Drinkology
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Circle Line launching a $50,000 NYC Waterfalls tour
While several ferry companies have already announced plans for summer cruises that will get spectators close to artist Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is hoping to top them all when it comes to pure excess.
 For $50,000 you can get a private Circle Line boat (with crew) to cruise aroound the waterfalls while sipping Dom Perignon, dining on a six-course meal from Chef Daniel Boulud's Feast & Fêtes catering and sharing chocolate Knipschildt's La Madeline au Truffes.
And as for the ice: Tiffany Jazz Drop Earrings.
Since you probably won't be sleeping on the boat, Circle Line will also throw in a night in a presidential suite in a hotel on par with the Waldorf, Mandarin Oriental or Four Seasons, a spokesman told NewYorkology.
Eliasson's four waterfalls are currently under construction under the Brooklyn Bridge, at Governors Island, at Manhattan's Pier 35 and below the Brooklyn Promenade. They'll be in operation from late June to mid-October.
Image source: Circle Line and Tiffany's
Earlier: NYC Waterfalls taking shape under Brooklyn Bridge
NYC Waterfalls could start flowing as early as June
Hotel packages start trickling in for NYC Waterfalls
'NYC Waterfalls' cruises priced at $10 and $20
May 6, 2008 03:46 PM Comments (0)
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Rockaways, Frying Pan to get Water Taxi on weekends
While the mayor made his big announcement today about new ferry commmuter service between the Rockaways and Manhattan, the more interesting news may lie in the New York Water Taxi's other plans for this summer, including weekend service to Rockaway Beach as well as the Frying Pan on the Hudson.
Service will also start to Red Hook's new Brooklyn Ikea starting June 18, but the Water Taxi has ditched all plans for Governors Island and the Mets Express this summer, a spokeswoman for the company told NewYorkology. (Governors Island will still be served by a free ferry from Lower Manhattan for the season, which starts May 31.)
Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City will officially reopen for the season on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, with Friday/Saturday/Sunday ferry service from E. 34th Street in Manhattan.
The NY Water Taxi is also ditching its weekday hop-on hop-off service which has been aimed at the tourist crowd. That service will remain on weekends (when ridership was higher and the boats won't be needed for the commuter routes.)
However, it will still run its evening sunset happy-hour cruises on most nights. And new this week, it's adding a TV and Movie cruise every Thursday. And once Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls art project starts flowing, the Water Taxi (along with Circle Line and NY Waterway) will start special waterfall cruises.
NY Water Taxi weekend service to the Rockaways -- at Riis Landing on National Park Service land -- is aiming to start weekend service in early summer. No pricing details are yet available (although the city-subsidised weekday commuter service on the same route will be $6 each way.)
Service to the Lightship "Frying Pan" would also start mid-summer, as a stop on the hop-on hop-off service. The "Frying Pan," which recently moved to Pier 66 from its longtime Pier 63 home on the Hudson River, hopes to reopen soon as a restaurant and bar -- the same facilities it offered in the old location, a spokeswoman told NewYorkology today.
Farther out on the horizon, the city is sinking $500,000 into a study on more routes, including LaGuardia Airport, Roosevelt Island, Coney Island, Riverdale, Camp St. Edward on Staten Island, W. 125th Street, Orchard Beach, Hunts Point, Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, Astoria, and Manhattan's E. 20th , E. 75th, and E. 90th streets.
Earlier: Hotel packages start trickling in for NYC Waterfalls
'NYC Waterfalls' cruises priced at $10 and $20
Water Taxi starts Brooklyn-to-Governors Island route
Frying Pan moves to Pier 66; reopening date uncertain
Circle Line adds cruises, but LaGuardia ferry on hold
May 5, 2008 05:32 PM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty's insides twisted, but no beating heart
In Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, which is apparently New York City in a parallel universe, a number of things in the video game are cleverly inspired by the real.
Serious Eats has charted the places to eat in Liberty City (including the "Steinway Beer Garden,") while Gawker points out that the "Statue of Happiness" in the harbor "contains at its heart... a beating heart, chained to the exterior walls."
