Results tagged “lights”

It it's December, it must be time to visit Dyker Heights, that Brooklyn neighborhood famous for its transcendent Christmas light displays. The spectacle draws onlookers from around the world, and was immortalized in a truly hilarious documentary called Dyker Lights, which takes a priceless "behind-the-scenes" look at the predominantly Italian-American families during preparations for the annual festivities. (PBS will be broadcasting Dyker Lights again this year on Christmas Eve and Christmas day—it's not to be missed.) more ›

As previously mentioned, the Empire State Building donned the official hippie color, Tie Dye, last night in honor of an upcoming Grateful Dead exhibit at the NY Historical Society. (A benefit with Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will be held in the city tomorrow.) Some readers certainly came through with some fantastic photos of the lights last night — some including trippy photo tricks, and psychedelic Photoshopping. Enjoy! more ›

In honor of the New York Historical Society's upcoming Grateful Dead exhibition, the Empire State Building is going to be tie dye tomorrow. At press time, we were unable to confirm how in the world this was going to happen, short of dosing the entire city with acid and hoping everyone sees beautiful melting colors shining off the building. more ›

Yesterday afternoon at around 4:20 p.m., a police cruiser traveling south on Broadway (between 135th and 136th Streets) struck a 79-year-old man who was crossing the street from a median. The man, Javier Jackson, was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead two hours later. more ›

Last year New York City stayed plugged in while many major cities around the globe powered down for Earth Hour. Instead, Rufus Wainwright tried to recreate the blackout with a 12-hour "Blackout Sabbath" on March 19th—if you don't remember it, then it probably didn't go as planned. more ›

Now that city investigators have closed the file on The Great Maple Syrup Smell Scare, maybe they can get cracking on the Mysterious Northern Lights that have been baffling and entrancing New Yorkers. A reader sent us some photos of the as-yet unexplained lights from his East Village apartment, telling us that they changed colors every ten seconds or so and lasted about fifteen minutes. Then, in the comments section of yesterday's post, he goes all Fox Mulder WITH THE CAPS:

THERE IS NO WAY THIS WAS FROM YANKEE STADIUM OR SHEA. THE PICS WILL SETTLE THAT, BUT WILL DEFINITELY RAISE QUESTIONS AS TO WHAT PRODUCED THE LIGHT, WHICH WAS VERY COOL LOOKING, IT CHANGED EVERY 10 SEC OR SO AND WAS SOMETIMES RED, BLUE, PURPLE, WHITE, AND GREEN. IT CONTINUED FOR MAYBE 15 MIN AND LOOKED TO BE SHINING VERTICALLY DOWN RATHER THAN UP. IT WAS ALSO SUPER HIGH IN THE SKY.

Two readers have e-mailed us with reports of strange, pretty lights over Brooklyn or Queens last night. Here's an account of one sighting:

I saw something weird in the sky last night, and a bunch of other people did, too. Disclaimer: I am NOT a U.F.O. person, nor do I think that's what I saw. I'm just very curious to figure out what exactly it was. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation of some kind. more ›

As mentioned yesterday, the New Year's Eve 2009 sign is being powered with a little help from Times Square visitors. The Duracell Power Lodge has been set up to accommodate snowmobiles, that are really stationary bikes with a snowmobile shell around them. When passerby pedal the snowmobikes, it will generate electricity that will in turn be stored to help power the lights on their big night. more ›

Last year the "8" in the New Year's 2008 sign headed to Times Square via subway (the 6 train to be exact). This year, it took to the seas and traveled by boat. 9's publicist tells us:

It was a NY Waterway boat that picked up passengers in Weehawken and then came across the Hudson to the Waterway’s Midtown Terminal at W. 39th and the West Side Highway. more ›

Last night, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree's lights were turn on for the holidays. With 30,000 lights on 5 miles of wire and a 750-pound star at top, it dazzled the crowd. A family of Hurricane Katrina survivors whose new home was partly built by lumber from an old Rock Center tree was on hand for the lighting; mother Tracey Davison told the AP, "It's been an awesome experience. I have a famous living room because of the tree from last year, and my girls and I have had a spectacular trip to New York for the first time." more ›

