Yankees to parade up Canyon of Heroes 11 a.m. Friday
A parade honoring the World Champion Yankees will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and head north up the Canyon of Heroes, according to a taped message on 311, the city’s official information service.
The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza.
Update: An early-morning press release from the mayor’s office offered a few more details abut Friday’s ticker-tape parade.
The parade will begin on Broadway at Battery Place at 11 a.m. and continue northbound up Broadway toward Chambers Street. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza, at which Mayor Bloomberg will present the Yankees with Keys to the City.
Downtown Alliance’s 30 free bikes were used more than 7,000 times this past summer. There were “no thefts and no vandalism,” a spokesman told NewYorkology on Monday.
The free rentals were available in two-and-a-half-hour windows from May 13 through Sept. 30 through Bike and Roll. The catch was that you needed to provide a credit card, which would be billed for the bike if you never returned.
The program may return for summer 2010 if funds are available, a Downtown Alliance spokesman said.
Details on the 2009 Bike Around Downtown program:
- Approximately 7,612 bike reservations were made, an increase of 52 percent over 2008.
- 87 percent of riders were New York City residents; 4 percent were from New Jersey; 2 percent were from Long Island; and 1.2 percent were from California.
- Among the NYC residents 65 percent were Manhattan residents, including 46 percent from south of Chambers Street. Half of all participants described themselves as Downtown Workers.
Picture credit: Brooklyn Bridge bike lane. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Met Opera, NYC Opera offer rush seats for $25 or less
Some of the best seats in the house at the Metropolitan Opera are available for a mere $20 through the Varis Rush Tickets all season.
All regular performances Mondays through Thursdays will offer 150 orchestra seats for $20. The catch is the tickets go on sale only at the Met Opera box office starting two hours before curtain, subject to availability.
An extra 50 tickets are reserved for seniors (65 or over) at the $20 price. The senior tickets are available starting at noon on the day of each performance and may be reserved online or by calling (212) 362-6000.
The $20 tickets are not available for special events, galas or opening nights.
The New York City Opera, which begins its season later this week, again will offer tickets for $25 or less through its Opera for All program.
There are two ways to get the cheap seats at City Opera. On Mondays at 10 a.m., you can buy that week’s $25 orchestra rush seats at the box office, online or by phone (212) 721-6500. Use the offer code OFA1.
In addition to the rush seats, City Opera also sells $20 and $12 tickets for for every performance in the theater’s 4th and 5th ring.
Shakespeare in the Park '10 'Merchant,' 'Winter’s Tale'
“The Merchant of Venice” and “The Winter’s Tale” have been chosen as the two free plays for Shakespeare in the Park for the summer of 2010, The Public Theater announced today.
Daniel Sullivan will direct “Merchant” while Michael Greif will direct “Winter’s Tale.” Casts will be announced later.
Normally Shakespeare in the Park stages one play at the begging of summer, takes a break and starts a second. But in 2010, they’ll play in rotating repertory from June 9 through Aug. 1. The same company of actors will perform in both plays.
Image source: Official website for Shakespeare in the Park.
Amtrak plans to offer free wi-fi on Acela trains by 2010
Amtrak’s high-speed Acela trains are on track to get wi-fi in 2010 and at least initally, the service will be free, according to the five-year fiscal plan issued Thursday by the railroad.
“Launch is anticipated in the second quarter of FY10. This service will initially be offered at no cost to our customers, though pricing may change depending on customer response, system performance, and costs,” the Amtrak document states. “The goal for this offering is to drive competitive advantage that will result in additional ridership and revenue on Acela trains. As of the end of FY09 the company will have just begun deployment.”
The USS New York arrived in New York City this morning, passing the Statue of Liberty before heading toward the World Trade Center site to offer a 21-gun salute in honor to those who died September 11, 2001.
The USS New York warship is a San Antonio-class LPD (Landing Platform Dock.) Its bow stem includes seven and a half tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center towers.
The video:
Later today, the USS New York will dock at Pier 88 on the Hudson River to be formally inducted into the United States Navy at a shipboard ceremony Nov. 7.
