On the Run with Hans-Ulrich Obrist, the World's Greatest Curator
Riding Along with Real Estate Reality Star Ryan Serhant
Court Also Thinks $2,000 Fine for Plucking a Used TV Antenna From the Trash is Ridiculous
Meet Philip: Derek Jeter's Incredibly Boring Alter Ego
The Feature Well vs. Featurewell.com
Majority of U.S. Women Prefer Smartphones Over Sex, Should Just Marry Their iPhones Already
Amanda Bynes Apparently Thinks Google Results Are a Substitute for a State-Issued ID
'He's Got Some Balls': Tabloid Touts Faux Anthony Weiner Cover
To Do Thursday: Betsey's Bash
Court Also Thinks $2,000 Fine for Plucking a Used TV Antenna From the Trash is Ridiculous
One man’s simple search for the perfect art project turned into a battle with New York City Courts.
This week, a Manhattan appeals court overturned a $2,000 fine issued in 2011 to a Brooklyn carpenter, Albert Prince, for taking a TV antenna from the side of a curb. Yes, you read that right.
The legal Read More
Meet Philip: Derek Jeter’s Incredibly Boring Alter Ego
Turns out Derek Jeter lacks imagination when it comes to things that are not sports or women.
The Uber-Yankee has been caught trying to hoodwink employees in a Greenwich Village Starbucks into believing he’s a man called Philip, according to The New York Post. The plan may have failed when they released he’s one Read More
The Feature Well vs. Featurewell.com
Last week, we reported that Pacific Standard digital director Nick Jackson is starting a new website called The Feature Well that will be a “smarter version of MediaBistro.” But maybe Mr. Jackson should have done some more research before he bought that domain name-the name, The Feature Well, is remarkably similar to Featurewell.com, a syndication marketplace service that represents writers and publications (including The New York Observer) so that editors can purchase and republish stories.
“I was surprised to see that someone had ripped off our name,” FeatureWell founder and CEO David Wallis told OTR. “Either Nick Jackson is arrogant or stupid. Maybe both.” Read More
Majority of U.S. Women Prefer Smartphones Over Sex, Should Just Marry Their iPhones Already
Okay, we’ll admit it: a smartphone is almost as good as a boyfriend. Texting is a perfectly fine substitute for talking, a Snapchat of a penis is not that much less exciting than the real thing, and who needs to fall asleep to the comforting sound of your loved one’s snoring when you can drift off to dreamland guided by your favorite chillwave band? Read More
Amanda Bynes Apparently Thinks Google Results Are a Substitute for a State-Issued ID
Perfectly well-adjusted human being Amanda Bynes apparently believes that Google can help solve life’s pesky predicaments. TMZ reports that the talking, off-brand velour suit/actress was denied boarding on a private flight in New Jersey this weekend because her driver’s license was suspended, so she didn’t have a valid government-issued ID to board.
So, in a Read More
‘He’s Got Some Balls’: Tabloid Touts Faux Anthony Weiner Cover
When former Congressman Anthony Weiner officially launched his mayoral bid yesterday, he took the unprecedented step of releasing an announcement video in the dark of night and only granting phone interviews with the media throughout the day. Some strongly speculated the strategy was designed to dampen the pun-filled tabloid reactions by entering the race after their print deadlines. If so, the plan worked–mostly.
Mr. Weiner was indeed kept off the front pages yesterday and today, but both the New York Post and Daily News managed to slip in some loud sideswipes. The News, in particular, seemed annoyed. On page 12, an insert read, “Here’s one for his scrapbook. Weiner’s midnight declaration prevented him from getting on the front page. Now for a ‘what if’ …” Read More
To Do Thursday: Betsey’s Bash
70-year-old reality TV star Betsey Johnson (The Style Network’s XOX Betsey Johnson, starring her daughter) and comeback kid (she recently filed for bankruptcy) has dug into her extensive archives and rejiggered her youthquake-y creations to present a Bollywood-style runway show. Break out the neon pink bindis. After Johnson’s style spectacle, funny ladies Sandra Bernhard and Taylor Negron will do some stand-up before a dance performance by Rioult Dance NY. Read More
5Pointz Backfire: Developer Blasted For Taking Back Building He Let Artists Use for Decades
During his opening remarks at the 5Pointz redevelopment hearing, developer David Wolkoff, whose father Jerry bought the Long Island City property in the 1970s, told the audience, “We’ve been members of the community for over 40 years.” Though they certainly tried (26 years! 29! 33! 4!), none of the speakers in opposition could quite top his time in Long Island City.
“I have fond memories of crawling in the basement of this building” as a child, he told the hostile crowd.
Normally the Wolkoffs wouldn’t have to grovel—it is, after all, their property. But the city dangles extra density as a carrot to developers— a tantalizing 60 percent in the case of this site— if they agree to build extra parking and plazas and to endure the public review process. (Amenities that Court Square has in abundance, including the surprisingly dense thicket of trees by One Court Square. If Jane Jacobs were still alive, we can’t help but wonder if she’d question the number of trees and the paucity of people.) Read More
Building On a Boneyard? Preservationists Beg Steiner Not To Put Luxury Condos On Former Cemetery Site
The dead may not literally walk among us, but they can certainly cause headaches for developers. In 2006, work on Trump Soho was temporarily halted when human remains were discovered at the construction site, where a Baptist Church once stood. Last year, plans for a development in Queens were nixed after the property—home to a colonial-era cemetery—was landmarked. And back in 1991, the federal government was forced to significantly alter plans for its $276 million federal office tower in Lower Manhattan after uncovering the 17th and 18th-century remains of hundreds of African Americans.
Now, several preservation and community groups are pleading with developer Douglast Steiner to his abandon plans to demolish the Mary Help of Christians Church complex at 181 Avenue A (between East 11th and East 12th streets), because the buildings were built over a former Catholic Cemetery. Read More
Get Life Advice From AJ Jacobs And His Facebook ‘Friends’
Esquire editor at large AJ Jacobs is starting a new advice column, he announced today in a blog post. But it is not just a regular old advice column. Instead of just getting advice from Mr. Jacobs, the column will include curated advice from his “100,000 Facebook Friends*” with whom he is sharing the byline.
“You will be getting the combined experience of a brigade of Ann Landerses, a stadium full of Dan Savages,” Mr. Jacobs wrote. “As for me, I will be the Nate Silver of this experiment, curating and collating and commenting on the mass’s responses. I will print the best, funniest, and oddest answers (providing full credit, of course). And we will determine the best course together.” Read More
