Urbanite

The Design Trust for Public Space and the Grand Army Plaza have already chosen the winning redesign concepts (a two-way tie!) for the heart of the BK, but the People's Choice Award has yet to be, um, awarded.

The designs (part of "Reinventing Grand Army Plaza") will be presented at the stretch, which includes the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch and the Bailey Fountain, from now until Oct. 13. Check out the concepts to further beautiful the plaza and text in your favorite design. The People's Choice Award will be announced on Oct. 8.

Will the people also choose the "Please Wake Me Up!" and "Canopy" entries?

— Emily Ngo

Sculptor Jong Il Ma was preparing for the biggest opening of his career when Tropical Storm Hanna rudely interrupted.

His colorful installation didn’t loom neatly above visitors as it was supposed to. Instead, “To you” was a mass of wood and string tangles.

Ma spent this past weekend patching up his intricate work at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. Hanna’s high winds had blown it down the night before the opening earlier this month, Ma explained.

“It was on its side, so I had to gently pull it,” said Korean-born Ma, motioning to a ladder. The rollercoaster-like sculpture represents the interwoven paths of life, he said.

“To you, Little bigger than a sweet summer pink peach” will be part of the park’s fledgling artists exhibition until March. It will be Ma’s longest-standing installation … granted other natural force doesn’t interfere.

— Emily Ngo

The Urbanite crew spent Saturday poking around Governors Island, and from the minute we boarded the boat, we knew something was odd. A man was dressed like it was 1925, and he seemed perfectly unconcerned. A few more sightings of walking anachronisms and we found out the island was hosting another one of its incredibly popular 1920s lawn parties, complete with the stylings of Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra.

Here are some shots colleague Jamshid and I snapped of the flapper madness. And read more about the Gatsby frolics here.

-- Rolando Pujol

Conflux 2007 from Doryexmachina via Flickr

Conflux, an annual art festival that has turned the streets of New York City into a mobile playground and research lab for five years now, will be no more after this weekend’s run.

Some of Conflux’s past events include a noise parade through the Lower East Side, installations in roped-off construction zones and a 24-hour “road trip” around the city, but Christina Ray, the festival’s founder said it’s time to move on.

“I feel like I planted the seed, and now it’s reached the point where this community has been built around it, where instead of 30 artists we have 100 artists coming from all over the world,” she said. “It’s not an entertainment festival with big corporate logos around it, and the big challenge has been to keep it that way.”

This year, the four-day festival that starts this morning will be based out of NoHo after three years of tramping around Williamsburg. One highlight this year is an Urban Disorientation Game, where teams of participants will be blindfolded, driven to and dropped off in another part of the city from which they’ll have to find their way around without the benefit of maps or cell phones.

“We use it as an opportunity to let people look at the city in a different way,” said Calvin Johnson, who is organizing the game. “The question is, what does it mean to get lost and find your way again?”

In another activity, participants will be given classic novels of English literature and read them aloud on park benches throughout the city. A group calling itself the Federation of Students and Nominally or Unemployed Artists will set up a table and give away $10 to $60 grants to anybody who comes up with a convincing use for the money.

“It’s about art that approaches the viewer instead of the viewer approaching art,” said Thies Ten Bosch, a Rotterdam-based artist who will be building small houses in empty parking spaces in Manhattan over the weekend. “It’s art that people can’t get around.”

Artists and participants now say they see the city as a drearier place without the annual twist of perspective that Conflux afforded.

“You live in this city and after a while you get into a habitual routine and you don’t pay attention,” said Jeffrey Barke, who moved to the city after attending Conflux in 2003. “Conflux opens up the city again as a source of creativity and play. That’s something you risk losing as you get older and Conflux helps you reawaken it.”

Ray said she was open to others running the festival, but some wondered if the city had changed too much to permit an offbeat, under-the-radar arts festival to flourish.

“It’s scary to think about what happens if rents keep going up or if you organize something like this and have to go down a more commercial route or less experimental route to stay viable,” said Calvin Johnson, the organizer of the Urban Disorientation Game.