The USS New York will be open to the public, free of charge from Nov. 4 though 11. The opening times:
40,000 people from 105 countries participated in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon today, the 40th time the race has been run here. Meb Keflizghi finished the route with a time of 2:09:15, becoming the first American man to win the race since 1982. Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, clocked in at 2:28:52, taking first place for the women.
Empire State shines for Halloween, Marathon weekend
The Empire State Building will change its colors in observance of this weekend’s two big events: Halloween on Saturday and the ING Marathon on Sunday.
The top three tiers of the city’s tallest building will stay orange, black and white all night for Halloween. (Normally the lights turn off at 2 a.m.)
On Sunday night, they’ll switch to orange, blue and white to celebrate the New York Road Runners and the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. The five-borough race begins Sunday morning in Staten Island.
Picture source: File image from Edelman Public Relations.
Producers issued a provisional closing notice and will decide Monday whether the show will go on, Playbill reported.
But as of Saturday morning, tickets remain on sale through Jan. 30 via the show’s official sales outlet, Ticketmaster.
On Friday, the New York Times quoted one of the show’s producers who said the reviews were not strong enough to boost ticket sales. “Broadway Bound,” another Simon play scheduled to play in repertory with “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” may not begin performances at all, according to both Playbill and the New York Times.
The most recent Broadway grosses, for the week ending Oct. 25, shows the theater for “Brighton Beach Memoirs” was at 61 percent capacity, but with a shockingly low average ticket price of only $21.32.
The semi-autobiographical play, set in 1937 Brooklyn, is both comedy and drama under the direction of David Cromer. Laurie Metcalf, Dennis Boutsikaris and Noah Robbins star.
“Brighton Beach Memoirs” plays the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st St., map. Regular tickets are priced from $63.50 to $98.50. Premium seats are $148.50. Student rush tickets are $30.
Image source: The official website for “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”
The revival of “Finian’s Rainbow” opened on Broadway on Thursday night and tumbled into the surprisingly warm reviews from the critics.
Set in the fictional state of Missitucky, the New York Times notes — approvingly — the plot seems “cooked up by somebody hitting the whiskey bottle a little too hard.” It takes on issues of race relations to easy credit and throws in a wacky leprachaun to boot.
A 24-member orchestra backs the cast, which features Kate Baldwin, Jim Norton, Cheyenne Jackson, Christopher Fitzgerald, Alina Faye, David Schramm and Terri White. The production is directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. The music credits goes to Burton Lane with lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. The book is by Harburh and Fred Saidy.
“Finian’s Rainbow” has an open-ended run at the St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., map. Regular tickets are on sale through march 28 and are priced from $35 to $115. Premium and aisle seats sell for as much as $250 each. Wednesday evening prices are a bargain for Broadway, ranging from $25 in the balcony to only $57.50 for orchestra.
Children under the age of 4 are not allowed in the theater.
The “Finian’s Rainbow” Broadway reviews:
Daily News - “What makes the show a gem is the beautiful score by Harburg and Burton Lane. It’s wall-to-wall ear candy and director/choreographer Warren Carlyle’s witty staging, joyful dancing and fine cast showcase the music to the max.”
New York Times - “All the comforting pleasures of the genre — infectious song, exuberant dancing, jokes both lovably corny and unexpectedly fresh, and of course the satisfying pairing of a him and a her — are on abundant display in this thoroughly winning production, a welcome picker-upper in an uneven Broadway season.”
Wall Street Journal - “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more musically satisfying Broadway show than ‘Finian’s Rainbow.’”
Hollywood Reporter - “But whatever one thinks of the story, there’s simply no disputing that this is one of the greatest musical comedy scores ever written. Here’s but a partial listing of the classic numbers: ‘Old Devil Moon,’ ‘Look to the Rainbow,’ ‘If This Isn’t Love,’ ‘When I’m Not Near the Girl I Love’ and, of course, ‘How Are Things in Glocca Morra?’”
