Contest: Steven Slater and Toktumi want your crazy flight stories

by Tom Johansmeyer on


Who would have thought that Steven Slater could actually get another job? The disgraced former flight attendant has even picked up a gig in the travel industry, though he obviously isn’t pushing the beverage cart any more. Rather, the man who may have had close to two decades of flight attendant experience, depending on which of his claims you believe, has landed his first job as a spokesman.

Slater is the public face of Toktumi’s mobile communication app Line2. If you’re on a wifi-equipped plane, you can use Line2 to text while in flight. So, why Slater? Well, Toktumi’s latest contest involves in-flight insanity, so he as a natural fit. And, let’s be realistic – it’s not like he has much else to do. To enter the Mile High Text Club Contest, and see if you have a story that tops Slater’s, text your tale to 222-222-2222. Your contributions will appear on http://www.milehightextclub.com starting today. The deadline is December 3, 2010.

The winners will be decided by a panel of judges, one of which will be Slater. If you can win over the flight attendant who cracked under pressure, you may walk home with the grand prize: a weekend holiday shopping trip for two in New York City. Seven iPod Touch devices are available as second prizes, with 13 third-place winners receiving gift cards for six months of free Line2 service.

%Gallery-99568%”In order to spread the word that Line2 allows airline passengers to text from the sky, we hired one of the most famous guys in the airline business today, Steven Slater,” explains Peter Sisson, Founder and CEO of Toktumi. “After talking with Steven, I realized that despite his dramatic approach – which he regrets – he was making a statement about the need to return civility and common courtesy to flying.” It’s an interesting way to make that statement, I guess, given that Slater was far worse than the passengers he encounters. Sisson adds, “He’s a perfect judge for a contest concerning the current state of air travel.” He was a flight attendant for 20 years, and both his parents had long careers in the airline business.

Line2 has a laudable goal for the “Mile High Text Club” contest: the company wants to make in-flight texting the norm, to keep people from yelling into their phones … and ostensibly from creating another Steven Slater moment.

“Line2’s SMS texting is really useful while in flight,” Sisson says. “You can let people know about delays, make plans for the evening, or just pass the time texting with your friends and family while you fly.”

And, you can let them know when a grumpy flight attendant loses his mind, grabs two cold ones and pops the slide.

Met returns Tutankhamun artifacts to Egypt

by Sean McLachlan on


New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is returning 19 artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s tomb to Egypt. This is another success in Egypt’s ongoing battle to bring home its heritage. Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass is spearheading the drive and says he’s repatriated more than 5,000 artifacts. These include a fragment of Egyptian sculpture the Met discovered last year had actually been stolen, and other items from collections all over Europe and North America.

According to the Met’s press release, the artifacts made their way into the museum’s collection in the years following the tomb’s discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Carter and the Egyptian authorities had agreed that all of his finds were Egyptian property, and the objects should never have been allowed to be sold or bequeathed to the Met. After Carter’s death, his own home was found to be decorated with loot from the tomb. Most of the Met’s artifacts are fragments that were used as scientific samples, but the collection includes a bronze dog and a sphinx bracelet.

The objects will join the exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at Discovery Times Square Exposition before going on display at the Met for six months. After that, they’ll finally join King Tut’s other treasures in Cairo, like the scarab bracelet in the above photo.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

NYC Marathon: Five Lessons Learned

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The New York City marathon is a grand affair, with approximately 45,000 runners testing the limits of their minds and bodies across 26.2 grueling miles. The crowds, of course, dwarf the participants, turning the process of getting a look at the action into something of a sport itself. Everybody has a secret strategy, it seems, for getting a peek at the pained looks of determination that have come to characterize this event.

I attended my first NYC marathon last Sunday, probably the only person without a plan but with the help of a local pro who’s attended several times and even volunteered. What followed was certainly counter-intuitive but a valuable learning experience – and for once from success rather than failure. We landed right along the fence at mile 26 in Central Park, a prime viewing location. So, as you think about next year, here are five lessons that will be helpful to you in making the most of your non-running marathon experience.

