The Boston marathon bombing by the Tsarnaev brothers was a stark & painful reminder of the modern-day Security adage “It’s not a matter of if we’re attacked, but when.” And the truth is that we have been attacked multiple times in the past two years by enemies who were not foreign but domestic. Names like Adam Lanza, James Holmes, Jared Loughtner and Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

The biggest difference between the Boston bombing and the mass shootings wasn’t ideology or the “foreignness” of the culprits’ surname but their method of attack. In any mass shooting, there is no ‘who-done-it’ factor; the perpetrator is the one holding the gun. In the immediacy following the Boston explosions, we all wanted to know 1) who attacked us and 2) if they were going to attack again. And suddenly, the ubiquity of security footage around the finish line became one of our most important tools in responding to these killers.

New York has had to accept (in some cases grudgingly) the ubiquitous nature of NYPD security cameras throughout our city. Having the largest, best equipped, best trained and most vigilant police force in the country is a mixed blessing. We have the comfort of knowing that our cops are constantly on the lookout for threats to our common safety and have foiled multiple terror attempts on our city. The downside is a semi-fascistic presence of uniformed “soldiers” who claim the right to stop and frisk anyone they feel “fit a profile,” 90% of which are our black and Latino citizens.

In the 48 hours following the explosions that killed and wounded scores of Boston citizens, this security footage was essential. In an Orwellian nightmare dystopia, “Big Brother” would have seen and known everything before it happened and probably would have locked up the Tsarnaev brothers for “thought crime,” preventing the bombing at the immeasurable cost of all of our civil liberties.

This doesn’t look anything like MY Big Brother…Where’s the moustache and wacky grin?

“Big Brother” didn’t see it happening. In turn, we had to scramble to put together the pieces to figure out who done it. The public’s first “suspects” were young men who had absolutely nothing to do with the bombing, merely fit a certain race-fueled “profile” and were unjustly plastered on the cover of the always culturally sensitive NY Post tabloid with the headline “Bag Men.” Whoops. Big Brother’s first act was getting it wrong.

NY Post does it again. Alexander Hamilton would be ashamed.

Who then did Big Brother turn to for more data? Why… all of us, of course! In a chaotic and disjointed jumble of information, the commenters on popular social-media site Reddit helped piece together the events leading up to the bombing. Many of these armchair detectives learned crime-scene analysis from tv shows like CSI and Law & Order. Their most essential source of data wasn’t official security footage, but the thousands and thousands of pictures taken by you, me, and everyone who posts cell-phone photos on the internet. In a manner that George Orwell never predicted, surveillance culture has been fully democratized.

We have seen Big Brother… and it is us.

Sure, Orwell and his contemporary dystopians predicted that we would all be “implanted” with devices that would be used to keep track of our everyday movements. However, they never imagined that we would be lining up for hours for the privilege to pay $400 dollars apiece for them! Having a perpetual virtual presence via email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and GPS has become an expectation of our 21st century culture. By choosing to be part of an online social presence, you are implicitly consenting to the surveillance that goes with it. People are welcome to reject this culture, deleting all of their social media accounts and use a GPS-free flip phone (or heaven forbid, a land-line!) but they do so at the risk of being left behind in a 21st century economy. Regardless, people still have that choice.

The ultimate tool in public surveillance technology

There is still the race-fueled problems of the official authorities monitoring our black, Latino and Muslim communities which is an absolute violation of civil liberties. It only serves to reinforce the sense that in a nation where we are all supposed to be born with certain inalienable rights, some people are still reminded daily that they were never intended to be part of “The American dream.”

But I agree with Mayor Michael Bloomberg that, for better or worse, the cameras are here to stay. And regardless of how many cameras and endless hours of footage they will capture, we don’t need to worry about our every move being watched by some government official. There will never be enough budget for the man-hours necessary to watch every single citizen, every moment of the day. Quite simply, ain’t nobody got time for that. We’ll leave that job to our Facebook friends.