But since NewYorkology dwells in the travel blog realm, it would be proper to proffer some pictures of what the inside of the Statue of Liberty actually looks like.
Also, keep in mind that if you're planning a trip out to the Statue of Liberty, it's key to buy your time-specific ferry tickets in advance and tick the box for the free monument pass (otherwise you can't see up inside the statue or gain access to the museum.)
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April 30, 2008 02:49 PM Comments (1)
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Koons' 'Balloon Dog' marks its territory on Met roof
Artist Jeff Koons has installed three of his never-before-on-public-display schulptures in the roof garden of the Met Museum of Art, where they'll stay through the summer.
"Balloon Dog (Yellow,)" is similiar to “Balloon Dog (Magenta,)” which was installed at the
Palazzo Grassi in Venice in 2006.
It shares the rooftop space with "Sacred Heart (Red/Gold,)" and the Piglet-inspired "Coloring Book."
 The Met's Roof Garden Cafe will serve new cocktails by the same names as the three art works, along with the usual fare of soft drinks, beer, wine and food. It will also provide a martini bar on Friday and Saturda evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
"I think everything balanced out just perfect. I don't think I've ever been happier with any artwork I've ever done," Koons this morning told media gathered for his press preview in the garden.
In recent years, the garden has hosted the work of artists including Sol LeWitt and Frank Stella. The roof draws up to 800 people an hour on sunny days in the summer, Met president Emily Rafferty said.
"Jeff Koons on the Roof" will be on display in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden from April 22 through October 26.
2008 hours for the roof garden (weather permitting) are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays through Thursdays, plus Sundays; and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The Met Museum is closed Mondays except some holiday Mondays (including May 26 and Sept. 1.)
Earlier: Jeff Koons gets the Met Museum's rooftop for summer
Balloon inflation with Shrek, Scooby, and Koons' rabbit
April 21, 2008 12:48 PM Comments (0)
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Canadians open Rock Center roof garden for two nights
The Canadian Tourism Commission is one-upping Open House New York by opening up access to one of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens for free and providing a wine garden, food, music -- and Canadian sophistication.
The two-night event, called The Ultimate Canadian Room-With-A-View, will be held May 14 and 15 (a Wednesday and Thursday) in the 620 Fifth Ave. loft and garden on the 7th floor, which is normally closed to the public.
The roof garden was been open for a quick walk-through during the past two Open House New York weekends, offering eye-level views with the spires of Saint Patrick's Cathedral just across the avenue.
(This year's OHNY is scheduled for the weekend of October 4 though participating locations haven't been announced.)
Image credit: Rockefeller Center roof garden during OHNY 2006. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: Rockefeller Center roof garden & more OpenHouse
A glimpse of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens
April 16, 2008 01:07 PM Comments (3)
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Allen & Delancey snags a best new NYC restaurant title
 Time Out magazine has revealed the winners of its 2008 EatOut readers' choice awards -- and the Lower East Side's Allen & Delancey and Huckleberry Bar in Williamsburg finish at the top as New York's best new restaurant and bar.
The full list:
Best new restaurant - Allen & Delancey
Best new bar - Huckleberry Bar
Best new Brooklyn restaurant - Alchemy
Best new Queens restaurant - Bistro 33
Best new Upper West Side restaurant - The Mermaid Inn
Best new Spanish restaurant - Mercat
Best new fast food - Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Best neighborhood bistro - Bar Tabac
Best vegetarian restaurant - Blossom
Best Manhattan diner - Skylight Diner
Best barbecue - Hill Country
Best return of a New York institution - 2nd Ave Deli
Best pastry-chef-run restaurant - Graffiti Food & Wine Bar
Best mobile food - DessertTruck
Best wine bar - Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar
Best beer bar - Blind Tiger Ale House
Best new teahouse - Amai Tea & Bake House
Best new coffeehouse - Irving Farm Coffee Company
Best new frozen yogurt - Pinkberry
Best candy shop - Economy Candy
Best place to be seen - The Waverly Inn
Best celeb chef who actually cooks - Marc Meyer (Cookshop, Provence, Five Points)
Best reality-TV spin-off - Perilla (Harold Dieterle, Top Chef)
Best new out-of-town import - Alain Ducasse (Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis)
Best new farm-forward endeavor - Market Table
April 15, 2008 09:42 AM Comments (0)
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Early-spring get-out-of-town linkathon-a-palooza
 MadMaps has published a series of daytripper and weekend getaway maps, including two focusing on the area around New York. They're maybe best suited for the times when you're too fed up to do the research ahead of time, and just want to hit the road and drive. However, the itineraries are maybe too generic from some travelers and could be frustrating when they list a town's high points, but offer no directions or addresses.
