Results tagged “london”

Yesterday was first day on the job for new MTA Chairman and CEO Jay Walder, who decided to meet and greet subway riders at the Main Street subway station in Queens after meeting with MTA workers at the Corona Subway Maintenance Shop and the Casey Stengel Bus Depot. He spoke of "partnership with the MTA's hard-working men and women" to meet customers' expectations, promised an action plan the end of his first 100 days, and added, "New Yorkers should be able to expect the same type of customer experience riders enjoy in London"—whose transportation system he worked for between 2001-2006—"with accurate arrival information and modern fare technology." Hear that, New Yorkers—no more Underground envy! more ›

Note to the NYPD: Don't let the budget cuts affect your manilla folder inventory! BBC News reports that Metropolitan police terror chief Bob Quick resigned after being photographed—as he was going to 10 Downing Street—"displaying a secret document," which was labeled "secret" and outlined "an ongoing counter-terror operation." Concerns that the operation could be compromised forced the police to conduct raids earlier than planned; 12 men were arrested. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who thanked Quick for his service, said the suspected plot was "very big... We know that there are links between terrorists in Britain and terrorists in Pakistan," and noted that the police operation was "successful." (Remember, the London subway bombings in 2005 prompted the NYPD to institute subway bag checks.) The Independent looks at other embarrassing notes caught on camera, leading with President George Bush's 2005 note, during the World Summit, to Secretary of State Rice: "I think I may need a bathroom break? Is this possible?" more ›

Protester (though not as many as the reported 4,000 from yesterday) appeared for another day of criticizing world policies and promoting other messages as the Group of 20 leaders met again in London. The G20 just announced a trillion-dollar plan for the International Monetary Fund: The Wall Street Journal explains that the IMF's lending power is now tripled to $750 billion and another $250 billion will be added to the reserve currency "to boost liquidity in the global financial system by expanding member countries' foreign exchange reserves. [The leaders also] committed to selling IMF gold to help poor countries." more ›

Thousands of protesters marched in London as world leaders convene for the Group of 20 conference, where the economic crisis will be the main topic. President Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown before the meeting; the NY Times reports that Obama "denied there is a rift between America and the world on Wednesday and urged leaders of the Group of 20 countries to act in unison to find a way out of the global economic crisis," with the president saying, "Nearly every country engaged here has done a fiscal stimulus. We can only meet this challenge together... I came here to put forward ideas but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis that knows no borders.” more ›

Radisson Hotels in Britain have put up a billboard in London with with a picture of Big Ben under the headline, “Heavenly Peace in the City That Never Sleeps.” But today's NY Times basically tells the British capital to step off, noting that their trains do not run all night, most of their pubs close around midnight and even their Apple Store isn't open twenty-four hours. While they make a strong case that London has no business taking one of our city's most beloved nicknames, elsewhere in the paper they question whether London will soon take away our crown as the financial capital of the world. more ›

Two weeks ago, during the festivities for the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th birthday, a mysterious and massive device was unveiled with little fanfare near the base of the bridge. Called the Telectroscope, the installation was said to optically connect passersby at either end of a forgotten tunnel between Brooklyn and London (near the Tower Bridge). The British artist behind the project, Paul St George, says he's merely fulfilling the Victorian-era dream of his great-grandfather, inventor Alexander Stanhope St George, who left behind designs for the telectroscope, as well as the secret, unfinished trans-Atlantic tunnel. more ›

The festivities commemorating the 125th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge got underway full swing today with the unveiling of the mysterious Telectroscope at the Fulton Ferry Landing, just south of the bridge at 1 Water Street. The installation's creator, Paul St George, claims to have just completed a forgotten tunnel connecting New York to London and, using giant parabolic mirrors, has reconstructed a Victorian-era optical device enabling people on either end of the tube to wave at each other. more ›

The most intriguing part of the Brooklyn Bridge 125th birthday party announced last week is the mysterious Telectroscope, located at Brooklyn’s Fulton Ferry Landing near the bridge. In this case the mystery is quite deliberate; the installation’s creator Paul St George has crafted a whimsical back story for the device, which purports to connect New Yorkers with Londoners using giant parabolic mirrors installed in a forgotten Trans-Atlantic tunnel. UPDATE: More photos here. more ›

Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with London's mayor-elect Boris Johnson yesterday, and the pair shared pleasantries and some gifts, one of which was maybe not so pleasant. more ›

A man and three women were arrested by the feds for overseeing an intercontinental prostitution ring catering to the upper crust of New York, Miami, LA, and Europe. more ›

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It’s fitting that the elegant revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Sunday in the Park with George – currently at Studio 54 following an acclaimed London run – brings the latest advances in animation and digital projection to the stage. After all, the show takes as inspiration Georges Seurat and his 19th century masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which was itself informed by cutting-edge theories on color and optics, particularly the discovery that two juxtaposed colors could suggest a new color when seen from a distance. Hence Seurat’s famous depiction of a lazy French Sunday using innumerable colored dots, the style that came to be called pointillism. more ›

