I remember my very first trip to New York City at eight years old in vivid—though brief—detail. A flash of Columbus Circle horns blaring, buildings towering. A pack of baseball cards from a surly street vendor. A seagull on the Circle Line, shitting on my leg. "This city is scary," I thought. "I want to come back."
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New York’s State Supreme Court just put the brakes on the Taxi of Tomorrow, ruling that the Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn’t have the power to make Nissan’s NV200 the universal yellow cab. But how could NYC riders have benefited from it?
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The alternate reality of Youtube — where locally unknown but internet famous entertainers with millions of subscribers grab a spot next to widely recognizable mainstream artists — meets the real world November 3rd with the first ever YouTube Music Awards. Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Arcade Fire are some of the names you’ll recognize from TV and radio that will be there, along with YouTube channel favorites like CDZA and Lindsey Stirling. Spike Jonze is penciled in to serve as creative director and actor Jason Schwartzman will host, while VICE and Sunset Entertainment drop in as executive producers. Since YouTube is where many people go to check out music and find the newest artists (MTV is for scripted shows and reality TV of… varying quality), that it would launch its own live event seems almost inevitable.
The show itself comes to you from NYC, but musical collaborations will be beamed in from locales around the globe including Seoul (so, that means Psy is going to show up), Moscow, London and Rio. Nominations for the awards open October 17th, and the site is calling on viewers to judge contributions from the past year to determine who will be the winner.
Source: YouTube Blog
A handful of neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx will have high-speed WiFi access available for businesses and residents by the end of this year. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an expansion today that’ll roll out over the next few months, lighting up parts of downtown Brooklyn, lower Manhattan, Harlem and other areas by December 2013. Companies have invested $3.4 million in the new infrastructure, and the city has contributed $900,000 to get the job done. We’re still a long way from having a city blanketed in completely free high-speed wireless internet, but with widespread availability in key areas, thousands of residents and smaller businesses should be able to drop their current internet providers before the ball drops to welcome 2014.
[Image source: AP/Frank Franklin II]
Filed under: Wireless
Source: Michael Bloomberg
It’s hard to tell how old a city really is without knowing the age of each and every part of it. And with this stunningly neon map that indexes the ages of some 1,053,713 New York City buildings, you can do exactly that.
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While most of the supertall building boom spotlight has been placed China and the UAE over the past few months, there’s an even more staggering development happening much, much closer to home. At least four 1,000-foot-plus skyscrapers are set to rise along (or adjacent to) West 57th Street over the next few years, each of the tall enough to change the city’s skyline forever.
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E-ZPass is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to paying tolls. Those plastic funnels you toss coins into are a close second. But E-ZPass has a bonus feature. It can be used to track you everywhere you go.
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Boasting or showing off online about your illegal activities is certainly a recipe for disaster. Take Cody Hall for example, the teenager who boasted about his reckless driving on Twitter, which ultimately led to a vehicular manslaughter charge against him to being upgraded to murder. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced the biggest gun bust in the history of the city. Authorities arrested 19 people who were involved in selling more than 254 weapons illegally, only because an up and coming rapper thought it would be cool to upload videos featuring cash and firearms at a recording studio in Bed-Stuy to YouTube.
The gunrunners were bringing in guns from North and South Carolina on discount charter buses, the guns were filled in suitcases. Authorities were actually investigating this ring for over 10 months, one undercover office ever made a number of purchases such as a semi-automatic rifle that was concealed inside a suitcase. Matthew Best, the rapper mentioned above, also posted some pictures to Instagram that contained firearms. This evidence coupled with wiretaps led to authorities finally bringing down the ring.The 19 people arrested were indicted on numerous counts of conspiracy, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal sale of a firearm as well as other crimes. [Image via @jdavidgoodman]
NYC Makes Biggest Gun Bust In History Aided By YouTube Videos original content from Ubergizmo. 
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VeriFone this week launched a new service for NYC taxi passengers, letting customers pay for a cab by tapping any compatible smartphone. Way2ride utilizes Zoosh ultrasound technology, enabling secure payments using the speaker and mic in your device and the payment terminal on the other end. The app, available for Android and iOS devices, lets you pre-select payment info and even a tip amount. To initiate a transaction, you’ll simply tap your phone anytime during the ride, then hop out right when you reach your destination — a receipt will appear within the app. You can even use the app to hail a cab, estimate your fare and report a lost item. Download it now at the source links below.
Filed under: Cellphones
Source: VeriFone, Way2ride (Android), Way2ride (iOS)
West Harlem in NYC isn’t exactly known for its robust industrial capabilities. Nor is zinc particularly—well, ever—used as a secondary, rechargeable battery. But that’s not going to stop the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) from developing both into an energetic powerhouse.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
