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Tribeca Film Fest comes into its own, expands online
 To kick off the 11th installment of the Tribeca Film Festival, the programming team this morning sat down with a room full of journalists to offer an overview of the status of the event.
“As you know, we founded the Tribeca Film Festival in response to 9/11 but now we’re moving into our second decade,” Jane Rosenthal said, following very brief remarks by another co-founder, Robert De Niro.
This year, nearly 6,000 films were submitted for consideration, including 2,800 shorts. Organizers pared that down to 90 feature films and 60 shorts to screen at the festival. Of those, a handful are available online for free to viewers in the United States.
“We’re going to do a lot more online,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, the chief creative officer of Tribeca Enterprises. One of the defining characteristics of the Tribeca Festival, he said, is that it tries to chart new territory for other festivals.
“What makes a Tribeca film is that there are no limits,” he said. With such a broad slate of options, including shorts, documentary, feature and international, the main characteristic for selection is merely “the quality,” he said. “I think the Tribeca Film Festival has already come into its own.”
For more coverage of the festival, ticket options and free events, see: Tribeca Film Fest to screen 150 films April 18-29.
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April 18, 2012 3:18 PM Comments (0)
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Real-time GPS bus data launches across Staten Island
 As of today, Staten Island is the first borough to get complete real-time GPS bus information as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority rolls out MTA Bus Time.
“Beginning today, every bus and bus route that operates in Staten Island, including express routes, can be tracked in real time on the Internet, smart phones and by text message to any cell phone,” the MTA announced today.
Earlier, the B63, M34 and M34A bus lines got real-time tracking as part of the pilot project.
“MTA NYC Transit will shortly begin deployment of Bus Time technology to depots in the other boroughs,” the MTA said in a statement. “Over the next year, more than 6,000 buses and 14,000 bus stops will be upgraded in order to make Bus Time fully operational city-wide by the end of 2013.”
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January 11, 2012 2:36 PM Comments (0)
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New Year's Eve schedule, links, webcams and apps
 Highlights of tonight’s the official New Year’s Eve Times Square schedule include the lighting and raising the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball at 6 p.m., Justin Bieber’s performance of “Let It Be” at 10:08 p.m., Lady Gaga’s medley at 11:38 p.m. and the ball drop, confetti release and pyrotechnics at midnight.
Other entertainers scheduled to perform through the evening include Drake, the cast of Broadway’s “Rock of Ages,” Megan Hilty, Pitbull and Hot Chelle Rae.
New Year’s Eve street closures will take effect from about 3 p.m. to as late as 3 a.m. The list from the NYPD:
41st Street between 8th and 6th avenues
58th Street between 8th and 6th avenues
8th Avenue between 41st and 58th streets
6th Avenue between 41st and 58th Streets
7th Avenue and Broadway between 41st and 59th streets.
Fireworks are scheduled for midnight near the State of Liberty, in Central Park and at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza at the entrance of Prospect Park.
NYC New Year’s Eve links:
Free Times Square Ball App for Apple and Android.
Times Square 2012 Live Webcast
NYC webcam gallery
New Year’s Eve transit schedule from the MTA.
Car service finder and free You the Man app from the NYC Department of Transportation.
New Year’s Eve party list from Murph Guide.
List of places open New Year’s Day 2012.
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December 31, 2011 10:52 AM Comments (0)
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12 funky winter parades planned for NYC
 Make Music New York tonight will host a dozen free, participatory winter parades throughout the city, bringing the likes of carolers, bell ringers, boomboxes and Bach to the city’s streets, parks and subway platforms.
Carolers with lanterns will walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for the Make Music Winter: Pilgrimage starting at 6 p.m. To participate, print out the scores to the medieval melodies.
”The Gaits: A High Line Soundwalk” will use a free iPhone app “that turns footsteps into electric guitar chords, car horns, and more.” The HIgh Line procession begins at 5:30 p.m. at Gansevoort and Washington streets.
Artist Tom Peyton will lead the Bell by Bell parade from Tompkins Square Park at 8 p.m. as marchers ring color-coded bells on command, “creating a sonorous, atmospheric soundscape throughout the East Village.”
In Soho, parade participants will be invited to use their hands to drum on the hollow cast iron buildings. The Gamelan Son of Lion ensemble will provide accompaniment on automobile hubcaps. The parade Soho parade begins at 7:30 p.m. at 6th Avenue and Spring Street.
F train riders tonight will be serenaded by The Knights as they continuously play the Prelude from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G major on each of the 44 Coney Island-bound subway platforms and in the subway cars from 7 p.m. The Thru-Line performance can best be heard by boarding near the middle of a Coney-bound F train.
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December 21, 2011 12:37 PM Comments (0)
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Skyscraper spires on 42nd Street may go interactive
Observers of the Manhattan skyline have noticed a curious change over the past year as two of the tallest skyscrapers sometimes appear to be conspiring together at night.
On 42nd Street, the night lighting of One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square are often lit up in identical or complementary colors.