For cheap out-of-town travel, keep tabs on BoltBus and MegaBus, which are rapidly adding service to NYC with fares from $1 (if you book in advance.)
And in the cheap-airfare department, Skybus is now flying to three destinations (Portsmouth, Columbus, and Greensboro) from the rapidly expanding Stewart Airport in the Hudson Valley. (Update: Skybus just went out of business.)
Metro-North's new partnership with Enterprise lets you take the train out of Manhattan and then pick up your rental car at 23 stations, including Beacon, Middletown, Port Chester and Goldens Bridge.
For organized trips out of the city, the Adventure Society has a serious calendar of offerings ranging from hiking and horseback riding to Indy race car driving and Adirondack white-water rafting.
NYC Audubon spring field trips include a wildflower hike at Pyramid Mountain and to the Raptor Trust bird rehabilitation center.
Metro-North's one-day getaways include packages to Cold Springs, the Mohegan Sun Casino, and the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in Greenwich.
Not only is there a Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown NY, but the town is hosting Luci-Desi Days from May 23 through May 25.
Singer Castle on Dark Island opens for the season on May 17.
Stone Barns Farm Market opens for the season on May 2.
The Long Island Lighthouse Challenge -- scheduled for May 17 and 18 -- opens the doors to the lighthouses on Fire Island, Eatons Neck, Huntingdon Harbor, Cedar Island, Horton Point, Montauk Point, Orient Point, and the Long Beach Bar.
New York state finally has launched its Empire State Brewery Trails.
Get free Hudson Valley wine trail maps (in PDF format)
Wino TV is the new online video series from Applewood Winery.
Grand Cru has a full list of spring wine classes in Long Island wine country.
Olana, (pictured,) the Hudson hilltop home of Frederic Church, on May 10 opens the wagon house.
April 16 is Pirates Day at the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.
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April 3, 2008 11:13 AM Comments (0)
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Anthos, Ssäm Bar, among Beard Award nominees
 The esteemed James Beard Foundation today put forth its best-of list for 2008. The following are merely the nominees, with the actual winners feted from June 6 through 8 here in NYC.
The awards cover chefs, restaurants and food writers across the United States, but here is the NY pick list:
Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis - outstanding restaurant design
Anthos - best new restaurant
Babbo - outstanding restaurateur, outstanding pastry chef Gina DePalma
Blue Hill - outstanding chef Dan Barber
Café Boulud - rising star chef of the year Gavin Kaysen
Centovini - outstanding restaurant design
Eleven Madison Park - outstanding wine service
Gramercy Tavern - outstanding restaurant, best chef in NYC Michael Anthony
Jean-Georges - outstanding restaurateur, outstanding restaurant
La Grenouille - outstanding service
The Modern - best chef in NYC Gabriel Kreuther
Momofuku Ssäm Bar - best chef in NYC David Chang
Morimoto - outstanding restaurant design
P*ONG - outstanding pastry chef Pichet Ong
Picholine - best chef in NYC Terrance Brennan
WD-50 - best chef in NYC Wylie Dufresne
Nearby:
Cucharamama in Hoboken, NJ - Maricel Presilla, best chef Mid-Atlantic region
Dale DeGroff - Outstanding wine and spirits professional award
Also, the cookbook authors represent NYC quite well as well, including Brooklyn's own James Peterson with "Cooking," the New York Times' Mark Bittman (for his "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.")
