English
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Español
ONLY BE NEW YORKER
Only-Be New Yorker
Be a Part of the TV Audience in New York City
A fun and free way to see some celebrities while you’re in New York City is to attend the taping of some television shows as part of the live studio audience. I’ll tell you about the shows I would recommend seeing and how you can sign up to get tickets. Once you’ve selected which shows you’re interested in, you should write to them to ask for tickets for your specific travel dates. In case that doesn’t work, you can still stand in line for a chance to get stand-by tickets on the day of the show. Good Morning America This show specializes in the morning news and lifestyle information. It airs live every weekday at 7 am. To request tickets, you´ll need to visit the ABC studio’s website: http://abc.go.com/site/tv-ticket-request. To try to get standby tickets, they recommend that you arrive by 6:45 am, although you may want to get in line earlier to increase your chances. A valid photo ID is necessary and don’t bring any bags other than a purse, since those are not allowed. The show is taped at Broadway and W. 44th Street (Times Square). The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Hosted by Jon Stewart, this extremely popular show on Comedy Central features absurd and funny parodies about politics, pop culture and news. There is also always a celebrity guest, who range from politicians (President Obama) to actors and authors. Tickets are booked through the show’s website: http://www.thedailyshow.com/tickets. The studio address is 733 11th Avenue, and shows are taped Monday through Thursday at 5:45 pm. Doors will open, however, at 5:15 pm. Participants must...
Top 6 New York Secrets
New York City is a fascinating place to visit. It’s rich with history, and you’re guaranteed a surprise on nearly every block. While there are all of the obvious tourist spots to visit, there are also a number of fascinating oddities off the beaten track that are definitely worth your time. If you’re feeling adventurous, check out some of our favorite secret spots in New York. The Secret Subway Stations Take a ride on the 6 train (that’s how we call it in NY), and as you’re clattering along through downtown Manhattan, keep your eyes peeled as you pass between 23rd Street and the end of the line. If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice three abandoned subway stations. The Worth Street, City Hall and 18th Street stations all were closed due to changes in the transportation system, but they still sit there, empty and ghost-like as trains sail past. The World’s First Passenger Elevator Head down to Soho, and stop in at the Haughwout Building at 488 Broadway. This old building houses the very first passenger elevators in the world. The elevators were installed in 1857 by American inventor Elisha Armstrong Otis. The elevators aren’t used anymore, and the actual location within the building is one of New York’s little mysteries. Interestingly though, the work done on the Haughwout elevators set many of the precedents for elevators in skyscrapers today. The Hua-Mei Bird Garden As you stroll along Delancey Street in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, keep an eye out for a little half-moon quadrant at the corner of Forsyth Street. At this tiny, hidden park you’ll find dozens of...
3 Kings Day Parade
For someone from a traditionally Catholic country like ours The Three Kings need no presentation, but in other countries for their uniqueness it can become a new celebration. And this is what happens in New York. This event takes place on January 6 at 10:30 am and the parade lasts about an hour and a half throughout the streets of Hispanic Harlem known as The Barrio in New York. Its starting point is between 106th Street and Madison Avenue and ends at 115 and Park Avenue. As in all such parades commemorating the arrival of the Three Kings , Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, who according to tradition went to Bethlehem to bring gifts to the just newborn baby Jesus. And after many centuries they are still those who give the gifts to many children in the world, this is one of the biggest illusions of hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking children. And these have previously been preparing letters expressing their desires. And if they are bad they run the risk that their gift is coal. How does a city like New York going to be left behind in this? Obviously not and therefore it has its own parade. Because the 3 Kings can reach all parts of the world for they are ubiquitous. It is a procession as we are used to on these occasions, full of animals, camels, donkeys, with background music, although unlike other kings they are not uploaded on floats, but tend to walk surrounded by their animals who are of a great size, colored puppets about 5 meters high. A huge part of the public,...
New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York
All across the United States and the world, people tune in via television to see the end of another year at this mega-party in New York City. If you’re traveling to the Big Apple, you can be there to witness it live in person on December 31, and say good-bye to 2012 and welcome in the year 2013 in style. The always bustling Times Square is the setting of the much-awaited countdown and party to welcome in the New Year. One million people attend this huge event each year while an estimated one million people in the United States and one billion people around the world watch the events take place. This party has a long history, and Times Square has been the place to go in New York City to countdown the hours and minutes and welcome the New Year since 1904, and the tradition of lowering the ball has been around since 1907. Revelers begin arriving early, and by 3:00 PM the main area of Times Square is already filled. The ceremony begins at 6:00 PM, which is when the New Year´s Eve Ball is raised. Free hats, balloons, scarves and other items are always distributed to the attendees. The hourly countdowns begin starting at 7:00 PM. There will be music concerts to help pass the time. Last year, for example, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga performed. At 11:59 PM the illuminated Waterford Crystal New Year´s Eve Ball begins its descent at One Times Square as people join in on the countdown to the New Year. The giant ball descends 70 feet as people count down the...
