Out of Manhattan
Here you'll find information about New York City's four outer boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island,) as well as spots that make good daytrips from Manhattan.
NY home games: Mets, Yankees and All-Stars
NewYorkology contributor Scott Ross keeps you abreast of upcoming Mets and Yankees home games in New York City. Ross toils in anonymity for a giant online news aggregator. Here’s your look at major league baseball in New York City for the next two weeks:
Not surprisingly, the Mets have continued to play .500 ball under new skipper Jerry Manuel. This is what average teams do.
Their saving grace at this juncture of the season is the apparent indifference to winning among the other teams in the NL East. The Metropolitans will play host to two of the four worst teams in all of baseball this week, the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, giving themselves a good chance to chip away at the Philles’ 4 1/2-game lead.
Easily the most enticing match-up of the week at Shea will be Wednesday’s game featuring Tim Lincecum against Johan Santana. The 24-year-old Lincecum reminds some folks of Sandy Koufax with his slight frame – 5’ 11”, 170 lb. – and long stride. Apparently Lincecum’s father modeled his son’s delivery on Koufax, though their wind-ups are very different.
Santana has pitched far better than his record would indicate – he’s 0-4 over his past five starts despite a 2.53 ERA in those games. These two promise as much excitement as one can hope for in Queens this summer.
While the Mets benefit from being in a woeful division, the Yankees suddenly find themselves also-rans in the game’s powerhouse division. The defending champion Red Sox are a known quantity, but the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have made the leap from “appealing band of scrapping young talents” to “force to be reckoned with.” They’ve put together the best record in baseball despite having played the toughest schedule of any team. Their offense leads the league in runs per game on the road thanks to a line-up that hits homers, steals bases and draws walks. Their pitching staff has the second-best ERA+ in the AL, thanks in large part to the most improved defense … maybe ever.
The Devil Rays are turning 72 percent of balls in play into outs, good for second in the league and up from last year’s atrocious 66.2 percent. And there’s reason to think they can’t be just as good if not better in the second half of the season. Nobody’s playing beyond expectations and a few guys have been below and will likely turn it around.
Go see this team play. They’re young, they’re tough, they play hard and they’re fun to watch – if you can get past the likelihood that they’re beating your team’s brains in. Scott Kazmir – the man the Mets let go in return for the wrong Zambrano – is already an ace at the age of 24 and will win a Cy Young or two before he’s 30. Someone should call Greenpeace before he’s allowed to face Sidney Ponson on Tuesday.
And lest we forget, the All-Star Game is coming to town, as the two leagues square-off to see who gets to be the home team come the World Series. The last time the NL won this game, the Dow had yet to break 8,000, Princess Diana and Mother Theresa were still alive – though not for long – and none of us had heard of Moninca Lewinsky. There’s no reason to think this year should be any different as the AL players have outpaced the NL in interleague play 149-102.
The schedule posted on the NY Water Taxi website lists two morning departures from Pier 11 at Wall Street and two return trips from Rockaway.
The morning boats will leave Manhattan at 9:15 and 11:45 a.m. while the afternoon boats leave the beach at 2:30 and 5 p.m. There’s one stop in both directions at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
The service is scheduled to start July 4 and will run through September 1, according to the website for the National Park Service, which operates the beach and surrounding Jamaica Bay wildlife area.
Home games: Rangers, Red Sox to test Yankees' Joba
NewYorkology contributor Scott Ross keeps you abreast of upcoming Mets and Yankees home games in New York City. Ross toils in anonymity for a giant online news aggregator. Here’s your look at major league baseball in New York City this week:
Since finding themselves at a season-worst five games under .500 on May 18, the Yankees have gone on a tear, winning 23 of 36. Unfortunately for the Bombers, so did the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil* Rays.
If the Yankees manage to fight their way into the playoffs, it will be thanks to the development of Joba Chamberlain, who has been progressively more dominant with each start. Since his first start against Toronto, New York’s team ERA has fallen 15 points, as they have compiled a 3.86 ERA over the past 23 games. And in his past two starts, Chamberlain has given notice that he is in the hunt for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, striking out 16 in 12 1/3 innings while allowing only one run.
That said, most of Chamberlain’s success as a starter has come against teams from the woefully inferior National League (the AL is 141-96 in inter-league play thus far.) This week, however, he will take the hill against the two most potent offenses in the AL, the Texas Rangers and the defending world champion Boston Red Sox. But let’s be honest, only one of these series matters.