Earlier: Momofuku, L'Atelier, Le Bernardin nab James Beards
March 24, 2008 06:53 PM Comments (0)
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At least three dead after crane collapse in East 50s
At least three people were killed when a giant crane split apart, smashing a four- or five- story building to rubble on the east side of Manhattan, according to NY1 and other media reports.
Callers to NY1 said the crane demolished a bar on 50th Street called Fubar, map, as it was packed with St. Patrick's Day revelers. (Fubar stands for F-ed up beyond all recogntion. Another caller from the neighborhood said it's called the F.U. Bar.)
Another part of the crane smashed a townhouse on 51st Street, map, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.
See Gothamist for more pictures.
No word yet on how close this is to Affinia 50 hotel, which is located at 155 E. 50th Street. (Update: The hotel is a block away and has not been evacuated.)
"NEW YORK CRANES" could be seen on the collapsed crane in footage aired on NY1.
In November, the Department of Buildings issued its annual report on construction safety, concluding there were fewer fatalities in 2007 but "accidents on high-rise construction sites increased, from 23 to 42."
Just last weekend, high winds toppled scaffolding at several locations in Manhattan, including a spot on the West Side HIghway, that caused total gridlock a full day after the collapse.
Update: They're now saying four fatalities as a result of the 2:20 p.m. crane collapse near 51st Street near 2nd Avenue.
"This is more of the same. I mean, we've had this kind of construction accidents resulting in death practically all over the borough. Obviously we're in a great construction boom. But we have failed the people of this borough and this city because we do not have adequate safety protocols in place, this being a perfect example," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer told NY1. "My office in a preliminary investigation has found that there are nine serious open safety violations and we have seen that pattern in every disaster we have been to."
Update: The latest NY Times story lists the construction crane addess as 303 East 51st Street. The NYC Dept. of Buildings website lists the status for the site, including a partial stop-work order and 18 open violations.
A press conference is expected shortly.
 Update: The images (top and right) are from the website of Reliance Construction, the primary contractor for the building under construction. According to the website, they're building a 46-story luxury condominium tower with "240 units complete with European kitchens and appliances, hardwood flooring and a rooftop swimming pool." Also: "Phase II of this project includes a 17 storey loft building, a retail component and a private Manhattan home. The overall construction budget is in excess of $110M."
Update from the televised news conference: The bar, Fubar, was closed at the time but two employees were present. One was rescued with injuries but fire officials are unclear if the other employee escaped or if he's still inside. The four known fatalities were all construction workers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. A total of four buildings were damaged, including the four-story brownstone that housed Fubar.
Several other construction workers were injured, some critically. Ten other non-construction workers were hurt, including three critically.
City building officials had visited the site both Friday and Saturday - the first day to issue permits for today's crane work (which is "jumping the crane" the abiliy for the crane to raise itself,) and today's vist was to issue a non-crane-related stop-work order based on the expectation of high winds on Sunday. There have been 13 violations on this site since January 2006 -- which city officials said is normal for this size of project. The building is currently 19 stories, the mayor said.
Earlier: Trump SoHo hotel accident kills 1; construction halted
March 15, 2008 04:18 PM Comments (0)
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Jeff Koons gets the Met Museum's rooftop for summer
Artist Jeff Koons will get the Metropolitan Museum of Arts rooftop gallery this summer, with the opening date set for April 29 -- weather permitting.
"Jeff Koons on the Roof" will be on display in the The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden through October 26.
Koons' work is often whimsical, such as the inflatable silver rabbit that made its debut in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (pictured in Times Square.)
Descriptions of the rooftop sculptures are not yet available - but the museum will again open its Roof Garden Cafe, serving cocktails and small selection of food. (But it closes at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and stays open until 8:30 p.m. only on Fridays and Saturdays.)
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: Balloon inflation with Shrek, Scooby, and Koons' rabbit
Frank Stella gets the Met rooftop for the summer
Met Museum opens rooftop martini bar
March 10, 2008 10:13 AM Comments (1)
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