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Tags: Pedestrians / Parks / Car-Free Zones / Times Square / New York City / Active Travel / People Watching / → All Tags
New Car-Free Zones Make Times Square 36% Less Disgusting
Most tourists don't realize this, but real New Yorkers don't hang out in Times Square. In fact, they avoid it whenever possible, giving a wide berth to the crowds packing Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. and the ESPN Zone in favor of more authentic hangouts downtown. But Times Square suddenly got a whole lot more palatable to natives this week with the introduction of several new pedestrian-only zones, where you can hang out and gawk at all the neon and plasma without worrying about being mowed down by a taxi. It was a move I never thought I'd see in a city that has seemingly favored drivers over walkers in recent years, so I had to check it out. Armed with a camera and a copy of The New Yorker, I explored the new car-free oasis of Times Square during my lunch hour on Thursday, and I've got to tell you: it's great.
Tags: Movie Set Travel / Times Square / Tourist Traps / Nicolas Cage / Cars / → All Tags
Tourists Watch Car Crash on Times Square Set of Nic Cage Movie
A car chase being filmed for a new Nicolas Cage movie last night in Times Square went a little off-track, crashing head-first into a Sbarro pizza restaurant at around 1am. The scene was being shot for the movie, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and yes, it's related to Mickey Mouse.
Since the accident happened in Times Square, the crash was witnessed by several tourists who told The NY Post what they saw:
Mark Watkins, a tourist from Birmingham, England, watched the live action chase from the top of the new TKTS booth. "A black Ferrari and a silver Mercedes were chasing each other," he said. "The Ferrari took a route down the center of the road, swerving between cars. The Mercedes took the outside lanes. "The Ferrari took a sharp right to the left and lost it, swerving across the lanes, taking out a lamppost and a news stand.
Tags: Restaurants / Food / Times Square / Tourist Hell / → All Tags
If You Absolutely Must Hang Out in Times Square, You Could Do Worse than Ruby Foo's
One of the many misconceptions travelers have of New York City is that Midtown Manhattan in general - and Times Square in particular - is the best place to go to get a true sense of the city. This is incorrect. Real New Yorkers spend time in Midtown because they have to. That's where their jobs are located, and certain business and schmoozing simply must be conducted between 34th and 57th Streets. But when the workday is over, most of my friends and colleagues instinctively head downtown, or to Brooklyn, to hang out, hook up, shop, eat, and drink.
There are exceptions. Two weekends ago, we wound up in Times Square to meet a couple of friends who had ridden the bus in from New Haven. They had taken their young daughter to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway, and had only a couple of hours to kill before catching the bus home. We decided to press the easy button and met them at Ruby Foo's on Broadway and 49th. You know what? It was pretty good.
Tags: NYC BBQ / Restaurants / Food Travel / BBQ / Times Square / → All Tags
A Sticky Treat Near the New Times Square
Daisy May's is probably the most over-covered of all the NYC BBQ joints, but even though Oprah, Rachel Ray and the Today Show have already visited chef Adam Perry Lang's Hell's Kitchen cafeteria, no serious Barbecue lover could leave this one off the list.
Leaving aside the food for a moment, Daisy May's has one of our favorite restaurant creation stories. A few years back, a venerable institution called the Penthouse Club decided to open an establishment in the Times Square West area. But this is the new Times Square, not the old one, so that meant the new strip club had to include a ritzy steakhouse, and of course a hot young chef.
Tags: Gossip Girl Travel / Gossip-Girl-Map / Blake Lively / Times Square / → All Tags
Gossip Girl Travel: What Do You Mean, No New Episode?
OK, so maybe we're a little bit in denial about how there was no new "Gossip Girl" this week. Maybe a hair "scratching the walls in frustration." Can you blame us?
Luckily the show has kept New York residents busy by continuing to shoot all over town. Blogger Lauren Farmer was lucky enough to run into a big ol' spoiler alert last week in Times Square--after the jump, her photo of Serena and her new flame...
Tags: Magicians / Odd Travel / Times Square / Tourist Attraction / → All Tags
Adventures of Criss Angel: Cement Box Escape Video
A video of the Mindfreak's escape on A&E's live television coverage, how meta of you tipsters.
First, is that Paul Shaffer or Gilbert Godfrey counting down and yelling "C'mon Chris" around the 1:15 mark?
Second, isn't this the exact same trick that baffled Hugh Jackman in The Prestige?
Someone search the crowd for a drunk double--no a twin brother, that's it. Criss Angel has a twin brother and he is dating Cameron Diaz.
