According to the official announcement on MLB.com, “No more than 60,000 fans will be allowed to attend the event, which Bloomberg said he hoped would be the largest concert in the history of Central Park’s Great Lawn.”

Concert goers must have a ticket to attend the event. Tickets will be distributed starting at 9AM on July 2nd at four locations throughout the city. This is going to be a super hot ticket so you might as well start camping out now if you want to pick some up.

Ticket Distribution Outlets

• Bronx:
  Yankee Stadium
  E 161st St. & River Ave., Bronx, NY 10451
• Queens:
  Shea Stadium
  12301 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing, NY 11368
• Staten Island:
  Home of the Staten Island Yankees
  75 Richmond Ter., Staten Island, NY 10301
• Brooklyn:
  KeySpan Park
  1904 Surf Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11224

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1. The Brooklyn Anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge;
2. Between Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn Heights;
3. Lower Manhattan at Pier 35 (north of Manhattan Bridge);
4. The North Shore of Governors Island.

The falls will be on display from June 26th to October 13th, 2008. You can get a good view of the spectacle by taking either the Staten Island or Governors Island ferries. Both ferries are free so the experience will be light on the pocket book.

The project was designed by Olafur Eliasson and is being financed by the Public Art Fund. More information and photos are available at http://nycwaterfalls.org and via the press release.

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I liked the post about the Brooklyn Bridge trip. It also made me think of a question to you. Is it possible to make a walking trip, crossing Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, walk up to Manhattan Bridge (my map shows it’s only a few blocks) and come back to the Manhattan borough using Manhattan Bridge.

You can most definitely do this. In fact, when you are walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn you see a sign for the Manhattan Bridge walking path as well. Based on the map below I estimate the distance of the trip to be about 2.5 miles, assuming your starting point is at City Hall in Manhattan.

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In other news. I will be out and about in the city this weekend with video camera in hand. I hope to capture a couple of short videos to share with you here really soon.

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To try and keep down the cost, we are considering staying outside of the main island and traveling in and I wondered what your thoughts of this are? Is it worth it to save decent money or should we just bite he bullet and make the most of our few days?

It really depends on what deals you are able to find within a decent proximity to the city. Some people stay over in Secaucus, NJ which is about fifteen minutes by bus to Manhattan with a little traffic. To the north of the city there is a Residence Inn by Marriott in White Plains that offers rooms with kitchens and is a couple of minutes walk from the Metro-North train into Grand Central Station. The ride is about thirty to forty minutes.

There are some other options in Queens as well if you stay at a hotel near La Guardia airport. The ambiance isn’t that great though and public transport from there is limited. The Best Western City View hotel in Long Island City might be a good option as well. It is close to Manhattan and is about half a mile from the Number 7 train into Manhattan. Take a look at Jersey City hotels as well. There is convenient access to lower Manhattan from there via the PATH train system.

I would advise that you shop around and see if the prices you find are considerably less that the deals available in Manhattan hotels. I would compare the outlying hotels with ones in Manhattan that are outside of the Midtown hot zone, especially avoiding from Times Square up to Central Park. Once you have a comparison that includes the lesser price hotels in Manhattan you can start to figure out if the travel time and cost will be worth it.

In general, I’d recommend staying someplace where you can catch a train into town, rather than relying on the buses. Bus service to outer areas can take a long time if there is traffic and might not run as frequently as the Metro-North or New York City subway trains.

We will also catch the start of the US Open Tennis and again wondered if you had any particular tips for getting tickets/visiting to see the stars in action.

The U.S. Open is a great sporting event. I’ve attended several times and always enjoy it. I believe that tickets for the event go on sale in May or June. You can typically buy them online via Ticketmaster. You can set up an alert on the Ticketmaster site to remind you of the on sale date. My advice is to know the date when tickets go on sale and be online and ready to buy at the time when the tickets go on sale. They do go fast! I remember that they have special early on-sale dates for American Express credit card holders. So keep an eye out for that if you happen to have one of those cards.

