Summer is almost here; soon it will be time for New Yorkers to get out their bathing suits and head over to Coney Island for some sunshine and corn dogs. Despite the brutal damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy, our favorite spots on Coney Island–the Cyclone, Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, the New York Aquarium, and more–have re-opened their doors, ready to feed and entertain New Yorkers all summer long. (more…)
Results for Athens
New York is known for a lot of things—taxis, bagels, Central Park, the subway—but it is not known for privacy. Privacy, in fact, can be pretty hard to come by. Last month, BMW Guggenheim Lab launched “Public/Private,” a new interactive project that explores our individual and collective experiences of privacy in cities around the world. In order to participate, you must first enter your information: gender, age and city. Next, you evaluate the level of privacy you seek in various locations in your city: workplace, home, school, parks, streets, etc. Finally, you rate your level of satisfaction with your city. Once your results are calculated, you can compare them to those of other users living in your city, and discover how your city’s collective data matches up to other cities around the world. (more…)
Shinglekill Falls, New York
Public pools always seem like a good idea; there’s nothing more refreshing than jumping into a rectangle of clear, blue water on a hot, humid day. In reality, however, public pools can be a crowded, smelly, noisy, dirty nightmare filled with chlorine (and, in all likelihood, urine). But luckily—even for those of us who can’t afford a membership to a fancy private pool—there is an alternative: fresh water swimming holes.
Last year’s Musical Chairs competition in Bryant Park
Remember what it felt like to be a kid playing musical chairs at your friend’s birthday party? The suspense. The drive to win. The frantic scramble for a seat when the music stopped. The annual Musical Chairs event in Bryant Park is an opportunity for adults to feel like kids again—to light their competitive fires while enjoying an evening of music and comedy on the grass. This year’s competition, on June 3rd at 7 p.m., will be hosted by comedian Sara Barron and DJ Stewey Decimal. The winner will go home with 2 Southwest Airline tickets and one of the park’s iconic green bistro chairs.
Mermaid Parade 2011. Source: Flickr.
This year, the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade is in trouble. The Coney Island Museum and performance space, the parade’s main sources of funding, were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and now the parade needs $100,000–well outside its budget–or else the tradition may go extinct. The annual Mermaid Parade is the largest free art parade in America. Every summer, for the past 30 years, the Mermaid Parade has served as a celebration of art and creativity in New York. It is an occasion for artists and “weirdos” to express themselves through costumes and floats inspired by mythology and “honky-tonk” seaside rituals, marching together down Surf Avenue, Mermaid Avenue and Neptune Avenue for all to see.
Shortly after John and Jackie Kennedy moved into the White House in 1961, Jackie made it her mission to restore her new home to its former history and grandeur. The White House restoration project was more than a mere redecoration; it was an act of historic preservation, ensuring that the rooms would be protected from any drastic alterations in the future. Jackie O’s restoration project sparked a lifelong interest in historic preservation. When she moved to New York City full time, after the death of her second husband, Aristotle Onassis, she became a member of the Municipal Art Society’s board of directors. She fought to protect important city landmarks such as Grand Central Station, which faced demolition in 1975, and St. Bartholomew’s Church.
