After 19 years of private access, the Top of the Rock has opened to the public once again, featuring newly refurbished observation decks. Closed to the public since 1986 when the Rainbow Room expansion project ended up blocking elevator access to higher decks, the reopening is a boon to skyline viewing aficionados and tourists from near and far. Joining the Empire State Building as the only remaining public aerie, the Top of the Rock boasts nearly 340 uninterrupted degrees of New York City skyline viewing. According to Peter Dillon, Rockefeller Center's Director of Marketing, the Top view offers an advantage over the Empire State by having views of Central Park and a view of the Empire State building. The 69th floor affords enthralling views through unfettered high glass walls instead of intruding metal fences. While the 70th floor is the jewel of the crown, culminating in the form of a breathtaking open deck.

Tickets are available at a cost of $14.00 (adult) by walk up or online at www.topoftherocknyc.com. Or by phone: 212-698-2000

Top of the Rock. 30 Rockefeller Center. New York, NY

B, D, F, V to Rockefeller Center 47-50th St. Station

6 to E. 51st St. and Lexington Ave. Walk west to 5th Ave. and south to W. 50th St.

1,9 to 50th St. and Broadway. Walk east toward 5th Ave.

N, R, W to 49th St. & Seventh Ave. Walk east toward 5th Ave. and north to W. 50th St.

E, V to Fifth Ave. and 53rd St. Walk south to W. 50th St.

There seems to be a new trend among museums to use music as a means to attract attendance, which I think is a great idea. The American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space has an event called ‘Starry Nights’ (I've posted an entry about this before) where they feature live jazz music on the first Friday evening of every month under the glory of the elegantly lit planetarium dome.

Over the summer, the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum had their ‘Summer Sessions’ program featuring various DJs spinning every week to promote their exhibits and pull in the younger patrons. Now the Guggenheim wisely follows suit with their ‘See and Be Scene’ program which is also on every first Friday from October until January of 2006. “The DJs are curated Flavorpill” and first up on October 7th are Tommie Sunshine and James Friedman, followed by Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott on November 4th, and then Funkstörung on December 2nd. DJ Diplo kicks off the first one of the new year on January 6th, which is also the last of the See and Be Scene sessions.

First Fridays, 9pm - 1am.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. 1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street). (212) 423-3500

I had previously thought that the Hayden Planetarium had been replaced outright by the new Rose Center for Earth and Space, but that is not the case. The planetarium part which is the actual sphere where the light show is projected is still called the Hayden. The structure that contains the planetarium is the Rose Center. My apologies.

Anyway, the Hayden Planetarium celebrates it's 70th birthday on October 2nd, 2005. Current planetarium director, Neil deGrasse Tyson will talk about the history of the Hayden and astrophysics advances since it's inception in 1935. Special (space, martian? ;-) cake will be served.

Sunday, October 2nd at 2:00pm. Rose Center for Earth and Space.
West 81st Street, Central Park West. NYC. FREE with Museum Admission.
American Museum of Natural History

Imagine losing family members and friends, your home, your job, your neighborhood. There is no food, viable drinking water, functioning plumbing or electricity. All gone. This is the stark reality that thousands of people down in NOLA are facing. And this is occuring in our very own country not in some distant, foreign land. Our fellow countrypeople need help, NOW. If you can’t actually go down there to volunteer and physically lend a hand, then consider donating goods or money to Aid organizations like the American Red Cross.

For those in NYC please consider helping the residents and city of NOLA, attending one of the several hurricane relief events coming up, from which the proceeds will go toward relief and rebuilding efforts.

Culled from the latest issue of TONY here are a couple of the major ones:

The Big Apple to the Big Easy
Tuesday, September 20. Time and price TBD.
Madison Square Garden, 7th Ave at 32nd.
Elton John, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks are among stars who will perform with join NOLA-based musicians on stage at this benefit concert.

The New Yorker Benefit
Thursday, September 24 at 7:30pm. $50-$250.
Town Hall, 123 W 43rd St.
Being held in conjunction with the annual New Yorker Festival, catch readings by celebrities like Kevin Kline and Toni Morrison. There will be musical performances by Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Buckwheat Zydeco, and several others. Check out the New Yorker Festival site online.

It’s not often that I find cause to endorse establishments that purvey spirits, but in this case I'm happy to make an exception. In my view, Stain is more of an Art Lounge and cafe that happens to serve alcohol, rather than just your average bar. Also unique, is what is available on tap and bottle which is focused exclusively on choice selections of New York based wines and beer. However, the appeal of the place to me is that even if drinking isn't your thing, you can still enjoy yourself by taking in the art, frequent live music acts, or just relaxing in the cozy atmosphere. The comfortable sofas are just right for doing some reading during the day or cozying up with friends at night. For the more geekly inclined, like myself, games like Scrabble are available to play on the antique tables and chairs. Books and other board games are available as well. An intimate performance stage inhabits the rear corner and in the back, there is an outdoor garden where you can just chill out and imbibe your local brew. Think of the cafe from Friends, but with a more hip, Lower East Side feel. Stain celebrates it's birthday this September and has become a become a popular venue for local, Brooklyn artists and musicians to showcase their talent. Every month, there is a themed party, where dressing up in appropriate costumes and such will get you free prizes or drinks.

