Results tagged “thej”

Earlier this month, Sarah Lewitinn (Ultragrrrl) brought her label, Stolen Transmission, back to the bedroom after leaving Island/Def Jam. This was just one of many things that signaled more changes for the major, and now it turns out that the president of Def Jam, Jay-Z, is stepping down from his position. The NY Times reports:

Jay-Z made the announcement with Def Jam’s parent, Universal Music Group, as his employment contract was expiring. Under a separate long-term recording contract with Def Jam, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, still owes the company one or more albums.

Upon his departure he stated, “It’s time for me to take on new challenges.” What's left after already having his hand in a fashion line, nightclubs, the New Jersey Nets and of course the music industry? Looks like the most immediate project is a downtown 5-star hotel. Jay-Z purchased a development site in Chelsea which will be home to a 150,000 square-foot luxury hotel called The J-Hotel -- he hopes this will be the flagship of what a chain that will span the nation's major cities.

Subway station is better than no subway station. That's the lesson we're taking from the NY Sun's story about surging subway ridership at some unlikely stations. The fast growing station? The J/M/Z station at Bowery and Delancey, which now has 1,771 people entering the station daily, versus 308 in 1995. The station's growth seems to be a reflection of the intense Lower East Side development.

With the US Open heading to its climactic weekend, there have been some fun articles about the ball boys and girls at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Take the NY Times' US Open blog post about "Ballbabes": Male spectators seem to love some of the ladies wearing the Ralph Lauren designed outfits (sleeveless and short, while the ball boys get less revealing polo shirts and shorts) and boo when their favorites get rotated off the court. The Staten Island Advance chatted wtih four Island ball boys and girls, including Ronald Butts who has been a ball person for 18 years:

The New Brighton resident was working behind the baseline at the nationally televised 1996 men's single quarterfinal between Alex Corretja and a flu-ridden Pete Sampras.

Continue reading "By the Balls"

Mother Nature must have realized she ignored us during the summer, as yesterday's rainfall broke records and caused lots of problems. Over 3.5" inches of rain fell yesterday, and with rain on deck for today and tomorrow, it's possible October's rainfall will exceed the 10.53" that fell in July, August and September combined. The NY Times spoke to an AccuWeather meteorologist, who said with the winds coming, it'll be "our first really good northeaster." Well, there goes our $3 ($5 on rainy days) umbrella.

Jon Setzen, Designer

Yesterday, a mysterious incident caused the Williamsburg Bridge to be shut down, both on the roadway and subway, yesterday morning. The J, M, and Z were affected, and proving that some people do ride the J, M, and Z, one reader wrote to Gothamist about the incident, feeling that it was impromptu and a pain, "as more or less mellow cops directed thwarted hipsters to the L," adding, "I don't know how those hipsters stand it, what a nightmare. I guess they are so tweaked out on designer drugs and Prozac they don't mind being wedged like sardines." That's difficult: Gothamist tries to be prepared for extended subway commutes by bringing our camera, water, a book, and two newspapers plus a gossip magazine, but if the subway car is crowded, we just stare at the ceiling. Sigh. [Updated:] It turns out that the bridge was shut down because the police thought they found a pipe bomb (left in a bag) on the bridge's span; it was actually a crack pipe! Addicts, please, be mindful of your fellow New Yorkers!