The New York City Marathon got underway on Oct. 17, 2020. This year, much like many other aspects of life in the City, the traditional route was forsaken for a virtual form. Runners were encouraged to register for any 26.2-mile route of their choosing and complete it within two weeks.
The New York Road Runners, the umbrella organization responsible for the annual marathon, reported that more than 28,000 runners from 130 countries and all 50 states signed up for the modified race this year. Close to 21% of those registered were based in New York’s metropolitan region.
Sunday, November 1, would have been the 50th anniversary of the New York City Marathon. While runners didn’t traverse the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, where the run usually gets underway, they could still run through the track down Fourth Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, across the Queensboro Bridge, and through Manhattan and the Bronx to the “finish line” in Central Park.
There were no street closures, supportive crowds, or aid tents, but many fans of the marathon did put up encouraging signs to show their support.
New York City’s Department of Transportation published a tender for “expressions of interest” for a pilot initiative which would bring electric scooters to the Big Apple. The initial plan is to introduce the scooters in all the boroughs except Manhattan in May 2021.
So far, big names in urban transportation have shown interest in the program. Bird, Lime, Voi, and Lyft have all taken steps to participate in the bidding process.
“We applaud the City and Commissioner Trottenberg for taking this crucial next step in making New York a global leader in environmental travel, micromobility, equitable transportation, and street safety.”
Maurice Henderson, Bird’s director of government partnerships
All around the world, for nearly a decade tourism, has expanded consistently and grown faster than the global gross domestic product. It only took one microscopic virus to destroy the entire travel industry: 121 million people in tourism jobs are unemployed, $3.4 trillion have been lost. With the reopening of schools in September 2020, and a general movement to begin planning a post-corona reality, many in the industry are looking for ways to make travel smarter, greener, and better.
Sustainable tourism, which seeks to offset the social and environmental impacts of travel used to be the goal. Now the focus is on regenerative travel—a visitor’s aim to leave a place better than it was before.
Six nonprofit organizations, including the Center for Responsible Travel and Sustainable Travel International, have formed an umbrella coalition, the Future of Tourism, offering benchmark suggestions for regenerative travelers. The recommendations include favoring local businesses over international chains, staying at resorts that source foods from local farmers, and participating in immersive community-based programs like beach clean-ups, school volunteering, etc. Neither sustainable nor regenerative travel solve the carbon emission problem; people will still need to get to these destinations, presumably by air. But the newly formed coalition encourages tourists to opt for boat, train, bike or foot excursions when exploring a new venue.
The temperature in New York is slowly rising and the sun is shining more as the days are getting longer. Despite all the corona-chaos, which has slowed the dizzying pace of New York City, Spring is most definitely in the air. The grasses are green, the flowers are blooming, and now we have the opportunity to enjoy it. Here are a few tips for having a safe New York City picnic this spring.
Location, Location, Location
Pick a spot that is not heavily visited and far from foot trafficked paths. Central Park has a lot of different areas and spaces. A full list of picnic parks is available here, but make sure to check each website to determine opening hours. Also consider putting your blanket down in a neighborhood park. If you are still not ready to venture outside, you can have a virtual picnic with friends by pulling up some an outdoor environment, like an aquarium webcam or a video tour of a national park and playing some nature sounds.
Time it Right
Everyone is looking to get outdoors after weeks of being cloistered at home. To avoid crowds, schedule an early morning breakfast picnic, or an after-dinner picnic party for dessert.
Be Selfish
Like all good potluck meals, picnics are fun because of the sharing. But now, more than ever, double-dipping and communal bowls should be avoided. Build a menu that focuses on individual servings. Pre-pack finger foods for each picnicker; slice and wrap any baked goods before heading out.
Plan to Play
Nobody should be touching public park equipment during this time; balls and frisbees pass through too many hands to be safe. That is why it is important to plan some entertainment for the kids. Apps like Heads Up!, a guessing game, and Midpoint, a word-association game offer fun activities for all ages. You can also go with classics like charades or I Spy.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The corona lockdown has been very good for the environment, reducing pollution and hazardous toxins. Do your part to keep that momentum going. If at all possible, consider using real dishes and cutlery. If you must go with disposable, opt for biodegradable products instead of plastics. Obviously, clear all waste to a garbage can and make sure you leave your picnic site clean for future visitors.
