News
RIP Oscar De La Renta. New York Loves You October 21 2014
Celebrities and members of the fashion world are paying tribute to iconic designer Oscar de la Renta who died Monday at 82.
Recently his biggest coup was to make the ivory tulle gown that Amal Alamuddin wore to wed George Clooney in Venice. De la Renta died at his home surrounded by family and “more than a few dogs,” according to a handwritten statement given to The Associated Press and signed by his stepdaughter Eliza Reed Bolen and her husband, Alex Bolen, also the CEO of Oscar de la Renta.
The late `60s and early `70s were a defining moment in U.S. fashion as New York-based designers finally carved a look of their own that was finally taken seriously by Europeans. De la Renta and his peers, including the late Bill Blass, Roy Halston and Geoffrey Beene, defined American style -- and their influence is still spotted today.
A statement from former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, said: “Oscar’s remarkable eye was matched only by his generous heart. His legacy of philanthropy extended from children in his home country who now have access to education and health care, to some of New York’s finest artists whose creativity has been sustained through his support.”
The Woolworth Tower Apartments October 21 2014
A deal was struck two years ago to turn the neo-Gothic tower of the Woolworth Building into luxury condominiums, creating an unusual opportunity for wealthy apartment-hunters to own a piece of one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks.
Thirty-four residences, spanning half and full floors, will begin on the 29th floor and range from a 1,290-square-foot one-bedroom for $3.875 million to the 9,403-square-foot seven-level penthouse in the pinnacle. Called “the Castle in the Sky,” the penthouse will have a two-story living room with a fireplace, an elevator and an outdoor observatory; the price is $110 million.
The official website published few pictures of the newly renovated space.
The kitchen will be done up in maple, keeping with the classic feel, but there will also be extremely high-tech touches like speed and convection ovens.
Woolworth residents will be treated to a pool in the basement.
View from the balcony
All bathrooms poses windows, and are clad in Crema Marfil marble with Emperador Dark marble accent trim. They have heated floors, steam showers, maple cabinetry, and platinum finish fittings by Dornbracht.
Rainbow Room, Famous Rooftop Restaurant Reopens October 20 2014
View from the Restaurant
After a five-year time-out, the historic Rainbow Room restaurant and event space atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza on 65th floor has reopened, renovated and refreshed.
Opened in 1934 during the Great Depression the restaurant was one among the most famous for the high society. Brooke Astor, Muhammad Ali and Howard Hughes have all walked across the rotating dance floor.
But by the 70's, the place which was the symbol of NYC's glitz and glamour was run-down. The frequent visits of tourists and businessmen had payed their tribute. An update in the 80's brought back some of the old glitter and glam. However its doors shot down in 2009.
Now, the glitter is greater, starting with strands of crystal that glisten and refract light, becoming the dining room's new curtains where fabric used to be. Recessed ceiling lights deliver rainbow hues. The shimmering place is dressed in soothing gray. Brass railings and crystal posts gleam.
the new interior
It's open on Sunday for brunch and on Monday night for dinner. The rest of the week is for private parties.
The brunch is $95 including cover charge, $65 for children under 12, free for children under 3.The price doesn't include alcohol, tax or tips. The dinner begins at $175.
the stunning view
The Elegance of New York City October 19 2014
NYC a chaotic and lively city but very elegant as well. This video captures this mix in a great way.
Shot on a trip to New York City in April 2012. I instantly fell in love with this wonderful city and it's buoyant people.
I was stunned by the architecture, the parks and the masses of people, so I didn't quite get everything that I would have wanted to on film. All I know is, that I need to come back, because my heart is still there.
- Christian Gaugg -
More Subway Stations Are Getting Equipped With Wi-Fi October 18 2014
10 Funny Times Square Costume Characters October 16 2014
Homer Simpson resting
Ever since the Naked Cowboy was turned into a famous character by playing guitar in his briefs and cowboy boots on Times Square, the worlds most photographed place became a playground for many cartoon mascots and attention seeking free spirits.
We chose ten that we especially like.
