“tourist lane” joke is actually a brilliant idea

A local group of improv comedians—Improv Everywhere—set up a hilarious “tourist lane” on the sidewalk of 5th Avenue at 22nd Street recently. Check out the video for pedestrian reactions:

Now, this is meant to be a joke of course. But…maybe these guys are onto something??

Imagine how effective this would be, say, near 14th Street/Union Square!? Or how about coming out of subway exits…the dividers could start at the turnstile, go up the stairs, and diverge tourists as they gape up at tall buildings, allowing the rest of us to get on our way!

Yes…this is a brilliant idea. Now how does one submit such a thing to Mayor Bloomberg…

livin’ in a film set

One of the things I love most about living in the city is stumbling upon the occasional production set. Between Law & Order, The Real Housewives of NY and Gossip Girl, it’s pretty common to walk right by a crew in the middle of filming.

In the last few years, I’ve been lucky to catch a few films in action: Sex and the City 2, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Remember Me. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this little notice right on my front door:

My front buzzer; filming notice

'Duplicity Productions will be filming interior and exterior shots for "Something Borrowed" at Park Avenue S. at 22nd Street on Monday, May 3rd.'

Looks like Duplicity Productions will be filming “Something Borrowed” in my neighborhood — and on my street no less!

Some of you might remember reading “Something Borrowed,” the cutesy chick-lit novel from author Emily Giffin that tells the story of two best friends, one of whom steals the other’s man.

According IMDB.com, the film adaptation will star Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin as the BFFs and John Krasinski as the man who comes between them.

Over the course of the next few days, the usual production ecoutrements began to appear:

Massive cranes hoisted lighting for interior shoots.

To the left of this sign were trailers and Kraft services; to the right, the set.

The main door of Crimson nightclub at 21st and Broadway was recreated by this temporary set.

Crew members work on production equipment

No parking along 22nd street; Signs like these are required by law and must state the project title (so you can always find out what's being filmed!)

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch a glimpse of any stars during the week the set was here. I’ll just have to wait and see the movie in theaters — and look for myself in the background!!

nyc tp – take 2!

I think the packaging designers at Duane Reade are having a little too much fun!

You probably remember this post about the toilet paper “for the big city’s little keisters.”

Well look what I found last night! Now DR has a jumbo pack of toilet paper:

“From Midtown to Flushing.” FLUSHING! Baahahaha! Oh man…man that’s good. I’d like to meet these marketing joksters.

neighborhood find: cafe 50 west

Tried a new find in the neighborhood for dinner:
Cafe 50 West
22nd Street between 5th and 6th.

Clockwise from top left: Caesar salad; spinach and artichoke dip; blueberry hard lemonade; front exterior

Menu online here

taking notice

“The city is full of beautiful architecture. All you have to do is look up.”
- 500 Days of Summer

madison square park’s newest inhabitants

One of Gormley's human statues atop a 5th Avenue building near 22nd Street.

This weekend, while I was standing in the infamously long line at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, I was startled to see what looked like a human figure standing high atop the edge of the Credit Suisse building. Just as I was about take off screaming, “Don’t jump!,” I noticed another such figure atop a building across the way. In a matter of seconds, I had spotted four more figures.

Come to find out—thanks to iPhone Google—the figures are part of a public art installation sponsored by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. (Some may remember the mysterious tree houses that appeared in the Park about a year ago–yep, same folks.)

Event Horizon, by British artist Antony Gormley, comprises a total of 31 statues placed around the Flatiron area. Grab some friends and see if you can find them all—it’s a ‘Where’s Waldo’ of the neighborhood if you will.

Event Horizon is “on display” until Aug. 15. More information can be found here.