The Landmarks Preservation Commission has voted 7-1 in favor of a new two-tiered pier and promenade for the South Street Seaport Historic District.The approved designs are intended to transform Pier 15 on the East River and serve the Seaport’s growing residential community.. The plans for the East River Esplanade by SHoP Architects will turn the the old shipping terminal into an urban oasis with a park on the top level, a maritime-education center and cafes below, as well as places for boats to dock.
Construction will begin this summer and is expected to be completed by 2011. The project is part of a $148 million plan to create a two-mile river esplanade from the Whitehall ferry terminal north to East River Park. Funding for the city project is by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s 9/11 federal rebuilding grants. After a series of alterations, the plan received support from Community Board 1, the Municipal Art Society and the N.Y.C. Landmarks Conservancy. The city and SHoP Architects developed the modern design to balance history with the need for public recreation on the long-neglected riverfront.
A one of a kind portrait of President Barack Obama is on display in New York City. "Ripley's Believe It or Not" in Times Square unveiled the portrait made entirely of multi-colored gumballs. The six-by-six foot portrait of the President made of 12,784 gumballs in eight different colors, can be seen for free in Ripley’s street entrance.
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The White House accidentally posted the number of a phone sex line on a press release meant to direct reporters to a conference call led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to The New York Post, journalists were instructed to call the number in order to join an "on-the-record briefing call with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones to discuss the NATO summit."
When the toll-free number was dialed, however, they didn’t hear the anticipated high-profile Obama administration officials live from the G20 summit in London discussing foreign policy. Instead of being greeted by Clinton, a soft-voiced female on the phone invited callers to enter a credit card number if they felt "like getting nasty." After being solicited for sex, reporters called the White House to report that they were not able to dial into the conference call, the White House issued a corrected press release listing the international line for reporters to dial. However, by the time this was released, the conference call was already under way.
The White House reps brushed off the phone sex mishap as a mistake, saying it was nothing more than an error.
Armando’s, a Brooklyn Heights Italian eatery, will be reopening in three months. According to the Daily News, the 72-year-old restaurant, will return to its original location on Montague Street. The restaurant closed last March and the Spicy Pickle, a Denver-based sandwich chain, opened in its place last August.
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During the first three weeks of March, The Network will debut New York’s newest festival, featuring 40 short plays. The Barrow Group Theater on W. 36th Street will host each of the 20-minute plays that will be performed. Two performances of four plays will be featured in the evenings at 6 and 8:30. Audiences and industry professionals will vote to determine which shows move through three elimination rounds from Mar. 4 to the finals on Mar. 22.
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“Change” may already seem like last year's tired trend (aren't we ready for easy equilibrium or some safety in stagnation?). But New Yorkers are gonna get more unwanted “change” soon enough. Mayor Mike’s announcement that cars and trucks will not be able to travel Broadway in the heart of Midtown Manhattan is gonna need some serious getting used to.
"Green Light for Midtown," is a pilot program that will shut down several blocks on Broadway in an attempt to make traffic flow more smoothly while freeing up space to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists (go Janette Sadik-Khan, our fave commissioner or transportation!). Broadway will be shut to vehicles between West 47th and 42nd streets in Times Square, and again from West 35th to 33rd streets in Herald Square.
According to the New York City Department of Transportation, “the street has remained a significant traffic problem, disrupting the grid of avenues and streets, creating complicated intersections and negatively impacting traffic flow throughout Midtown Manhattan.”
These changes to streets are intended to make Sixth Avenue traffic flow better through Herald Square by giving cars a longer green light and eliminating backups that often stretch from 34th street to 23rd street. The plan also emphasizes the safety aspect for pedestrians, who frequently walk onto Broadway's roadway because the sidewalks are so packed.
Seventh Avenue would be widened to accommodate the extra traffic diverted from Broadway. These $1.5 million plans are scheduled to occur as early as Memorial Day weekend 2009 and finish by September and remain in effect until the end of the year. If the experiment works, the changes could become permanent.
Last summer, the city completed a project, called “Broadway Boulevard,” when it narrowed Broadway from West 42nd Street to 35th Street by setting aside two lanes on the east side of the street for a bike lane and promenade with tables, chairs and plants. That concept is being taking even further with the new plans to create more of a pedestrian plaza in Times Square. Traffic will continue to flow through on crossing streets, but the areas between the streets would become pedestrian malls with chairs, benches and cafe tables with umbrellas. The changes on Broadway will create open spaces for tourists who frequently visit the most famous crossroads in the world and New Yorkers who avoid the area because of the crowds, while infuriating some drivers who rely on the streets during commutes.
Photograph courtesy of Zodak via Flickr
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With Fashion Week in New York City, all of the glitz and glam is on full display on the red carpet and in front of flashing cameras. But in the current economy, fashion mavens aren’t clamoring for pricey haute couture as they once were. Independent designers have found new protocols to go beyond the runway and have chic New Yorkers sporting their clothes. Indeed, a set of pop shop designers in Williamsburg are forgoing fashion shows and focusing on the shrinking trade of local craftsmen in the industry by promoting locally produced garments, jewelry and crafts.
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Is Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries the sexiest guy in NYC politics? City Hall news has unveiled its list of the 30 Most Beautiful People in New York City Politics, and we think Jeffries has the most confidence and sex appeal of the entire bunch.
We'd like to think that to make it in the cut-throat world of politics, that brains and contacts are enough. But anyone who knows the ins and outs of policymaking, also knows you that beauty can help make the final decision on Election Day. So we analyzed the “red carpet” interviews of those on the list to see what helps them make it in the competitive circle at City Hall. And we wonder what sort of politicking went on to make the list, cuz there seems to be some serious oversights. Like, where is cutie Council Member Jessica Lappin?
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