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.
I heart NY playgrounds built on top of cemeteries
The New York State tourism board -- the "I heart NY" people -- last week relaunched their campaign to lure visitors to the parts of the state beyond NYC's five boroughs.
It's a sure bet that the places they're pushing do not include the playground in Rhinebeck that Brian Sack (aka The Banterist) highlights on his blog this weekend:
Significant progress can be seen on all four of artist Olafur Eliasson's mega-public art event "New York City Waterfalls" -- including the one positioned between piers 4 and 5 below the Brooklyn Promenade.
Here's the view of the top:
Its progress had been lagging behind the three others -- under the Brooklyn Bridge, at Governors Island and at Pier 35 in Manhattan. Here's how it looked April 20:
The official website for the project has been updated to state the waterfalls will start flowing "from late June" (instead of mid-July,) in keeping with Eliasson's announcement last month at the Museum of the Modern Art where he was opening another one of his exhibitions: "Take Your Time."
The four East River waterfalls are expected to turn on daily through mid-October.
Waldorf's lost train off-limits, other tunnels offer tours
Matt Lauer of the "Today" show this morning got rare access into one of New York's City's best hidden spaces -- the abandoned rail platfrm under the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
Most famously used by President Franklin Roosevelt to help hide the fact he was wheelchair-bound, the track allowed VIPs to enter Manhattan by train and take an elevator directly up to the luxury hotel without ever setting foot on the street.
In 2006, the Waldorf's general manager told NewYorkology that the hotel's entrance to the rail platform had been reconfigued and is no longer easy to access. He also debunked a few myths about who used the private entrance. Researchers at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park also did some research on the matter for NewYorkology, making it clear that the abandoned rail car under the Waldorf isn't the polio-stricken president's famous Pullman car, the Ferdinand Magellan.
So unless you're Matt Lauer, you're probably not ever getting access to the train cars under the Waldorf. But you can get access to a couple other abandoned rail stations in NYC. The oldest option is in Brooklyn, directly under Atlantic Avenue as it leads out to the East River. Tours of the 1844 tunnel are offered about once a month by the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association. But be warned that you do enter the tunnel by crawling through a manhole in the middle of the street at the intersection of Atlantic and Court.
Your other option is to catch one of the rare tours the NY Transit Museum offers of the city's original subway station that opened in 1904 under City Hall in Lower Manhattan. The stunning station, with chandeliers, skylights and tiled, vaulted ceilings, is next open for tours on July 19.
Not quite as glamorous, but still cool, the old Knickerbocker Hotel on Times Square had its own stairs from the subway platform leading up to the hotel. See Forgotten NY for pictures. (In 2006, the Dubai royal family announced plans to convert the Knickerbocker back into a luxury hotel but the Post reported last week that instead they've decided to sell the landmark building which now houses offices and a Gap shop, streetview map.)
Also of note: Julia Solis' intriguing "New York Underground" recently came out in paperback.
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.
Sharpton: Protest to 'close this city down' Wednesday
To protest the acquittal of the three officers who shot Sean Bell as he was leaving his bachelor party in 2006, Rev. Al Sharpton has vowed to "close this city down" starting Wednesday at 3 p.m. with a series of civil disobedience actions.
Sharpton has called for protesters to gather in at least six locations to pray (and presumably stop all traffic in the area.) NewYorkology created a map for the announced locations:
125th Street and Third Avenue
60th Street and Third Avenue
34th Street and Park Avenue
Varick and Houston streets, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel
One Police Plaza, near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge
House of the Lord Church, 415 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
In rendering the verdict April 25, the judge said the witnesses were unreliable and "at times, the testimony just didn't make sense."
While the judge said the actions of the three indicted NYPD officers did not rise to the level of criminal, "questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums," he said.
The police officers could still face federal charges over their actions, and after that determination, the NYPD will be allowed to determine its discipline for the trio. The stated aim of the upcoming protest is to persuade federal officials to "enforce laws to make police brutality illegal and prosecute officers that violate such laws.
Of special note to travelers to NYC, one of those 50 bullets fired by police was so off course that it sailed into a nearby AirTrain station. On the video, you can see suitcase-toting travelers ducking for cover.
The four waterfalls, which could start flowing as early as late June are positioned at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge (on the Brooklyn side,) at Manhattan's Pier 35, between Brooklyn's piers 4 and 5 (where the floating pool was docked last summer,) and at Governor's Island, facing Manhattan's Staten Island Ferry terminal.
The 90- to 120-foot waterfalls will flow from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day -- and will be lit after sunset. They'll come down mid-October.
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.)
Mary Whalen leaves Brooklyn Navy Yard for Red Hook
NewYorkology contributor Vidiot commits journalism by night and explores NYC by day. He's especially interested in the infrastructure, transit, architectural wonders, drinking establishments, and hidden corners of the greatest city in the world. This past weekend he was onboard the Mary Whalen for something of an East River repositioning cruise.
The 70-year-old Mary A. Whalen, a retired oil tanker slated to become a floating museum, was moved Sunday from GMD Shipyard in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to its current home in Red Hook, Brooklyn. PortSide New York, the non-profit that owns the 176-foot ship and is converting her into a museum and event space, invited NewYorkology along for the ride.
It was a gray day, but the crowd of guests was in high spirits as the tugboat June K. nosed alongside and hauled the Mary A. Whalen stern-first out of the Navy Yard and into the East River. We passed under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, and into Buttermilk Channel before docking at the American Stevedoring terminal in Red Hook.
Related: The Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is normally closed to the public, will be the subject of a June 1 tour organized by the Center for the Urban Environment. A guided bus tour will be led by Richard Drucker, senior vice president for external affairs of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, followed by a walking tour of Vinegar Hill, home to Irish immigrants and other ethnic groups who worked on the Brooklyn waterfront in the late 19th century.
Cherry blossoms peaking for Sakura Matsuri weekend
The cherry blossoms are in peak bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, perfectly timed for this weekend's Sakura Matsuri festival, which will feature Taiko drumming, samurai sword performances, ninja theater, tea ceremonies and dance parties.
Some of the performers were in the garden this mornng, offering a preview of this weekend's events, inlcuding the the samurai sword fighters:
The Spinnin Ronin Martial Arts Dance Theater created a ninja cosplay just for Sakura Matsuri. Here's a scene from "The Legend of Ninja Kotaro" performed near the cherry walk:
See the BBG's website for the full list of events. Arrive close to the 10 a.m. opening time on Saturday or Sunday to beat the crowds.
Bank of America offers free museum access for a year
Starting in May, Bank of America cardholders will get free admission during the first Saturday and Sunday of each month for the next year at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, International Center of Photography, New York Hall of Science, Jewish Museum, the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium.
The bank's Museums on Us also offers free entrance to New Jersey's Liberty Science Center, Montclair Art Museum and the Newark Museum.
In past years, the bank's offerings were limited to May, but the Museums on Us website currently lists free weekend offerings through April 2009.
But if you don't have a Bank of America account, plenty of New York City's museums have free hours each week, and many are pay-what-you-wish, such as the Met Museum (which actually only costs a penny.)
Picture credit: Met Museum, Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
