Results tagged “travel”

As ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to snag air travel, as airlines have criticized European governments for flight restrictions that are costing them $250 million a day. The head of an airline industry body, Giovanni Bisignani, told the BBC, "This is a European embarrassment and it's a European mess." And it's not just European airlines that are hurting—NYC's tourism arm believes it's losing $250 million from the lack of European visitors this weekend. NYC & Co. spokeswoman Marjan Inbar told the Daily News, "The people we were expecting are not coming and not spending money at restaurants." more ›

Former Continental Airlines ticket agent Victoria Scardigno is due in court today on a charge of wire fraud for allegedly making over $1 million by selling travelers fake free-travel vouchers. The Newark Liberty International Airport agent allegedly printed fake vouchers that are normally given to customers whose flights were cancelled. Scardingo would sell the fake vouchers to customers for as much as $600 each, and used the profits to pay off her credit card debt and go on a $15,000 shopping spree at Louis Vuitton. The Daily News reports that she covered her tracks by using some of her profits to buy certain victims real tickets. more ›

Despite admonishment by an ethics committee for taking a corporate sponsored trip to the Caribbean, flouting House rules barring gifts worth more than $50, Congressman Charlie Rangel says he won’t resign from his powerful post on the House Ways and Means Committee. "Why don't you ask me if I'm going to stay chairman of the committee in light of the fact that we're expecting heavy snow in New York?" he quipped to reporters yesterday. Still, four fellow Dems called for him to step down and President Obama reprimanded him. According to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Obama stressed that "rules are put in place for a reason and that those rules can and must apply to each and every person." more ›

After a lengthy investigation, a House ethics panel ruled that Rep. Charlie Rangel violated congressional rules by traveling to the Caribbean on corporate junkets in 2007 and 2008. The Harlem Democrat said he had been "admonished" by the committee, which has not yet announced its findings regarding allegations of improper fundraising, tax evasion on property in the Dominican Republic, and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments in Manhattan despite House rules barring gifts worth more than $50. more ›

A nationwide ban that has kept HIV-positive travelers from visiting the United States since 1987 will come to an end today when Hugo Bausch and Clemens Ruland are expected to arrive in the city from the Netherlands. Last fall, President Obama reversed the policy and stated it was "rooted in fear, rather than fact," according to the Huffington Post. The regulation, which many derided as discriminatory, separated families and turned members of the scientific community against the United States, according to the Daily News. Ruland, who will be landing at Kennedy Airport today, wrote in an essay: "Free to travel, to hug, share, love and once more be united . . . Alive and proud . . . I turn to you, America. America, here I come; Come as I am." Foreigners with HIV are still barred from visiting about a dozen other countries. more ›

Sen. Charles Schumer called on airlines to stop servicing foreign airports with security practices that don't meet American standards, according to NY1. In a move he hopes will close the "gaping holes" in overseas air travel security, the senior Democratic senator wants carriers to report any security issues at foreign airports and threaten boycotts if measures aren't changed. more ›

As flying out of Newark Liberty, Kennedy, and La Guardia airports continues to get more and more tedious, some passengers are turning towards smaller airfields where even at busy travel times like the day before Thanksgiving there are "no lines at the check-in counters, no lines to clear security and no lineup of idling planes on the runway," according to the Times. more ›

Newark Liberty International Airport is going to be the first airport in the region to be equipped with full body x-ray scanners that allow security officers to see hidden contraband — and everything else beneath passengers' clothing. The plan to install the costly and invasive anti-terrorism devices comes after a man attempted to blow up an airplane as it landed in Detroit on Christmas with explosives stitched into his underwear. more ›

An express train that'll take you from Midtown to JFK Airport, with specially installed luggage racks and a conductor punching tickets, all for just $3.50? That would probably come in handy for many people today, but it no longer exists. CityRoom takes a nostalgic look back at the JFK Express, which operated from 1978 to 1990, running down Avenue of the Americas in eight stops, then non-stop to the airport. more ›

The day before Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for travel, with roads and airports clogged with those heading for turkey, family, friends and relaxation. However, the economy has made some people rethink their travel plans. According to WCBS 2, "Thanksgiving travel plummeted a staggering 25 percent between 2007 and 2008, and many of those habits seem to be sticking this year. The number of people traveling is likely to stay about the same, inching up only by about 1.4 percent, according to an AAA prediction." more ›

American Airlines has added a creature comfort outside its terminal at JFK International Airport. According to the press release, the new "Pet Relief Area at the terminal's departure level" is for "passengers with pets [to] give their canine or feline friends a final chance to relieve themselves before packing them away in their kennels for the flight." American's Facilities Maintenance Manager at JFK, Joseph Daly, explained, "American Airlines is sensitive to the needs of passengers who travel with their pets. Pets that travel have comfort needs, too, so we wanted to provide a way for them to be comfortable before boarding their flight, just like the rest of us." Here's AA's traveling with pets policy. more ›

Today is considered the busiest travel day of the year, as people are flocking home and away for the Thanksgiving holiday. The AAA says that the number of travelers going at least 50 miles from home will be about 41 million, a 1.4% decline from last year and the "first decline in travelers since 2002." AAA spokeswoman Christie Hydge explained, "I think with the economy going downward, people are holding off on traveling." Still, NYC is preparing for the crush: The Port Authority is expecting 1.35 million passengers at the three airports this year, the MTA has its extra eastbound LIRR trains today, and the city's Department of Transportation has named this a holiday gridlock alert day and urges people to take public transit. In the immortal words of Frank Costanza, "Serenity now!" more ›