I only hope that as the cameras get more plentiful, law enforcement can see in advance who to watch and who to leave alone. Maybe this can bring an end to far too many young men being stopped by other (uniformed) young men simply for “matching a profile.” Lanza, Loughtner, Holmes and the Tsarnaevs didn’t “fit a profile” and we didn’t stop them until it was too late.

By Gideon Levy

Yes, its true, you can find us now under the NYSE stock title of LUNY, and shares are trading briskly with a starting price point of $725/share, but if you act quickly, then you can secure a bulk rate of . . .

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Nope. We’re not going big time. It’s still Mark and Matt in the office and a corps of the best Tour Guides in NYC at your service. The above picture is from an NYC & Co Business Card Exchange a few years back, where everyone got to post on the legendary New York Stock Exchange Trading Floor, complete with gavel and a crack at the Opening Bell. So don’t go looking for LUNY on the NYSE. But you can always reach out to book a private or a group tour!

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!!!

Here’s all the questions from the Challenge.

ROUND 1

BRIDGES AND WRITERS

1

This was once the longest suspension bridge in the world

(BROOKLYN BRIDGE)

Which 19^th century poet wrote about the commute before the bridge was built?

(WALT WHITMAN)

2

This was once the longest suspension bridge in the world

(WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE)

Which author wrote the famous book about the Ailanthus (eye-LANN-thus) on the Eastern side of the span.

(BETTY SMITH)

3

This was once the longest suspension bridge in the world

(GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE)

Who wrote the childrens’ book about the landmark beneath the bridge?

(HILDEGARDE SWIFT)

4

This was once the longest suspension bridge in the world

(VERRAZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE)

Which literary figure literally wrote the book on it, called “The Bridge”

(GAY TALESE)

GEORGE AND THE BOMBERS

5

This Pearl Street building is where George said goodbye in 1783

(FRAUNCES TAVERN)

In 1975: Dynamite in a briefcase here: who were the bombers?

(FALN/ARMED FORCES OF PUERTO RICAN NATIONAL LIBERATION)

6

The street where George got a new job in 1789

(WALL STREET)

1n 1920: Dynamite and sash weights in a wagon here: who were the bombers?

(ANARCHISTS)

7

This landmark building from 1913 has nothing to do with George Washington

(GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL)

In 1951, Pipe bomb by the Oyster Bar, five months later in a phone booth: who was the bomber?

(GEORGE METESKY/THE MAD BOMBER)

AIRPORTS: NOW & THEN

8

This airport was the beginning of what world famous 6-minute event in 2009?

(MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON/FLIGHT 1549)

In 1929, when the airport was a private facility, it was named for which aviation pioneer?

(GLEN CURTISS)

9

This airport was the site of a near riot when who arrived on February 7^th 1964?

(THE BEATLES)

Until 1963, the airport was officially known as New York International/Anderson Field. In which field did Anderson find fame? (MILITARY/ARMY)

RAP ERRORS (try saying it fast)

10

PLAY: RAPPERS DELIGHT

You might think the ‘Gang’ was from this upper Manhattan neighborhood, but no. They were from New Jersey. Name the neighborhood in their name.

(SUGAR HILL)

This was a big neighborhood for jazz royalty, though. Name the legend who lived on St Nicholas Boulevard for over two decades and wasn’t a king, but was pretty close.

(DUKE ELLINGTON)

11

PLAY: WU-TANG CLAN AIN’T NUTHIN TO FUCK WIT’

This ‘Clan’ was from NYC but if you thought their 1993 breakout album (or member ODB’s solo debut album) was about an address on the street behind City Hall, you’d be wrong. What is the street?

(CHAMBERS STREET)

WuTang Clan called their home borough Shaolin and were particularly ‘attached’ to this Staten Island neighborhood.

(STAPLETON)

12

PLAY: INSANE IN THE BRAIN

You might think this group was from this neighborhood. But you’d be wrong. They’re from LA. Name the neighborhood. Spelling counts.

