Watch out deal seekers-it’s Amazon Prime Day, a day offering Prime members on Amazon.com exclusive deals.
With deals on everything from electronics and computers to sports and outdoors equipment, and everything in between, Downtown scoured the website finding the top 5 most ridiculous items you most definitely don’t need- but will probably buy anyways because, well, it’s on sale.
You have to say “Lifesmart Infra Color Ultimate Sauna with Multi Remote Control Chromo Therapy and Dual Tech Heating System” when showing this off during your apartment tour at dinner parties.
One man is attempting to break the record time it takes to race around Long Island and Manhattan in a speedboat.
To raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis, National Powerboat Champion, Stuart Hayim will attempt to race around Long Island and Manhattan in record time.
Not a boating novice, Hayim is a four time World Champion and three time US National Title holder. He will be challenging his own “Around Long Island Off-Shore Powerboat Speed Record” that he set back in 2012 when he raced around the two islands in a speedy two hours and eleven-minutes. The National Powerboat Association recorded the time and Hayim raised $121,000.
Expecting to reach speeds over 150 mph, Hayim will be racing in a 51” MTI with twin Mercury 1650 race engines.
Hayim’s goal this time around is to raise $250,000 for the Boomer Esiason Foundation.Boomer Esiason, a retired quarterback, started the Boomer Esiason Foundation after his son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.
According to the foundation’s website, the Boomer Esiason Foundation “is a dynamic partnership of leaders in the medical and business communities joining with a committed core of volunteers to heighten awareness, education, and quality of life for those affected by cystic fibrosis, while providing financial support to research aimed at finding a cure.”
Esiason will be waiting for Hayim at the finish line.
Hayim himself is no stranger to charities. He is also a cancer survivor, beating lymphoma. His lifelong dream has been to use offshore powerboat racing as an avenue to give back to hospitals and other charities close to his heart. As a defending champion, Hayim has won 67 out of the 80 races and donated every dollar of his prize money to the Monti Foundation at North Shore Hospital on Long Island.
On July 21, 2015, the boat takes off at 8:00 a.m. and is expected to return before 10:30 a.m. Hayim is departing and returning to the North Cove Marina in Manhattan.
The race is set to be streamed live on mobile and online where supporters can tune in to watch the race in action or listen in to WFAN for live updates. Login here to donate or find out more information about this race.
Downtown New York City is set to host a ticker-tape parade this Friday, July 10 to celebrate the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team for their 2015 World Cup championship win.
All fans are invited to celebrate along the parade route which will be the Canyon of Heroes, along Broadway from the Battery to City Hall.
The route is set to begin at 11 a.m. and the parade will be followed with a ceremony hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio in City Hall.
Seating is limited for the ceremony so make sure to reserve your tickets here.
The parade will honor the USA women’s team following their historic run at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup that culminated with a 5-2 victory against Japan on July 5th to give the team its third title, and become the only nation to achieve that feat.
This celebration is especially rare as it is the first time in more than half a century that the honor will be bestowed upon female athletes.
If you can not attend the parade NBC 4 New York will be live streaming on air and online.
There are a few things every Downtowner knows- always look good and always have your phone charged. Triple C combines both of those concepts with their line of tech accessories.
One of Triple C’s featured products and Downtown Magazine’s favorite is the Power Wallet.
For those who are constantly on the go, this wallet includes a hidden Apple-certified lightning adapter built in; allowing you to charge your phone inside your wallet.
With a LED light inside the wallet that indicates the power level, you are able to easily see how much longer the wallet is available to charge.
Not only is this wallet functional, with 6 side slots, a cash pocket, and a zippered coin pocket, it is also fashionable.
Available in 7 different colors or patterns ranging from gold to cheetah print- you can grab one for every occasion.
Photo: Courtesy of Triple C Designs
The wallet is compatible with iPhone 6 Plus/6/5S/5/5C as well as all micro-USB smartphones.
The charge level varies depending on the device.
The Power Wallet is not the only accessory Triple C offers that is catching our eye. Along with cases and stands, they also carry varieties of portable chargers in a wide range of fun patterns- as well as portable speakers and amplifiers for those impromptu dance parties in the city.
