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Fourth of July guide: fireworks, freebies, webcams
The 33rd Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks this year moves to the Hudson River to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s first voyage there.
 The 26-minute SOUSA Firework shows will start at 9:20 p.m. with more than more than 40,000 shells fired from six barges in the river between 24th and 50th streets.
Tune your radio to 10101 Wins, which will broadcast the live music in sync with the fireworks. NBC will broadcast the fireworks show, along with the live performance, which will feature the New York Pops, Rob Thomas, Jewel, Karen Olivo and the cast of Broadway’s “West Side Story.”
See Macy’s suggested fireworks public viewing areas as well as the city’s street closures.
Fireworks cruises
South Street Seaport’s Schooner Pioneer
World Yacht Fourth of July Dinner Cruise
Spirit of NY Fireworks Dinner Cruise
Manhattan by Sail cruise
NY Waterway - waitlist
Fireworks viewing locations
Chelsea Piers
Empire State Building
Top of the Rock
Circle Line’s Rooftop Party
Roof deck of Pier 66
Fireworks on the Hudson at Hudson Terrace
Extreme eating
Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest - July 4 noon at Coney Island
Special museum events
Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, at the NY Public Library at Fifth and 42nd from 1 to 5 p.m.
Free admission at the New-York Historical Society if you wear red, white and blue
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July 3, 2009 11:39 AM Comments (0)
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Whitney Museum drops admission to $4 for 4th of July
 In honor of Independence Day, the Whitney Museum of American Art is dropping admission to $4 on the Fourth of July.
Regular adult admission is $15, though the museum has pay-what-you-wish admission on Friday evenings.
The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.It’s located on Madison Avenue at 75th Street.
Image credit: Jasper Johns, b. 1930, Three Flags, 1958, Encaustic on canvas, Overall: 30 7/8 × 45 1/2 × 5 in. (78.4 × 115.6 × 12.7 cm) Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 50th Anniversary Gift of the Gilman Foundation, Inc., The Lauder Foundation, A. Alfred Taubman, Laura-Lee Whittier Woods, Art © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
July 2, 2009 12:17 PM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty crown tickets sold out until Labor Day
While the Statue of Liberty is on track to reopen her crown to the public on the Fourth of July, tickets to climb up her steps are already all-but sold out through the Labor Day weekend.
Tickets first went on sale June 13 and demand was so high that the website and telephone lines were difficult to access. (The website has been slow again this morning.)
 Only 30 people per hour will be allowed to take the stairs to the crown under escort from a National Park Service ranger.
It’s important to note that currently the plan is to keep the crown open for two years only. After that, it will close again for a project to make the interior safer to visitors and hopefully allow more people to visit each day.
The crown has been closed since Sept. 11, 2001, mainly for fire safety reasons, the National Park Service has long said. The torch has been closed to the public since 1916, when Liberty’s arm was damaged by a massive rail yard explosion in nearby New Jersey. There are no plans to ever reopen the torch to the public.
You can also follow the the Statue of Liberty on Twitter (it’s an official NPS account;) or flickr; or take an eTour.
What you need to know to get tickets to the Statue of Liberty’s crown:
Crown tickets can be reserved up to a year in advance through Statue Cruises, the only company licensed to ferry the public to Liberty and Ellis islands. The $3 crown fee will be on top of the regular ferry ticket, currently priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 877- LADY-TIX (877-523-9849) between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern time.
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July 2, 2009 9:49 AM Comments (0)
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Jewish Museum cuts hours, adds 2-for-1 July admission
 Due to budget reasons, the Jewish Museum is changing its hours starting this week, closing its doors entirely on Wednesdays, and closing other galleries on some weekdays.
The museum will keep its free Saturdays policy (from 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.,) plus for July only is offering two-for-one admission - if you have the printable flyer.
It will also add hours on Friday. Previously the museum was closed on Friday, but starting this week it will remain open until 5:45 p.m. until Oct. 16. For two Fridays — Oct. 23 and Oct. 30 — it will close at 5 p.m. Then from Nov. 6 through March 13, the Friday closing time will drop to 4 p.m.
On Thursdays, the museums will close at 5:45 pm rather than 8 p.m. In addition, the galleries to the permanent collection will close on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The change in the hours comes on top of a 10 percent staff cut through attrition and layoffs in March, which meant the loss of about 13 or 14 people, said Anne Scher, the director of communications for the museum. The recession, along with declines in the endowment and contributions, is the cause, but every effort is being made to limit the impact, Scher said.
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June 30, 2009 3:00 PM Comments (0)
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Museum of Chinese in America to (soft) reopen Friday
 The Museum of Chinese in America will reopen Friday in its new location, debuting the design by Maya Lin.
A free Open House Family Day is scheduled for Sunday (from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) with a lion dance, kung fu demonstration and dance performance. Admission will also be free this Friday (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday (from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
The actual Celebration Ceremony will take place September 22, which is also when the museum will unveil the full MOCA core exhibit, “With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America” along with MOCA’s first group show, “Here & Now: Chinese Artists in New York.”
Until then, the museum will only be open select days this summer and for events such as the The First Asian American ComiCon and The 32nd Asian Ameican International Film Festival.