“What happens to New York when the artistic activity that was here goes away?” he asked.

--David Freedlander

Murals in the parking lot of the Neptune Inn on City Island include one of the World Trade Center, which is peeling away, and another for the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is intact. (Photos by Rolando Pujol)

If there's one thing that City Islanders enjoy in great numbers, it's seafood places. The Neptune Inn, on the island's southern tip, has been closed for years because of a fire, but still draws the curious because of the murals in its parking lot.

Two murals in particular attract attention. One is in shabby condition, and shows the World Trade Center. A local restaurant worker who noticed us snapping photos of the murals last weekend told us that the paint began to flick away shortly after 9/11, in a coincidence that some felt poignant, if a touch bizarre. But what raises even more eyebrows is the mural right next to it, which shows the Virgin of Guadalupe. That mural is in excellent shape, with no serious signs of damage.

This juxtaposition, this person said, has inevitably led people to impute some greater meaning to the murals, and, he says, even pay their respects at the murals. (A third mural, right next to the one of the WTC, has some paint damage but not as much.)

We later asked around and found no other such reports, but we can say for sure that the murals are striking. Another sight-seer also noticed the murals and was snapping away while we were there. Other Web sites have found the Neptune Inn's murals worthy of mention.

Soon, these conversation pieces may be a memory.

The restaurant -- its windows smashed open and trash and furniture everywhere -- is poised for demolition, we were told. And that means those murals that attract so much attention may well disappear along with the old Neptune Inn.

The murals are 35 City Island Ave., across from the popular Sammy's and Lobster Box restaurants. And keep an eye on Urbanite for more dispatches from our recent visit to City Island.

-- Rolando Pujol

Photo by Newsday photographer Ari Mintz

When we heard about an open casting call [PHOTOS] for the Blue Man Group, we expected to find a manic-panic-cacophonous affair, and it was, but it turns out there are some rules too.

Rule No. 1: Don't show up painted blue

"We look for someone who kind of has a Blue Man inside them already, and then we work to bring that Blue Man out," said Blue Man casting director Deb Burton at Monday's auditions, which were held at the Blue Man Training Center at 412 Broadway, just south of Canal St.

Rule No. 2 - Don't PhotoShop your face blue on your headshot or send your resume disguised as a pipe bomb.

Both of these things have happened says Burton, adding, "those types of things are entirely unnecessary because part of our process is for US to discover what the person will look like in the makeup. [laughing] We don't really need people to do that ahead of the game."

Rule No. 3 - You must be between 5'10" and 6'1"

No elaboration here, them's just the facts. You must be tall and you must have rhythm -- but you DON'T have to be a man to play a blue man. So all you blue ladies out there, come on down. We met one woman in the audition waiting room Monday, dancer Oceane McCord, who lives in Manhattan.

"It's kind of out of my normal auditioning experience, usually i'm surrounded by hundreds of women," McCord said, adding she thinks as a female performer, she might bring an interesting layer of vulnerability to the Blue Man character.

Blue Man hopefuls don't get painted blue in the first round, it's more of a screening and drum check, said Burton, to see "what kind of person they are, how they react to drumming with another blue man performer." The full audition process can last up to six months.

Drummer John Donovan, 32, from Deer Park, Long Island, said the week-long wait to find out if he makes it to round two will be "the longest week of my life so far."

He's a drummer and he misses working with drummers. "I miss it all the time," he said. "I miss playing with other drummers terribly -- like it aches at me."

Can you spot Mr. or Miss Williamsburg in this sea of cool?

Once upon a time, in a borough that's super-close to Manhattan there was a little Williamsburg [PHOTOS] hipster girl who fancied herself "incredibly cool" and "creative."

Then one day she heisted two 40s of Colt 45 from a local deli, got arrested and slapped with community service.

But she chanced to appear before a merciful judge. He took pity on the poor hipsterina, clad only in a gold lame American Apparel bikini top, and decided to allow her to choose her own service project.

