99 Luftballons in Manhattan

Well, we suppose there’s only going to be one of them, but we could not help ourselves. The fact of the matter is that you can go up in a hot air balloon and see Central Park as you have never seen it before – from bird’s-eye perspective!

For that we have to thank to the Central Park Conservancy and New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, who want to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Olmsted and Vaux’s Greensward plan (the original design for the park) in a really cool way. Every day from 7 am to 10 pm, until August 22nd, an anchored, helium-filled AeroBalloon will ascend to 300 feet with up to four passengers on board. If you want to chat with the birds for 10 minutes or just have a moment of silence in the midst of crazy Manhattan, simply pay $25 ($17.50 if you are a kid taller than 40″) and fly away! You can catch a ride at Cherry Hill, Central Park at West 72nd street, West of Bethesda Fountain.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Today is a historic moment for all the Yankees fans and the team’s home ballpark. The all-star baseball game is going to take place tonight, for the last time at the old Yankee Stadium, before it’s going to be replaced by the brand new facility just a few yards away. Ask New Yorkers what they are going to miss about the old stadium and they will tell you that it is a historic site, home to so many beautiful wins and memories. Sure, the tradition is great, but we liked what The New York Times did today – they have asked people most affected by the stadium’s archaic amenities – the players themselves – what they won’t miss.

“When it rains, the smell that comes up through the drainage system is not pretty,” said Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago White Sox’ Joe Crede won’t be crying over “Hitting my head on the dugout. Every time somebody scored or got a hit, you jumped up and forgot how low the ceiling is in there.”

Well, as much as we are not baseball fans, we’ll miss the stadium, too (after all, it was there where we saw our first and only baseball game). But on a cheerful note, the field where Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Reggie Jackson had scored home runs, will now be a place for the youngsters to learn how to hit that ball right. So wipe your tears and be happy for them. Oh, and don’t miss the game – it starts at 8.30PM.

Let’s have a fight! (it’s actually good for you)

Yeah, folks, hope you were there – Union Square definitely was the place to be this sunny Saturday afternoon! As part of the global Pillow Fight event network, we had a chance to behold the Third Annual New York City Pillow Fight. About a thousand people showed up, armed to the teeth with soft cushions and clad in appropriately intrinsic costumes. Your humble correspondent attended, too, more as an innocent bystander than as a participant – and here’s what I saw:

The ferocious fight erupted almost with the first blow of a whistle, 3 pm sharp – and continued with unwinding energy at least for an hour, and then some:

Participants showed up armed and dangerous – observe this guy’s fearful imported weapon:

Pillows were not the only fashion statement for a day. Costumes mattered a lot:

Some folks sowed a level of multi-tasking that would make Napoleon run for his money:

…while others stunned the audience with guerrilla political activism:

(no, this Harvey Dent guy is NOT a Democrat..)

All in all, it was a lot of fun and a lot of feathers:

But when the pillow-fighting ceased, a more serious crowd showed up… and made me thinking: perhaps we should held a global Pillow Fight event on a neutral ground, instead of Bejing Olympics? Just a thought…

Veni, Vidi, We kicked their butts

See for yourself how New Yorkers thanked their team (they should be called Gigants for winning with Boston) at the Ticker-Tape Parade, first one in 8 years.