Results tagged “walking”

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound belief in justice."

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the...

Fridays are bustling on 34th Street, but yesterday was a little different. Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was spotted with billionaire developer Donald J. Trump and his three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. What were they doing? Walking, talking, and eating hot dogs. Or at least Mayor Bloomberg was eating a hot dog - he loves hot dogs and they love him!

Museum of the Moving Image

Open House New York weekend is coming up in 7 days and NewYorkology has a handy guide to which places you'll need reservations for this (the 5th) year, check it out here. Touted as America's largest architect and design event, OHNY opens usually locked doors throughout New York City each October (and sometimes Spring).

Bebel Gilberto was born in New York City to legendary musicians João Gilberto and Miúcha. Raised in Brazil, she made frequent trips back to her hometown -- even performing at Carnegie Hall before her age was in the double digits. 13 years ago she made the move back here and has continued to create music on her own and with other musicians. Her latest album, Momento, is her first in three years and tomorrow night she'll be playing some of those new tunes at Webster Hall.

THEATER: We like our comedy like we like our women: black and absurd. So it’s promising that the press release for a new play by Kevin Mandel uses those two irresistible words to describe A New Television Arrives, Finally. The strange story concerns “an American couple visited by a charismatic man presenting himself as a television set. Is the handsome stranger a charlatan or a guru?” Emmy award-winning actor Tom Pelphrey [Guiding Light] leads the cast at tonight’s premiere performance. - John Del Signore

From 1910 until 1963, when New York actually had a Pennsylvania Station instead of a dingy 1960s subterranean rat warren beneath a hockey rink and office towers, twenty-two stone eagles stood guard over the McKim, Mead, and White masterpiece. The eagles themselves, along with almost all the other stone artwork on the station were the work of artist Adolph A. Weinman, who among other things created Civic Fame atop the Municipal Building and the Walking Liberty half dollar coin.

According to The New York City Department of Health, New Yorkers have a longer shelf life than those in the rest of the country. NY Mag has some astounding stats including: a New Yorker born in 2004 can now expect to live 78.6 years, which may not sound that long but it's in fact nine months longer than the average American. Note that the average gets brought down anytime a young person dies, which seems to happen all too often around here. Still, since 1990 New Yorkers have added 6.2 years to their lives while the average American has only added 2.5!

July 19 - 28, Asia Society

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large snake was reported on West 118th St. in Manhattan, an assault in transit on the Brighton Line in Brooklyn, and an armed robbery on Whittier St. and Lafayette Ave. in the Bronx.
• The Splasher's identity is revealed! Scroll down to the bottom of our post on the anti-street art vandal for his name and picture.
• Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro wants security cameras installed at a World Trade Center memorial after it was damaged by one or more vandals.
• PETA released the results of its poll ranking the hottest vegetarians. Musicians swept the top spots this year, with Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks and country musician Carrie Underwood claiming the sexiest male and female designations, respectively. Gothamist on New York's sexiest vegetarians.
• With its return to a rock format, radio station K-Rock is evaluating on-air talent and looking for deejays.
• Licensed NYC tour guide Adrienne Onofri has published a guide to seeing Kings County on foot called Walking Brooklyn.
• Anti-gun activist Rosie O'Donnell still likes to dress up her daughter as a pint-sized commando.
• More swimming and wading pools in NYC for those looking to cool off.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting at Willoughby and Throop Aves. in Brooklyn, a bank robbery on Queens Blvd. in Queens, and a water rescue off the North Channel Bridge in Queens.
• A Bronx man taking his 5-year-old nephew to the bathroom in an East Harlem park was gunned down in front of the child when accosted by thieves.
• A new safety group formed after 9/11 is proposing that skyscrapers include a third set of stairwells. Architects complain it is an excessive demand.
• Walking tours are an incredibly fun way to learn more about your city.
• On a crowded street, a man was either stabbed in the neck or had his throat slashed on East 4th between 1st and 2nd Aves. in Manhattan Friday evening.
• TimeOut NY features the final results of its Ultimate NY Book Bracket. John O'Hara's novel "Butterfield 8" and Joseph Mitchell's essay collection "Up In The Old Hotel" are completely excluded from the tournament, but Haruki Murakami's "Kafka On The Shore" made it to the Sweet 16 from the group designated "Books in Translation." We're not sure what the exercise has to do with New York City.
• Manhattan parishioners are fighting to keep their Catholic churches open.
• A born New Yorker: four MTA Bridge & Tunnel workers assisted a 24-year-old woman give birth to a baby girl at the entrance of the Queens-Manhattan tunnel this morning. Once she was born, cops waived the $4 toll as the family was sent through to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital.

