The World Of The Great Gatsby: Long Island’s Gold Coast

by Jessica Marati on

The official trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s new film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” was released this week, inciting nostalgia across the Internet for the passion, parties and Prohibition-fueled recklessness of 1920s-era New York City. The film doesn’t come out until Christmas but if you’re hankering for a preview, try visiting Long Island‘s Gold Coast, where F. Scott Fitzgerald lived, wrote and based his famous novel.

Geographically located on the North Shore of Long Island, the Gold Coast’s grand mansions and landscaped gardens beckon visitors to explore the lives of the magnates and tycoons that called them home. Former inhabitants include familiar names like the Vanderbilts, Roosevelts, Whitneys and Pratts, and nearly all of the estates are open to the public throughout the summer.

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One Gold Coast must-see is Old Westbury Gardens, a traditional English manor home that you’ll recognize from films like “The Age of Innocence” and “Cruel Intentions.” Built in 1906, the estate was once inhabited by financier John S. Phipps, who outfitted it with lavish furnishings and artwork. Guests are welcome to tour the home’s interior or stroll around the estate’s rose gardens, walled gardens and pond.

The Gold Coast’s residents weren’t all as traditional as the Phipps. A trip to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum reveals the eclectic nature of former inhabitant William K. Vanderbilt II. The 43-acre complex includes a marine museum, seaplane hangar, natural history habitats and a wide array of quirky ethnographic objects. The on-site planetarium is currently under construction, but it is expected to be one of the most advanced in the country once it is completed.

And if you’re a true literature geek, you can’t miss the Hempstead House or Falaise Mansion in Sands Point, a part of Long Island that Fitzgerald referred to as the “East Egg” in “The Great Gatsby.” Both homes are surrounded by wildlife, nature trails and picturesque spots that are perfect for setting out a picnic blanket and giving the classic novel a re-read.

Airports To Implement Virtual Avatars To Help Tourists

by Jessica Festa on




Virtual reality is becoming part of real life, as three New York-area airports adopt virtual avatars into their customer service program. The avatars are part of an expansive plan to enhance customer travel experience by the Port Authority. Starting in early July, JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia will be the first airports in North America to implement the virtual avatar assistants. These hologram-like workers will provide automated, basic information, like directions to airport gates, shopping advertisements and security checkpoint notifications. And to make them look like real staff, they will wear the signature red coats of the live customer service agents.

“The Port Authority’s three major airports – JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia – are gateways to the world, serving over a hundred million fliers annually,” said David Samson, Port Authority Chairman. “Ensuring the satisfaction of these customers is a foremost priority, and these initiatives move us closer to achieving that objective.”

These basic avatars are just the beginning, as future plans include having interactive virtual agents that can answer questions.

For a better idea of the technology, check out the video above.

New York Celebrates Gay Pride With Two Months Of LGBT Events

by Jessica Festa on

It’s been almost a year since the passage of same-sex marriage in New York, and to help celebrate, the city is working with NYC & Company to bring two months of pride-related events. During June and July, 2012, the five boroughs will be presenting programming revolving around the flagship Heritage of Pride festival from June 16-24 in Manhattan, with motivational speakers, dancers, civil rights demonstrations, parades, street fairs and more. Some events include:

Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival– On June 3 in Jackson Heights, there will be a parade starting at noon, making its way down 37th from 84th. There will be special guests, including the cast of Wicked and a festival at 11:00 a.m. at 75th Avenue and 37th Road.

The Rally– On June 13 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., well known performers and speakers from the LGBT community will come together at the East River Bandshell to entertain and enlighten.

The March– On June 24 at noon, a civil rights demonstration celebrating gay rights and recognizing causes will begin at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bronx Pride Festival– Taking place July 21 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Crotona Park, will offer entertainment, a health fair and memorabilia.

To see a full listing of events for NYC Pride 2012, click here.

[Flickr photo via Guillaume Paumier]

Flying To Mars From New York City

by Sean McLachlan on


The first astronauts are landing on Mars this week. . .at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

Installation artist Tom Sachs is running his “SPACE PROGRAM: MARS,” a four-week spaceflight involving a crew of actors and elaborate sets made from common materials bought in a hardware store. The sets cover every detail of the mission including getting into space suits, provisions of food and launching Mars rovers.

There will be several liftoffs so visitors don’t miss one of the most popular parts of any space mission.

As this preview clip shows, Tom Sachs isn’t about to put NASA out of business. I kind of like the hokeyness of the whole thing, though. It gives the exhibition a childlike feel that brings back all those fond ’80s memories of watching the Space Shuttle missions. Tom Sachs has tapped into the fact that we all got inspired by space when we were kids, and many of us still look to the stars and planets with a childlike sense of wonder.

Tom Sachs’ “SPACE PROGRAM: MARS” runs from May 16 to June 17.

Museum Month: The Tenement Museum In New York’s Lower East Side

by Jessica Marati on

Often, the sights that are just around the corner are the ones that you somehow never get around to exploring. You say that you’ll go one day, but there’s never a real rush. You tell yourself that it will always be there.

For me, that sight is the Tenement Museum, located in the heart of New York City‘s Lower East Side, a block and a half from the apartment I’ve called home for the past three years.

The Tenement Museum celebrates New York’s immigrants by exploring the history of a single tenement building at 97 Orchard Street, built in 1863. From the outside, the museum doesn’t look too different from the other apartment buildings on the block, including my own. But inside lies a rich tapestry of stories tracking the major immigration waves of the 19th- and 20th- centuries, starting with the Germans and followed by Eastern European Jews and Italians.

There are three ways to experience the Tenement Museum: by exploring the carefully restored apartments at 97 Orchard; by taking walking tours of the neighborhood; or by attending a “meet the residents” session, which allows guests to interact with costumed interpreters depicting people who once lived in the building.

On a recent Sunday, I opted for a building tour that was focused on the experience of sweatshop workers. At one time, the Lower East Side was the center of the American garment industry, particularly in the 1860s when the neighborhood was bustling with workers churning out Civil War military uniforms. Most work was completed in small home-based garment workshops, in cramped and often overheated quarters.

The tour started with a visit to the garment workshop of Harris Levine, a Russian tailor whose 1900 census data provided the basis for the space’s recreation. The guide explained how workers would work an average of 70 hours per week, crammed into tiny quarters along with the boss’s wife and children.

Once garment factories were introduced at the turn of the century, units at 97 Orchard became slightly more spacious and tailored for family living. A visit to the Rogarshevsky apartment, which was inhabited in the 1910s and 1920s, provided a look at the changing nature of the neighborhood as immigrants started to assimilate and economic conditions started to improve.

The building was condemned in 1935, which is where the museum’s focus ends. But stepping out into the traffic and construction of Allen Street, it was evident that life in today’s Lower East Side isn’t too different from the world depicted inside the Tenement Museum. It is still a neighborhood of immigrants, crammed together in tiny apartments, working like maniacs to survive… just today with higher rents and more espresso bars.

[Images via Tenement Museum]