“The idea is that the two of them can work in sync. They can talk to each other,” said Michael Hennes, a senior associate of Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design.
The spire atop the 4 Times Square building (also known as the Conde Nast building,) is a powerful broadcast antennae while the One Bryant Park light is purely decorative, Hennes said while leading a lighting tour earlier this fall for openhousenewyork. The two spires are connected underground via ethernet and controlled from One Bryant Park, he said.
The 51-story One Bryant Park tower became the city’s second-tallest building when it was completed in 2010. It’s 1,198 feet tall, including the 253-foot spire, according to the building’s specifications compiled by Durst. Certified LEED Platinum, the office tower is home to many of Bank of America’s corporate operations as well as the corporate headquarters of the Durst Organization, which developed the skyscraper.
Hennes, whose firm started work in One Bryant Park’s lighting in 2004, said the Durst Organization has been considering a way to let the public control the spire’s colors. “They talked about using a user interface so you could get on the web and make it do things,” Hennes said. “The idea is to make it something that connects to people.”
Indeed, that possibility is still in the works for One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square.
“We are exploring expanding the capability of the spires and interactivity is an intriguing concept” Jordan Barowitz, spokesman for The Durst Organization, told NewYorkology via email on Tuesday.
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November 23, 2011 10:15 AM Comments (0)
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Wired and CNET to open holiday pop-up shops
 The holiday tech pop-up scene is getting bigger this year as the Wired Store will take over the Times Square space formerly home to the ESPN Zone and CNET will open its own shop downtown, company officials told NewYorkology.
Now in its seventh year in NYC, the Wired Store will open Nov. 18 at 42nd Street and Broadway, stocked with electronics, games, art and design fixtures, clothes and luxury items selected by the magazine’s editors. (The online shop opens Nov. 14.)
As in the past, visitors will be able to get their hands on the season’s new gadgets and then order them online, but not walk away with items from the pop-up shop. The store will be open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 7 p.m. until Dec. 24. The shop will close on Thanksgiving Day. It’s open to the public and free.
Further updates will be available at @WiredInsider.
CNET will get into the game this year with its first CNET GOTHAM holiday pop-up opening this Wednesday in Nolita at 201 Mulberry St. at Spring Street.
The free five-day pop-up will be open Nov. 9 through 13 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Like the Wired Store, gadgets selected by editors will be available for hands-on testing but no items are physically sold in the store.
CNET will offer daily giveaways plus a good amount of free food. The Sweetery Truck will be parked at the CNET pop-up Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with freebies and Korrilla BBQ will be on hand Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to as late as 3 p.m. (or earlier if their free-food supply runs dry.)
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November 8, 2011 8:17 AM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty torchcams launch on 125th anniversary
Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and EarthCam today launched a gallery of new Statue of Liberty webcams to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the monument, officially called “Liberty Enlightening the World.”
Towerstream, a 4G wireless service provider, has donated the bandwidth for the first three months of the Torchcam service, according to Jane Ahern, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.
The Statue of Liberty webcam gallery is made up of four new views, plus the existing camera in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
The following screenshots are from Oct. 28, 2011. Click on each link for the live view. Some require further navigation for specific views.
TorchCam
CrownCam
Livestream of NY Harbor and Manhattan from the torch
Interactive panorama from Liberty Island
Brooklyn webcam of Statue of Liberty
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October 28, 2011 11:52 AM Comments (0)
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Fireworks, webcams set for Statue of Liberty 125th party
Update as of Oct. 28: Fireworks picture and video.
On Friday, the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty will be celebrated with fireworks, a flotilla, a ceremony and the debut of five torchcams offering stellar views of the New York Harbor.
 The Friday night fireworks, sponsored by Macy’s will begin at 7:45 p.m.
It was on October 28, 1886 when the statue, officially known as the “Liberty Enlightening the World,” was dedicated on Bedloe’s Island. “The statue has evolved in meaning since she first graced our shores 125 years ago”, David Luchsinger, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, said in a statement announcing the ceremonies “She began as a symbol of friendship between France and the United States, evolved into a symbol of our great country, and is known today as an international symbol of freedom for people everywhere. This coming Friday is an opportunity to celebrate her complete legacy.”
Friday’s events will begin with a citizenship ceremony for 125 immigrants followed by the main ceremony at 10 a.m. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will speak, Sigourney Weaver will read Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” and Michael Feinstein will sing “C’est Magnifique” and “God Bless America.” Singers Capathia Jenkins and Gay Marshall, actress Anika Noni Rose and students from the Brooklyn High School of the Arts will also take part in the event.
Around noon a small flotilla of government, commercial and private vessels will evoking the “water parade” from the 1886 dedication ceremony.
The five new webcams will serve as something as a substitute for the public views from the statue, which will close for repairs for one year. Liberty Island will remain open, but the crown, interior of the statue, the observations decks and the museum will be off limits during construction.
The new webcams will offer panoramas of the New York City skyline, the Hudson River and New York Harbor. Another camera will offer an interactive fish-eye view of the torch and another will point downward.