(CYPRESS HILLS)

She died in LA, drove moralists insane and is buried in the cemetery named for the neighborhood. Name the “Sex”-y blonde actress.

(MAE WEST)

HOSPITALS & PATIENTS

13

This ‘fraternal’ island was once home to Riverside Hospital. Name the island:
(NORTH BROTHER ISLAND)

What is the full name of the famous Typhoid carrier once confined at Riverside?

(MARY MALLON)

14

This ‘presidential’ island has been home to many hospitals over the years. Name the island.

(ROOSEVELT ISLAND)

Which New York World journalist got herself admitted to the mental institution on the island for ten days for an exposé in 1887?

(NELLY BLY)

15

This hospital claims to be the oldest continuously operating in America – although it was closed for weeks after Sandy. Name this city facility.

(BELLEVUE)

In 1910 William Sydney Porter died here. He was an embezzler and writer better known by what pen name? (O.HENRY)

POTPOURRI

16

Maimonides (my MON eh deez) Hospital, which delivered more babies than any other in the state, is located in this neighborhood, with its slightly un”orthodox” spelling.

(BORO PARK)

Look up and you’ll see what ‘ties’ this neighborhood together. What is it called?

(ERUV/ERUVIN)

17

By George, you should know the name of this neighborhood with the ferry terminal. What is it?

(ST GEORGE)

What is the big deal about the planned 625-foot tall project on the waterfront here?

(BIGGEST/TALLEST FERRIS/OBSERVATION WHEEL)

18

This is the only fresh-water river in the city. What is its name?

(BRONX RIVER)

In 2007 Jose built a home along the banks of the river, down by the zoo. Why was this a big deal and where did the name Jose come from? (Give both for the point)

(FIRST BEAVER IN NYC IN 200 YEARS. BRONX CONGRESSMAN JOSE SERRANO)

19

This branch of the City University graduated the real Jerry Seinfeld and the fictional Ugly Betty.

(QUEENS COLLEGE)

Next door is a housing complex built for the IBEW known as what?

(ELECTCHESTER)

ROUND 2

UNCONNECTED?

(The pro question will come after #21)

20

Is this this house that George built?

(YANKEE STADIUM) (we accepted ‘Yes’/'No’ since this question was worded poorly.)

21

This waterfront neighborhood is home to investment banks and Tyra Banks.

(BATTERY PARK CITY)

22

This park was once warehouses.

(BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK)

Pro Question: For three points: Look carefully. What do the last three locations have in common?

(NEW ON THE PANORAMA)

AMUSING NEIGHBORHOODS

23

‘The Donald’s’ dad built a ‘village’ in this neighborhood in 1964.

(CONEY ISLAND)

In 1965 Trump tore down which neighborhood amusement park?

(STEEPLECHASE PARK)

24

50,000 residents in 35 towers make up this ‘city’

(CO-OP CITY)

In 1964 what amusement park closed to make way for these apartments?

(FREEDOMLAND)

25

This waterfront neighborhood, miles from Miami, was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.

(SOUTH BEACH)

What 15-acre amusement park might have put a smile on your face when it opened here in 1906?

(HAPPYLAND)

LIKE THE AD SAYS, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY…

26

In 1943 you could find the chimps Joe and Jimmie and Marjorie the baby camel, here:

(CENTRAL PARK ZOO)

Then ‘walk a mile’ and you’d find yourself in front of a famous billboard advertising what?

(CAMEL CIGARETTES)

27

The name of this Parkway is the same as the county it runs through.

(RICHMOND)

“18 miles away” you’ll find what store on Broadway?

(STRAND BOOKSTORE)

BAD SHIP

28

What is the name of this ‘sinister portal’

(HELL GATE)

Name the ship that sank here supposedly loaded with gold meant for Redcoats.

(HMS HUSSAR)

29

During WWII approximately 70,000 men and women worked here. Give the common name of the facility. (BROOKLYN NAVY YARD)

In 1960, what ship caught fire here and killed 50 workers?

(USS CONSTELLATION)

30

This hilltop park was the first in the city of Brooklyn.

