How many New Yorkers does it take change a light bulb?

by Brett Atkinson on

Probably more than one if we’re talking about the the new energy efficient bulbs being installed on the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s estimated that the new bulbs will save a whopping 24 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Not to be outdone, the Rockerfeller Center Christmas tree this year will be illuminated with30,000 sparkling LEDs (that’s Light Emitting Diodes if you were away from school that day…).

This is all worhy stuff, but I hope it doesn’t lead to a general decline of glamourous lights in Gotham. Forget the great works of art and literarure. I seriously reckon that a zenith of our species’ time so far on this terrestrial rock is the Manhattan skyline after dark.

Overseas (bargain) shopping trips

by Jerry Guo on

Here’s a story from this week’s New York Times on the rising trend of Europeans flying to New York to bargain shop. What stands out here is not that these are posh socialites getting their fix on 5th Ave. We’re talking about average Joes (more like Janes, I suppose) who fly to the states specifically to take advantage of the depreciating dollar and holiday deals.

Several airlines are apparently offering promotions to encourage this kind of things. For instance, on Silverjet, a roundtrip, business-class ticket was marked at $2,000. Not a bad deal, but sounds like you’ll have to do a heck of a lot of shopping to recoup your startup costs.

Cafe-in-a-box

by Jerry Guo on

For all you lucky New Yorkers, from now until December 29th, make your way to the Time Warner Center, and you can sip a nice cup of espresso next to this cafe-in-a-box. It can transform itself in 90 seconds flat, and in other forms, can function as kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room, or library. I do wonder who’d want to read a book in basically what is a crate.

What’s interesting about this cafe is there’s a) a Mac sitting on the counter, apparently just there to look cool b) a toilet, which kinda undermines the aforementioned cool factor.

Bonnie and Clyde: Ivy League style

by Jerry Guo on

From the lovely people at the New York Post comes a holiday story of fraud and greed. A 20-something couple, one of whom went to UPenn, spent the past year jetsetting around the world, on everyone else’s dime. The press has labeled them the “21st century version of Bonnie and Clyde” for going horseback riding in Hawaii and Caribbean, drinking champagne in private hot tubs at posh resorts, and flying back and forth to New York, Paris, London, and Montreal.

What’s really creepy is that they had duplicate keys to 30 of their neighbors’ apartments. Yikes. I did, however, find it somewhat funny like some true Ivy Leaguers, they needed prep books to do anything: “The Art of Cheating: A Nasty Little Book for Tricky Little Schemers and Their Hapless Victims,” was found in their apartment, which coincidentally was paid for with stolen money.

Anyways, just another reminder this holiday season to be careful with your personal data and identity. Cheers!

New York subway nightmare

by Jerry Guo on

Over Thanksgiving, one persistent New Yorker lost her $76 30-day Metrocard (payment system for the New York City subway and buses). What did she do? She called the MTA for three days straight, waiting for 100-150 minutes each day just to speak to someone.

That’s a bummer, though I like to find the humor in any situation–one commentator suggested she help the Indian economy and outsource her calling. Apparently there’s a company that would do this for $4 an hour. Ingenuity on both behalf of both parties.

Anyways, I’ve decided not to rant about how much the MTA is like every single American DMV office.