Everything started with this man, Naked Cowboy
The iconic Statue of Liberty followed
The Toyrus store on TSQ without this two? Unimaginable! Woody and Buzz Lightyear
...and of course her, Hello Kitty
The Emblem of NYC, Spiderman
The guardian of Gotham City, Batman
Iron Man
The guy with the pink girls bike
And lately we seen quite some generous ladies
New Subway Shopping Center October 16 2014
Photo: Buck Ennis
The Columbus Circle subway station between West 57th and West 58th Streets is receiving a makeover. Surrounded by the ostentations Central Park and the glamorous Time Warner Center, in the future subway passengers at this station will be able to do some of their shopping or grab a bite to eat.
ALEX PROIMOS
The mall is sectioned into three parts: food stalls with quick options like Magnolia Bakery and Vegan Diva, retail outlets that include a wine shop and electronics, and a food hall with more serious fare and sit-down options.
The mall is expected to open in fall 2015.
432 Park Avenue: Tallest Residential Building In The Western Hemisphere October 15 2014
The tower 432 Park Avenue has finally stopped to grow, which means that it has reached its 1,396-foot height, making it not only the tallest residential building in New York City, but also the entire western hemisphere.
The 96-story building will welcome its first residents next year, giving them a breathtaking view stretching from Central Park to the Atlantic Ocean and from Lower Manhattan, where the Freedom Tower is located, to Connecticut. A place in the 104-unit building starts at $16.95 million.
Let's be honest — most of us could only dream of having an apartment with views of all of New York City. So is better going back in our humble 800-square-foot abode and ogle at the lifestyle of the rich and famous, pretending that we're taking a bubble bath while looking at a Lego-sized Empire State Building.
The Skating Rink At Rockefeller Center Is Open!! October 14 2014
The skating rink at Rockefeller Center is opening for the season. The rink holds the distinction of being first in the city to open each year in a skating tradition that dates to Christmas Day 1936. It started as a temporary rink created to woo shoppers and diners from street level down to businesses..
Some things you may know: The rink accommodates only 150 skaters and stays open no matter what the weather. The rink is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to midnight through April 2015.
Sessions are 90 minutes and cost $27 for adults ($30 during peak dates), and $15 for children under 11 and seniors. Discounts are available for groups of 15 people or more.
Thirty minute skate lessons, offered daily between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., are $50, which includes admission.
Skates cost $12 to rent.
Acting out famous scenes from movies, of course, requires no lessons.
New York Comic Con 2014 October 14 2014
This past weekend at the famous New York Comic Con more than 150.000 visitors came to the Javis Center most of them dressed in costumes. We picked ten interesting cosplays.
1. The hot Wonder Woman
2. Batman and his lady
3. She looks just dangerous
4. The Church of Oprah
5. The sweet Poison Ivy
6. The crowd
7. Do you know who he/she is?
8. Anothr Wonder Wom...man?
9. The Dream Team
10. A princess attended, too
Thomas Hart Benton's America Today Mural Rediscovered at Metropolitan Museum October 12 2014
It's just fabulous! The Metropolitan Museum of Art (colloquially The Met) is the largest art museum in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world. And we suggest to visit Thomas Hart Benton's America Today Mural rediscovered (September 30, 2014–April 19, 2015).
This exhibition celebrates the gift of Thomas Hart Benton's epic mural America Today from AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2012.
Benton (1889–1975) painted this mural for New York's New School for Social Research to adorn the school's boardroom in its International Style modernist building on West 12th Street. Showing a sweeping panorama of American life throughout the 1920s, America Today ranks among Benton's most renowned works and is one of the most remarkable accomplishments in American art of the period.
There are figures of farmers, coal miners, steelworkers and tycoons of modern industry and transportation. It established Benton as a leading American muralist. The exhibit recreates the school’s original boardroom, where the work once hung. And of course we love the panel about New York. One hundred years ago New York was just amazing as today.
Fifth Avenue Comes Alive for NYC Columbus Day Parade October 12 2014
Columbus Day, a day celebrating the arrival of Italian explorer Columbus in 1492, was celebrated for the first time by New York City political organization Tammany Hall in 1792. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared it a national holiday.
It's a most unusual American holiday, as it commemorates an event that occurred well before the United States was a nation.
Billed as “the largest celebration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage and of Italian-American heritage and achievement in the world,” last year’s parade attracted 35,000 marchers and nearly 1 million spectators.
This year’s parade takes place Monday, October 13 from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. along 5th Avenue between 47th and 72nd Streets.