At nine this morning the temperature at Belvedere Castle reached 41 degrees, ending the string of days below 40. The last five days were fifteen degrees below normal and more typical of mid-January. Replacing the cold will be a very pleasant Monday. However, there is a price to pay. As we head into winter it becomes harder and harder to drag warm air this far north. Doing so usually takes a significant storm. Thus the pleasant Monday will be followed by a very wet Tuesday. more ›

Yesterday, American Airlines started charging customers $15 for the first checked bag, a controversial but necessary move given rising oil prices (American, like many other airline carriers, also charges $25 for the second checked bag). Though full fare, gold/platinum frequent fliers, first and business class customers, are exempt from the fee, American expects 25% of its customers to be affected by the charge. And those fliers were not happy. more ›

In the 1960s, New York Central Railroad invested in high speed rail and jet powered train testing, referred to as the M-497 tests. A U.S. rail-speed record of 183.85 miles per hour, which stands to this day, was set back then -- but eventually the train was scrapped for parts. more ›

Gerritsen Beach posted this photograph of $4-and-over gasoline in Sheepshead Bay and asked, "Is this hell?" Well, for those drivers who could afford to fill up and head out of town this Memorial weekend, it might be heaven--the Daily News has two photos showing the contrast in traffic between this year's and last year's automobile rush on the Sunrise Highway. more ›

Back in 1933 Popular Science reported on New York engineer Walter H. Judson's new railway which would have trains running from San Francisco to New York in 18 hours, and Chicago to New York in 5.5 hours. Now it's the buses battling it out to have the quickest times and cheapest fares to and from New York. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. more ›

Jaunted took a jaunt over to the new Terminal 5 (not the music venue) at JFK. The terminal, with design by Gensler, will house JetBlue and is set to open in September of this year. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Gothamist. more ›

While it may be beautiful now, yesterday's weather was awful enough to cause some holiday travel headaches for those flying out of area airports. Winds were gusting up to 47 MPH, and travelers arriving at LaGuardia had two hour delays, which wasn't bad considering arrivals at Kennedy and Newark had delays of four to four-and-a-half hours. more ›

Two years ago the famed Saturday Night Fever dance floor was sold at auction for $188,000 when the Brooklyn club where the movie was filmed, Odyssey 2001 (later called Spectrum), was closed. Just yesterday the legendary movie turned 30 and amNewYork got nostalgic looking back at the Bay Ridge kid, Tony Manero, who sought refuge on that dance floor.

Thirty years ago this weekend, a tough young kid from Bay Ridge strutted across America's movie screens and struck his finger in the air to announce a new moment in the country's culture. Disco had been bubbling in the underground for a few years before the film came out, opening the sub-culture to a mass audience. more ›

PARTY: Haven't gotten your fill of holiday office party fun this season? Metro Metro reminds all of its faux-ployees that their office party is tonight! "This is a reminder going out to all fake employees about the Metro Metro Holiday Office Party. Please join us in celebrating the holidays by assuming a fake job title and hobnobbing with fake co-workers over genuine drinks. Need inspiration for potential job titles, such as Associate with the Bad Toupee, or the Wait-Until-You-Hear-How-Smart-my-Baby-Is Co-worker? Check our website for a list." more ›

The family and friend of the Minnesota tourist who took a fatal plunge from a Midtown hotel this past weekend are saying her death is not a suicide. Twenty-one-year-old Jennifer Olson fell 60 feet from a fire escape at the Night Hotel and earlier reports suggested she jumped, but her friend, Timothy O'Neill, told the Daily News, "I don't believe it was suicide. I believe it was accidental. After drinking six or seven hours, people aren't thinking clearly." more ›

(fishbowl, vol. 3, by hbomb1947 at flickr) more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Franklin Ave. and 169th St. in the Bronx, a missing child on West 54th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Fulton St. and Red Hook Lane in Brooklyn.
• Walter O'Malley was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame recently. The former owner of the Dodgers, he infamously moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles because the city wouldn't build him a new stadium.
• Times Square subway station music store Record Mart is back in business.
• The director of personnel at the NYC Board of Elections wants to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan to help soldiers vote in the next election.
• David Lemus, who spent 13 years in prison for the 1990 murder of a bouncer at the Palladium, was declared not guilty in a retrial after the real killer confessed.
• Childhood flashback: a piece of geometric animation scored to music by Phillip Glass that appeared on Sesame Street.
• The ACLU filed a suit against the NYPD seeking to get them to cease stopping and questioning photographers they see taking pictures of city landmarks.
• A Queens mother was arrested after her 3-year-old son brought 14 bags of pot to daycare with him to show his friends. The incident went unnoticed until the kid screamed "Give me my stuff back!"

"Sleight of hand," "litany of needless fights," "ugly racial polarization" - just some of the phrases in this week's New York magazine's cover story about Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor turned presidential candidate. Chris Smith's article serves as both refresher to New Yorkers about Giuliani's reign as mayor with some fun tidbits (did you realize that then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik commissioned 30 miniature busts of himself?) as well as a cautionary tale to non-New Yorkers.... more ›

Soon after the New Year, the inviting little café formerly known as Chickenbone will be reborn as Dram. So named for the unit of measurement in the apothecaries' system, the south Williamsburg bar will focus on specialty pre-prohibition cocktails made with all-fresh ingredients. Managing partner Tom Chadwick – who currently moonlights behind the bar at Bushwick Country Club – told us that his vision for Dram involves bringing the fastidious cocktail craze, popularized by exclusive... more ›