New York Stories

I came across these videos and decided to share them with you all. The first two videos contradict the many positive depictions of our city, and are hilarious. The last one is an instructional video on how to blend into the city. Enjoy!

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Wall Street Movie trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufNMfPwcZi8&playnext=1&list=PL898884B75E130C4D

Madoff Victims:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/04/madoff-victims-list-relea_n_164097.html

Madoff Penthouse

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/09/madoffs_penthouse.html#

Madoff interview

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/business/madoff-prison-interview.html?ref=bernardlmadoff

On May 7 an exhibition opened in Chelsea  showcasing 50 of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs.

The curatorial approach is pretty original; they asked one resident of each of the 50 states to pick a photograph and explain why.

FOR EXAMPLE: “An Illinois resident picked for its expression of “the human desire to hold something ethereal that cannot be held.”

Hand in Fire, 1985. Copyright Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

I decided to print this image from our trip to the gallery not only because I like it, but because it seems to fit well with the theme of this class.

For our discussion this week, I thought you’d like to see Patti Smith live:

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And here’s some of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography.

I came across these two NY1 commercials about being a “real new yorker”. The first video reminded me of the discussion during class about being nonchalant when spotting a celebrity around the city.
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Tags: One in 8 Million

In class we talked about Long Island City and it’s potential to be the next up-and-coming area. As I mentioned, one of my friends live in one of the luxury apartment in the area. The view is amazing, the building is new, modern, spaceful and all for a decent price. What I love about is that it is quite, but with spurt of restaurants on the main streets. I really believe that more and more residents are going to find that it is a great option, and it will become a small -“Williamsburg.” I found a great article on the daily news- real estate section that I wanted to share. It goes in depth aboutthe price of real estate, the types of new stores and restaurants that are going to be built and the parks. Enjoy!

http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2010/10/22/2010-10-22_strong_island_city_queens_nabe_makes_bid_for_new_yorks_next_best_place_to_live.html

After 80 years of the same roller-coasters in Coney Island, this amusement park season opened with a few more to add to the roster. The last roller-coaster that opened was in 1927, and that was the New York City Landmark, The Cyclone. I grew up in Brighton Beach, which gave me the chance to be a boardwalk trip away from visiting the park during the summer. It’s interesting to see how much effort is being put into the area in order to revive it, especially after the revitalization plan was passed back in 2009. According to city officials, Coney Island had an extremely busy summer in 2010 compared to recent years. We’ll have to wait and see what this fast approaching summer has in store.

The link below is the evolution of the “Soarin’ Eagle”, one of the new rides:

http://online.wsj.com/video/the-evolution-of-a-roller-coaster/2F1279D3-734F-4B58-9A0F-7333D7FE9C8D.html

I attended my friend’s house warming party last week.  He rented a studio in midtown area for almost $2000, half of his salary.  I am not surprised that people  pay top dollar to live Manhattan.  What surprises me is that some people are willing to live in extremely small apartments, known as mini-apartments.  I found a few Youtube video clips on mini apartments.

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