In display will be over 130 groups, including 30 marching bands, 25 floats, dance troupes and entertainers for a non-stop spectacle of family entertainment and strong representation of Italian pride. Performances will include never-before-seen acts, virtuoso performances of traditional Italian and Italian-American music and dance, street performers, historical and contemporary floats, and national and international dignitaries. Highlights include: Jena Irene, former American Idol performer, The Harlem Globetrotters, The West Point Marching Band, Italian Fairy performer Simona Rodano, Deanna DellaCioppa from America's Got Talent, The Nunziata Brothers, Acclaimed Tenor, Michael Fabiano and many more.
5 Best Korean Restaurants in NYC October 10 2014
Are you in New York, and you are crazy for korean food? Here we go. We suggest 5 restaurants you should try before leaving NYC.
SHILLA, 37 West 32nd Street in Midtown West (212-967-1880)
ARANG, 9 West 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue in Midtown West (212-947-3028)
HAHM JI BACH, 41-08 149th Place in Flushing, Queens
HANGAWI, 12 East 32nd Street between 5th and Madison Avenues in Midtown East (212-213-0077)
MUK EUN JI, 34 West 32nd Street between 5th Avenue and Broadway in Midtown West (212-736-0099)
Hashtag #NYC October 09 2014
Polish filmmaker Piotr Wancerz created a video about New York and hashtaged everything The Big Apple has to offer.
Ghost Hospital In Ellis Island. Now Open! October 08 2014
The dilapidated hospital on Ellis Island has been shuttered since 1954. But now it's opening to the public. The occasion? An art exhibition. Artist JR has pasted up historic life size photographs around the empty buildings, as part of his "Unframed" project, which extends off the island. The "intent is to evoke a sense of time and place and give context to the human lives that were touched by their time at Ellis Island."
Guided 90-minute tours will take you to select areas of the 750-bed Ellis Island Hospital. Visit the Laundry Building, with much of its original equipment still in place, where over 3000 pieces of laundry were washed and sanitized daily, infectious and contagious disease wards, kitchen, staff housing, autopsy room and more.
Buy tickets here !
A Cupcake ATM October 07 2014
photo by nycnycloves
The 24-hour Sprinkles Cupcake ATM can be found on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The pink cupcake automat is located next to the Nelsons’ Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery on Lexington Avenue between 60th and 61st.
The machine, which dispenses cupcakes for $4.25 each, in order to keep things fresh is stocked with cupcakes regularly several times a day until late at night.
In case you are craving a cupcake at 3 A.M. this is your spot.
More Information and other ATM locations on Sprinkles.com
Hilton to Sell Waldorf Astoria to Chinese Investors October 07 2014
The iconic Waldorf-Astoria hotel is being sold to the Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd by Hilton Worldwide for about $1.95 billion.
Five-star hotels in cities like London, Paris and New York are a coveted commodity for international buyers.
The 121-year-old hotel is a landmark in New York City and the buyer plans a renovation of the hotel on Park Avenue, to restore the 47-story tower to its Art Deco grandeur.
The U.S.-based hotel chain will continue to run the legendary property for another 100 years.
Rooms in the Waldorf begin at $399, while rooms in the Towers begin at $699 for suites and $1,299 for presidential-style suites.
