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MTV closing book on TRL
Start the countdown clock on MTV's countdown era: ``Total Request Live'' will soon shut down after 10 years on the air.
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Cyclist cleared in Times Square shove
A judge has dismissed criminal charges against the bicyclist who was body-checked by a New York City policeman in a widely viewed YouTube video. A judge has dismissed criminal charges against the bicyclist who was body-checked by a New York City policeman in a widely viewed YouT... more
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Obama speech watched in Times Square (photos)
Photos of people gathered in Manhattan's Times Square on Thursday, August 28, 2008 to watch Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) make his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Photos of people gathered in Manhattan's Times Square on Thursday, August 28, 2008 to watch Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) make h... more
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Terrorist Suspect Targeted NYC Landmarks
Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman charged with trying to kill U.S. employees in a gunfight in Afghanistan.
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NYC Gets "Burn Notice"
Check out the photos of this publicity event.
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Eddie Murphy's Head Takes Over Times Square - photos
To promote the new movie "Meet Dave," a giant head of actor Eddie Murphy has been placed in Times Square. Check out these somewhat bizarre photos. To promote the new movie "Meet Dave," a giant head of actor Eddie Murphy has been placed in Times Square. Check out these so... more
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'Naked Cowboy' can sue makers of M&Ms
An underpants-clad New York guitarist known as the "Naked Cowboy" can proceed with his trademark infringement lawsuit against the maker of M&Ms and its ad agency, a New York judge has ruled.
Robert Burck has become a fixture in Times Square for playing the guitar dressed in a white cowboy hat, white cowboy boots and white underpants while tourists pose with him for pictures and slip money into his boots.
In February, the street performer filed a lawsuit against Mars Inc. and Chute Gerdeman Inc., after they released a video billboard showing a guitar-playing blue M&M dressed in a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots and underpants.
The company also ran print ads showing a similar yellow M&M.
Burck says in his lawsuit that he has registered trademarks to the Naked Cowboy name and likeness.
The lawsuit alleges that the ads violate Burck's right to privacy and infringe on his trademark by "using his likeness, persona, and image for commercial purposes without his written permission and by falsely suggesting that he endorses M&M candy." Watch the Naked Cowboy in his natural environment »
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled Monday that the trademark infringement claim can proceed.
Chin dismissed the privacy claim, however, saying New York law protects only the "name, portrait, or picture of a living person" and not a character "created or a role performed by a living person," according to a statement from the court.
Lawyers for Mars and Chute Gerdeman did not return calls for comment.
Mars issued a statement saying, "we do not comment on matters of litigation. However, as a good corporate citizen, Mars will handle this matter accordingly."
Burck said he is looking forward to pursuing the matter.
"I have spent 10 years in every kind of weather and going through the legal, step by step [process of getting a trademark]," Burck said. "It is imperative that damages are pushed so ... an example will be set."
He is seeking up to $100 million in punitive damages, plus attorney's fees.
Chin ordered attorneys for both sides to appear at a pretrial conference July 11, according to the statement. An underpants-clad New York guitarist known as the "Naked Cowboy" can proceed with his trademark infringement lawsuit agains... more -
The Old Photomaton: A Picture Box for the Masses
In 1926, an inventor named Anatol Josepho opened a photo booth in New York City's Times Square, the first Photomaton in the world. Josepho kept his Photomaton open 24 hours a day, and 280,000 customers had entered his booths to take pictures during his first six months of operation.
It was such an instant hit that the photo booth spread from that very spot in Times Square to arcades, amusement parks, state fairs, bus depots and five-and-dimes all around the country. Across eight decades the photo booths have recorded countless youthful frolics, untold numbers of funny antics, romantic kisses and unspeakable inebriated indiscretions.