(FORT GREENE PARK)

The park is home to the Prison Ship Martyrs memorial. Many of the martyrs would have died on which ship in Wallabout Bay; the most notorious of the English prison fleet?

(HMS JERSEY)

THE INEXPLICABLE LED ZEPPELIN/NYC PARKS CONNECTION…

31

PLAY: TRAVELLIN’ RIVERSIDE BLUES

This park might be the subject of this Led Zeppelin song:

(RIVERSIDE PARK)

The Warriors were chased into this park by which gang?

(THE BASEBALL FURIES)

32

Tribute band Lez Zeppelin played at the 2012 Googa Mooga Festival in this park.

(PROSPECT PARK)

PLAY: KASHMIR

This northern section of the park might have been the subject of this Led Zeppelin song:

(VALE OF CASHMERE)

33

PLAY: RAMBLE ON

This section of the park might be the subject of this Led Zeppelin song:

(THE RAMBLE)

This area and the previous area are known for what unsanctioned activity

(CRUISING/GAY SEX)

PARKS. NOW & THEN

34

This 30-year project will be a park 3 times the size of Olmstead & Vaux’s Manhattan masterpiece.

(FRESHKILLS)

What was this space 25 years ago?

(LANDFILL/GARBAGE DUMP)

35

This park is the biggest in Queens and is just outside the doors of this building.

(FLUSHING-MEADOWS CORONA PARK)

When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of this area 91 years ago, what did he call it?

(VALLEY OF ASHES)

36

This park ‘keeps going and going’. It’s ‘ever ready’ and some of its buildings have a ‘copper top.’ What is its name?

(BATTERY PARK)

200 years ago, most of this park was part of what?

(THE HARBOR/WATER)

New York and Puerto Rico go together like red beans and rice, like salsa and merengue. Though, I never really thought much about the Puerto Rican diaspora into our city until last weekend when I had the awesome opportunity to visit the Rich Port with my lady Danielle for her 30th birthday!

Gid and Dani eating chicken Pasteles in the El Yunque Rainforest!

And good heavens, what a beautiful island. Puerto Rico was first “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on his second trip to the Americas in 1493. “Discovered” being a subjective term of course, as it was already populated by Taino Indians who called the Island Boriken (or Borinquen in Spanish, a title which many Puerto Ricans still claim with pride.) Columbus lieutenant Juan Ponce de Leon established it as a Spanish colony in 1508.

During the American imperialist expansion of the 1890s, the U.S. offered Spain $160 million dollars for the Rich Port. Spain refused. Eight years later, the Spanish-American war made the acquisition of P.R. much easier. The explosion and sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor acted as a catalyst for the war, as well as made for a pretty sculpture at the SW entrance of Central Park.

Puerto Rican roots in the Rainforest run deep!

It wasn’t until the Gran Migracion (Grand Migration) of the 1950′s and 1960′s when Puerto-Ricans and Puerto-Rican culture began to truly infiltrate major American cities like New York, giving birth to the very unique term: Nuyorican! Like the Italians before them, and the Eastern European Jews before them, and the Irish before them, these new New Yorkers made the city their own.

Once Puerto Ricans settled in places like East Harlem, the Lower East Side, Brooklyn and The Bronx, they merged their native culture with the pace, energy and attitude of New York, creating a cultural group all their own. Though Boricuas (native Puerto Ricans) tend to use the term Nuyorican as derogatory for 2nd and 3rd generation American-born Puerto Ricans, many “Nuyoricans” have adopted the term with great pride, especially on E4th street and Ave B at the New York Landmark: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

Possibly the most venerated spot in New York for Poetry and Performance art, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe was founded in 1973 as a non-profit arts space in the back of an old Irish pub. Throughout the waves of gentrification that have changed the neighborhood all around it, has stayed a non-profit arts organization, attracting three generations of poets and activists to its stage ever since.

