Author: Audrey DuVall

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Events Lifestyle Living

Where to Watch the 4th of July Fireworks Downtown

The Fourth of July is just around the corner and if you are not sneaking off to the Hamptons with the rest of Manhattan, you are probably watching the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Show.

Making its debut in 1976, Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular is a beloved annual tradition and the most celebrated July Fourth fireworks display in the country. Downtown Magazine has selected a few spots where you can get great views of the show.

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Photo: Courtesy of Watermark Bar

Freedom Fest 2015

Where: Watermark Bar Pier 15, Southstreet Seaport

What: This family friendly event allows you to enjoy views of Downtown Manhattan and the East River before the Macy’s fireworks display begins. The event is also serving up summer beverages and barbecue goodies to keep everyone in the family happy.

industry kitchen
Photo: Courtesy of Industry Kitchen

4th Of July at Industry Kitchen

Where: 70 South St.

What: This 5,000 square-foot venue accommodates up to 300 guests with indoor and outdoor seating. Floor-to-ceiling windows seamlessly separate the indoor and outdoor areas, framing the Macy’s fireworks display that can be enjoyed from any seat. Guests of this event have the ability to dine at individual and communal dining tables, the large freestanding bar or the outdoor terrace and lounge.

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Photo: Courtesy of Joonbug.com

Front Row Fireworks Celebration at the Helipad

Where: East 34 Street Heliport

What: This all-day event gives you exclusive access past the packed crowd and delivers a July Fourth celebration complete with live music, live performances, BBQ and other gourmet fare, multiple fully-stocked bars, and celebrity hosts. Topping the evening off is a full-scope view of the fireworks spectacle.

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Photo: Courtesy of Praytino

Zephyr 4th of July Cruise

Where: Departs from 89 South Street, Pier 16.

What: Take on a different perspective to see the fireworks and hit the water on  Zephyr cruise. Ticket includes hors d’oeuvres, a buffet dinner, dessert trays, soda, juice and water. A cash bar is also available. The cruise lasts approximately 3 and a half hours.

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Hornblower New York

Shipwrecked at the Seaport

Where: Docked at Pier 15 at the South Street Seaport

What: For those that really feel like celebrating like its 1776, can party aboard El Galeón – a 170-foot, 495-ton authentic wooden replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon. The El Galeón will host “Shipwrecked at the Seaport”
parties where visitors can enjoy quality grub, specialty drinks
including a Drunken Sailor Punch, and explore the vessel for possible
hidden booty and other fun surprises.  Spectators will also have a front row seat to Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. If you can’t make it on the 4th, don’t worry. The El Galeón will still host parties on 3 more additional nights: July 9th, 10th
and 11th.

-by Audrey DuVall

Categories
Business Lifestyle Living News

Tribeca Location of Fairway Market Set to Open

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Photo: Courtesy of Austen Squarepants

Foodies rejoice, Fairway Market is, in fact, coming to Tribeca.

In a transcript from the market’s fourth quarter 2015 earnings conference call, CEO Jack Murphy confirmed that the Tribeca store was a go.

Despite previous reports that Fairway Market wanted out of their lease, Murphy confirmed that the Tribeca’s store’s opening was only pushed back a year.

While Murphy said Fairway is still unsure of what this store will look like, he did give some hints on what it will be like.

“I don’t have any real idea of exactly how that store is going to look yet, but I can guarantee you that it will be probably different than other Fairways and we will take opportunity with the first floor and second floor to really do potentially some really interesting things,” he said.

Fairway Market describes itself as is a food retailer offering customers a differentiated one-stop shopping experience “Like No Other Market”.

Fairway has locations all over the greater New York City area, and is headquartered here in New York, New York.

-By Audrey DuVall

Categories
Culture Movies

Whitney Cummings to bring LOLs to NYC

Comedian, Whitney Cummings and women’s clothing store The LOFT have teamed up with Rooftop Films to launch the LOL Movie Series. The laugh-out-loud films, curated by Cummings herself, are coming to waterfront spots in New York City and Chicago.

Along with stand up comedy, Cummings is the creator of the popular TV shows 2 Broke Girls (CBS) and Whitney (NBC). The series focuses on some of Cummings favorite female driven comedies. The New York lineup includes:

Frances Ha (6/25)

Bridesmaids (6/30)

The free screenings take place at 23rd St. and FDR and begin at 8:30.

In addition to the films, the screening events kick off with music, food and drinks, and offer a chance to win a $500 LOFT Gift Card and tickets to see a local comedy show. LOVELOFT card members are given front row action. The screenings are free, but RSVPs are being taken.

Visit the LOFT website for reservations and more details.

 

by- Audrey DuVall

Categories
Culture Living

Historic Destinations: the Woolworth Building

 

Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall
Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall

Taking a step off busy Broadway into the opulent Woolworth Building is like stepping back in time to a different New York. A New York where telephones and automobiles were brand new, the Titanic had sunk only a year before, electric lit advertisements had just been placed on Times Square, and New York was the most prosperous city in the nation.