If you want to be able to relax and mingle with the players I recommend going for a day session early in the tournament. There are a lot of matches going on at that time. There are certainly a lot more players around. And during the day it’s easier to recognize the different tennis pros and personalities walking the grounds there.

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In another recent episode Frank gives you a glimpse of his ride on a subway train.

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View The Video

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

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I’ve seen many great shows at The Garden including, Billy Joel, Billy Joel & Elton John, The Who (giving away my age here) U2, and now The Police. Here’s a clip from the show last night. If you come to New York City I definitely recommend seeing a music show at MSG if at all possible.

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I’m announcing via the blog, and soon via the podcasts, that I’m going to let The New York Minute Show go dormant while I focus on another project. The site will stay as is. I will still moderate comments and leave all files and feeds available as usual. There just won’t be any new content.

The good news is that the mission continues. I’ve decided to heed the same advice that I give to many others and focus. Lucky for you the focus will continue to be on New York City.

My mission is a simple one. Transfer my knowledge and passion for the city over to you. The new destination I’ve been working on is over at http://www.newyorkismykindoftown.com. I’m not finished with the branding yet but the guts of the site is in place. Please have a look and let me know if you find it useful.

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This is a view of the Hudson River and New Jersey from the 40th floor of the Hearst Tower at 57th Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. You can see the outside of the building during my recent Midtown Walk video podcast.

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Video from the Blubrry Jam To Fight Cystic Fibrosis. This was a musical concert event held at the Canal Room on April 7th. Featured performers were HER & Kings County and Brother Love.

Comedy podcasters Keith and the Girl emceed the event. Jerry Cahill of the Cystic Fibrosis podcast thanked the crowd for their support. A good time was definitely had by all.

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We’re bringing together podcasting, a New York Charity and a New York musician for a great cause. Blubrry, Brother Love and The Boomer Esiason Foundation are teaming up to raise money to benefit the Exercise For Life Scholarship fund.

The campaign, running from March 15th to May 15th is called The Blubrry Jam To Fight Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis is a debilitating lung disease that ultimately proves fatal, cutting the life span of those afflicted to 37 years. This campaign is raising funds to help provide financial support for young people living with this disease.

You can support us by making a donation online via PayPal or by attending our musical benefit event in New York City on April 7th. The live event will be a great show and features Brother Love performing in his usual awesome style and playing songs from his new CD. Every paying entrant to the event gets a free CD.

You can find out more, make a donation and buy tickets to the live show at www.blubrryjam.com.

Thanks in advance for supporting this very worthy cause.

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Costs for just about everything including food, housing and transportation are high. Taxes are high too. At 8.625% the sales tax in New York City is probably higher than anywhere in the country.

A new report confirms that taxes in New York City are higher than anywhere in the United States. The New York Post wrote an editorial on the topic yesterday. The news is not good.

According to their editiorial, “New York state and city taxes consumed $9.02 of every $100 earned during the 2003-2004 tax year - far above the big-city average of $6.16. “No other city even comes close” to New York, the report concludes.” Ugh!

The upside, if there can be one, is the fact that the city provides many services as a result of these tax dollars. The Parks Department alone spends a considerable amount maintaining our many city parks including Central Park. Tax money also goes to paying for our many Public Schools and Libraries around the city.

In a city like New York the taxes need to be high in order to support the massive services required by over 8 million residents.

Should you avoid moving to New York City due to the high taxes? I say no. Instead you should plan ahead. Learn about budgeting for personal finance. Create a budget and include taxes as one of your major expenses. This will help make your plans realistic and increase the chances that your experience in the city will meet your expectations.

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http://www.onnyturf.com/subway/

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I just love watching the lights flick off at midnight. That’s the New York geek in me I guess. I’m also a big fan of Christmas lights. We made sure to walk our neighborhood often during this Christmas season so my daughter could check out the lights.