With the season half-over, the Yankees are in third place, 5 1/2 games back from Boston. Now is New York’s chance to start taking a bite out of that lead and with Yankee-killer David Ortiz still nursing a nasty wrist injury, they won’t get a much better opportunity.
With Daisuke Matsuzaka missing a handful of starts and Josh Beckett’s maddening inconsistency, the Sox have been kept afloat largely thanks to the work of Jon “Cancer Boy” Lester and Justin Masterson. Between them they’ve started 24 games — of which Boston has won 18 — with a 3.23 ERA.
Game of the week: Every game is huge when it’s Sox vs. Yankees, but Saturday features a match-up of Chamberlain and Masterson, one that has a chance to be revisited for years to come as part of baseball’s best rivalry.
*Yes, I know, they changed their name, they’re idiots.
Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls officially on through Oct. 13
For 110 days, artist Olafur Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls will pump 35,000 gallons of water per minute up and over four man-made towers – including one taller than the Statue of Liberty – inviting the public to the waterfront to not only explore the installation, but to have a good think.
“I don’t want the quantifiable elements of this project to be out in front of the unquantifiable,” Eliasson said Thursday during the Circle Line Downtown’s inaugural waterfalls cruise. While water can evoke dreams, it also has a very tangible side: “You get wet if you get into it,” he said.
And while you can’t swim under Eliasson’s waterfalls, you can approach them by boat, bike, on foot, or ponder them from the bridges or new bars and cafes set up just for the waterfalls. Two-years in the making, the Public Art Fund raised $13.5 million from private donors plus $2 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, acquired more than 20 permits and arranged for 270 tons of scaffolding (which was erected by the same guys who normally erect scaffolding around new York City buildings.) Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city’s Economic Development Corp. estimates the tourism boost will contribute $55 million to the city’s economy. (And yes, the international media were going bonkers at Thursday’s launch events.)
The exhibition consists of four waterfalls:
Under the Brooklyn Bridge at the Brooklyn-side anchorage (80 feet wide, 90 feet high)
Piers 4 and 5 in below the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (30 feet wide, 120 feet high)
(For reference, if they were buildings, they’d be nine to 12 stories each. The Statue of Liberty is 111 feet tall from her heel to her top.)
The waterfalls, here through October 13, will be turned on daily at 7 a.m. (but not until 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and remain on until 10 p.m. nightly. They’ll be lit up after sunset. However, they may have to be turned off during extreme winds, storms or a heat wave.
Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist, has been coming to New York since the 1980s. He’s well known for his large scale, often environmental works. He’s written an artist statement for NYC Waterfalls; two excerpts:
“When water flows down the East River, we tend to see it as a simple surface, framed by a neutral urban waterfront. By elevating it into waterfalls, I wish to amplify its physical and tangible presence while exposing the dynamics of natural forces such as gravity, wind, and daylight. My idea is to encourage people to identify more with the waterfront of New York City; this is a call for the revitalization of areas that until recently have been under-utilized as creative and recreational spaces because people have focused primarily on the interior grid of the City. There is a huge unrealized potential waiting to be explored and this is located right at our feet.”
“The Waterfalls appear in the midst of the dense social, environmental, and political tissue that makes up the heart of the City. They will give people the opportunity to reconsider their relationships to the spectacular surroundings. I hope to evoke experiences that are both individual and enhance a sense of collectivity: the Waterfalls will invite people to explore them on their own, but due to their size and locations, they will also generate expectations, opinions, and actions that can be shared. This relationship between individual experiences and the social contest is crucial for me. I believe that by seeing a work of art – a waterfall for instance – we become co-producers of the work and its social context. Taking part in this type of collaboration requires that we take responsibility within the city that we live.”
Eliasson’s waterfalls philosophy echoes some things he said in April at the Museum of Modern Art at the opening of his “Take Your Time” exhibition (which closes June 30.) His press conference there was held in a room dominated by an electrical fan on a rope arcing erratically around the room. He wondered aloud what affected the direction of the fan’s swings – does the temperature, the number of people in the room and their body heat, possibly change the artwork? “Maybe that turbulence constitutes the space,” he said. “It’s a dialogue between you and the space.”