“You don’t have to be afraid of heights, because for the first time ever, you can see a view from the torch looking down towards her crown, face, tablet and historic Fort Wood all from your computer or smart phone,” Luchsinger said.
The website for the non-profit Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. will host the webcam. Exterior views of the monument can be seen from other cameras in the NYC webcam gallery, including ones in Midtown and in Brooklyn.
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October 25, 2011 5:15 PM Comments (1)
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20 more parks to get free Wi-Fi; DUMBO fully covered
New York City is taking another stab at expanding free public Wi-Fi in the parks as AT&T has signed on to provide the service in 26 locations.
The free wireless Internet was turned on today for Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the northern playground at Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and near the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said today.
In all, AT&T will ultimately provide 26 hotspots in 20 parks:
Manhattan: Battery Park, Thomas Jefferson Park, multiple Central Park locations, the High Line, Holcombe Rucker Park, Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park
Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park, Herbert Von King Park, McCarren Park and Prospect Park
Queens: Astoria Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and MacDonald Park
Staten Island: Clove Lake Park and South Beach
Bronx: Joyce Kilmer Park, Bronx River Park and Devoe Park
Many other parks and public spaces already have free Wi-Fi, including Bryant Park, Madison Square park and Union Square. See the NYC Wireless hotspot map for the big map.
Last week, NYCwireless, the Two Trees Management Company and the DUMBO Business Improvement District turned the area Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass into the city’s first full neighborhood with free Internet.
The DUMBO network was built and installed by the non-profit NYCwireless, which will also maintain the Wi-Fi.
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June 9, 2011 2:30 PM Comments (0)
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Governors Island 2011: concerts, polo, food fests, bikes
Governors Island on Friday opens for the season, offering a wide range of events ranging form concerts and food festivals to art installations and free bike rentals.
The large-scale Mark di Suvero at Governors Island art installation will remain on the island throughout the season, along with another sculpture still to come at Brooklyn’s gateway to the island: Pier 6 in the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Castle Williams, which has been closed for major renovations is scheduled to reopen to the public around July 29 with guided tours of the cells and the roof of the historic fort, Darren Boch of the National Park Service told NewYorkology. Update: The Castle Williams reopening has been delayed.
Also new this year, there’s a Governors Island iPhone app that’s also good for iPad and iPod Touch. The $1.99 guide was created independently by Janice Garingo and Kevin Fitzpatrick (who also runs the Dorothy Parker’s New York website.) It features a map, pictures, history, and info on concerts, food, restrooms, bikes and other transportation. The app will update through the summer and get a calendar as more Governors Island events are announced, Fitzpatrick said.
Overall there will be more free ferry service this summer as Governors Island will now open on holiday Mondays, in addition to the Friday, Saturday and Sunday schedule in past years. However, Brooklyn will get slightly less service, at least to start. Manhattan will continue to get free ferries from the Battery Maritime Building every day the island is open. Brooklyn will get free ferries on weekends and holiday Mondays, but not Fridays. There will be no Friday ferries from Brooklyn until NY Waterway launches its new East River Ferry Service sometime in June. When that starts, the one-way Friday ride will cost $3 between Governors Island and Brooklyn’s Pier 6 (which is opening a new section this Saturday, including food vendors.)
See the official Governors Island ferry schedule for possible changes during the season.
Visiting the island is free but many of the concerts and food festivals require advance-ticket purchases. Food events last year led to very long ferry lines and the fashionably-late crowd going hungry. The Governors Island season will end Sept. 25.
The 2011 Governors Island schedule thus far:
May 27 - Bike and Roll’s Free Bike Fridays allows anyone to borrow a bike for free for up to an hour (Fridays through Sept. 23.) Bike and Roll also rents bikes on the island on Fridays, weekends and holidays. Visitors may also bring their own bikes via ferry.
May 27 - Building 110 opens with art installations and open studios curated by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The group show “No One is an Island” will remain on view through July 4.
May 27 - Trapeze School New York teaches trapeze lessons and Big Apple Circus leads circus skills workshops on the Parade Ground through Sept. 25.
May 27 - Figment’s Sculpture Garden, miniature golf course and Burble Bup Pavilion open for the full season.
May 27 - Three-part “Designs for Living 1795 – 2011” exhibition opens with historic couture fashion from Worth, Balenciaga and Dior as well as 18th and 19th century wallpapers and contemporary tonalist landscape paintings.
May 28 - 7th annual Family Festival begins at noon with bands, clowns, theatrical performers, hula hoops, games, puppets and an interactive map of New York Harbor.
May 28 - NY Electronic Arts Festival will present concerts, panels, workshops, and exhibitions through Sept. 25.
May 29 and 30 - Ticketed Brewers PicNyc featuring beer from Brooklyn Brewery,Goose Island, Sixpoint and Two Brother’s; and food from vendors including Bistro Truck, Cup Cake Stop, Gorilla Cheese NYC, Gotham Artisinal Sodas, Jimmy’s No. 43, Kimchi Taco Truck and Luke’s Lobster.
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May 25, 2011 5:30 PM Comments (1)
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