The product of communicating with subway patrons

by Grant Martin on

Fun fact: almost half of my good friends in my new home town of Chicago were randomly made on the subway. How did I meet them? By randomly striking up a conversation. I’m one of the few people on the planet that doesn’t think that it’s strange to communicate with people on the train, whether this is with a smile, some polite conversation or a shared laugh — as it turns out, there are a lot of interesting people out there. Perhaps that’s why I travel so much.

There’s an interesting youtube video making its way around the interwebs right now that well-illustrates my line of thought. A guy named Luke Rudkowski spent some time meeting and interviewing random passengers on the New York subway, and in the process pulled some pretty interesting stories and opinions out of everyday passengers. With so many commuters stacked so close to one another each day, it’s amazing that these stories don’t more often intersect.

Bronx Zoo cobra on the loose takes Manhattan…and Twitter

by Meg Nesterov on

On Friday, an adolescent Egyptian cobra escaped from New York’s Bronx Zoo.

The reptile house closed immediately after her escape, and zookeepers are saying she could take weeks to come out of hiding. While we can’t vouch for the authenticity of the snake taking Manhattan, you can follow her adventures on Twitter, where @bronxzooscobra has been chronicling the travels of the errant snake with over 25,000 followers and counting. So where does a young snakess on the town go?

She first mused over a Broadway show, then taunted followers with her location in front of “the original” Ray’s Pizza (good luck checking all 46 locations claiming to be the first). After taking in the other wildlife at American Museum of Natural His(s)tory, she went downtown for a workout at Equinox Gym and a slither atop the High Line park. The Bronx Zoo cobra then tweeted about getting tickets for Jimmy Fallon before spotting Tina Fey at Rockefeller Center and heading back downtown to Wall Street. Despite asking for a vegan restaurant near Union Square, she ended up way uptown at Tom’s Restaurant from Seinfeld, where she may have found a hiding spot for the night in an unsuspecting apartment. Where will she go today?

Any New York travel tips for the cobress? Have you spotted any snakes, tweeting or just taking in the sights? While she is just 20 inches long, she is venomous, so watch your ankles!

VIDEO: Take a stop-motion trip to 1983 New York City

by Meg Nesterov on

In just under six minutes, you can take a (mostly) stop-motion trip to 1983 New York City in this short film called “N.Y.C. (No York City)” by Rick Liss with music by Laurie Anderson. The video follows a dizzying path through Manhattan, past familiar landmarks like the World Trade Center, the subway, and Central Park (check out the roller skaters!). While the clothes and cars may seem dated, in many ways, it’s not much different than 2011 New York City, except with more mimes.

Seattle’s Safeco Field gets food concession with local ingredients, menus by award-winning chefs

by Laurel Miller on

Buh-bye, limp hot dogs in soggy buns. Baseball season starts April 1st, and Seattle’s Safeco Field–go, Mariners–is celebrating its first home game on the 8th with some serious food.
Centerplate, the leading hospitality provider to North America’s premier sports stadiums, has developed a partnership with award-winning Seattle chef Ethan Stowell, as well as chefs Roberto Santibañez, owner of Brooklyn’s Fonda/culinary director of Hoboken’s The Taco Truck, and Bill Pustari, chef-owner of New Haven’s Modern Apizza.

The revamped Bullpen Market at Safeco Field will feature fresh, local ingredients and easy-on-the-budget prices. In addition to an Apizza outlet, there is chef Stowell’s Hamburg + Frites, and La Crêperie, and Flying Turtle Cantina/Tortugas Voladoras from Santibañez.

Says John Sergi, Chief Design Officer of Centerplate, “Our mission was to create a restaurant-style experience–the anti-fast food–in a concession environment. We (brought in) Ethan as our consulting chef…in order to help us make the food ‘restaurant-real.’

Stowell is the executive chef and owner of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, which includes Tavolàta, Anchovies & Olives, and How to Cook a Wolf. He is the acting chef at eight-month-old Staple & Fancy Mercantile, in Seattle’s gorgeously revamped Kolstrand Building in the Ballard neighborhood.

Best-known for his use of local ingredients and simple, seasonal food, Stowell was named one of the 2008 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine and has been honored with multiple James Beard Award nominations for “Best Chef Northwest.” Santibañez and Pustari were added to the line-up to create programs featuring the signature concepts for which they are both nationally acclaimed–Mexican food and pizza. I might get into sports if this is the future of stadium food.

What are the top five cities for business travel?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Some cities are better for doing business than others, it seems. Of course, business travelers (well, professionals in general) all have their preferences. Having done my time in Omaha, Winnipeg and London (Ontario), I can tell you that some places are better than others. So, I was pretty excited to see think tank Z/Yen put out its Global Financial Centres Index (PDF), which shows the top five cities in the world in which to do business.

There aren’t many suprises at the top end of the list, which comes out twice a year. The rankings are determined using “five key areas of competitiveness,” according to Inside Investor Relations: people, business, environment, market access, infrastructure and general competitiveness.”

So, what are the top five?

%Gallery-115556%
1. London
2. New York
3. Hong Kong
4. Singapore
5. Shanghai

As you can see, 60 percent of the top of the heap are in Asia, which signifies a spike in recent years. Inside Investor Relations reports that there were only three Asian cities in the top 20 when the index was first published in March 2007. Now, there are not only three in the top five but eight in the top 20, while North America has only six and Europe five.

Interestingly, the study notes that the top three are effectively tied. Inside Investor Relations notes:

According to the study, however: ‘there remains no significant difference between London, New York and Hong Kong… respondents continue to believe that these centers work together for mutual benefit.’

The top financial center in the Middle East is Dubai, which comes in at 28th overall. It is two places above Qatar. Next are Bahrain at 49th and Riyadh at 70th, still way back in the distance.

[Photo by TJ Morris via Flickr]