At MoMA, the title of the exhibition itself asks the viewers to slow down, take your time, and think about your surroundings. “If you step out of commoditized time, you step into yourself.”
Likewise at the waterfalls on Thursday, Eliasson said “this is not about consuming a space. It’s about using a space. To evaluate your relationship to it.”
And like the swinging fan, the waterfalls change – with the wind, the tide, the clouds, the sun and moon, the temperature and even the passing boats. “This is something you want to see several times,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday. “It’s going to expand minds and give us a lot to think about.”
In this video clip, Eliasson explains how the waterfalls work and riffs on their sustainable aspects:
Yes, everyone's drowning in NYC Waterfalls coverage today, so here are some quick bits you may not already know. ...
The waterside decks of the South Street Seaport afford views of all four waterfalls.
But if you want to eat and drink while contemplating their meaning, head to the Seaport's new outdoor Waterfall Cafe that boasts views of all four falls. An offshoot of nearby Sequoia, they open at noon daily, seven days a week. Closing time depends on the weather and business -- sometimes 10:30 p.m., or earlier. Burgers, ($10,) salads, ($7 to $18,) mussels, ($9,) desserts ($6.50,) beer ($6 or $7,) wine ($8 by the glass/$26 by the bottle,) and margaritas ($9) are all on offer.
Directly across the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy today opened Pier 1 as a park that will be open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Labor Day. The pop-up park juts 315 feet into the river just south of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's home to a café operated by Rice, (which told NewYorkology they have a beer and wine permit for the site,) and is outfitted with picnic tables, benches, bike racks, trees, grass and a sandy area. Pier 1 park will get its own free shuttle bus from June 27 through Labor Day, with stops at Borough Hall and High Street at Cadman Plaza West. Shuttle hours: Fridays 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays noon to 10:30 p.m.
Bike and Roll will be offering a twice-daily bicycle tour of the waterfalls. They depart from the South Street Seaport at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. for a two and a half hour ride that goes over the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, making eight to 10 stops. Normally $40, those tours are free this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Call (212) 260-0400 to reserve a spot.
Starting Friday, you can call the city's 311 information line and listen to artist Olafur Eliasson talk about his waterfalls, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during this morning's news conference.
The waterfalls will be turned on daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. except Tuesdays and Thursdays when they will run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Summer Restaurant Week set for July 21 to August 1
Reservations are now open for Summer Restaurant Week, which this year will run from July 21 through August 1, except on weekends.
The deal gets you a a seat at some of New York's best restaurants for a three-course prix fixe lunch for $24.07, or dinner for $35. Tax, tip and drinks cost extra.
Participating restaurants include Del Posto, Le Cirque, Cipriani Wall Street, 21 Club, Bar Boulud, Telepan, Chanterelle, Delmonico's, 11 Madison Park, Le Colonial, Aquavit, Tabla, Craftbar, Asiate, Blue Fin, Carnegie Deli, The Carlyle Restaurant, Gallagher's, Indochine, Calle Ocho, Esca, Kittichai, Gordon Ramsay, Water Club, River Cafe, Tavern on the Green, and Terrace in the Sky.
Many of the tables can be booked for free on Open Table, which is also an easy way to see which restaurants have openings at the time you want to go.
The Royal Air Force's Red Arrows aerobatic team just made a visit from the UK to make a flyby of the Statue of Liberty. Check out NewYorkology's video.
The Red Arrows fly BAE Systems Hawk T1s, which can reach speeds up to Mach 1.2.
This evening they flew near the Verrazano Bridge for about 20 minutes, then along Staten Island and up past the Statue of Liberty toward Manhattan. They turned around, headed back to Manhattan and then went back for one more pass above Liberty Island.
HotelChatter flags a great booking bargain: Quikbook has quality NYC hotels for under $200.
Tablet Hotels current NYC offers include 6 Columbus from $255, Bryant Park Hotel from $289 and SoHo House from $525.
The Standard, "coming soonish" offers lovely eye candy courtesy its webcam (right.)
Thompson LES hopes to open July 22, according to HotelChatter.com.
Morgans plans to reopen September 16 after renovations with rooms from $599, according to the hotel's website.
There are five potential new hotels on tap for the Gowanus Canal neighborhood already home to Hotel Le Bleu, the Holiday Inn Express and the Comfort Inn, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Bloomberg quotes a Lodging Econometrics report that says 55 hotels are in the works for Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and New Jersey's Hudson County.