The picture above shows the Empire State Building from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River during one of our walks. Click the image to see more photos taken by my wife on that night. Frankly, the Christmas lights in my old neighborhood in Queens put the folks in my new neighborhood to shame ;).

Technorati Tags: New York, New York City, NYC, Empire State Building, Lights, Christmas Lights, Travel, Photo

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Lots of diggs are a great way to help raise the profile of this site. So I would appreciate it if you could take five minutes of your time to Digg The New York Minute Show.

I have no doubt that Santa will take note of this kindness and reward you accordingly

Technorati Tags: New York, Digg, Podcast

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There are many challenges in dealing with a growing metropolis. The top three in the list that the city planners came up with should come of little surprise to anyone familiar with big city life:

1. The city will get BIGGER (as in a lot more people).
2. The infrastructure (the rails, the roads, the bridges) will get much OLDER.
3. The (already strained) environment will be AT RISK.

Kudos to the Mayor and the planning team for getting started on this effort. Unfortunately, identifying the problems is a lot easier than being able to take successful action to avert a crisis. So there’s a lot of hard work ahead. But lord knows that if any city can rise to a challenge than New York surely can. It’s all about the people.

The city has launched and official PLANYC2030 site to provide information and keep interested parties abreast of the situation.

Technorati Tags: New York, New York City, NYC, Plan 2030

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So for a while I actually had two audio channels in iTunes. Something like this is definitely not good for subscribership. Luckily the folks at the iTunes podcast directory were able to help me and get the video channel restored. This link will take you there.

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We got better news on the bus and subway front this week. Planned fare hikes have been put on hold until 2008. So it seems like a smart move to skip the cab fares and pick up a MetroCard.

Technorati Tags: New York, New York City, NYC, Travel, Subway, Taxi

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According to the official museum website, “Unfortunately, the huge amount of silt that has accumulated underneath and around Intrepid over the past 24 years prevented the ship from being successfully removed.”

So although the Intrepid may be docked on the west side it is not open for business. The Intrepid is expected to return to duty in the Fall of 2008.

That’s a long time. I hope that they can get the museum back in business on schedule.

Technorati Tags: New York City, New York, NYC, Travel, USS Intrepid, Museum

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According to the official Bryant Park website, “The 170′ x 100′ rink features free admission ice skating, in addition to high quality rental skates, skating lessons, skating shows, special events and activities.”

As I walked by I was tempted to rent some skates and hit the rink. Skate rentals will cost you $8.75 per pair. Bring a lock to use the free lockers if you have some things you don’t want to skate around with. The rink will be open until January 15, 2007.

More details on the official website here.

Technorati Tags: New York City, NYC, Travel, Bryant Park, Park, Ice Skating, Free

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According to the report, “Parks spokesman Ashe Reardon conceded that only a handful of “hot spots” in Central Park currently work. Wi-Fi Salon, the company awarded the contract two years ago to take the parks wireless, claims Battery Park also is online.”

One place where I know the wireless works is in Bryant Park.

This is very disappointing news and goes hand in hand with some classicly botched city projects like the Wollman Rink renovation. In that case Donald Trump saved the day after years of cost overruns and many delays.

Hopefully the city can turn this one around as a I hate to see New York lag behind in availability of WiFi compared to other major cities.

Technorati Tags: New York City, New York, NYC, Wireless, Wifi, Parks, Bryant Park

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Direct Link

Technorati Tags: New York, New York City, NYC, Italian, Bronx, Mozzarella, Food, Off The Broiler

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The site also includes some other maps created by intrepid New Yorkers, including the Eating Clinton Hill map.

The service has added a number of feature upgrades and now has a redesigned front page. Consider heading over there to find more New York City resources or maybe even create a map to help plan your trip to the city.

Technorati Tags: New York City, New York, NYC, Map, CommunityWalk, Travel, Planning, Resource

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Why not splurge for a weekend around town so you can use the knowledge you’ve gained from The New York Minute Show?

