ExtendNY.com has taken something great about New York City and applied it to the entire planet. The Manhattan grid is well-known worldwide for it’s precise structure–so why not grid the whole world? ExtendNY.com has done just that. Visit the website and take a look. Drag the street and avenue signs around the globe and mark your sites (and location) as easily as you could in New York City. Unfortunately for all of us, the world and the cities within the world actually don’t work on an equally digestible grid (ever been to Austin, Texas?) and we couldn’t walk the blocks with as swift a stride as we could in New York. With that said, this website is a geographical toy. Play with it.
Video of the Day: Driving a NYC Subway
It’s always been a dream of mine to shadow a NYC subway conductor for a day. Sure, you could ride the subway all day, but imagine spending a shift with a subway conductor train operator and seeing the tunnels from that perspective. Well, this video might just be the closest we can get to that experience. Now, if only the subway actually moved that quickly…and never got stuck for 20 minutes stretches when I’m running late for a meeting.
Win SkyMall products at the NYC Southwest Porch
Always wanted some of the SkyMall products that we profile every week in SkyMall Monday? Would you like to win some of those products? This Thursday, November 17, SkyMall is holding an event at the Southwest Porch in New York’s Bryant Park. From 6pm to 8pm, representatives from our favorite catalog will be giving guests chances to win Garden Yetis, marshmallow shooters, the famous SkyRest Travel Pillow, SkyMall gift cards and Southwest Airlines tickets. Admission is free and you might even see me there checking out the scene. We’ve attended similar events and they’re always a good time.
Garden Yetis and marshmallow shooters need good homes. This is your chance to help out a SkyMall product in need. Also, the Southwest Porch has beer!
Statue of Liberty getting five webcams for 125th anniversary
This Friday, the Statue of Liberty turns 125 years old, and to celebrate she’s getting some new high-tech gear in the form of five webcams located inside her torch. Four of the cameras will point towards Ellis Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island and the Freedom Tower respectively, while the fifth will give viewers a unique look at the torch itself.
The new cameras will go live during a ceremony that will cap a week filled with special events commemorating the original dedication of Lady Liberty, which took place on October 29, 1886. The 151-foot tall statue was a gift to the United States from France in honor of the ten year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, the two nations became close allies, and the U.S. revolution would later inspire many in France to follow suit.
The new webcams will operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and offer a full panorama of the New York City harbor. They have been installed in the torch, well above the crown, and will provide views that haven’t been seen from the statue since 1916.
Friday’s ceremony is open to the public and will also include 125 candidates from 40 different countries, taking the oath of citizenship. Actress Sigourney Weaver will be on hand to read the “Mother of Exiles” poem, written by Emma Lazarus, which helped to make the statue so famous. It was Lazarus who penned the phrase “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Those hoping to attend the ceremony are encouraged to arrive early. Ferry service will be available between Manhattan and Liberty Island. For the rest of us, we’ll have to just wait until the webcams are switched on to take in the new view.
Medieval Islamic manuscripts on display at the Morgan, NYC
The Middle Ages produced some amazing works of art. Some of the best are the illuminated manuscripts from the Islamic world.
The above image, courtesy Graham S. Haber and the Morgan Library & Museum shows a woman relaxing after her bath. It was painted in Herat, Afghanistan. In many parts of the medieval Islamic world it was forbidden to create images of living things, but in other regions it was common.
The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City has an extensive collection of these works of art and now they’re on display in an exhibition called Treasures of Islamic Manuscript Painting from the Morgan. The earliest manuscript in the exhibition is a late-thirteenth century treatise on animals and their uses considered by some experts as one of the most important medieval Islamic manuscripts. There’s also a biography of the poet Rumi, several richly decorated Korans, and illustrations from the story of Majnun and Laila, the Islamic Romeo and Juliet.
There’s even a treatise on demonology, but sadly not a copy of the Necronomicon.
Treasures of Islamic Manuscript Painting from the Morgan runs from 21 October 2011 to 29 January 2012.