(OK .. we don't really know whether she wore the below-mentioned bikini top in court, but it's funnier if she did. And yes, that's really her in the photo.)

And deciding she ought to devote her life to slaying hipster apathy like the ugly fire-breathing dragon it most certainly represents - she spun together the Mr. and Miss Williamsburg contest -- a hipster's take on the Miss USA Pageant.

This little hipsterina is one Misha Calvert, 25, and we first heard about her plight via the WilliamsburgCourier

So obviously someone who truly embodies Williamsburg is going to look just like Calvert, right?

We think some of the North Side giglio boys or the South Side Satmars might have a beef with that idea, but what do we know? Maybe they'll show up.

Here is Calvert's take on why this event constitutes community service:

“I pitched it as kind of a uniting force in the Williamsburg community. I’ve been talking to my friends about the level of apathy around here, so I figured, why not put together something about a subject a lot of us are most passionate about: ourselves ... Plus, I really like hot guys."

Wow, Williamsburg is already a better place.

The event goes down on Sept. 5 at 10 p.m. at the bar Supreme Trading. Anyone over 21 is eligible. If you think you're a candidate for the crown, e-mail mrandmisswilliamsburg@gmail.com

As much as this event annoys us, it does give us an excuse to revisit the superb YouTube effort, "The Hipster Olympics" inspired of course by the classic Monty Python sketch, "Upperclass Twit of the Year." See both below:

Yo-yo champ Pat Cuartero demos his tricks in Washington Square Park. Photo/ Lauren Johnston

Urbanite recently met yo-yo champion Pat Cuartero -- who is incidentally CEO of his own company YoYoNation.com (yeah, he gets to yo-yo for a living!) in Washington Square Park, where he showed us some original tricks like "Angel Wings" and one where he knocked a quarter off a kid's ear and some cool updates on old faves like "Walk the Dog," and "Around the World."

Cuartero and some fellow yo-yo champs will put their skills on display Saturday at a yo-yo event - the 2008 International Yo-Yo Open - at the South Street Seaport. Details [HERE].

For now, check our vids:

It's a new duo of Davids with Wright subbing in for Archuleta!

American Idol Winner David Cook today dropped by Shea Stadium for batting practice with the players - laughing and bantering with Mets star David Wright ... no word yet on whether his swing is up to par with his singing ... but here are some more [PHOTOS] of the rising's stars visit to Flushing.

And if you're in the mood for more things 'Idol,' well, you're in luck. Because we got it:

* Photos of David Cook at batting practice at Shea!

* Click here to see photos of Archuleta and David Cook touring

* Here are photos of what all the American Idol stars have been up to this summer

* And relive the Season 7 finale here

* Here's our am/fm blog, which checks out new bands/music in NYC

* And if you wanna be first to know whenever we post something about David, take 30 secs to sign up for our free email newsletter

Photo by Dave Sanders, amNY

Grab your camera and get down to the NYC waterfalls!

amNewYork and Urbanite are collaborating with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. in a photo contest for the best shots of any of the four artsy waterfalls. First place winner gets $500 and their winning work published in amNewYork and renewnyc.com, and the second and third place winners will also have their photos on renewnyc.com.

Send your original work to contests@am-ny.com by Aug. 22.

We'll check 'em out on Aug, 25, after which you should hover by your phone waiting for our congratulatory call.

Good luck! Complete rules here.

— Megan Stride

A wonderful town full of free (and cheap) cinema, that is! Check it out:

"On the Town": River-to-River shows this classic 1949 NYC film tonight at 8p.m. (free) at 55 Water St. Map available [HERE]

"28 Days Later": This flick shows tonight (free!) at McCarren Park Pool. Come while you can, it's the last summer for pool events like this. Movies start when it's dark. Directions and info [HERE].

"Captured": OK, this one costs $10, but still cheaper than your average cine-plex, no? Rooftop films shows this flick, "the amazing story of Clayton Patterson, prolific photo documentarian of the turbulent Lower East Side for 30 years," tonight at 8p.m. at Webster Hall. Details [HERE]

Rock 'n Roll camp, zoo birthdays, free music and more ....