%Gallery-107138%

1. Later is actually better: we didn’t get to the park until after 1 PM. Sure, I missed the battles for first place. Nonetheless, I witnessed the personal victories of runners who sought to complete the course, which is no small feat. The crowds lined up only a few hundred yards from the finish line (which requires a special pass) but rotated fairly regularly. So, be patient, and you’ll wind up with a front-row spot.

2. Make space for kids: it isn’t fun when you can’t see the race. Take some time to enjoy the spectacle, but keep in mind that other people want to do the same thing. For children especially, nothing compares to a place up front – they can’t see over adults. If there are kids behind you, make sure they get in front: you’ll be part of a truly memorable experience for them.

3. Have an exit plan: it isn’t easy to get in and out of Central Park on race day. Gates and fences control the flow of people and make room for runners and race officials. Keep track of where you can go. Otherwise, you’ll run into several dead ends before leaving. Needless to say, this can be frustrating.

4. Don’t make the runners do all the work: at times, the spectators were surprisingly quiet. The runners, however, waved their arms, cheered and smiled … even with 26 miles and five boroughs having passed under their feet. Help them out! After all, they’ve earned it.

5. Go to the southwest corner of Central Park: the runners enter the park for the home stretch at Columbus Circle. You can’t get right up to the road in the southwest corner of Central Park, which makes the spot less than ideal. Because of this, fewer people are there, making it easier to get an unobstructed line of sight on the action.

Setai Fifth Avenue opens in Midtown Manhattan

by Melanie Nayer on

Add another luxury hotel to the New York scene. In addition to everything that Fifth Avenue has to offer, The Setai Fifth Avenue, managed by Capella Hotels and Resorts, finally opened its doors this week.

Located in the heart of midtown Manhattan at 400 Fifth Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets, The Setai Fifth Avenue features 157 guest rooms, 57 suites and three penthouse suites. The building also includes a collection of condominium residences on the tower’s top floors.

The new hotel claims to have some of the most spacious rooms in Manhattan (the majority at 700 square feet or larger), in addition to a new restaurant from acclaimed chef Michael White, Ai Fiori; a Julien Farel Salon; an Auriga spa; and a new fixture at street level, the Bar on Fifth. A state-of-the-art fitness center, endless meeting space and around-the-clock services are available to guests.

While we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the rooms first hand, we know they are decorated with Duxiana beds, Pratesi linens, and custom-built desks. Baths are clad in stone and walnut veneer, with deep-soaking tubs by Zuma, rain showers, and televisions inset into the bathroom mirrors.

The ‘to-die-for’ element? The Auriga spa, which takes over the entire fourth floor and spans more than 11,500 square feet. The spa features eleven private treatment rooms, wet rooms, experiential showers, a vitality pool, sauna, steam room, and hammam.

The price for decadence? We did a quick check of room rates for this coming weekend and found a “Superior Room” for $595 a night; a “Premier Room” for $895 a night; and “Studio Suites” starting at $995 a night.

Ousted Coney Island businesses plan rally

by Leigh Caldwell on

Patrons of several longtime Coney Island businesses that were recently denied lease renewals are planning a rally at noon Saturday. The patrons are hoping to make Central Amusement International reconsider its plans to shut down some classic Coney Island businesses.

On Monday, CAI told 11 Coney Island boardwalk eateries, shops and concessions that their leases would not be renewed, and that they had 15 days to vacate.

The businesses that are closing include the 76-year-old Ruby’s Bar, a paintball attraction and a beer garden.

CAI told WNYC radio that it plans to invest millions of dollars to make Coney Island a year-round destination, with shopping, dining and entertainment. No official plans for the boardwalk redesign have been released, but CAI says it is seeking tenants who would open sit-down restaurants that could operate year-round.

The company opened the new Luna Park amusement park this year at Coney Island with 19 new rides and entertainment. A second CAI amusement park that features thill rides – called Scream Zone – is slated to open in 2011.

In September, the City of New York announced a record season for Coney island’s Amusement District, with more than 400,000 visitors this summer.

[Image credit: Flickr user edenpictures]