Pinero and Rivas, two legendary Nuyoricans who founded the Poets cafe in 1973

Now it’s time for my full disclosure: I did not get to experience the beauty and wonderment of Puerto Rican culture during my 4-day trip to the island, as Danielle and I spent the vast majority of the time sitting poolside at a resort, sipping pina coladas and working on our tans. And no. I’m not ashamed of that.

So to make up for the decidedly unadventurous vacation that I enjoyed immensely, I think I’m going to take another weekend trip all the way down to Loisaida, hear some slam poetry at the Nuyorican Cafe and then finish it off with a lip-smacking, hot plate of Mofongo! Happy Spring everyone!

By Gideon Levy

10 ways to celebrate that won’t leave ya bushed:

1.  Saint Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16th

A parade for a religious holiday on a Sunday? Can you imagine the cheek of it! In its 252nd year, New York City has the world’s oldest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade; the grand celebration was moved to the Saturday before the holiday in order to avoid offending the devout.

2.  Go to Mass!

Hundreds of churches in New York will celebrate Saint Patrick on the day of his feast, but only two historic cathedrals actually bear his name. Get all done up like a dog’s dinner and attend mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral or (better yet) Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral.

3.  Attend Saint Patrick’s Open Day at the Irish Arts Center

Bring yer fella and bring the babby - The Irish Arts Center’s family event features kids’ classes in art, step dancing, and more. There are also music, film, and other performances for all of ya.

4.  Make a pilgrimage to the Irish Hunger Memorial

Plants and architectural design are joined by at a rock or stone from each of Ireland’s 32 counties. I love bringing visitors to this monument because it is beautiful, poignant, and so few out-of-towners know it exists.

5.  Catch a show at the Irish Rep

Both Ireland and New York have rich dramatic traditions. No tour of either is complete without an evening of theatre. On Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend, the legendary Irish Repertory Theatre (celebrating its 25^th anniversary season) will be showing Donnybrook!, a musical based on the classic film, The Quiet Man.

6.  Visit the Moores at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

This amazing historic museum can only be seen via (non-Levy) guided tour. After all, the building itself is the exhibit.  The “Irish Outsiders” tour about the Moore family, who lived in the building, will surely sell out quickly. So book ahead on their website.

7.  Hear some Irish music

It wouldn’t be an Irish celebration without music and dancin’! Pick yer poison: traditional folk music at the Celtic Appalachia concert at Symphony Space, or check out the Saw Doctors at Irving Plaza for some quality Irish rock.

8.  Tour the Poetry, Pints, and Pugilism

The Irish have been the backbone of this city for centuries. How much do ye know about em? Our licensed New York City tour guides get into the history with poetry, pints, and pugilism. Come along!

9.  Bangers & Mash

Shop for Irish goods in Woodlawn. This northernmost neighborhood in the Bronx is the closest thing to a “Little Ireland” NYC still has. Walking Katonah Avenue will bring you by Prime Cuts where you can stock up on the makings of your own corned beef & cabbage dinner, lamb stew, or bangers & mash.  Sean’s Quality Deli provides staples like Barry’s Tea and newspapers from the old country. On McLean Avenue, gift shops like Anna’s Attic and Shamrock Irish Imports will keep you in Waterford crystal and Irish earthenware for the rest of your days.

10.  Participate in the Saint Patrick’s Day Children’s Art Competition

Download an entry form from the Consulate General of Ireland (New York) and have your kids draw, paint, or create a collage based on the life and adventures of Saint Patrick himself! The consulate is working in collaboration with Irish organizations throughout the U.S., most notably the New York Irish Center in Queens.

By Matthew Baker

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Challenge.  See you back at the Panorama next year!

