Turns out, Central Park has a pizza problem.

As reported by NY1, the luscious green destination has always been the site of a ton of pizza parties and picnics. However, park goers could never properly get rid of their pie boxes because of their size, which is larger than the regular trash bins featured across the park. 

That’s all about to change: the Central Park Conservancy has just installed a new square bin designed specifically to hold up to 50 pizza boxes at once. On-site staff will be checking the recycling receptacle two-to-three times a day, which should suffice to keep the area clean and clear of rodents.

Currently in “pilot phase,” the project will involve the installation of additional bins should the one currently there prove to be useful and successful. Find the first new garbage can by the East Pinetum section of the park, right by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where picnics are fairly popular.

“You open the pizza box, take all the contents out, wax paper, slices, you throw it in the trash, then you close the box, place it right into the pizza box bin,” explained Jonathan Vasquez, a groundskeeper for the Central Park Conservancy, to NY1. 

It’s clear that officials are finally taking the city’s trash problem seriously. This specific Central Park development isn’t necessarily tied to the rat-related issues that New Yorkers have been contending with, but it certainly goes along with the new public trash cans that were installed all over town just a few months ago.

Who knows? We might soon be crowned the cleanest city in the U.S. A girl can dream, right?

* This article was originally published here

If you’re like most New Yorkers, the biggest deterrent to getting a nice bike is probably the prospects of having it get stolen.

Even though the thefts are common across the city, New Yorkers still take 600,000 bike trips every single day, which means it’s past time officials did something to protect our favorite two-wheeled mode of transit. 

Last week, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced a major initiative involving the launch of 500 secure bike parking locations by next year, according to a press release by the Department of Transportation. 

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On May 9, the city issued an open call to identify a company that could operate the secure bike storage network. 

“With record bike ridership and an all-time high number of protected bike lanes, New York City is experiencing a booming cycling renaissance,” Rodriguez said in an official statement. “This initiative will support continued growth in cycling by addressing a key barrier to bike ownership: the lack of access to secure bike storage.”

After securing a company to do the job, the city will start operating the first storages as early as next year, hoping to finish building all 500 within the next half-a-decade. 

The program will prioritize locations that are near major transit hubs while also accounting for e-bike accommodations.

The Department of Transportation is already considering several potential models, including small-capacity units installed by residential areas able to hold 10 to 12 bikes at once. 

Enclosed high-capacity units, on the other hand, will be located near major transit hubs and will be able to house dozens of bikes at once, including, potentially, charging stations for e-bikes.  

A third model currently being analyzed involved self-locking racks, which can be placed on sidewalks or the curb. These have the simplest design and resemble the Citi Bike racks that already exist all across the city.  

Providing more secure biking storage will not only decrease bike theft and encourage New Yorkers to opt for the mode of transport, but the process could potentially fundamentally change the way people get around the city.

“Providing residents with secure bike parking is instrumental in ensuring more New Yorkers are walking, biking and using mass transit, which helps to cut our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Elijah Hutchinson, the Climate and Environmental Justice Executive Director for the Mayor’s office, in an official statement. “New Yorkers require a mixture of travel options to meet their daily needs.” 

* This article was originally published here

New York City is full of drop-dead gorgeous dining rooms, from scenic spots like Tavern on the Green to French stunners like Le Coucou (which, along with being très jolie, was recently found to be one of the most popular restaurants in the world). But out of the thousands of restaurants in NYC, which is the most beautiful?  In honor of the 50th anniversary of PEOPLE magazine, the editors at OpenTable and PEOPLE paired up to crown the most beautiful restaurant in each state.

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The list of the 50 Most Beautiful Restaurants in America featured such beauts as The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, California; Tillie’s in Dripping Springs, Texas; Everett’s 8,800 in Big Sky, Montana and the Crow’s Nest at Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska. But in our neck of the woods, the New York City venue that is turning heads as the Empire State’s most beautiful restaurant is Verōnika, the romantic Rose Hill eatery tucked inside the 19th-century Park Avenue South building that houses the Fotografiska Museum.

