Tag: nyc

ramblings

BBQ in NYC this weekend

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If you plan to be around Manhattan this weekend, then the 3rd annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party might be for you. Let’s face it, if you’re not full of yourself and in the hamptons, might as well just be really, really full.

The event will feature mouthwatering barbecue from 10 of the nation’s top pitmasters, live jazz, blues, and bluegrass, a bbq documentary, seminars with ‘cue experts, great merchandise and more. Regional specialties like brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and even pig snoots (?!) will be smoked on site by ‘cue legends all the way from Texas, North Carolina, and St. Louis among other top bbq destinations. “Yo dude, let’s like go smoke a pig snoot!”

It’s on Saturday, 6/11 and Sunday, 6/12 from 12:00 to 6:00 in Madison Square Park and on Madison Avenue between 23rd & 26th Streets.

Thanks Neu

politics

Super Sheldon to West Side Stadium: Drop Dead

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State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the 3 most powerful politicians in NYS, has effectively killed the West Side Stadium project by stating that he will vote no at tonight’s Public Authorities Control Board meeting. This little known (before the stadium debate that is) board has only 3 people on it – the others are Governor George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno – and all 3 need to vote yes in order for the project to move ahead.

At a press conference today he said, “This plan is at best, premature” and, because he feels that the new retail and office development planned for the area around the stadium might hamper redevelopment at the World Trade Center site, which sits a few miles to the south and is part of Mr. Silver’s district, he said, “Am I supposed to sell out thee community I have fought for and I have represented? Am I supposed to turn my back on Lower Manhattan?” Mr. Silver said rebuilding Lower Manhattan was a “moral” issue and dismissed the stadium plan as simple “ambition.”

I heard the speech live and was very impressed on how he hit on all the points that I care about and how he was able to successfully issue a rebuttal against all arguments for the stadium. He offered better reasons that I have ever been able to articulate and from now on I am going to say to anyone else who is in favor of the stadium, “Just go read Sheldon’s D-Day speech” instead of debating them because I can’t do it better than Mr. Silver.

As an aside, I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic caused by an afternoon Yankee game on the GWB 2 weeks ago when everyone in the car at the same time asked, “And they want to put a stadium on the West Side?! What are they nuts?!” I’m glad that one elected leader, especially a very powerful one, is still, in my opinion, sane.

art

Union Square Clock Mystery Solved

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The digital clock part of the “Union Square Clock,” which is actually an art installation by Kristin Jones & Andrew Ginzel entitled Metronome is called The Passage.

The Passage is a digital timepiece composed of 76,800 light emitting diodes in 15 panels (each approximately five feet in height) behind a clear glass curtain wall. The numerals indicate with atomic precision the time since midnight and counting down in hours, minutes, seconds until the midnight to come – the sum and balance of the day. For example, at precisely twelve noon, The Passage will read 120000000000012.

Lately it has changed: now instead of displaying the ascending and descending time, it is counting down to some event which thanks to Grubby Kid I know is the time when the 2012 Olympic Bid is decided.

Thanks Neu

ramblings

Freedom Will Ring a Tad Bit Later

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The Media has been buzzing today about a couple things, like a pineapple grenade going off in midtown, and the Freedom Tower is one of them. It seems that Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the lead developer at ground zero said yesterday that the soaring office building known as the Freedom Tower would be significantly redesigned to satisfy security concerns.
In an email I received yesterday, my friend Ben put it best:

“I’m glad to know that when it comes to massive undertaking public construction, Boston is not the only major city fully of a bunch of colossal idiots.

Listening the news the other day I had to shake my head that construction on the Freedom Towers will be delayed because the building needs to 100 feet from the street, due to security concerns resulting from…9/11/01. Four years of planning and these geniuses accepted plans that don’t meet the basic specs for security that were put in place as a result of the destruction of the buildings … they… are… rebuilding. Cue the circus theme.”

Thanks Ben – that is the best op-ed I’ve read on the subject yet…

tech

A New M.A.A.P. of NYC

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M.A.A.P. is short for Massively Authored Artistic Project and is a succinct way of describing what Yellow Arrow is all about. Maybe you have seen one of the dictinctive yellow arrow stickers around the city and didn’t know what it was. Here is a quick rundown from the site itself:

“Participants place arrows to draw attention to different locations and objects — a favorite view of the city, an odd fire hydrant, the local bar.

By sending a text-message (SMS) from your mobile phone to 1.646.270.5537 beginning with your arrow’s unique code you associate it with a short text — messages can range from literary quotations to personal commentaries to game-like prompts to action.