PRO

1^st Place:

Committee on Manifest Errors: 64

2^nd Place:

Civic Virtue: 62

3^rd Place 3-way Tie :

Astoria Aces: 61

5 Boro Thoroughs: 61

The Board of Estimates: 61

Next to Normal: 57

Brooklyn Bridegrooms: 56

Zip’s Trip: 56

The Know Nothings: 56

Pomonok You Out: 56

U.R.S.: 54

Roberta Moseses: 52

Transportation Domination: 50

Throg’s Legs: 49

Brooklyn Tech Brain Trust: 46

REGULAR

1^st Place:

The Annalarians 40

2^nd Place:

Zidar Power 38

3^rd Place:

The Strangers 37

The Edukators 36

Brooklyn Cyclones 35

Team Fisher 35

Water Street Swim Team 35

How My Doin’? 35

Dusty 35

Edgar’s Crew 34

The Sixth Boro 33

Queens County Coffers 32

Team 17 31

Koch & Soda 31

Cougars & Cubs 30

Brooklyn Bridges 28

The Traffic Calmers 25

15 Tips on How to Be a New Yorker with Tour Guide Dahlia Lopez Ramsay!

1. The best people watching is to be done in Union Square not Times Square. Times Square is what happens when you crawl into the TV in your living room on the commercial break – and with a lot less personal space.

In 1964, New York City hosted its second World’s Fair in 25 years -

and the fair had companies like US Steel contributing iconic structures, some of which became part of NY’s Outer Borough Skyline – like the 120 foot high stainless steel Unisphere. If you’ve ever traveled to or from Laguardia Airport or been to a US Open Tennis game, you’ve seen the famous sculpture.

So, if New York City was going BIG at the World’s Fair ’64,

they’d need to bring it big time or go home (well, they were home, but you get the drift…)  Robert Moses, nearing the end of his career, was the man who fought to bring the fair back to NY. Perhaps he wanted a (not so) subtle way, to highlight all the ways he had changed the city.

Robert Moses -

was the city’s de facto master planner, involved in everything from building 13 bridges to laying down 416 miles of highways and planning over 2.5 million acres of parks.  Moses is an intensely polarizing figure whom New Yorkers love AND hate in the same breath.  His reach was all-encompassing even to this day and, no matter the tour group — private tour or high school band trip –  LUNY! guides utter his name at least once.

So when Moses wanted to use the Fair to celebrate his accomplishments, he was definitely thinking big. Moses took the New York City Pavilion — the last building remaining from the 1939 Fair (and the temporary home of the United Nations from 1946-50) — and created a tribute to his accomplishments. It’s the size of half a football field. It included a simulated helicopter ride over a miniaturized New York City. It’s the largest architectural scale model… in the World. It’s the New York Panorama.

The Panorama was built by 100 craftsmen and included every single building in NYC – 895,000 of them, built to a scale of 1:100!

It not only celebrated Moses’ bridges and highways, but each and every home, factory, store, street and park in this fine metropolis. The New York Panorama shrunk the 300+ square miles of city to fit 9,335 square feet, reducing the Empire State Building to a 15 inch spire. Best of all, you can still see this amazing project today!

I consider it to be one of the city’s great hidden treasures.  Nowadays, the New York Panorama is part of the wonderful Queens Museum of Art and accessible during museum hours (and sometimes after hours, but more on that later!).

My eight-year-old son loves it and I’ve brought private tours there. It’s a jaw-dropping experience.  There’s plenty of room on the elevated ramps that surround it so you can even bring a entire class through.  It’s (almost!) like taking a tour of the whole city in 20 minutes.  In just a few steps you can walk from Yankee Stadium to Central Park and the Empire State Building.

The whole Panorama was updated in 1992 when many old buildings were removed and new structures were added.  But, notably, the Twin Towers still stand. If you want to add a building, the QMA’s Adopt-a-Building program will happily let you fund an addition of a new skyscraper to the Panorama.

Back in 2007, something happened at the Panorama that would eventually lead to my frequent visits to that wonderful hall.  The New York Times covered it in a piece called “Night of the Know-it-Alls.”  Thus began the Panorama Challenge, inviting New York City history fans (aka GEEKS!) to the Panorama after hours for a geographical trivia based quiz night.  Such Geo-Geeks would answer NYC questions assisted by laser pointers and audio clues.