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp comes to the city; Ultrasound Studios, 251 W. 30th St.

11 a.m.: Central Park Zoo celebrates 20th anniversary; 64th Street and Fifth Avenue.

7 p.m.: Brooklyn Cyclones host “Medieval Times Night”; KeySpan Park,1904 Surf Ave., Coney Island.

6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.: The National, Yeasayer, Plants and Animals play Central Park's SummerStage

7:30 p.m.: Pipa virtuoso Wu Man plays at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts as part of the River-to-River festival.

Photo by Jefferson Siegel

As you leave the downtown No. 6 train at the Astor Place station, just to the right of the stairs is a bricked-over archway. Above it are the words "Clinton Hall."

According to forgotten ny, Clinton Hall was the building just above, at 13 Astor Place. It was home to the Astor Place Opera House in the early 1800s. The building then housed the Mercantile Library of New York from 1855 to 1932. The building was torn down in 1890 and a new, 11-story Clinton Hall rose to house the library.

It is believed the doorway, which dates to 1904, was bricked up in the 1940s. The building, which housed the beloved Astor Riveria Coffee Shop (now a Starbucks) in its ground floor, was converted to condos in 1995.

-- Jefferson Siegel

Photo by Rune Olsen

It's like the porno interpretation of "Planet Earth."

Manhattan's Museum of Sex has apparently run out of ideas for exhibits on human sexual proclivities, and so has moved on to the animal kingdom.

"Sex in the animal kingdom is just as complex and nuanced as it is for humans," the curators say on the museum's Web site, there they offer peeps at certain items in the show, like this photo tagged "deer threesome."

The exhibit opens today and runs through Spring 2008. If you're not into animalia, there's also an exhbit on robot sex.

Protests, dance lessons, Broadway debuts ...

Noon: State Sen. Bill Perkins calls for an investigation into an alleged incident where NYPD officers drove a police car through Harlem with the head of a black infant doll displayed atop the car’s antennae; 163 West 125th St., 9th floor.

Noon: “So You Think You Can Dance” judge Mary Murphy launches new
dance exercise program based on Latin ballroom dance techniques;
Dance Times Square, 156 West 44th St., b/w Sixth Ave. & Broadway.

Now til 5 p.m.: Play mobile unit visits Samuel Bennerson Park for a day of fun, friendship and dancing; 64th Street, b/w Amsterdam and West End

2 p.m.: Hip hop artist Nas joins members of MoveOn.org to deliver petitions protesting Fox News coverage of Barack Obama; 1211 Sixth Ave.

7 p.m.: The 3rd annual Night of Dominican Embrace; Maestros Caterers,1703 Bronxdale Ave.

10:10 p.m.: Debut curtain call/photo opportunity with Bailey Hanks, winner
of MTV’s “Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods”; The Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway

amNY.com likes our city's subway musicians. Stumbling across a good one can make an otherwise pretty crappy commute into at least a tolerable commute. The problem is, you might not see the same one twice. That's why we want to start keeping a log. [Find it at www.amny.com/subwaymusicians]

We've started a datasbase of a few we like and we want you to help us out. We're creating a file for each musician we like with some basic information, a photo and audio and video when possible. And don't worry, it's easy, just click and upload.

But here's what we need you to do first: Next time you see a great musician in the subway, snap a photo, shoot some cell phone video, find out their name, remember the station where you saw them and send it in so the rest of our readers can see them too. Let's get started and see how many we can collect.

Click [HERE] to check out the project and see how easy it is to add entries.

We're all about observing the ever-shifting landscape of NYC's streets here at Urbanite, and tonight McCarren Park Pool offers a window into some nitty-gritty-city past via a screening of Madonna's first big movie, 1985's "Desperately Seeking Susan."