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Hallmark isn't the only one capitalizing on the L-word today, Hollywood has a stake in your heart as well -- invading the big screen with yet another Valentine's Day release. This time Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail Breslin, and soon-to-be Mr. Scarlett Johansson (?), Ryan Reynolds, team up for a tour de force of l-o-v-e in Definitely, Maybe (a nod to Oasis's debut album?). more ›

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London-based solo musician Yoav is a singer/songwriter who works hard to go beyond the usual “man with a guitar” conventions. By looping beats created with his voice and acoustic guitar, his songs are often inflected with an unusual drum 'n' bass flavor. His debut album Charmed & Strange crystallizes this aesthetic with an effect he describes as “DJ-ing with my guitar.” Yoav plays Mercury Lounge Saturday night at 7:30; tickets cost $10. more ›

Yesterday’s protest outside the headquarters on 46th Street amounted to roughly 100 masked gadflies cracking wise and chanting anti-Scientology slogans like “Tax the Cult”. Besides objecting to Scientology’s tax-exempt status, the protesters also blame the church for the death of adherent Lisa McPherson in 1995, their alleged use of child labor, and their “fair game” policy of aggressively silencing critics. Yesterday would have been McPherson’s 49th birthday. more ›

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party. more ›

In a sign of these struggling economic times, more than a few New York businesses are making it clear that money is money, whatever the currency. Reuters spoke to a few business owners who explained why they are open to moneys from foreign lands. more ›

READING: Jeff Garigliano, Condé Nast Portfolio senior-editor turned author, will be reading from his debut novel titled Dogface. The story follows a rebellious 14-year-old boy who, like so many before him, gets sent off to a camp that specializes in "whipping mixed-up teens back into shape". more ›

Everyone is abuzz about the latest art world scandal, and here's what is known about the life of the Warhol painting at the center of the controversy.

1981: Andy Warhol creates a number of his "Dollar Sign" pieces, using the same theme with different colors and sizes. Medium: polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas. more ›

ART: The Bronx Museum of Art is getting on board the First Friday bandwagon. They'll be opening their doors every first Friday of the month for free, and add a little something extra each time. Tonight their theme is “Say it Loud! I’m Black & I’m Proud” in celebration of Black History Month. There will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and a showcase of independent artists paying tribute to black music. more ›

Now that Rupert Murdoch owns The Wall Street Journal, he wants all his toys in one toychest properties in one building, namely News Corporation's Sixth Avenue building. The Wall Street Journal newsroom has always been downtown and is currently located at the World Financial Center. more ›

MOVIE: Delve into the mind and life of H.L. “Doc” Humes (pictured) in a documentary by his daughter. Titled Doc, the 96-minute film focuses in on the counterculture icon. "In the 1950s and early '60s, Doc co-founded The Paris Review, wrote two acclaimed novels, and was a gregarious fixture of the cultural scene in Paris, London and New York. Doc was a 1950s NYC intellectual, a 60s free speech militant, and a 70s visionary crazy genius. His story is the story of decades of cultural history, a poignant personal long-strange-trip, and a fount of ever-relevant ideas." Tonight Immy Humes (filmmaker) will be at the 8pm screening, and tomorrow night she will be joined by Paul Auster. More info here. more ›

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 black and white spy thriller The 39 Steps has been given a vividly colorful stage adaptation by a troupe of four British actors who’ve brought their madcap show to Broadway after an award-winning run on the West End. Adapted from a 1915 novel by John Buchan, the movie concerns the dashing but vague Richard Hannay, who gets ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse after shots ring out at a London music hall. In the ensuing stampede, a woman bluntly asks to go home with him and, once there, reveals that she’s a spy trying to stop a plot to smuggle British military secrets out of the country. more ›

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg speaking at the State of the City address by Mary Altaffer/AP more ›

In Samuel Beckett’s 1961 play Happy Days, a decidedly upbeat woman named Winnie spends Act One striving valiantly to make the best of her sticky situation: she’s irrevocably buried up to her waist in a “low mound.” True, Winnie has her reticent companion Willie for company, but she cheerily defies the barren void by holding forth for a seemingly nonexistent gathering of spectators. And Act Two finds Winnie still determined to make a go of it, despite a marked deterioration of her condition: she is now buried up to the neck. 47 years after Beckett finished it, the brutally funny and moving Happy Days is now the hot ticket at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a train derailment at 86th St. and 20th Ave. in Brooklyn, an overturned crane at 100th St. and Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Queens, and an amputation on Hylan Blvd. on Staten Island.
• A guy who jumps off buildings for fun says that security guards caused him "severe emotional distress" when they prevented him from leaping off the Empire State Building, so he's suing the ESB's owners for $30 million.
• When an unknown food critic stupidly leaves notes at a restaurant, a gossip column is sure to notice it, except for the fact that the notes might be from the food critic of the same newspaper.

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
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