This year is the 6th Panorama Challenge and I’m proud to say I’m the Head Quiz Writer this year (again!) and thought I’d end this story with a couple of challenges that you can answer without the benefit of a massive model of our metropolis. Answer in the comments, and if you do really well, come on by the Panorama on March 1, 2013 for the real Challenge. Maybe you can win your team name on the Panorama Challenge trophy!

By Jonathan Turer.

(photos 2-4 courtesy of Queens Museum of Art)

1) What ‘presidential’ island is home to a long-planned but newly-opened memorial designed by the late Louis I Kahn?

2) Head to Brooklyn’s Cumberland Street if you want to get the ‘low’ down on what ‘sweet’ package?

3) One of Laguardia Airport’s oldest buildings is decorated with images of flying fish.  Why?

4) Which ‘slice’ of  Breezy Point was devastated by fire during Superstorm Sandy?

5) Before hipsters and before the bridge, this neighborhood was once its own city.

Gordon Matta Clark was the first on the scene in a seminal and clever 1974 video entitled “Clockshower”. Woody Allen considered it for a location, Amy Grant shot a music video up there and if you’ve seen 9 and ½ Weeks you may recognize it from the steamy love scene (skip to 1:30) between Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke (according to Marvin, a crack in one of the windows was caused by an overly passionate Basinger during the film shoot).

If you’ve ever had to go to Summons Court in New York City for unpaid parking tickets or an open container violation, you’ve been to 346 Broadway. You’ve slunk to the Leonard street entrance, passed through metal detectors and ascended a grand staircase that feels like it’s out of some Parisian hotel lobby. You then probably had to wait on line for three hours just to get your summons dismissed.

But if you had continued up from the semi-circular elevator bank to the 12^th floor, entered through the odd red door to your left and climbed a flight of stairs, you would’ve stumbled into the Clocktower Gallery. Founded by Alanna Heiss in 1972 (who also started PS1 a year earlier) the Clocktower Gallery is a wondrous home for art in an unlikely location.  Home to Art on Air Radio, an Internet radio station that does what it sounds like, as well  residency programs for studio artists that work with everything from large-scale sculpture installation to experimental music to DNA replication.

Now, if you continued up another flight of stairs to the upper gallery, you’d find an installation by Puerto Rican artist Papo Colo. BUT if you come early in the morning and on the right day, you’ll ascend the spiral staircase to the top of the building’s 20-foot tall tower and, with the help of Clockmaster Marvin Schneider, you can check out, up close and personal, the original 1897 clock that gives the gallery its name.

If you took our architecture tour, you’d know all about Stanford White, the pre-eminent architect of the 20^th century who designed 108 Leonard Street as the HQ of the New York Life Insurance Company. The engineers for the building figured a way for the master clock to command a hundred smaller clocks throughout the building with a system of weights and wires. The building and its gorgeous clock fell into disrepair in the mid-20^th century but Marvin gained access to it in the 1980’s and, with permission from the city, started to tinker with it.

Marvin has been taking care of this clock as well as many others around the city ever since. Needless to say, he has a passion for antiquated systems and a penchant for history. In fact, he and his apprentice Forrest are currently hunting down a historic New York mystery involving the building. Before 1948, a magnificent, huge statue of Atlas and his ubiquitous globe were erected on the east side of the building, and sometime between 1948 and 1952 it disappeared. How anyone could have absconded with a statue weighing a few tons is beyond me, but thats why its a mystery!

And as for the sad case of Ferd Rueter, a troubled young man who was found hanging from the spiral staircase a hundred years ago, the clock has its share of NYC ghost stories too.

The smaller clocks throughout the building are gone now, but the master clock ticks on. And its enormous bell tolls every hour on the hour. Come hear it during visiting hours, Tuesday through Friday from 12pm-5pm or at the open house events, which you can find at ARTonAIR.org

By Jonah Levy

New York City and fashion go hand in foot like Sex in the City and Manolo Blahniks. Even as a teenager I knew this – especially because I went to the mecca of fashion, the High School of Art and Design. My first day of school I robbed a huge silk fawn-colored blouse with a giant bow out of my mother’s closet. I threw that together with jeans and high heeled brown pumps. Only fashionable outfits from then on! I guess it worked, because when Betsy Johnson came in as the guest designer for our HS Fashion Show, she INSISTED I was first on the runway.