The owner, Krista Madsen, is a writer who has recently published her second book, titled Four Corners. I first met Krista while working for a small advertising agency in Manhattan, where we landed our first jobs out of school. It is truly inspiring to me to have seen her pursue her craft and dreams over the years and make them realities. You Go, Girl! Congratulations on the new book and Happy Birthday to Stain.

Stain is located at 766 Grand Street in Brooklyn, NY 11211. Conveniently accessible from Manhattan by taking the L train to the Grand St. stop. Walk a block west after you emerge from the underground and you’re there. The phone number is: 718.387.7840.

The design of the Freedom Tower has been revised to address city law enforcement concerns over adequate security and protection from automotive based bomb attacks. While the revised plans have been approved as adequately meeting security concerns, the spirit and creative design elements that were more fully realized in the initial plans are no longer evident. The new design conveys an impression of being structurally stronger, however the black granite armored base have led to critics dubbing the project, the ‘Freedom Bunker’. To me, the new design seems to resemble a svelte version of the Shanghai World Financial Tower and without the hole through the top.

Oddly enough, this post originated from my researching of tuned mass dampers and how they are being used in modern skyscrapers. So during the course of googling around the internet, I came across several lists of skyscrapers accompanied by their respective images. Aside from being amused by the unfettered one-upsmanship in the continuing international race to build the tallest skyscraper (in what can be humorously viewed as a contest to build the biggest phallic symbol), I found it fascinating how the architectural design of a skyscraper can embody cultural values and beliefs. For instance the designs of the Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, as well as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur owe their proportions and repetition of elements to the number Eight, which in Chinese culture is associated with prosperity. The segments of the Taipei 101 skyscraper are reminiscent of the classic asian pagoda (or stacked chinese food take out containers ;-).

However, the freedom tower aside from being 1776 feet tall, a number representing the year of independence declared in American history doesn't otherwise feature anything uniquely American. Which then begs the question, what then is uniquely American? Since American architecture can be seen as evolving from or heavily influenced by european architecture...

Freedom(s) and diversity, to me are two of the best and most important parts of what I feel make this country so special. If you think about it, the U.S. was and is a nation made up of people originally from other places. And New York City in all its wonderful diversity is appropriately representative of the spirit of America, and is a microcosm embodying the international community, or a truly Global Village.

As such, I think the Freedom Tower design should more expressively reflect the spirit of Freedom and Diversity that makes the U.S. and NYC great. I would envision a double helix structure very much evoking a dna strand that would represent the common organic roots we all share, or perhaps in more patriotic theme, an extruded 5 pointed star, but with curved hemispheres instead sharply angled surfaces. The ‘star’ tower would have 50 segments of diminishing radius, tapering to a top spire. That way each of the 50 states can be represented in a floor of the tower with it's own 'theme'. I think that would make for a cool modern American skyscraper! Either that or an idea for a Disney theme park attraction...

A deep bow of respect and appreciation to Yamaha, for having a site dedicated to ‘Paper Craft’. The site is a virtual homage to the art of crafting things from paper, and the examples are amazing. Think of Origami, but with a greater degree of charming detail. All you need to do is download one of design templates conveniently provided in pdf format, and then output them from your inkjet printer. Cut up the different pieces, assemble, and Voila!

As far as I know, Yamaha is NOT directly in the paper or ink business so their efforts are purely for the pleasure the people. How cool is that? Okay, so you say that the super detailed Paper Craft category modeled after their popular line of (kick ass) motorcycles can easily be construed as shameless product plugging, but what about the Rare Animals of the World category, hmm? Seriously though, the level of detail and realism on the Motorcycle line suggest a meticulousness and quality that is inspiring and quite admirable.

If the thought and attention that clearly went into the making of such impractical things is any indication of the craftmanship of Yamaha's real world products, then I'm sold. And perhaps in very Japanese way, that's Yamaha's very subtle way of advertising the quality of their goods. I think even the hard core gearheads/Biker Boyz would be awed by the accurate and to scale representations. Made from paper! (Hey Mark, isn't that your bike?)

Anyway, check out the very worthwile site here. *Sigh* To think: if only the www, broadband internet access, inkjet printers, and the Yamaha Paper Craft site were readily available when I was a kid, I could have been an even bigger geek than I am today!

From a July post in Shanghaist, there is a twisted take on a tourist map of Shanghai that points out 14 ‘ideal’ places to kill yourself. Check out the details here. View the entire map at the map markers link in the article. Death by Tiger would be a terrible way to go, but the graphic for that method is kinda funny...