Here are some sample low airfares that I found on Orbitz for flights to all three NYC area airports from select U.S. cities with an arrival date of November 2nd and a departure date of November 5th. Flights are non-stop.

• Los Angeles (LAX) - $325 on American Airlines (JFK), $325 on Continental (Newark)
• Chicago (Midway/O Hare) - $152 on Continental (Newark) and AirTran (Newark), $153 on United (LaGuardia and Newark) and American (JFK)
• Dallas (DFW) - $274 on Continental (Newark), $249 on American Airlines (LaGuardia)

Jet Blue doesn’t show up on Orbitz so check their website for some good discounted fares as well.

Another important tip. If you use the airport code ‘NYC’ on travel search engines you will get results for all three New York area airports.

• Newark (EWR)
• LaGuardia (LGA)
• Kennedy (JFK)

See you soon!

Technorati Tags: NYC, New York, New York City, Travel, Air, Airfare

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Tuesday, Oct. 17, 8:00 p.m.
R & R, 416 W. 14th Street bet. 9th Ave. and Washington
212.675.1661, $8, 21+
http://www.rare-nyc.com

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Get a taste of Jason and Co. on my Flow: Music…Liberated! video podcast.

Technorati Tags: New York City, NYC, Music, Blues, Funk, Live Music

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According to their story, “Subway crime is down 18.6% at this point compared with last year, thanks to a combination of surveillance cameras, undercover cops and sting operations at a time when ridership is at about 5 million a day, officials say.”

This is good news especially since the MTA is considering making people wait longer on the platforms for trains. It’s also nice to hear that the city is using some high tech tools to keep people safe even when there are no police around.

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So I read a story in the New York Post yesterday indicating that the last show will be Oct. 15th 2006 with poetic rock legend Patti Smith headlining the event. There’s no definitive word on when or where the club will resurface again, but Las Vegas (not kidding) is a possibility.

The closing will also affect CBGB gallery located right next door to the legendary club that hosted early performances by Blondie, The Talking Heads, The Police and about a thousand other bands.

If you want to get a taste of CBGB prior to the closing, check out the comedy special video I released back in March. It was shot on the stage at CBs gallery and you can hear the throbbing music from the club coming through the walls. Or check out the Bleecker St. soundseeing video where we end up across the street from CBGB at the corner of Bleecker St. and Bowery.

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Several outlets are reporting that The Metropolitan Transit Authority is thinking about cutting bus and subway schedules which will effectively increase wait times for buses and subways. The vote on this issue will occur in December.

This doesn’t make sense at a time when bus and subway ridership is at record levels. Then again, things don’t always make sense in a large and complex city like New York. Suffice it say that if I had a vote, it would be, “Nay!”

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The Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering a rate hike that would double the waiting fee from $0.20 to $0.40 per minute. So the less the cab moves, the more you pay.

Bloomberg News reports that this action would increase the average fare by $1 or 11%.

The news may not be all bad though. The commission is considering enacting a flat fare to JFK Airport from Manhattan. Traffic from Manhattan to JFK Airport is typically horrendous and the doubled waiting fee could drive the cost to get to JFK much higher if a flat fee is not imposed. Save yourself a few bucks in the meantime and take the Air Train which I mentioned in Show #58.

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I have my own story of Sept. 11th. The people I knew who were lost and the people I knew who were scarred by the trauma. To quote Bono, “There’s been a lot of talk. Maybe too much talk.” For now I’ll just say that I will not forget.

Hear My Song

Download audio file (RJ_Safuto-Hollywood_And_Superheroes.mp3)

Technorati Tags: New York City, NYC, WTC, World Trade Center, 9/11

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As requested by a subscriber to the show, here’s a link to set of photos from the snowstorm this past Sunday.

Flickr Photo Set

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Oh and if you haven’t done so, why not add yourself to the Frappr! Map over at http://www.frappr.com/newyorkminuteshow.

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