And starting next week, admission to the museum will be free every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., thanks to sponsorship from Target.
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June 25, 2009 4:50 PM Comments (0)
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Titanic, Lucy exhibitions open in Times Square today
The all-new Discovery Times Square Exposition opens today with two big exhibitions: “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” and “Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia.”
Unfortunately the tickets are sold separately, making it one of the most expensive museum-type experiences in New York. The price of an adult ticket to the two exhibitions: $47.63. (That includes the service fee if you book in advance by phone.)
Located on 44th Street in the former press room of the New York Times, the reconfigured 60,000 square-foot space will feature temporary exhibitions, along with space for dining and gift shops. (On Tuesday, workers were busy hanging “I (heart) Lucy” T-shirts.)
The Lucy exhibition features the bones of the 3.2-million year old hominid found in Ethopia in 1974, as well as the 47 million year old fossil known as Ida (Plate B) or Darwinius masilae. The exhibition also covers the history and culture of Ethiopia.
See the Post for pictures of the Titanic exhibition, which features pieces from the shipwreck including uncorked Champagne bottles.
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June 24, 2009 7:23 AM Comments (0)
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On loan: (probably) Michelangelo's first painting
“The Torment of Saint Anthony” may not seem obvious subject matter for a first painting, especially by a 12- or 13-year old, but in this case, the novice was most likely Michelangelo.
The painting is now on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which undertook its conservation, including varnish removal. The Met’s technical examination included infrared reflectography that revealed how the artist modified the image from the original Martin Schongauer engraving, which the painting is based on.
“If the picture is indeed the real thing,” the New York Times writes, “it’s quite a catch, being one of only four known easel paintings by Michelangelo, and the only one in an American collection.
The work is the centerpiece of a small temporary exhibition at the Met called “Michelangelo’s First Painting.” The painting will be on loan to the Met from the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth until Sept. 7.
Image credit:
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Florence 1475-Rome 1564)
The Torment of Saint Anthony, ca. 1487-88
Oil and tempera on panel, 18 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Provided to NewYorkology by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
June 22, 2009 10:27 AM Comments (0)
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Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum extends sleepovers
 The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has announced almost a dozen new dates for its Operation Slumber sleepover program which allows campers to spend the night in sleeping bags at the aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River.
Campers get to tour the Flight Deck by flashlight, explore the museum through a scavenger hunt and sleep on the hangar deck.
But at least for now, the sleepovers are only open to organized youth groups, such as scout troops, or school and camp groups of 15 or more. Hopefully later this year the sleepovers will open up for families, a museum spokesman told NewYorkology.
Upcoming sleepover dates: June 27, July 18, Aug. 15; Sept. 26; Oct. 9; Oct. 31; Nov.14; and in 2010: March 13; March 27; April 10; and April 24.
The museum declined to disclose the sleepover cost for this story, and said individual groups need to call for pricing: (646) 381-5010.
Earlier: New York’s real-life ‘Night at the Museum’ sleepovers
June 17, 2009 3:24 PM Comments (0)
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Guggenheim cuts staff as endowment, donations shrink
 Although the Guggenheim is enjoying record attendance, it will cut 8 percent of its staff due to unspecified “losses in donations and its endowment,” Crain’s reports.
Update: The Guggenheim’s endowment dropped about 18 percent, to about $113 million, Richard Armstrong, the director of the museum and the Guggenheim Foundation, told the New York Times.
Of the 25 positions to go, some will be eliminated through attrition.
The Guggenheim is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary with the major exhibition “Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward.”
Other museums have made cuts and raised admission this year as a result of the soured economy. The Brooklyn Museum hiked its suggested admission by $2, cut salaries, canceled a show and furloughed employees. The Museum of the City of New York raised its suggested admission by $1, and the Met cut staff.
Update: The Met Museum will announce more staff cuts this week, the CultureGrrl arts blog reports.
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
June 16, 2009 8:32 PM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty crown tickets now on sale
See updated story: Statue of Liberty crown tickets sold out until Labor Day
Tickets for the Statue of Liberty’s crown went on sale at 10 a.m. this morning, but most callers were greeted by busy signals an an occasional “All circuits are busy now. Please try your call later.”
The ticketing website for Statue Cruises has also been unavailable for much of the morning.
The crown will officially open July 4, with about 30 people an hour allowed to climb the stairs up.
Crown tickets can be reserved up to a year in advance through Statue Cruises, the only company licensed to ferry the public to Liberty and Ellis islands. The $3 crown fee will be on top of the regular ferry ticket, currently priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 877- LADY-TIX (877-523-9849.)
Updates: Two of NewYorkology’s Twitter contacts said they’ve secured crown tickets, both through the website. Two more said they got tickets, one by phone, the other online.
Update: Once you reach the website, it provides an excellent explanation of your options. Note that the ticketing process requires you to list the names of every person you’re buying tickets for. Also be aware that the statue’s interior will close during extreme heat, so your best bet in summer months is to reserve a ticket as early in the morning as possible.
Here are screenshots of the Statue Cruises ticketing pages from this morning:
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June 13, 2009 9:53 AM Comments (2)
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