Here's hoping all the tourists and gawkers on 46th and 8th enjoyed the show.
Related Stories:
· Criss Angel's Cement Escape Stunt in Times Square [Jaunted]
· Criss Angel Cement Box Escape Photos [Jaunted]
Tags: Magicians / Odd Travel / Times Square / Tourist Attraction / → All Tags
Criss Angel Times Square Cement Box Escape Photos
On Friday, we told you about illusionist Criss Angel's latest stunt--24 hours in box full of wet cement hanging above Times Square. Last night blogger asktherelic was looking for a good excuse to test out his new Blackberry phone camera, so he sauntered over to Angelville and had this to say:
Walked by and did the tourist thing myself. There were lots of annoying kids and loud Drum n Bass music playing and of course a smoke machine going off every 5 mins. They were giving out lots of DVDs and stuff, a loud promoter on a microphone.
Angel was scheduled to escape the box at around 7 AM this morning. If anyone woke up early and witnessed the escape attempt, let us know about it in comments.
The cement box stunt is hoping to draw attention to the third season of Criss Angel's show Mindfreak.
Tags: Magicians / Odd Travel / Times Square / Tourist Attraction / → All Tags
Criss Angel's Cement Escape Stunt In Times Square
Update 06.05.07: We now have photos from Criss Angel event here.
Criss Angel is set to perform a death-defying stunt on June 4th in Times Square.
Angel, who is looking to top David Blaine's 2006 Lincoln Center water bubble flop, will encase himself in a glass cube, be lifted 40 feet in the air, and have 24 hours to escape before the whole box drops to the ground. Oh, and the box will be filled with three inches of wet concrete...oh, and he will be shackled--of course.
What is at stake? Historically, the top U.S. magician cashes in on commercial appearances and dates hot models.
In the wake of Blaine's 2006 failure, Angel is set to become America's Next Top Magician if he pulls this off.
We leave you with an ominous Criss Angel quote from the clip after the jump:
A solid can not pass through a solid...unless it was really liquid.
If you are in Times Square Monday, snap a photo and send it our way, or drop it in the Jaunted Flickr photo pool.
Tags: New Year's Eve / Times Square / New York City / Holiday Travel / → All Tags
To Do: Times Square For NYE
Do you seriously want to spend New Year's Eve in Times Square? It's every New Yorker's worst pedestrian traffic nightmare times a thousand. If you're considering taking the plunge, don't expect anyone to be impressed; Times Square for NYE is about as touristy as it gets. We've heard of a few real New Yorkers who went to see the ball drop, but they apparently never returned.
If you must, here's what you'll need to prepare. This website set up by the Times Square Alliance will answer all of your questions regarding the festivities, including the exact location of the ball drop, and how to enter the area (it's not just business as usual). If you're interested in possibly catching a wave from some chump in Fall Out Boy, the MTV studios are at 1515 Broadway--their program will officially run for TV from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
There are no port-a-potties in the immediate area, so you'll want to take precautions early. For a creative way to see about your business, there are the much-heralded Charmin restrooms at 1540 Broadway, which are cleaned after each use. Unfortunately, the stalls will close at 6 p.m. on December 31, so they're not an option for your post-party puke.
[Photo: rosemanios]
Related Stories:
· Times Square NYE 2007 FAQ [Official Site]
· MTV Goes Gold: New Year's Eve 2007 to Be Broadcast From Times Square [MovieWeb]
· Charmin's Times Square Bathrooms Are Open For Your Business [Gothamist]
Tags: Times Square / → All Tags
Spend New Year's Eve Sad And Alone
Some company called Wi-Fi TV, Inc will be broadcasting live, to the web, from Times Square on New Year's Eve. The coverage will include an eight-camera mixed feed with exclusive panoramic views of Times Square and the New Year's Eve Ball from proprietary camera locations on rooftops and on the street.
If you are at home, watching the Times Square activity on the web, you probably should consider making a serious life change in 06--then again this could be absolutely riveting if done right.
Strike that. We just watch two minutes of NYE 2005 web coverage.
Wi-FiTV.com will have all the particulars in the next couple of days.
Tags: Camping / Times Square / → All Tags
Pitching A Tent In Times Square
We're not saying we really want to do what they did, but we do love the pluck of Amit Gupta and Zach Klein, who recently got a lot of press for a little overnight camping they did -- in the middle of Times Square.
Related articles:
· Amit Gupta's Flickr photoset
· Zach Klein's Flickr photoset
[Via Darren Barefoot]
