Results tagged “richardrodgers”

Late New York composer and Broadway writer Richard Rodgers became world-renowned, but as The NY Post notes, "never forgot his Harlem roots." Yesterday his family donated $1 million to restore the neglected bandshell at Marcus Garvey Park, and as Bloomberg reminded everyone at a press conference--Rodgers also donated the original funds (to the tune of $150,000) to build the facility in 1970. The city has also put forth $4 million towards the renovation, which will begin in the Fall of 2009. When complete the new bandshell will feature improved acoustics, new seats, wheelchair accessible sections and a new name: The Richard Rodgers Bandshell.

Cemusa, a Spanish outdoor firm, has won the $1 billion contract from the Department of Transportation to sell ads on New York City's street furniture. Ad Age calls Cemusa "little known," when compared with "outdoor giants" JC Deceaux and Van Wagner. Cemusa says 100 new jobs will be created (unclear how many will be in NYC) and Ad Age reports that Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, the firm that designed the new Fulton Street Transit Center, will be charged with designing new street furniture that will showcase the advertising. Deceaux, a French firm, was the early frontrunner as it donated money to the NYC 2012 bid, but Gothamist guesses when that fell apart, all bets were off. This will be a 20 year contract, and what we'd like to see is Cemusa asking the public to give our input on possible street furniture (we may not be happy about it, but at least it can work with our lives).

Off- and off-off-Broadway theatre companies obviously haven’t heard of the legendary late summer arts doldrums. Or, perhaps, more likely, they’re taking advantage of the sloth of the bigger shows, and getting a jump on things while they can: according to nytheatre.com, no fewer than 48 new productions are starting this week. There’s a lot that looks really interesting, but so you don’t have to slog through all those listings we’ve got a few recommendations – and so this doesn’t turn into a massive post, we’ll have a few more later this week.