During previous elections, the colors at the top of the Empire State Building have shone red, white and blue--but this week, for the first time ever, it will honor the U.S. presidential election with a four-night celebration. The general manager of the building, James Connors, says that the 4-night lighting celebration is "due to the excitement" of this year’s race. more ›

A new study by the DOT [pdf] has revealed an unprecedented surge in the number of cyclists, increasing an estimated 35% in NYC between 2007 and 2008. In the past six years, cycling levels in the city have doubled, and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says the numbers prove the department is "well on the way toward our goal of doubling the number of bike commuters." In particular, the cyclist volume on the Williamsburg Bridge has quadrupled from 2000-2008 to 4,000 cyclists on a typical day. And the study shows that cyclists are riding earlier in the morning and later in the day than previously believed. To that end, DOT reps will be stationed on the Manhattan sides of both the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. tonight handing out free bike lights, which cyclists are required by law to use. So race on over there, all you gonzo fixed-gear cyclists from that crazy video! more ›

The Empire State Building will celebrate the Olympics by illuminating each of its sides with the colors of a different nation's flag throughout the sixteen days of the Summer Games. This will be the first time the skyscraper will have separate color schemes on each side as it will represent the 66 nations with the most athletes sent to Beijing. A typical color change at the Empire State Building takes six electricians six hours to switch out whichever of the 182 lights needs altering. Good thing there were so many electricians nearby during last night's power outage! more ›

The eight towering sludge digester eggs at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint got even more sci-fi looking last night when the DEP flicked the switch on the new dramatic blue lights illuminating the 145 feet high structures. True to form, New York Shitty was there to get total coverage on the lighting ceremony. more ›

The 125th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge will be observed this month with a five day celebration from May 22nd through May 26th, Mayor Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz announced earlier this week. Completed in 1883, the bridge opened with a “People’s Day” celebration; for a penny toll the general public was permitted to traverse its span. (A few days later, on Memorial Day, 12 pedestrians were trampled to death when the crowd believed the bridge was collapsing and panicked.) more ›

The Daily News laments how, in spite of Mayor Bloomberg's promise to turn off lights in city buildings to conserve energy, many buildings are still glowing at all hours--even on Earth Day! more ›

Downtown Manhattan residents have heard enough from honking cabs, and one Community Board is asking the Taxi & Limousine Commission to do something about the racket. Community Board 3, which represents the area of Manhattan containing the East Village, Lower East Side, and Chinatown, voted this week to formally request that the T&LC; require devices to be installed in cabs that will visually identify them as horn abusers. more ›

The traditional way to know what color the Empire State Building is to look at the building's website. But plain text can be lacking, which is where What Color is the Empire State Building comes in. more ›

Get ready to groan: "I look forward to 'Phase Two' of the 'blinging up' of the Parachute Jump," said inveterate cornball Marty Markowitz during his recent State of the Borough speech. The 262-foot Coney Island landmark was retrofitted with a lighting system two years ago, but borough president Markowitz and others deemed the effect too subdued and “artsy.” Now the city is soliciting proposals from companies to create a flashier effect. more ›

Well this was unexpected! Not afraid to wear a fur coat to the Natural History Museum, Kanye West made a surprise appearance at last Friday's Cool Kids/Kid Sister party. As Kid Sister was finishing up her set, Kanye jumped up on stage to throw in his part of their duet. He then stayed up there to play a short set of all his current hits. DJ A-Trak claimed it to be a last minute arrangement, getting thrown together by text messages that evening, and it was a well kept surprise. It certainly made the several long will call lines attendees were forced to wait in more tolerable in hindsight. (Pic by Justin Charles for Flavorpill, who hosted the event) more ›