Finally, we have two reasons to discuss Lost. First a warning: stop reading this if the show is still on your DVR, unwatched.

• We got ourselves a note in the inbox from the folks who run the Big Apple BBQ to let us know that Bubba FastPasses are currently on sale from now till May 25 for the June 9 & 10 event. Gothamist was all over this event last year; look for more great coverage and photos coming up soon. This year should provide a bit of a pre-show glimpse of what local pitmaster Robbie Richter has in store for his new spot Hill Country - a place that should have you very excited. Hit the site to review other pitmasters participating as well as the impressive panelists for seminar series.
• Reading on Grub Street about Cones ice cream and one patron's fight to get Dulce de Leche con Brownie stocked as a regular flavor prompted a pop-in. After spotting the flavor and knowing we needed to order it to see what it was all about, we blew our test tries on corn (not good, very different from Claudia Fleming's seminal version) and pistachio (have you had Ronnybrook ?). Walking home we reflected back that this was probably not the best ice cream we have had and was not even up to snuff with Peanut Butter Ripple the ole' Shake Shack had earlier in the weekend.
• Congratulations to Ganda, who recently grabbed Ed Levine for her “You Are What You Eat” column, on her inclusion on a food blogging panel this Fall for the Gourmet Institute. With a wide variety of panels full of heavy hitter chefs and food personalities, this is a great opportunity for a fantastic food blogger.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

Walking around town the last few days, we've noticed a bunch of recently defaced streetart pieces. These might be the work of The Splasher, but if you look closely, you can see that something has changed: the paint has been applied with a brush! That's right-- either the Splasher needs a new moniker, or he has inspired a copycat.

Walking down 8th street in Greenwich Village you’ll find some of the most random collection of stores all snuggled together. From Ricky’s, Johnny Rockets and Otto to the eclectic series of shoe stores dubbed “shoe row” you never now what’s going to pop up next. But with three months under their belt, Is-Wine, the new kid to the block, seems to have no trouble fitting right in.

Walking by Astor Place around noon yesterday, we noticed some art students adding an unauthorized chapeau to the Alamo monument. By 3 PM, high winds had begun knocking the wooden structure off-- no word on whether it survived the night.

Google Maps Mania points to a new map offering: Walking, subway and bus directions from GypsyMaps, all laid out on a Google Map. Actually, bus information will be coming in April, but GypsyMaps has a nice start, as it shows the point to point directions all laid out. (We asked for directions between 1 West 57th Street in Manhattan to 1 Centre Street.)

Sometimes you have to leave the city to realize how impatient we can be. Don’t have your breakfast order at the tip of your tongue? Expect to be passed over. Fumbling for your Metrocard at the turnstile with a train approaching, you’ll get dirty looks. Walking three-abreast at leisurely pace down Lexington Avenue during rush hour might get you stabbed. Our little conveniences of efficiency have led us to expect things quickly. It’s not that we never wait -- the lines in Whole Foods are a testament to our resolve -- it’s just that if we’re willing to put in the time, the reward at the end better be worth it (assuming our ice cream didn’t melt). It’s likely that it is this general impatience that has kept us from steeping our own spirits. However, we’ve been newly converted. After a sip of the Vanilla steeped rum at Town this week, we can unequivocally say it’s worth the wait.