New York City has invited visionaries and strategists from around the world to help solve a truly NY problem: the notoriously overcrowded Brooklyn Bridge foot and bike path. The competition was officially launched in early February and is designed to raise ideas for alleviating the chronically clogged areas.
The Brooklyn Bridge and its pedestrians
The Brooklyn Bridge is an iconic tourist
attraction with longstanding New York history and phenomenal views of
Manhattan. The 137-year-old bridge sees an average of 16,500 pedestrians and
3,000 cyclists each day.
If you are an
architectural, design, or engineering professional ages 22 and older or a young
adults ages 21 and under with some good ideas for the walkway, submit them. And if you are a tourist
visiting NYC in the near future, put the Brooklyn Bridge on your itinerary and
see a part of New York’s glory.
New York City and Nike have signed a new partnership allowing the sportswear giant to use more than 30 NYC trademarks (including the NYPD Bomb Squad seal, Department of Transportation crest, or FDNY insignia) on its apparel.
NYC iconoic logos like this will now appear alongside the Nike swoosh.
The deal is an economic tourism win: Nike will pay NYC & Company, the city’s marketing and tourism outfit, royalties of 5 percent of the net sales from these emblazoned items each year. Revenue will be used to support the cost of the city’s licensing program.
NYC’s
deal with Nike advances a set of ethical standards, including a ban on forced
and child labor and a requirement that municipal vendors “treat employees with
respect and dignity,” that the company must adhere to. Nike is also
compelled to disclose where its city-branded products will be made; vendors will
sign an ethical standards form when contracting with a new factory.
Tourists and NYC fans can look forward to finding Nike/NYC items as early as spring 2020.
Vacationing in New York City is always fun. But sometimes the real-life chores like laundry and groceries can confound even the most seasoned traveler.
The laundry is customer and community focused, with regular open-to-the-public events held in the bright, airy, well decorated venue. Upstairs, in the mezzanine, the Clean Café offers an enticing café menu. With an outdoor sitting area in the garden, customers can catch some quiet outdoor time while waiting for the rinse cycle to end. The food is prepared by a nutritionist- chef and the coffee is roasted by Caffe Vita, a roaster committed to working with farmers practicing sustainable agriculture. Celsious washers and dryers feature energy-efficient technology.
Well, Russian martial arts anyway. Located at 5th and 6th avenue the Polygon Elite is home to Russian Systema Martial Art, guiding “the most efficient, realistic, competent and comprehensive solution to elite hand-to-hand, close quarters combat instruction, ‘forged out of the most brutal training regime ever created’.”
These classes are great for “law enforcement, security professionals, professional contractors, consultancy to corporations, organizations & educational entities, as well as specialized civilian self-defense training in the New York City area and worldwide.”
The classes are taught by Russian Airborne Brigade and the students come away with “elite hand-to-hand fighting skills, including striking, strike absorption & pain compliance, offensive and defensive weaponry skills with a variety of weapons, including improvised & unconventional weapons, ground survival, including dive/roll/falling techniques, body movement, stealth techniques and escape, evasion & ambush tactics against individual and multiple attackers, strikes, confined spaces fighting, psychological & physiological training, including life-saving Russian Breathing/Healing work.” This can then be used in real situations when faced with “negative ‘recall/autopilot’.” As well as this core course, there are modified versions for “civilians, offering defensive, self-protection procedures.” The course is a great way to become familiar with “battle-proven hand-to-hand close quarters combat fighting tactics.”
It seems that punk rock is not just for having fun, but also for getting in shape. And it has reached Manhattan vis-à-vis keeping fit. More and more gyms are now offering classes that take a retro back to the eighties and are getting into old-school punk.
And what’s great about it is that it’s not just the hard core aerobics that is using this music, but also soft stuff like yoga! Everyone who is moving is getting into the punk rock beat!
Some examples include the following classes: Haley De Groat offers Blitzkrieg Bod (which takes place in the back of Bushwick’s Cobra Club every Friday night) focuses on High Intensity Interval Training. Tim Haft has a class called Punk Rope and MoshFit which offers classes using alternative music, bringing together rockers and fitness freaks which are aimed at being a mixture of: community oriented, creative and fun all at the same time.
Then there is Michael Macneal who has his MonsterCycle class which is “run by the music” featuring “energy like rock stars with call and response instruction. And then right on the other side of the spectrum Brian Williams has Punk Yoga which is just focusing on being present.
So there really is a sense of punk arrival in the Manhattan fitness scene!
