Taxi of Tomorrow gets a taste of today with a parking ticket

Heh. Spotted this evening on East 12th Street between Broadway and Fourth Avenue by @mitski Welcome to NYC, Taxi of Tomorrow!

Smell like gentrified railroad tracks

You may have seen this over at Racked yesterday... worth calling attention to....



For only $145 ($220 for 100ml), you can buy Bond No. 9's new High Line fragrance.

Per the Post today:

"This is a real, local, New York railroad-track fragrance," Rahme said. "Eighty percent of the notes come from plants and flowers that grow on the High Line."

But as much as New Yorkers may love grazing weeds, purple love grass and oak, many had doubts about wearing them.

"Gee, I hope it's not based on some of the dog poo that lies around here a lot of the time," said Gretta Baker-Allen, 27.

An inspired Thomas Verlofski, 24, said, "Maybe I'll design an after-shave based on the smell of the public toilets in Penn Station. I'm sure that would be a best-seller."

Will New York City gets its very own Whopper Bar?

Oh, probably. From the Post today:

The restuarant chain is set to open a Whopper Bar, offering hamburgers and beer, in the South Beach section of Miami in mid-February. USA Today reported Friday that more Whopper Bars could be coming to hot spots such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, according to Chuck Fallon, president of Burger King North America.

At the Whopper Bar, beer will be served in aluminum bottles to keep them cold [an EV Grieve intrusion: how novel!] and cost $4.25. A Whopper combo with a beer costs $7.99, roughly $2 more than the same combo meal with a fountain drink.

The Whopper Bar concept offers hamburgers such as the Whopper, Double Whopper or Steakhouse XT built by employees known as a Whopper-ista.... There are 22 different toppings to choose from to build your sandwich.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street...

Superdive: "Should be condemned"

An Eater operative attended a private party at Superdive. And? As Eater reported:

"The place is dingy as all hell. First thought upon entry: how to leave. One of the great con-job sell-jobs of our time." Phrases also used to describe it: "disgusting" and "should be condemned."

Eater included a link to photos from the event too.

Meanwhile: 22 comments and counting on yesterday's Superdive post.

Get it by the ounce: New FroYo joint now open for business on St. Mark's

In lieu of sarcastic comment, please scream. At the location of the former Spots Cafe. I now miss the dog.

(Oops...didn't see that Grub Street posted the news a little bit earlier today...)

That joke isn't funny anymore: Duane Reade opens at location of former OTB parlor on John Street

Last May, I wrote about my favorite OTB parlor at 17 John St. in the Financial District getting closed by the state...



... THE NIGHT BEFORE THE KENTUCKY DERBY, only the biggest racing day of the year.



Shall I even bother mentioning what just opened in that old OTB spot?



Seriously! There are now SIX Duane Reade stores within a three-or-so-block radius. (Not to mention a CVS.) And how about that new Duane Reade logo?

You know that grand art-deco Metro Theater at 99th and Broadway that has been closed for a few years?

Yeah, its recent long tortured history (condo! restuarant!) is over. It will now be home to an Urban Outfitters. (New York Post, second item). Finally, local residents won't have to travel so far for their Toddland diver down hoodies!

City Room had an item on the Metro (originally called the Midtown, for some reason) in 2007:

From the outside, the landmark Metro Theater on Broadway, an Art Deco jewel box between 99th and 100th Streets, looks almost as exquisite as it must have in the 1930s, when movies were still known as “photoplays,” though no photo has played there for two years.

But the inside, visible to passers-by on a recent afternoon, has been gutted. Gone are seats and plaster and curtains and screen. Gone is a golden ceiling molding with a chain of floral bouquets. Gone are the sylph-filled niches. Gone is grillework that sprouted like corn stalks.

Here's a little more on the theater's past on Tom Fletcher's New York Architecture

The Midtown, designed by the architecture firm of Boak & Paris, opened in 1933. From 1948 through April 1972, it was part of the Brandt circuit, featuring sub-run foreign and independent fare starting in the 1950s. It exhibited films such as Belle de Jour, Shame (and just about every other Bergman movie), Breathless, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Repulsion, L’Avventura, Straw Dogs, and Gimme Shelter, though never in exclusive engagements. After Brandt's management, it operated as an adult film venue.

It was renamed the Metro in 1982.

Noted

Just when you thought New York couldn't get any more exciting, now comes word that Josh Groban is looking to become a part-time Manhattanite.
The singer, accompanied by a very attractive young woman, was spotted touring a two-bedroom duplex penthouse at 155 Perry St. with a $3.85 million asking price.
Because of his dog, Groban was concerned with the spiral staircase leading to the private irrigated and landscaped roof deck, and discussed the possibility of adding rubber treads to the stairs.
Other features of the unit include a dining room, an open kitchen with a wine refrigerator, a woodburning fireplace, river views and 10-foot ceilings. (New York Post)

This week's sign of the apocalypse

Gene Simmons rang the Opening Bell at the NYSE yesterday. This after the clown did the honors last Friday. Oh, and the Dow dropped 427 points yesterday. Can't wait to watch Family Jewels! (Dealbreaker)

I'm so wearing this to Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar

There's now a company selling the New York Cheesecake Head for Jets fans. (Or someone who really likes cheesecake.) As a response to the Green Bay Packer Cheeseheads, I suppose.




[Via SimononSports]

Shit that you can't make up: Mental hospital edition

Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Charlie Parker, Sid Vicious and Edie Sedgwick have been among the many who have had a mental vacation at Bellevue. It's more than a nuthouse, of course: It's the oldest public hospital in the United States. Oh, well, now the original Bellevue building at First Avenue and 30th Street might become a fucking hotel. (New York magazine)

Clown rings opening bell yesterday; Post suitably outraged

The Post even devoted an editorial to the subject.

Meanwhile, there's other important, non-election-related news

Such as the city's alleged growing naked sushi model market. First, yes, I'm a little late on this story. No matter, though: Given these depressed economic times, nothing says thrifty, hand-to-mouth living more than attending a party with naked sushi models! As the NYCBP blog noted last Wednesday: "Why else live in New York, if you can't order food and eat it off a woman (or man) lying half naked on a table in front of you?"

Indeed!

NYCBP was also kind enough to publish some photos from Sushi-Models.com. (And they included some hilarious captions, such as "Just another Craigslist success story, right on the table" and "Dude, this is so much better than Applebee's!"






Related:
Confessions of a Naked Sushi Model (Vanity Fair)