Triple C Designs are available at such stores as Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor. They also have partnerships with numerous brands, including; J. Crew, Kate Spade, Pottery Barn, Abercrombie, and BCBG.
Marked by a simple pencil sign over the door, Caroline Weaver’s store is an oddity in a city known for its, well, oddities.
What makes C.W Pencil Enterprise, so unique? It exclusively sells pencils and pencil accessories.
“I’ve asked around and I’ve asked the other pencil people I know and as far as I know there isn’t a single shop in the entire world that sells only wood case pencils. I think this is the only one,” said Weaver. “It’s really weird to be like, the only person doing it- who knew that was possible in todays world?”
Walking into Weaver’s store makes one wonder how something like that could be profitable in today’s world of text messaging, emails, and social media.
Neatly organized pencils decorate the shelves; a wide array of colors adding life to the small store (except for purple, Weaver only has one vintage purple pencil- nobody makes purple pencils, she said).
A white desk full of freshly sharpened pencils sits in the corner for patrons to test out the tools and find the perfect pencil for their needs, even the most outlandish of needs.
Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall
“I had somebody ask me once ‘which pencils are most conductive?’ like electrically,” Weaver said.
Weaver herself is a store fixture worth noting- with her pencil mug, pencil stickers and pencil tattoo that takes her entire forearm- she is as interesting as her store.
Weaver admits she has a unique interest in pencils, but she isn’t the only one.
“I forget sometimes that I live in a really bizarre universe. Yeah, there are a lot of pencil people. There’s like this huge online community of people who are like obsessed with pencils,” she said.
Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall
In her world of pencil people, Weaver and her shop reign supreme.
“I like to think maybe I am like the pencil queen, I don’t know. I forget how wide of a reach things like social media and just media in general have in this day and age. I am just always astounded at the number of people who know about this place and who know about me. Almost everybody who comes into this shop already knows who I am, they always want to see the pencil tattoo on my arm,” said Weaver.
Her customers, and fellow “pencil people” are what Weaver considers the best part of her job.
“I have the best customers. I am so lucky I run such a niche shop that it attracts just the nicest most excited people,” she said. “I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it. People see pictures of this shop on Instagram or somewhere and they see a pencil and they’re like ‘oh my God that’s the pencil I used when I was in kindergarten’ and they are really excited about things like that. I feel like coming here is almost like reliving back to school shopping, which is something that every kid looks forward to. I think because of that my customers are always really happy, they are always really nice, they are always just like really excited because it’s something so simple but it’s something that means something different to everybody.”
With her sweet disposition, its hard to imagine anyone being unhappy around her- just don’t tell her that people think the pencil is obsolete.
“All I have to say is that they are not using the right pencil. That’s really it,” she said. “I think people kind of just forget how nice it is to write with a good pencil that’s really sharp and I kind of equate hand writing to reading. You know like when you haven’t read a book for a long time you kind of forget how great that sensation is, how wonderful it is. It’s just when you get out of the habit of doing something you forget how nice it can be but then the minute you pick up a book and you start reading it you realize this is really great and then it becomes a habit again. I feel like writing like by hand is sort of the same thing.”
Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall
Weaver says that pencils have been her first love since an early age- the result of her mother bringing home a gift from Italy of beautiful colored pencils. Pencils that to this day Weaver still cherishes.
Her love of pencils as a child carried with her through college.
“People would always ask ‘Oh what are you going to do when you graduate?’ and I always had my practical answer then I had my ‘if I could do anything in the whole world’ answer and that was always to open a pencil shop.”
Her brick- and mortar store opened just 4 months after Weaver started her online shop, She says she still can’t believe her dream is a reality.
“I still come to work everyday and don’t really realize that this is mine,” she said. “It feels like it’s just a place I go to work. And I’m really happy working here but I don’t really believe that this is my shop and I made it and that it’s entirely mine.”
The biggest challenge Weaver faces with her store she notes, keeping track of the pencils.
Independence Day is synonymous with one of Downtown’s favorite F-words: food.
Want to make your Fourth of July barbecue a success? Downtown Magazine has selected our favorite red, white and blue themed recipes from celebrity chef and author Claire Thomas of The Kitchy Kitchen to keep celebrating like it’s 1776.