Ice Cream Parlours in New York
Ice cream is one of those wonderful pleasures that can transform an ordinary day into a treat, a sweltering heat into exotic sugary bliss and a bustling city into an urban adult playground. Here is a list of some of New York City’s most loved and talked about ice cream parlours to help you treat yourself during your visit. Sky Ice Sweet & Savoury serves ice cream with a Thai twist, infusing flavours like sesame, wasabi and lychee into their sweet creamy treats. You can find it on 63 Fifth Ave. Victory Garden makes lactose-free, Middle-Eastern inspired deliciousness with goats milk and local ingredients. Favourite flavours include Salty Caramel, a rich cocoa chocolate, tangy goat milk yogurt and rose hibiscus sorbet. Find it on 31 Carmine Street in the West Village. Holey Cream is a treasure trove of sugary delights, with ice-creams, sorbets and frozen yogurts on offer next to donuts, cookies, muffins and more. Hit these guys up for a ice-cream sandwich made from a iced donut of your choice and an ice-cream centre. To get your fix, go to 796 Ninth Ave between 51st and 52nd. Blue Marble is all about being eco, light on the added sugar and into seasonal flavours. They use certified organic flavour and pride themselves of offering ‘real’ food rather than preservative-packed desserts. Blue Marble can be found at 196 Court Street in Brooklyn. L’ Art de Gelato takes you to the romantic streets of Italy with one lick of their traditional-style ice-cream. With a love of artisanal, daily-fresh batches, this gelaterie can be found at 75 Ninth Ave, inside the...
Kimbra Concert in New York
The city that never sleeps is getting ready for the arrival of the New Zealander Kimbra, who will perform two concerts in one of the most iconic nightclubs in Manhattan. If you happen to be in New York on the 19th and 20th of October, this is definitely a must do for you. From her early childhood, Kimbra knew she was born to be an artist. At the age of 10, she composed her own songs and performed her first concerts. At the age of 12, she sang New Zealand’s national anthem before an audience of about 30,000 people, in the opening of a rugby match and received her first guitar as a gift from her father. Although she began taking music lessons, her voice has always been a prodigious natural talent that she has developed on her own. At the age of 17, she moved to Melbourne to pursue a career in the Music industry. During this period of intense creativity and live performances, the Belgian-Australian musician Gotye watched one of her concerts and invited her to collaborate with him on one of the singles from his album Making Mirrors. The song, titled Somebody I used to know (an international success, which Youtube video reached 300 million views), marked her launch to fame and boosted the release of her first studio album called Vows in August 2011. A self-produced album, recorded between studios and her home. She spent three years in the production of this album, which success was immediate. This 22-years-old girl has dazzled both, critics and audiences alike with her dense and deep voice that...
Explore New York from the water
Most folks don’t know it, but many of New York City’s most outstanding landmarks can be best viewed from the water. And while you can certainly hop in a cab to get around town, you’d be missing out a lot, if you didn’t take at least one trip on one of NY’s water taxis. You can choose a leisurely tour of the harbor, enjoy a romantic sunset cruise while taking in the famous skyline, or even putter along the coast hopping on and off at the various stops on the waterfront. There are all sorts of tours available – and offers that cater to every budget. You can even choose to purchase a New York Pass that will help you save money not only on your water taxi tours, but also on all the greatest attractions that the Big Apple has to offer. Most water taxi tours will let you bring your own food and beverages, so why not packing a picnic and make a day of it? Some of our favorite tours include: Hop-On/Hop-Off Why do we like this one so much? Because the Hop-On/Hop-Off service is the ride where one ticket is all you need to visit some of the greatest attractions in the city. Ride on the top deck and take in the magnificent skyline, including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. Although you can stay on board for the full 90 minute tour, most folks like hopping off at the four convenient piers to sightsee a little before hopping back aboard. Bike and Boat Turn your sightseeing into a full-fledged...
50 Years of James Bond
There are few fictional characters as iconic and enigmatic as Agent 007, also known as James Bond. Given the “license to kill” he possesses extraordinary and by that deadly skills, is intelligent and through all of that maintains impeccable style. He embodies the erotic fantasy of many females and the ideal male image that men strive for. On occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Bond movie Dr. No in 1962, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (MoMA) is presenting all Bond Movies throughout the month of October. Over the years several actors have slipped into the role of the smooth secret agent. Whether he was played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig the mysterious, sophisticated demeanor and his quiet confidence make him irresistible and serve him countless romantic yet short lived encounters on a silver plate. He always remained a loner and the only woman he will always be loyal to remains the Queen of England. But it is not just the personality of this fictional character (created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953) that turns the movies in such a phenomenon. As already mentioned before the Bond style remains timeless, his desirable women, his gadgets and vehicles never fail to surprise, the music of the movies is just as anticipated as the movies and his signature drink vodka martini, shaken, not stirred is a detail that everyone associates with James Bond. It has to be a question of personal taste which of the Bond actors and/or movies is your favorite, but what remains without...
Slash Concert in New York
Everyone knows Slash: one of the best guitarist of all times and one of the founding members of the legendary rock band Guns N ´Roses. With them he recorded an album that has been considered among the best of the hard rock history: “Appetite for Destruction”. This album captured the best of an era of revolt as the decadent years in Los Angeles. By then (1986), the Guns N ´Roses lived a life on the edge, full of concerts, rehearsals and excesses. Slash’s talent would lead the band to become one of the biggest ones in the world. The multimillion-dollar contract, the band signed with Geffen Records, also allowed them to record a double album entitled “Use Your Illusion”, which not only proved that they very talented musicians, but also artists with very high pretensions. Of course, many have questioned the quality of both albums, but it was just a risky move that closed the eighties, before the grunge invaded the international radio stations. Slash on the other hand, after a few attempts in the mid-nineties to continue with Guns N ´Roses, formed his own band Slash´s Snakepit, with which he recorded two albums: “It´s Five O´Clock Somewhere” (1995) and “Ain’t life grand” (2000), with those albums he kept his blues and hard rock style, in a decade dominated by alternative rock. After this project, he founded the super band Velvet Revolver, in collaboration with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum from the former Guns N ´Roses and the Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland. After several tours, two albums, and many problems with the drug addicted Weiland, the band...