When another person encounters the arrow, he or she sends the code to 1.646.270.5537 and immediately receives your message on their mobile phone.

Through this location-based exchange of text-messages, the Yellow Arrow becomes a symbol for the unique characteristics, personal histories, and hidden secrets that live within our everyday spaces.”

Michael Shanks posted about this “global public art project, urban game, and tool for collaborative experimental travel” in August, 2004 and Wired picked up the story around that time as well. Since then, it has only gained momentum and today when I got an email from Yellow Arrow, I thought I would share this project with those that read this little blog. So, sign up, get some arrows and tag the city your way!

ramblings

Tell Someone What You Really Think

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Get it off your chest here…In addition to the specific city, state, and federal agencies detailed below, the city’s 311 number is a great routing service for complaints.

Filing a report with the Better Business Bureau can be a) therapeutic and b) useful for other consumers as well as publications such as MUG – we won’t knowingly ever recommend a company or service with an unsatisfactory rating.

Airlines
DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. Specific airline Customer Relations Managers.

Cable TV
Dept.of Information Technology & Telecommunications

Charities
Office of the Attorney General

Civil Rights
Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Fraud
Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Goods and Services
Department of Consumer Affairs Info, Complaint Form.

Consumer Product Safety
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Do Not Call Violations
FTC

Fake/Toy Gun Sales
Department of Consumer Affairs

Heat and Hot Water
Call 311. More info.

HMO’s
Call the NYS Insurance Dept., Consumer Services Bureau at 212.480.6400.

Hospital Care
Call the NYS Dept. of Health at 212.268.6554.

Identity Theft
FTC

Illegal Dumping
Dept. of Sanitation
Investor Protection
Office of the Attorney General

Mobile Phone Dead Spots
nyc.gov

Newsstands
DOT

Noise
Public Advocate for the City of NY

Police Officer Conduct
Civilian Complaint Review Board

Potholes
Call 311 or use the DOT form.

Rent Security Deposit
Office of the Attorney General

Rodents
Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene

Smoking Indoors
Bureau of Tobacco Control

Spam
Office of the Attorney General

Street Lights
DOT

Taxi
Taxi and Limousine Commission

Traffic Signals and Signs
Call 311. More info.

Websites or Internet Service Providers
Office of the Attorney General

music

ROCK/DON’T ROCK

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New York Metro reports this week that on the WALK/DON’T WALK sign outside CBGB on the Bowery, the orange DON’T WALK hand has had its middle two fingers and thumb obliterated with black tape, turning it into a devil’s horns-the universal hand signal for “Rock!”

The white walking man is now wearing sideburns, a skull-and-bones T-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of Converse. Across the street, the walking man has become a woman, with spiky hairdo, miniskirt, and high-heeled ankle boots. Nearby, at the intersection of Allen and Rivington, the man wears an Adidas tracksuit and Kangol hat, and carries a boom box. In all three cases, holes have been carefully punched in the pasted-on “clothing” (made from vinyl), so that the LED light still shines through.

Who has been doing this? Read the article to find out…

via Republica

ramblings

Of Course It’s Unavoidable – There Is A Train Ahead Of Us!

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When you travel in the newer subway cars, you are “treated” to hearing an electronic voice talking to you all the time. Like the voicemail woman who welcomes me to Audix (thanks sweetheart). Once in a while you’ll hear a conductor break in and correct the computer – “Next stop is City Hall! City Hall next stop! We are nowhere near the Bronx – this is why people drive the trains!” – and I live for those moments.

The one electronic statement that bothers me the most is when, after not moving for a few minutes, Transmit Woman breaks in and says “We apologize for the unavoidable delay.” OF COURSE ITS UNAVOIDABLE!! We are on a track! It’s not like we can go around it. What genius thought that one up?

This has always bothered me and guess what, it’s going away. The MTA has announced that it is removing “unavoidable” from that statement. Yay. One less thing to get aggravated over.

ramblings

NYC Walking Tours

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This weekend my friend Erik wanted me to join him on a Haunted Pub Crawl around the West Village run by Street Smarts NY. I love learning about interesting historical tidbits and I don’t mind walking so it sounded like a good idea – the only problem was that my apartment was trashed due to a fall cleaning exercise (is there such a thing?) and I passed. However, the month is young and there are still many fun walks to take all around NYC. I might go for a walk – I’ll willing to spend $10 to see if it’s cool or not. Anyone interested in joining?