The building is the brainchild of Frank W. Woolworth, the chief executive of the F. W. Woolworth Company and owner of 318 five- and ten-cent stores. He commissioned architect, Cass Gilbert to design the Woolworth Building as the company’s headquarters, paying $13 million in cash.

Built to the unprecedented height of 792 feet, the building’s construction epitomized the day’s enthusiasm for technology. Including a rare-high-speed elevator service, along with self-sustaining electrical power generation, heating and cooling, water supply, and fire protection. The building earned its slogan of a “city within a city.”

The Woolworth building is a testament to the beauty of that time- and its lobby is an ode to the extravagance of the truly rich New Yorkers.

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Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall

Finding inspiration in their European travels, Gilbert and Woolworth wanted their building to be one of the most impressive in the world – it was then as it is today.

Given its resemblance to European Gothic cathedrals, the structure was dubbed “The Cathedral of Commerce” and still in it’s original condition since the buildings completion in 1913; the lobby is filled with craftsmanship that can no longer be found in buildings built today both here and in Europe.

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Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall

From the corbel characters that decorate the walls to the Romanesque barrel vaulted ceilings with Byzantine mosaics to the grand Greek marble staircase, there is no corner of the lobby that isn’t striking to even the most particular of architecture buffs.

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Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall

For years, the lobby’s grandeur was only visible to the buildings office workers, but two years ago the lobby was opened once again for small group tours.

Started by Cass Gilbert’s great-grand children, Helen Curry and Chuck Post, the tours take you past the “no tourist sign” in front of the building and into one of the most unique lobbies in the world.

no tourist sign
Photo: Courtesy of Audrey DuVall

Much like the attention to detail that was paid during the three years it took to complete the building, the tours give you an expansive look into all the challenging work and history that went into the Woolworth Lobby. (Be on the look out for a cameo by both Woolworth and Gilbert).

Guided by historians with vast appreciation and knowledge for the building, visitors can choose between a 30-minute, 60-minute and 90-minute tour.

Tours can be booked on Woolworthtours.com.

-by Audrey DuVall

Categories
Fashion News

KARL LAGERFELD TO OPEN NYC FLAGSHIP

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Photo: Courtesy of LEWEB

Chanel’s infamous creative director and head designer, Karl Lagerfeld, has announced plans to bring his line to New York, WWD reports. The line, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, is the product of a partnership between the designer and G-III, a New York-based firm that makes licensed apparel.

The line will debut a spring 2016 collection “tailor-made” for North America, with a New York flagship set to open as early as next year.

The collection will be under Lagerfeld’s artistic direction, producing both womenswear and men’s outwear along with a line of handbags targeted towards the American market.

The line will launch in department stores for its initial debut, with a New York flagship slated to open early next year.

The line hopes to expand with more stores in the future.

“We definitely see the potential for several flagship stores,” Pier Paolo Righi, CEO of Karl Lagerfeld Group BV, told WWD.

Lagerfeld’s namesake label is making a return to the United States after being discontinued throuhout North America in 2006.

-by Audrey DuVall

Categories
Business Living News

MURDOCH COMPANIES PROPOSE MOVE TO DOWNTOWN

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Photo: Courtesy of Mitchell Hall
Photo: Courtesy of Mitchell Hall

News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, two media giants controlled by Rupert Murdoch, announced plans for the firms to move to 2 World Trade Center (WTC). The two companies signed a non-binding, but detailed letter of intent (LOI) last week with developer Larry Silverstein to anchor 2 WTC. The deal would complete the rebuilding of the office complex destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

While the current agreement is non-binding, if it leads to a done deal, the move would further Lower Manhattan’s rising status as the new epicenter of technology and media in the city. Murdoch’s companies would join Condé Nast, Time Inc., GroupM, McGraw Hill, and others relocating from Midtown.

The companies have been in discussion for months with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site and Silverstein, who has the rights to build the fourth and last office tower at the site, 2 WTC.

The tallest tower at the site, the 104-story 1 World Trade Center, opened last year. Silverstein completed the 72-story 4 World Trade Center in 2013 and is now building 3 World Trade Center, an 80-story tower. But 2 WTC, which is intended to have 3.1 million square feet, remained in the planning stages, without an anchor tenant to get the project off the ground.

Under the proposed deal, 21st Century Fox and News Corp. would occupy about 1.3 million square feet on lower levels of the 2.8 million-square-foot tower under separate leases.

The parties have tapped Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels to design the new tower. The building would have to accommodate the company’s highly specific needs for studios, newsrooms and open floor plans — as well as some 100,000 square feet of shopping space to be controlled by WTC retail operator Westfield.

Ingels’ 2 WTC design would replace an earlier one for the site by British architect Norman Foster, which was intended mainly for financial firms.

Given that the foundation has already been built, the two sides are assessing whether the structure can accommodate the changes they want for television studios. 

News Corp. and 21st Century Fox are currently based at 1185 and 1211 Sixth Ave., where leases for both companies expire in 2020. Those leases might be renewed if a final deal can’t be struck downtown.

-by Audrey DuVall