Calvin Klein graduated from A&D and our Fashion Club received free bolts of fabric and accessories from famous designers like Halston and Daniel Hechter. My afterschool hangout was Bloomingdales and we would smoke cigarettes while watching breakdancers in Central Park. My fashion education included dancing at Studio 54, and I modeled a few times at Danceteria and Xenons, as well as hung out hung out with a few celebs back in the day, (shhhhh don’t tell Mom!) Then after school, I moved to Milan where I worked as a stylist and traveled back and forth for over 13 years! So I know a thing or two about fashion in NYC!

The history of fashion dates back to as far back as 600 BCE when Miss Cleopatra took it to the nines with bold shapes, colors, make-up, hair & accessories. From the ancient world to Medieval Ages, through Renaissance splendor, Baroque, Belle Epoque and Jazz Styles up to the 20th century, fashion has come a long way. Problem was, it had to become functional with women in the workplace. We swang into the sixties, which included an era of great art and high fashion photos by Scavullo and models like Ziggy and BOOM we hit the designer decade of the 80’s.

New York City’s Garment District always had sweatshops and factories because NYC has always been a hotbed for cheap labor. Pre-Civil War, we made clothing for slaves working on Southern plantations. After the abolishment of slavery in 1827, we manufactured uniforms for American soldiers headed to War. With the invention of the sewing machine in 1850, NYC started to produce material big-time. Add this to the endless supply of young, working class immigrant women who knew how to sew and soon enough, garment production became the 4th largest business in NYC. By the close of the 19th century, the US produced 70% of women’s wear and 40% of menswear in NYC, but not no more.

What once was the Garment District is now proudly the Fashion District! FashionWeek in New York, sponsored by Mercedes Benz, runs Feb 7 – 14th. 3 years ago, all the runways and tents were smack in the middle of Bryant Park, but now they’re held in Lincoln Center. During the old days, The Bryant Park Hotel, (formerly the American Radiator Building) was the top of the crop. Scandalous stories happened here (starring Naomi Campbell for most of them) and the hotel’s neighbors complained that they were sick of being accosted for a full month (before, during AND after the shows) for two weeks every September AND February. So, Ladies and Gentleman ya gotta go UPTOWN to catch all the high fashion society.

For places to go and things to do in the fashion world, it’s all about being seen. Mandatory stops include The Gramercy Park Hotel rooftop bar and The Meatpacking District. Diane Von Furstenburg and other big name designers have changed the face of those cobblestones streets. Have a drink at the Standard Hotel’s Biergarten, and chat up models at The Boom Boom Room around the corner. There’s also The Gansevoort Hotel, made popular by The Kardashians. Other neighborhoods like Soho and the Lower East side become bumper to bumper taxi traffic on a simple Sunday night. Some fashion shows are run down there at The New Museum on The Bowery.

Fashion week in New York is NOT the time of year to be looking for sales or discount shopping but on my fashion tour I always make a stop at MOOD Fabrics on 39th St. Two full warehouse-size floors with bolts of fabric as far as the eye can see. This is the place where Project Runway sends their competitors to shop. The shop closes for 1 hour on Thursdays when they’re filming with Judge Tim Gunn.

I can tell you that the fashion trends for 2013 are bold colors and beautiful prints and the permanently proven New York classic BLACK & WHITE. From Paris to Milan, arriving in New York this February is the new trend of laser-printed fabrics. Designers can now take whatever images they dream up and transfer them directly to fabric!

Stylists can make or break any trend and thats why they sit front row at shows like Donna Karan and Alexander Wang. So although I might hang out at a party or two, it’s difficult to get hot tickets for FashionWeek. But you have to know where you came from if you know where you’re going!

By Kristin Singleton