A Smith Travel Research study found that 91 percent of hotels surveyed now offer wi-fi and that only 15 percent of them are charging for Internet access, the Associated Press reports. bad news for the rich: "charges for Internet access were most common at more expensive properties."
You can get a $30 TV dinner at the Loews Regency Hotel, according to the New York Times.
The NYC City Council wants to bump up the hotel tax to 8 percent, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg says no. "International tourism is down throughout our country something like 17 percent. It is up 9 percent in New York. Killing the golden goose is not a smart thing to do," he's quoted in the NY Sun.
Free NYC Waterfalls cruises on Circle Line Downtown
Circle Line Downtown, which will be operating the "official" cruises of the artist Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls once they officially start running Thursday, will be offering a limted number of free tickets on most of its 30-minute cruises this summer.
"In the spirit of public art, Circle Line Downtown and the Public Art Fund are making these tickets available so that everyone has an opportunity to experience the Waterfalls," a Circle Line spoksewoman told NewYorkology via e-mail today.
The free tickets will be available on all of the 30-minute cruises on board Circle Line's Zephyr and Patriot boats through the duration of the exhibition (October 13.) The regular price for the 30-minute waterfalls cruises are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $5 for children. The free offer's not good on the company's Shark speedboat, or waterfalls cruises of longer durations.
Free tickets are first come, first serve and you can only get the tickets by calling (866) 925-4631. One order per household. They're accepting orders now.
Also note the freebie offer is only for Circle Line downtown, which is not the same company as Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises (or Circle Line/Circle Line Uptown/Circle Line 42nd Street, as they are sometimes called.) Circle Line Sightesing, however, is among the other companies offering waterfalls cruises, along with the NY Water Taxi and on the yacht Manhattan.
See the Tropolism blog for the latest renderings of the pop-up park that will open near the Brooklyn Bridge to allow for great waterfalls views.
And here's two more NYC Waterfalls hotel packages:
The Carlyle waterfall package inlcudes buffet breakfast, a one-hour cruise and cover charge and signature cocktails at Bemelmans Bar.
All W hotels in NYC are offering a waterfalls package that comes with NY Water Taxi vouchers, Bliss Sunscreen and a pair of cocktails.
Home games: Mets vs. Seattle, then a subway series
NewYorkology contributor Scott Ross keeps you abreast of upcoming Mets and Yankees home games in New York City. Ross toils in anonymity for a giant online news aggregator. Here’s your look at major league baseball in New York City this week:
In what came as a surprise to only the man himself, Willie Randolph was relieved of his duties as manager of the Metropolitans last week, and brought to a close a three-and-a-half year tenure that saw Randolph guide the team to a 302-253 record. Enough has been said on this topic and frankly the change will do little to alter the team’s immediate future. Despite what many people said at the beginning of the season, this is a not very good team made worse by injuries and aging. And Randolph’s replacement, Jerry Manuel, may very well not be back come the spring of ’09.
Before the dust could settle on the Randolph dismissal, the Seattle Mariners fired skipper John McLaren, who had guided his team to a Major League worst 25-47 record. McLaren was the victim of over inflated expectations, as the Ms were inexplicably a trendy pick to unseat the Angels as AL West champs, despite having been outscored by their opponents in ’07 and having traded away their top prospect, Adam Jones, and their ace set-up reliever, George Sherrill. Two weeks before being shown the door, McLaren could see the writing on the wall and took the opportunity to let off some steam before being replaced by Jim Riggleman. And so it’s a match-up of interim managers this week at Shea, featuring a showdown between two of the best pitchers in baseball, “King” Felix Hernandez and Johan Santana.
But the big to-do in New York this weekend will be the four-game set between the Mets and the Yankees, including a home-and-home doubleheader Friday. (You’d never know it from the psychodrama surrounding Shea that the Mets are actually closer to first place than the Yankees.) Before dropping two of three to the Reds this past weekend, the Bombers had won seven straight, bringing them to a season-high seven games over .500 and keeping them within five games of the first-place Red Sox. Two of those seven wins were credited to Joba Chamberlain, who has been progressively better with each start. Assuming Joba continues to develop – and go deeper into games – and Darrell Rasner can regroup, that’s only one spot in the rotation for the Yankees to fill. Hello, Cleveland!