It was a time before the A-Rod rumors, a time before bombs like "Shanghai Surprise" or "Who's that Girl," when the appearance of Madge on the big screen spurred fan hysteria and stampedes at movie theaters. And it's chance to check out New York City circa 1985 -- including great shots of Madonna's pre-fame stomping grounds in the East Village and the Port Authority.

And of course the film gave us the eternally killer dance tune, "Get into the Groove." With the return of the black legging still in full effect, in Williamsburg especially, you might just be able to make believe you're back in 1985 yourself if you hit the pool tonight.

The film is free tonight at McCarren Park Pool. Directions [HERE] Films begin at dusk.
Photos of the young Madonna from her brother's tell-all book [HERE]

Check the original movie trailer below (with a weird bank-teller woman's voice) and the video for "Get into the Groove":

Oh, and this guy in Toronto who REALLY likes the song:

New York artist Tattfoo Tan, below, unveiled Thursday his public art project entitled NMS - Nature Matching System art project at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. (Photos: Megan Stride, above; RJ Mickelson, below)

Fruits and veggies are good for you, and community organizers are hoping they’ll be good for Eighth Avenue, too.

An enormous, produce-inspired, grid of color now covers the windows of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The art work was unveiled Thursday as part of an effort by the Times Square Alliance and the Fashion Center Business Improvement District to enliven this stretch of streetscape.

The project, which is called “Get Your Daily Dose of Color” and runs along Eighth Avenue. and wraps around 42nd Street, is the first of a series of public art projects in the area.

“This is really about the revitalization of Eighth Avenue and rethinking what it could be,” said Barbara Randall, executive director of the district improvement group. “We wanted to mentally and emotionally give pedestrians in the area a lift.”

Malaysian artist Tattfoo Tan designed the artwork by using Photoshop to match the exact colors of the food to a printed square for the window in what he calls the “Nature Matching System.”

Interested passerby can match up the number on each square to a legend on the Eighth Avenue side to learn which fruit or vegetable inspired the color.

“It catches people’s attention, and then when they go the legend, they can learn more,” Tan, 34, said. “There’s more than meets the eye.”

Pedestrians are already paying attention.

“I like it. It makes me hungry for fruit,” said Angelia Rorison, 26, after feasting her eyes upon the windows Thursday. “I want a papaya right now!”

The project will be on display for the next several months.

-- Megan Stride

12:30 p.m.: Princess Katie and Racer Steve (above) perform for children; southern end of Union Square Park, then free yoga at 3 p.m.

1 p.m.: James Brown’s children go on the Al Sharpton radio show to express disapproval of the auctioning of his possessions [PHOTOS].

1 p.m.: Making 8th Avenue more beautiful -- The Port Authority Bus Terminal unveils a new work of public art by Tattfoo Tan (above).

This Dain is pasted on the mystery red barn building on N. 8th St. between Bedford and Driggs.

Well, the Williamsburg part of town anyway.

While everyone was busy debating whether a painted giraffe that recently appeared on the front of the Roebling Tea Room was the work of the elusive British graffiti artist Bansky or fellow Brit Nick Walker, several doors in the hood were papered by an artist signed Dain. The images are mostly graphic portraits of women.

This smaller portrait was placed on a tile (already there) on the wall of a gallery on Driggs between N. 9th and N. 10 streets.

We don't know much about Dain, yet, but if you do, write in. We've seen this on Flickr and this on The Scenic Sidewalk. Gowanus Lounge spotted a head on Berry, if spot them, we want to know. Here are the images we've collected so far: [PHOTOS]

- Lauren Johnston

Last month we started documenting the rash of art, crafts and fashions so far inspired by Barack Obama: Here's a sampling from that post which appeared on our politics blog Politirazzi:

[PHOTOS OF THE REST]

We spotted this latest mural example on Grand Street in Williamsburg just off Havemeyer Street. And it also happens to be near a really good new Italian restaurant - Fiore. So if you go check it out, stay for dinner. It's all in this vicinity:

View Larger Map

-- Lauren Johnston

Photos by Joe Wigfall, courtesy of WNYC; click on images to enlarge. A photo gallery here.