Mr. President Barack Obama at Waldorf Astoria (source Waldorf Astoria)
20 Greatest Quotes About New York October 06 2014
- I think New York is not the cultural center of America, but the business and administrative center of American culture. Saul Bellow
- Sometimes, from beyond the skycrapers, the cry of a tugboat finds you in your insomnia, and you remember that this desert of iron and cement is an island. Albert Camus
- When I had a look at the lights of Broadway by night, I said to my American friends : "What a glorious garden of wonders this would be, to any who was lucky enough to be unable to read. G. K. Chesterton
- First New York was a sort of provincial capital, bigger and richer than Manchester or Marseilles, but not much different in its essential spirit. Then, after the war, it became one among half a dozen world cities. Today it has the appearance of standing alone, as the center of culture in the part of the world that still tries to be civilized. Malcolm Cowley
- The thing that impressed me then as now about New York… was the sharp, and at the same time immense, contrast it showed between the dull and the shrewd, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant… the strong, or those who ultimately dominated, were so very strong, and the weak so very, very weak - and so very, very many. Theodore Dreiser
- Over the great bridge, with sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. F. Scott Fitzgerald
- One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years. Tom Wolfe
- I love New York City. The reason I live in New York City is because it’s the loudest city on the planet Earth. It’s so loud I never have to listen to any of the shit that’s going on in my own head. It’s really loud. They literally have guys come with jackhammers and they drill the streets and just leave cones in front of your apartment; you don’t even know why. Garbage men come; they don’t pick up the garbage, they just bang the cans together. Lewis Black
- New York city, the incomparable, the brilliant star city of cities, the forty-ninth state, a law unto itself, the Cyclopean Paradox, the inferno with no-out-of bounds, the supreme expression of both the miseries and the splendors of contemporary civilization, the Macedonia of the United States. It meets the most severe test that may be applied to definition of a metropolis - it stays up all night. But also it becomes a small town when it rains. John Gunther
- The faces in New York remind me of people who played a game and lost. Murray Kempton
- Whenever spring comes to New York I can't stand the suggestion of the land that come blowing over the river from New Jersey and I've got to go. So I went. Jack Keourac
- No one as yet has approached the management of New York in a proper spirit; that is to say, regarding it as the shiftless outcome of squalid barbarism and reckless extravagance. No one is likely to do so, because reflections on the long narrow pig-trough are construed as malevolent attacks against the spirit and majesty of the American people, and lead to angry comparisons. Rudyard Kipling
- I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out out of the West and reached the mirage. I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later — because I did not belong there, did not come from there — but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs. I still believed in possibilities then, still had the sense, so peculiar to New York, that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month. Joan Didion
- Vehement silhouettes of Manhattan - that vertical city with unimaginable diamonds.
Le Corbusier - New York is Babylon : Brooklyn is the truly Holy City.
New York is the city of envy, office work, and hustle;
Brooklyn is the region of homes and happiness….
There is no hope for New Yorkers, for their glory in
Their skyscraping sins; but in Brooklyn there is the wisdom of the lowly.
Christopher Morley - Unfortunately there are still people in other areas who regard New York City not as part of the United States, but as a sort of excrescence fastened to our Eastern shore and peopled by the less venturesome waves of foreigners who failed to go West to the genuine American frontier.
Robert Moses - Unfortunately there are still people in other areas who regard New York City not as part of the United States, but as a sort of excrescence fastened to our Eastern shore and peopled by the less venturesome waves of foreigners who failed to go West to the genuine American frontier.
Robert Moses - A crowd pagan as ever imperial Rome was, eager, careless with an animal vigor unlike that of any European crowd that I ever looked at. Ezra Pound
- Skyscraper National Park, Kurt Vonneguet
- More and more too, the old name absorbs into me Mannahatta, 'the place encircled by many swift tides and sparkling waters.' How fit a name for America's great democratic island city! The word itself, how beautiful! how aboriginal! how it seems to rise with tall spires, glistening in sunshine, with such New World atmosphere, vista and action! Walt Whitman
Michelin Has Chosen October 06 2014
Michelin, the European tire maker who publishes the world's most recognized guide for dining out, unveiled its 2015 list of New York's best restaurants. The notoriously anonymous inspectors made their decision.
The oldest and best-known hotel and restaurant reference guide rates the culinary establishments in the following way:
One star "a very good restaurant in its category"
Two stars "excellent cuisine, worth a detour"
Three stars "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey"
Restaurants that reached the highest ranking, three Stars
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare (Map)
A meal today goes for $225 per person before wine, tax or tip, and that hardly seems enough. In the pursuit of perfection, there is nothing Chef Ramirez won't do. (GQ)
Eleven Madison Park (Map)
We love the beauty of it all: the Art Deco room, the windows overlooking the park, the exquisite food, the impeccable service, and the surrounding scene of classy New Yorkers. (ThePurplePassport.Com)
Jean-Georges (Map)
Perfect fine dining. Polished, yet relaxed. Jean George changed American cuisine with his use of acid and spice. -Seth Caro, Top Chef Just Desserts
Le Bernardin (Map)
You cannot get a mediocre meal, or even a mediocre dish, in Eric Ripert’s shrine to seafood—No one understands fish and fish cookery better. (GourmetLive)
Masa (Map)
“Better sushi than in Tokyo…pricy, but good.” – Anthony Bourdain. (Travel Channel)
Per Se (Map)
The menus are unique daily, so if you're fortunate enough to experience Per Se on multiple occasions, you'll never have quite the same meal twice. Oh and that view of Central Park doesn't hurt either. (Gothamist)
55 Water Street, Oasis Of Gardens October 03 2014
You would like be between two skyscrapers, with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hudson River? We suggest to you an easy way to discover this small green paradise. Take the N or R to Whitehall Street, the 1 to South Ferry or the J or Z to Broad Street.
The Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street was actually completed in the early 1970s. The Elevated Acre is the favorite lunch spot for weekday workers.
Cannot be that hard to find a bench or chair among the gardens to read a book, reflect on your life, or watch people. Who would expect to find this oasis of gardens, views, leisure and relaxation snug right in the middle of the Financial District?
Daft Punk & Karlie Kloss in New York October 03 2014
Daft Punk and Karlie Kloss in New York for the Vogue Magazine (US)
The hot and elegant Victoria's Secrete Model and the spectacular and mysterious pop duo on the streets of New York City.
The Chrysler Building, New York's Beauty October 01 2014
Woody Allen, who once said, "There are very few modern skyscrapers that I like," nevertheless he included the 1931 Chrysler Building on the itinerary of the architectural tour of Manhattan that Sam Waterstone gave in Allen's Hannah and Her Sister.
The beautiful edifice was built by automobile manufacturer Walter P. Chrysler to express both the luxury and mechanical precision of the automobile in its Jazz Age incarnation. Designed by William Van Alen and completed in 1930, it is one of New York's finest Art Deco buildings.
The lobby is one of the city's most beautiful interiors. The walls are veneered with sensuously veined Moroccan marble in warm tones of buff and red. The delightful elevator doors and walls are inlaid with African woods in intricate floral designs, and the elevator cabs are marquetried, not two alike.
In the movie, Two Weeks Notice, Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock are circling the building in a helicopter, while Grant tells of the famous rivalry in the late 1920s between the Chrysler Building Architect and his former partner H. Craig Severence to built the the world's tallest building. - Severence who was working on the Manhattan Company Building at 40 Wall Street, lost; and both man were overshadowed a few years later when the Empire State Building made its debut.
What is it about The Chrysler Building that's so appealing? Its six-story Art Deco spire? Its huge chrome gargoyles, which were designed to look like 1931 Chrysler hood ornaments? Or simply the fact that there will never be another building like this one?
Why Is Brooklyn Bridge Park Better Than Central Park? September 30 2014
This picture is a good reason to travel to New York. Visiting the Brooklyn Bridge Park is like going to the heaven.
And the view? OMG, it is an amazing view!
Nothing like that exists in other cities.
And be focused on your next Yoga lesson.
Then you can relax on this old Carousel.
But don't leave the park without giving to your eyes another chanche to enjoy this beautiful view! One more time.
Be in love with New York. Never forget this is the land of dreams, ambitions and emotions.
You can play soccer over there. Is not that amazing?
I'm not lying!
Lower Manhattan a Historically Rich Area September 29 2014
For the first arrival from Europe, downtown was the beginning. Indeed, the first actual settlers, the Dutch, lived below downtown: when they arrived in 1624, they set up on Governors Island, just off the southern tip of Manhattan.
Governors Island
It wasn't until the late nineteenth century that the last real residents began vanishing from what is now the financial district. This included the above-the-store merchants still living in their brick warehouses/stores/dwellings.
The advent of the skyscraper began after the Civil War. Initially, the race to the clowds was a stately one, with towers reaching seven, ten, and then fifteen stories; by the start of the First World War, thirty or forty was the norm.
Manhattan circa 1910
Soon, the shipping, banking, finance, insurance, and other industries became synonymous with downtown, the large sums of money passing through their hands making taller and taller skyscrapers possible.
The influx of capital culminated in the World Trade Center, a project conceived in controversy, with the local Port Authority using the power of eminent domain to evict the surviving, and thriving, businesses of Radio Row and others from its multi-block site for what was essentially a private purpose. The original claim that the WTC would be only "world trade" was soon forgotten, and it gradually emptied the older skyscrapers, leading to their decline.
Downtown before 9/11
Instead of revitalizing the office market, however, the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001 accelerated an uptown migration of banks and financial companies, a flight from which downtown is still recovering.
World Trade Center One is finished and is being expected to open its doors soon. A three-level observation deck called One World Observatory will open in 2015.
