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The Broadway Bomb: 200 skateboarders have a death wish on Saturday
Published on 10/10/08
Published on 10/10/08
Video
Justin Ferate
WHY ESSENTIAL:
This venerated historian wrote the book on Gotham walking tours. No, really—the city commissioned him to write the NYC tour-guide licensing exam, which he designed to educate, as well as assess, would-be guides. In addition to a regular roster of tours covering everything from midtown murals to Green-Wood Cemetery to the quaint attractions of City Island, Ferate leads a free 90-minute trek through Grand Central every Friday at 12:30pm.
The secret:
If you haven’t taken one of Ferate’s tours, you probably don’t know one of his best tidbits. The New York Central Building—now called the Helmsley Building (230 Park Ave at 46th St)—was built to house the offices of the New York Central’s great railroad and real-estate empires. The New York Central didn’t want its clients to be disturbed by the rattle and rumble of its own subterranean railroad trains, which travel beneath its world-famous urban renewal project (and the source of much of its income): Park Avenue. So it built the office tower on shock absorbers, and the building never touches the ground. If you hold a pen or pencil in hand like a pointer, kneel at the base of the building and move it back and forth in the gap near the sidewalk, your friends will think you’ve levitated the building, and will worship you forever. (212-223-2777, justinsnewyork.com)
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D
Thu, Sep 25, at 10:36am
What white people will fall for.
D
Thu, Sep 25, at 10:36am
Kiosk is hilarious. They were selling a package of dried plums for $15 that you can find 3 blocks south at hong kong supermarket for $2.
Rosie Collins
Thu, Feb 07, at 07:31am
I am trying to find Peter Tear! Please forward to him.
adam tobin
Thu, Nov 01, 07, at 7:54pm
Josh, it is true. X is not on the menu.
I am really upset that Time Out printed my secret website for everybody to see. gugunnameable is so secret, you can't even view it on a regular computer -- the secret password is
www.unnameablebooks.net
josh
Thu, Nov 01, 07, at 3:59pm
The concept of this piece, as described, is excellent; the execution is terrible and misleading (per the description, anyway–it would have been a fine article properly described). A tip would be, for example: "order X at Pearl Oyster Bar, it's not on the menu, it's excellent, and you have to request it." Or a reservation password or somesuch.
josh
Thu, Nov 01, 07, at 3:55pm
How is this an "ultra-valuable tip?" It's not even a "tip," it's a piece of trivia.
eyeball hatred
Thu, Nov 01, 07, at 2:05am
url is indeed wrong. gugunameable books sell textbooks.