We know that Giants co-owner and movie producer Steve Tisch has been trying to ramp up the star power for the Giants sidelines. After Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz were seen at a game last fall, Tisch told the NY Times, he brings "the spices, the taste, the flavor" to the Giants (if the Giants experience were a soup; the other co-owners, the Maras, would bring the meat and potatoes). more ›

Natasha Lyonne – remember her? – has resurfaced, and not at the morgue! In fact, the young hellion seems to be doing quite well for herself – at least that’s the portrait painted by this convivial Times profile, in which reporter Robert Simonson smokes Marlboro Lights with her on the roof of Theater Row, where she’s to appear in the new Mike Leigh play Two Thousand Years. Though off the horse, the actress isn’t all yoga and Celestial Seasonings – she’s quick to point out that she usually smokes Marlboro 72’s, because they’re “like something Robert Mitchum would smoke.” more ›

Like the GWB and the Holland Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge will have LED lights installed next year, but how exactly do the bulbs get replaced? The NY Times says it only takes one man to screw in these bulbs. Okay, maybe he has some help. Ben Cipriano, the leader of a crew of electricians who maintain the four major East River Bridges for the city’s Department of Transportation, and his colleagues make about a dozen trips a year up the cables of those bridges.

The mercury vapor lamps that are currently in use on the bridge, he said, are supposed to last about 24,000 hours. At eight hours a night (the lights are turned off at 1 a.m.), that means each bulb should last more than eight years. It gets tricky, though, because workers replace the bulbs before they burn out completely, to minimize noticeable variations between them.

The most exciting story in New York theater this year had nothing to do with the Broadway stagehands' strike, it was the vibrant growth of what used to be called “experimental theater”, a movement that can now really only loosely be defined by what it’s not: non-naturalistic and not made for TV, with an emphasis on bold physicality, collaboration and, sometimes, multimedia. more ›

The Bronx Zoo is decked out for the holiday season through January 6th. Every animal under the sun has been recreated in twinkly lights, so bundle up and check out the sparkling safari. Giraffes and rhinos and peacocks, oh my! more ›

Chef Jonathan Waxman is known for many things, but the benchmark of his cooking over the years has arguably always been his roast chicken. The cover of his new cookbook A Great American Cook depicts Waxman slyly drawing a Lavazza espresso cup to his mouth, wood-burning oven full flame in the background and a sliced open cheese pumpkin in front. The book also features the chef’s roast chicken recipe. “My culinary anthem,” Waxman waxes in the recipe’s preamble. “There’s nothing else like it,” we were told by a stranger at a party last week celebrating the release of said book. “You really have to make it,” said someone else, emphasis on really. And so we did (results pictured here). more ›

With Christmas less than two weeks away, the annual holiday light display is raging through the nights in Dyker Heights, home of TV’s Scott Baio. Every year tens of thousands of people from around the world flock to the outer-borough Brooklyn neighborhood to gawk at the private homes decked out with millions of dazzling lights. more ›

Last year we "oohed" and "ahhed" at Prospect Park in Lights, and as of last night -- the seasonal luminescence is back. And this year, even the pink lights are "green":Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg tonight flipped the switch on a holiday lighting installation at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park. LEDs, energy-efficient and long-lasting lights that are environmentally friendly, are being used to illuminate the Bailey Fountain and a tree underneath the Sailors and... more ›

Chanukah may not be the holiest of days on the Jewish calendar, but we don't think eating pork products is allowed. Still, NancyKay Shapiro found that Balducci's is touting the deliciousness of various hams for the Festival of Lights. She writes that the gesture seems to be from the "the Monumental Cluelessness, Well-Meaning Division." If you're celebrating Chanukah, what are you eating? We're planning on eating pounds of greasy latkes with equal amounts of... more ›

EVENT: Berlin takes over New York this month with the Berlin in Lights Festival. Through the 18th you can soak up the German city through film, music, art, architecture and more. This evening you can check out a couple of Berlin-esque events. First up is the "Urban Design and Memorials" dialogue. A panel discussion which will touch on the "challenges of integrating memorials into the urban fabric, and how Berlin and New York address issues... more ›