Yesterday the Department of Transportation installed the first countdown pedestrian signal at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Kings Highway. Here's how the city explains the timer:

The pedestrian countdown signals are the same size as the existing pedestrian signal head, but feature a dual display - the traditional "Walking Man" and "Hand" display, and a pedestrian interval countdown display. The countdown feature is programmed to start at the beginning of the "flashing hand" cycle and end when the flashing hand becomes steady. At the five test intersections pedestrians will be given a minimum 15-second countdown before the light changes.

Walking to the post office this afternoon, we noticed that the huge Michael Chemiakin sculpture in front of the Mimi Fritz gallery was gone, leaving only a rusted square on the pavement to mark its passing. The sculpture, "Cybele, the Goddess of Fertility", had been in front of the gallery on Prince between Greene and Wooster for as long as we can remember. On the weekends it is a huge hit with tourists-- who love to giggle and stand in front of it for pictures. In addition to the 16 boobs, Cybele features 8 butt cheeks, which are helpfully displayed using a mirror.

October 14: Union Square Chocolate Lover’s Walking Tour

Since the e. coli scare began, our spinach and leafy green consumption has gone from zero servings a day to, well, zero servings a day. But our more herbivorous readers may be sad to see that officials still haven't found how a bacteria that normally romps around our bowels made its way to our favorite iron-filled flora. The Times reports that the outbreak of the past few weeks, which may have killed as many as three people and poisoned almost 200 others (including plenty of kids and 11 New Yorkers), is currently without a clear source and may always remain without one. This is in spite of the fact that officials have localized the center of the outbreak to the California counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Clara.

Andrew Friedman is co-director of Make the Road by Walking, a Brooklyn-based community-based organization founded in 1997 on the belief that the center of leadership must be within the community. Since then, the organization has grown dramatically and now includes over 600 members, a member-elected board composed of low-income community residents, and a staff of twelve. Over the past 5 years, MRBW has achieved many improvements to the lives of Bushwick residents. They pushed New York City to conform to federal law and provide translation services to non-English speakers in food stamp, welfare, and Medicaid offices, and got dozens of neighborhood employers to pay more than $100,000 in illegally withheld wages to garment workers.

I broke my personal record for the single most lucrative fare I’ve ever taken in my five years a yellow cabbie. I drove a couple who’d been out on the town shopping all day to their place off Farmer’s Boulevard in Queens. We listened to the traffic report, and when they heard Matt Ward say that there was a jam on the Van Wyck, they told me to take the Belt. I warned them that it would be extremely expensive because it’s about twice the distance, but they assured me that cash wasn’t an issue.

This Saturday and every Saturday at 1:00 pm, Chocolate Zoom presents a chocolaty view of our fair city. The first leg of the tour starts off in Soho, where you will get a chance to sample treats from Mariebelle, Vosges, and Kee’s Chocolates. Next, a quick jaunt uptown for five more chocolatiers. More details provided at the Chocolate Zoom website. $50.00 per person (adult or child). Booking in advance is essential and required. Payment is due prior to the tour date and may be made by credit card online, call 917-292-0680 or email tours@chocolatezoom.com.

Everyone that is following the 2006 World Cup knows that the United States is in trouble. After losing 3-0 to the Czech Republic in the opening game, the Americans are essentially in a must-win situation. While Ghana's huge 2-0 upset of the Czech Republic in earlier Group E action means that the United States can't be eliminated today, a win would certainly improve their chances of advancing. Bruce Arena has already made two lineup changes for the game with Italy - removing DaMarcus Beasley and Eddie Lewis and placing Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey in the starting lineup.

Sorry you didn't get a chance to see David Blaine at Lincoln Center? Wish you could have seen the human spectacle and had all of your important questions answered? How did he hold his breath so long? How did his skin not fall off? How did he, er, handle his business without sullying the crystal clear water he bobbed about in? Well, too bad.

Walking around the West Village Saturday, we noticed two closings in the neighborhood: