's running for Mayor of New York City.

Bad Idea Underwear! The Naked Cowboy (real name Robert Burck) is tossing his Stetson in the ring and planning to run for Mayor against Bloomberg. His platform, The Post reports, is "Bringing transparency to a whole new level." Sounds just like something a long hair would say. Sure, Burck has made a nice little business for himself in Times Square, but can he parlay that into a smart stimulus plan for small businesses (something he says will be part of his Mayoral package)? He also plans to bring innovative ideas to tax breaks, tourism, gay marriage, transit and homeland security. He declares, "No one knows how to do more with less than yours truly, and that's the kind of thinking I plan on sharing with my fellow New Yorkers when you elect me." He'll be making his official statement tomorrow in Times Square at 11 a.m. Would you vote for Naked Mayor?

Don't tell the Naked Cowboy to "go back to Ohio," because someone in his hometown of Greenhills doesn't want him back. Reportedly a mayoral candidate there, Pat Andwan, is urging city council members to protest Robert Burck's performance at the Greenhills Summer Festival tomorrow, saying "it's an inappropriate venue for a man who wears only underwear." She called his behavior both "indecent" and "deviant." But the current Mayor, Oscar Hoffman, told the Cincinnati Enquirer, "I have no problem with the Naked Cowboy. Nobody on council has a problem with it. He doesn't do anything immoral. It's just a catchy name." Burck plans to go on with the show as planned; he added that Andwan was a "lunatic," but from his experience he's also "aware there are people out there who are not underwear-friendly."

The self-proclaimed World's Greatest Performer, the Naked Cowboy, must have gotten a sweet settlement deal from the M&M folks. The NY Post is reporting that "he kept mum yesterday after settling a $4 million lawsuit against the Mars candy company. The underwear-clad busker, whose real name is Robert Burck, declined comment except to say 'the matter has been resolved' after pulling his case from Manhattan federal court." The tighty-whitey tough guy brought his wrath down on the company after he noticed a blue M&M wearing his trademark outfit on a big screen outside of their Times Square shop. He later declared on the Today Show: "Type II diabetes and childhood obesity is epidemic. I am the opposite of that. I don’t endorse that product."

File this one under: should have seen it coming. Robert Burck, better known as The Naked Cowboy, has landed his very own reality television series. The busker who has made his way up to a tourist attraction, donning underwear and a guitar in Times Square, will host an American Idol-type show, The NY Post reports. He'll judge other buskers in an attempt to find the world's greatest street musician (ahem, besides himself, naturally). Burck said, "I'm looking for character more than anything. You could be the greatest musician in the world, but if you stand in jeans and a T-shirt next to me, no one will notice you. [The winner] needs to be someone who is pure and awesome - like me." The Cowboy has been testing out his judging skills on GMA for their intern competition.

The Naked Cowboy has been temporarily shaking his tighty-whiteys over on the west coast, and The NY Post reports that he got arrested for doing so! Reportedly he was busted in San Fransisco's Union Square for being in a restricted area. Who knew San Francisco would be so opposed to a nearly naked man, especially on the day of the Up Your Alley Fair? The arresting officers didn't realize this was the Naked Cowboy at first, but once they did, it didn't stop them from cuffing him. He told The Post that the cops laughed nonstop, "They're laughing hysterically because there's this guy in his underwear. Then they were like, 'Oh, that's the Naked Cowboy.'" In the end he was given a citation for "violating a posted sign," and is due in court today.

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/13/naked_cowboy_to.php">sued M&M's maker Mars Inc. for $6 million, claiming a commercial showing a blue M&M in a cowboy hat, boots, and white underwear and holding a guitar in Times Square infringed on his trademark look? Well, a federal judge sent most of the lawsuit to pasture, but is allowing the Naked Cowboy's claim that it seems like he's endorsing M&M's to stand.

Times Square fixture The Naked Cowboy (Robert Burck) is singing a litigious song these days against Mars Inc., maker of M&M candies. He is claiming that the company is infringing on his trademark, i.e. singing in tighty-whities, cowboy boots and a Stetson, with a six string slung on his shoulder. Burck wants $6 million after the company started broadcasting a film on a billboard screen in Times Square showing anthropomorphic M&Ms re-enacting famous scenes, structures, and places around NYC. A blue peanut M&M is shown in briefs, boots, a hat, and strumming a guitar while singing in Times Square.

We checked in with some folks recently for a little end of '07 "exit interview" before we enter a new year. Next up is Nick Kroll, actor, caveman and one of our favorite comedians of '07...and probably '08.

Just weeks after the New York Post milked a week's worth of coverage out of a 26-year-old's nude romp in the middle of the afternoon through Times Square, the paper heads back to the bare-naked well with yet another mentally disturbed male who wanted to lap the Square sans clothing. 44-year-old Antonia Alicata caught a Metro North train down to the city Thursday and then rode the subway to Times Square. Somewhere along the way, he shed his clothes and was caught on West 42nd St. by cops, as Alicata traversed the crossroads of the world without any clothes on.

Need a last minute costume idea and in a New York state of mind? Here are a few NYC-themed ideas for your Halloween fête...

A 26-year-old Yale graduate and Greenpoint resident got a lot of attention in Times Square yesterday - and the NY Post's cover today - by walking around naked. The Post reports that Josh Drimmer was walking in his birthday suit for "several minutes" around 11AM along Seventh Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets. Reporter Jennifer Fermino overheard one witness calling a friend on his cellphone and saying, "Yo, homeboy's got full-frontal nudity right here!"

Ever wonder what keeps the street musicians that play for change going back to the subway and sidewalk everyday? Well, it's not the music. In fact, when we asked the Naked Cowboy "Who do you 'owe it all to' and is it all about the music?" He replied, "I owe it all to myself, and it's all about me!" Whether or not it's to hone their craft, some of these folks are pulling in some serious cash.

-- Finally, A Hamburger Today gets an exclusive interview with NYTimes critic Frank Bruni, who claims to eat TWO BURGERS a week! That's a lot of red meat.

Taking time out of his usual schedule running NYC and counting his money, Mayor Bloomberg appeared on MTV in (a taped segment) to hype the MTV Video Music Awards, which are back in NYC this year. Yup, that's why it's messy around Radio City Music Hall and that's why all these celebrities and "celebrities" (LC from The Hills, we're talking to you) are in town. Famous New Yorkers are asked who they think will win the Video of the Year Award - Pat Kiernan of NY1, Wendy Williams, the Naked Cowboy, Donald Trump. As Newsday points out, the Mayor was flanked by the "several young members of his staff" (like Ed Skyler?) and threw his support behind Shakira in a faux-deliberation in front of a computer:

"As mayor of New York, this really is a tough one. I could go with Christina; she was born in New York... I could go with Madonna; she made it big here in New York... I think I'm going to have to go with Shakira. Those hips don't lie."

- Luckily no one was seriously hurt when a school bus toppled over on the Major Deegan Expressway; authorties say that the kids' seatbelts might have saved them - check out this picture from Newsday

Besides the Calvin Klein live perfume ad, there's some interesting action in Times Square today: FDNY firefighters will be at Duffy Square (the TKTS island) between 11AM-3PM autographing copies of the new 2006 Calendar of Heroes! There are apparently some firefighter models in their 40s in the calendar (hey, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt are all in their 40s) for the calendar to have a broader appeal. Sigh, we guess we'll get one of these for our mom. Gothamist wonders if the Naked Cowboy will be upset that the Bravest are invading his turf?

Times Square, the crossroads of the world, wants to be a little less roady and more of a place for pedestrians to cross. The Times Square Alliance has a ten point plan to further improve Times Square, namely to make it look more beautiful and for pedestrians to have an easier time of it. Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said, "While Times Square is gorgeous from the neck up, it needs a makeover from the neck down." Word - you can't walk more than five steps without bumping into someone who has suddenly stopped to be conned. Main goals of the plan: Rebuild and expand Duffy Square; increase the sidewalk space and reduce sidewalk clutter; redesign newspaper boxes and stands; do not let cars "cross over" where Broadway and Seventh Avenue meet; install new signal timing for traffic lights. Now, the problems with Times Square are familiar to all, from sidewalk planters in front of buildings to slow moving packs of tourists. Gothamist is intrigued by this plan, because we're all for keeping pedestrians a priority, but the idea of Times Square as anything but a logjam of people trying to get from one place to another (look at 1957's Sweet Smell of Success - all Sidney Falco does is elbow his way around) seems like a pipe dream.

Gothamist loves regional humor, but we also know that references to, say, the Naked Cowboy can get lost in translation...or transportation for that matter, if made anywhere else. Massholia, the theatrereflective's latest production which is showing now at the Flamboyan Theater at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center on the Lower East Side, is a clever musical that may rely a little too heavily on Bay State related humor for it to be widely accepted in New York. Fortunately Gothamist spent some of its formative years in Massachusetts and can totally appreciate jokes about field trips to Old Sturbridge Village and furniture purveyors Bernie and Phyl. For us, a show like Massholia exists to lovingly poke fun at that particular commonwealth (NOT a state, mind you, but a commonwealth) and its offbeat inhabitants. Unfortunately for the majority of New Yorkers a lot of the jokes might as well be a ground ball hit to Buckner, missed at the most crucial moment. This is not to say the show is not funny and entertaining, Massholia's cast is talented and each actor has great comic ability. Kimmy Gatewood stands out as a modern day revolutionary who happens to be obsessed with the magical turkey who lives in the woods, and Nathan Phillips' hip hop backup dance moves are hilarious.

Since last week, Brian Berg has been building a replica New York City skyline at ABC's Good Morning America set using 178,000 playing cards, no glue and no tape. Gothamist went to check out the installation last night in Times Square (yeah, we're not happy about going to Times Square). Thankfully, no Naked Cowboy in sight. While it's difficult to make out the buildings from the street, we could see that there was a replica Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and he was working on Yankee Stadium, which he started yesterday.

Lauren Antler, Comedian

Robert John Burck, Naked Cowboy

Well, if Conde Nast is cool and allows him to sleep for 18 hours of the day, then yes, the panda works there. [Via whatevs]