With its luxe, Roman and Williams-designed interiors—per the designers, they “re-envisioned with respect and innovation the historical 1894 Beaux-Arts Church Missions House” for the restaurant’s look, with high ceilings, gilded accents, ornate brass chandeliers, a Black St. Laurent marble bar, mohair seating and trimmed archways—it’s not a surprise that Verōnika would grab the attention of the list makers. “Curvaceous and deep mohair seating with an arched back hugs you and references the architecture of the room. Polished, elegant hued Rosa Perlino marble tabletops are graced with custom egg-shaped lights,” the Roman and Williams crew wax poetic about their design work. 

The sprawling restaurant was initially opened by celebrity restaurateur Stephen Starr—who knows his way around a well-appointed dining room, being behind such New York heavy-hitters as Pastis, La Mercerie, Buddakan and the aforementioned Le Coucou—in 2020 but post-pandemic, is now operated by CultureWorks, the owners of NeueHouse and Fotografiska. The elegant room is complemented by continental European cooking: lobster omelets, Dover sole Meunièr, a salt-crusted porterhouse and the like. 

* This article was originally published here

Everyone loves Union Pool in Williamsburg—and for good reason: the popular bar looks cool (it’s set in a former supply store), constantly hosts awesome musical acts and offers delicious tacos from a truck in the backyard.

Summer Sundays at Union Pool take the cake though, with the “Summer Thunder” series bringing a slew of free daytime concerts on site. This year, the 12th annual iteration of the event will kick off on June 2 with a show by rock band Guerilla Toss. 

Free shows will be mounted at the bar every Sunday in June, July and August from noon to 6pm. Each one will be open to folks 21 and up. Remember that the programming will happen rain or shine and access will be granted on a first come, first served basis depending on capacity. Things get pretty crowded in there, so you’re going to want to head to the site early on Sundays. 

The bar has also released its official “Summer Thunder 2024” playlist on Spotify, highlighting tracks by the various artists set to take the stage in upcoming months.

Here it is:

Find more information about the “Summer Thunder” series right here and check out the full schedule of upcoming acts below: 

June 2: Guerilla Toss
June 9: Bitchin Bajas
June 16: Rosali
June 23: Armand Hammer
June 30: Los Èsplifs
July 7: Joe Bataan
July 14: Lifeguard/Font
July 21: Mary Timony
July 28: Ayanna Heaven Presents Good Ting: with Red Fox, Screechy Dan, & more TBA
August 4: Rahill
August 11: Winged Wheel (members of Tyvek, Spray Paint, Matchess ++ Steve Shelley and more)
August 18: Kid Congo Powers
August 25: To be announced

* This article was originally published here

“The Portal,” a public technology sculpture that debuted near the Flatiron Building on May 8 featuring a webcam connecting NYC and Dublin with a 24/7 live video stream, was supposed to be a uniting cultural force, broadcasting real-time videos of scenes from two corners of the world. 

Unfortunately, though, that’s not exactly what happened: “The Portal” has just shut down temporarily following “inappropriate behavior” from folks in the Irish capital. Clearly, we don’t deserve cool art projects.

According to the New York Post, people in Dublin have been flashing swastikas, their own bare bottoms and even more unbecoming images that have gone viral. Have you not seen the video of the “very drunk” woman getting led away by cops in Ireland after “slapping and grinding against the portal?”

You’d be pardoned for laughing at the sight of New Yorkers watching the scene unfold from 3,200 miles away. Here it is, just in case:

The Dublin City Council put out an official statement about the developments earlier this week, pointing out that, despite the videos circulating on social media, the “overwhelming majority of interactions are positive.” That being said, changes clearly need to be made for the 3.5-ton portals to continue operating properly.

“While we cannot control all of these actions, we are implementing some technical solutions to address this and these will go live in the next 24 hours,” the political body said in the statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days with our partners in New York to ensure that portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world.”

No exact details about what those fixes will look like or when, exactly, they will be implemented have been made public yet. 

Although some attendees have stepped up to the webcam to sweetly address people on the other side of the screen—some even setting up timed meetings with loved ones across the the ocean!—the improper behaviors have taken center stage, showcasing the most deplorable aspects of human nature. 

We’d be remiss not to point out that, we’re surprised. New Yorkers can be very indecorous but it wasn’t our behavior that has forced the art project’s organizers to shut things down!

* This article was originally published here