The ballet of the street has long fascinated New Yorkers, including generations of street shooters from Robert Frank and Lee Friedlander to Bruce Davidson and Joel Meyerowitz.

New York’s latest inductee into that art form is Joe Wigfall, winner of “The Street Shots Challenge,” a contest co-sponsored by WNYC Radio and The Camera Club of New York.

Author and historian Luc Sante evaluated more than 9,000 images submitted by nearly 1,000 photographers before selecting Wigfall’s winning images.

Wigfall, 51, has been shooting for more than 20 years, but turned his lens to the street only three years ago.

The Harlem native now lives in Westchester County and commutes to a law-firm job in midtown. When does he have time to shoot? During his lunch hour when pedestrian traffic offers a variety of tableaux.

“I love that interaction and immediate feedback with the street,” he says.

The challenges that cause many photographers to shy away from street shooting are what stimulate Wigfall.

“I can’t get comfortable. I have to think all the time how I have to make this work. It’s a challenge walking in shadowy buildings, and no one is staying in one place,” he says. “And I’m always looking for a moment while all these variables are going on.”

His personal favorite from the winning selections is “Going Home,” a picture of an elderly woman about to descend the stairs at Grand Central Terminal.

“When I saw her and I saw the light, I thought it looks like a painting,” he said. “It was a touching moment.”

The Street Shots Challenge exhibit of all winners opened at The Camera Club of New York (336 W. 37th St.) on July 10 and will be on display until Aug. 8.

-- Lana Bortolot

Photo gallery here

More high-brow cultural stuff for free today, as the New York Philhamonic meets in Propect Park tonight to perform Bach's "Concerto for Two Violins in D minor," Beethoven's "Symphony No. 4" and Sibelius' "Finlandia." [Click for audio clips HERE]

The concert is set for 8 p.m. on the Long Meadow [Directions HERE].

The weather so far today is a little gloomy, so the musicians are providing updates on whether the show will go on and will zap them straight to your mobile phone. Sign up for that service [HERE], or call the Parks Department at: (212) 875-5709

--Lauren Johnston

If you like them underground, you may love them on stage. The subway musicians are migrating toward sunlight all day today for Madison Square Garden's version of "American Idol," where 16 subway performers will compete to be leader of the tracks.

Check it out today at the corner of W. 33rd and 8th Ave.

-- Lauren Johnston

It's a tradition we love! The Thursday lunch breaks when Broadway stars come to Bryant Park to perform for the 'wichcraft-eating masses for free!

The preformances kick off today with numbers from "Spamalot's" Stephen Collins and Drew Lachey along with starts from "Stomp," "Chicago," "Russian on the Side," and "[Title of Show]."

The show, sponsored by 106.7 Lite FM, kicks off today at 12:30 p.m. in Bryant Park. And mark your calendars with these future performance dates: July 17, 24, 31 and Aug. 7 & 14.

-- Lauren Johnston

The CityParks Concert Series will kick off tonight at 7pm with Orquestra Broadway, taking the stage at St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx.

“They’re the most well-respected salsa bands right now. We’re excited to bring them to the Bronx, “said Erika Elliott, director of music programming, “Salsa music is really rooted in the South Bronx.”

The band is known for its eclectic use of instruments including the conga, violin, keyboard, bass, and their trademark five-key French wooden flute.

More than 100 performers will be playing in parks spanning all five boroughs over the summer. The parks will host several dance, theater, and musical performances. The event is presented by Verizon.

“They’ll be a lot of salsa, classic hip-hop, and gospel this year,” said Elliott.

Christina Daigneault, spokeswoman for City Parks Foundation, said “ I think city parks is about connecting performances with different communities.”

Hip-Hop Hall of Fame inductees, Whodini will be playing in their hometown of Brooklyn in Von King Park on July 10. Other hip-hop legends on the bill will be Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, and Naughty By Nature.

“We really try to get a diverse line up to represent the diversity of New York,” said Elliott.

See the schedule here.

-- Simone Herbin