Yankees to parade up Canyon of Heroes 11 a.m. Friday
A parade honoring the World Champion Yankees will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and head north up the Canyon of Heroes, according to a taped message on 311, the city’s official information service.
The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza.
Update: An early-morning press release from the mayor’s office offered a few more details abut Friday’s ticker-tape parade.
The parade will begin on Broadway at Battery Place at 11 a.m. and continue northbound up Broadway toward Chambers Street. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza, at which Mayor Bloomberg will present the Yankees with Keys to the City.
Downtown Alliance’s 30 free bikes were used more than 7,000 times this past summer. There were “no thefts and no vandalism,” a spokesman told NewYorkology on Monday.
The free rentals were available in two-and-a-half-hour windows from May 13 through Sept. 30 through Bike and Roll. The catch was that you needed to provide a credit card, which would be billed for the bike if you never returned.
The program may return for summer 2010 if funds are available, a Downtown Alliance spokesman said.
Details on the 2009 Bike Around Downtown program:
- Approximately 7,612 bike reservations were made, an increase of 52 percent over 2008.
- 87 percent of riders were New York City residents; 4 percent were from New Jersey; 2 percent were from Long Island; and 1.2 percent were from California.
- Among the NYC residents 65 percent were Manhattan residents, including 46 percent from south of Chambers Street. Half of all participants described themselves as Downtown Workers.
Picture credit: Brooklyn Bridge bike lane. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
The USS New York arrived in New York City this morning, passing the Statue of Liberty before heading toward the World Trade Center site to offer a 21-gun salute in honor to those who died September 11, 2001.
The USS New York warship is a San Antonio-class LPD (Landing Platform Dock.) Its bow stem includes seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center towers.
The video:
Later today, the USS New York will dock at Pier 88 on the Hudson River to be formally inducted into the United States Navy at a shipboard ceremony Nov. 7.
The USS New York will be open to the public, free of charge from Nov. 4 though 11. The opening times:
Broadway's 'Next to Normal' to debut a 'Twitter song'
Broadway’s “Next to Normal,” which in May tweeted its entire show online, today will premiere a “Twitter song,” written in collaboration with its social media followers.
The song, “Something I Can’t See,” will make its debut tonight at 7 p.m. at 92Y Tribeca — and on Twitter.
“‘Next to Normal’ has solicited suggestions from the Twitter followers on all aspects of the new song, from which characters are performing it and where it takes place in the musical’s storyline, to song structure and lyric suggestions,” producers said in a news release. “The song will not be incorporated into the Tony-winning musical.”
Picture credit: The company of “Next to Normal.” Picture by Joan Marcus/Hartman Group.
WIRED magazine will open its annual holiday pop-up shop Nov. 21 in the Meatpacking District, this year with a design assist from Moby, a gaming area hand-picked by Tony Hawk and a green section curated by Adrian Grenier.
The WIRED Store will be located at 415 W. 13th St., map, officials for the magazine announced today.
The pop-up shop will let visitors get their hands on more than 150 items chosen by the magazine’s editors, including TVs, laptops, cell phones, games, active gear, home goods and toys. There will be a WIRED Café with chef demos and wine tastings, Geek Dad Saturdays and Game Day Sundays.
The WIRED Store will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. The pop-up takes it toys and goes home Dec 27.
Picture credit: Wired Store sign from 2008. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
NY's ghost tours, cemetery treks, and a free 'Phantom'
There are a few upcoming haunted tours, cemetery treks and other Halloween-themed events on the calendar:
The Merchant’s House Museum which claims bragging rights to the title “Manhattan’s Most Haunted House” leads Candlelight Ghost tours through the end of the month. This Sunday, it will lead the annual procession to New York City Marble Cemetery, re-creating a funeral from 1865.
Trinity Wall Street will toast resident Alexander Hamilton (“Non-alcoholic beverages will also available.”) in the graveyard on Oct. 30, followed by a screening of Phantom of the Opera” in the Gothic cathedral with live organ accompaniment by Robert Ridgell. Both events are free.
Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx will lead three flashflights-required tours of sites associated with its most tragic guests.
Average NYC hotel rate climbs to $234, deals disappear
After dipping below $200 this summer, the average hotel room rate in New York City is back up to $234.45 as of the first week of October, according to Smith Travel Research. While that’s 21 percent less than the same time a year ago, consumers aren’t likely to find any comfort in the discounts out there now.
Searching for the last weekend in October, Quikbook offers almost nothing under $250. If you poke around on other nights you can find rates from:
Comfort Inn Midtown West - $136
Ace - $219
The GEM Hotel, Midtown West - $229
Hotel Metro - $236
Cooper Square - $280
City Club - $289
Likewise, GetaRoom doesn’t deliver a deal for the Halloween weekend, but promises lower rates for other nights:
Wellington Hotel - $153.30
Best Western President Times Square - $170
Beekman Hotel - $231.20
HotelChatter has the heads-up on several soon-to-open properties, including the almost-ready Sanctuary Hotel, which is opening rooms as they’re upgraded from the old Portland Square Hotel digs. The new rooms are priced at $159 a night during construction.
While the fancy new The Standard still promises rooms from $195, you may be hard-pressed to find that rate available.
The Pod Hotel, which is now requiring a two-night minimum for most weekends, can be booked for as low as $149 per night in October (or $129 in November) if you’re willing to share a bathroom down the hall.
Now in its fifth year, Open House New York this weekend will open hundreds of sites for free tours, allowing the public to wander through cheese caves, a subway power station, the abandoned hospital buildings of Ellis Island, and into well-appointed private apartments, hotels and offices.
And while all the events are free, not all the sites are accesed with equal ease.
While there is a free printed OHNY guide (also available online in PDF) there have been many changes since its publication, including cancelations, new sites, and altered hours. Official updates can be found on the OHNYwebsite and its blog. (Yes, you need to go to three different locations to get a full list of changes.)