This article includes wonderful vintage photographs, three videos (one of them is absolutely hilarious) and a great photo-gallery. In 1926, an inventor named Anatol Josepho opened a photo booth in New York City's Times Square, the first Photomaton in the world... more -
Times Square Gets Its Biggest Billboard Ever
Walgreens is putting up the new multicomponent, 250,000-pound sign, that will be programmed from street level to 341 feet high at the top of the building, on the traffic island between Broadway and Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street. Best known as the mother ship for a patchwork of billboards and the place where the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, the building was originally called the Times Tower.
The sign will have 12 million light-emitting diodes, known as L.E.D.’s — 17,000 square feet of them, “which is more than a third of an acre,” said Arthur Gilmore, president of the Gilmore Group, a Manhattan design and branding consulting firm, which created the sign. “Including its digital and vinyl decorative components, it will be 43,720 square feet in area.”
The sign will show the flag of the Walgreen Company, the nation’s largest drugstore chain in sales, which is promoting a new three-level, 16,200-square-foot emporium in the building’s ground-floor retail space, which has been empty for seven years.
The new spectacular “will be larger than any sign in Times Square,” surpassing the current behemoth, the 11,000-square-foot Nasdaq sign on Broadway at 43rd Street.
All I have to say is, VIVA DUANE READE!!!!!!!!!! Walgreens is putting up the new multicomponent, 250,000-pound sign, that will be programmed from street level to 341 feet high at the ... more -
MAN ON TOILET IN TIMES SQUARE
STUCK IN THE OUTHOUSE ON 42ND STREET
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'Person of interest' questioned by FBI in Times Square bombing
The FBI announced that federal agents in Los Angeles, California, are questioning a "person of interest" about letters sent to members of Congress after an explosion in Times Square in New York.
The "person of interest," however, is not a suspect in the bombing of the Armed Forces Recruitment Center in Times Square, said Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles. It is not known whether the "person of interest" is a man or a woman.
Investigators have made no arrests related to the bombing or the letters sent to members of Congress, she said.
I love how technical our government is with how they refer to things; "Person of interest" is so authoritative. The FBI announced that federal agents in Los Angeles, California, are questioning a "person of interest" about letters sent ... more -
NYC military station explosion
NEW YORK - An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above.
Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station's glass entryway. No one was injured.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was examining whether there was a terrorism link to the explosion.
UPDATE: No Link Between Notes And NYC Blast
Authorities on Friday were investigating whether an explosion at the Times Square military recruiting office was connected to strikingly similar bombings at two foreign consulates in New York, as they ruled out a link to mysterious letters sent to Capitol Hill offices.
Investigators were also scrutinizing surveillance video and forensic evidence after a bicycle-riding bomber struck the landmark station Thursday, scarring one of the world's most recognizable locations.
Authorities said there was no connection between the blast and a letter sent to as many as 100 members of Congress bearing the words "Happy New Year, We Did It."
The lengthy anti-war letters - which arrived with photos of a man standing in front of the recruiting office before it was damaged - contained no threats, officials said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/07/national/main... NEW YORK - An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking gue... more -
The Blue M&M gets bitch slapped by The Naked Cowboy
New York City street performer "The Naked Cowboy" is suing Mars Inc. for $6 million over the use of his trademark look -- white underwear, cowboy boots and a hat -- by a blue M&M candy on a Times Square billboard.
For nearly a decade, Robert Burck has been a fixture in Times Square, where he strums a guitar on a street corner while dressed in his skimpy signature costume.
In a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan federal court, Burck said that two oversized Times Square billboards that promote M&Ms used his look without compensating him.
The billboards feature a scantily clad blue M&M with a guitar alongside views of New York including street scenes and the Statue of Liberty. New York City street performer "The Naked Cowboy" is suing Mars Inc. for $6 million over the use of his trademark look -- wh... more -
Fazil’s Ramshackle Hoofer Palace Closes
Places where cultural history was made in Manhattan have vanished for the most part. On Friday, another cultural institution was lost when Fazil's Times Square Dance Studio closed its doors after 73 years. It was a ramshackle, homey rehearsal hub that served as a mecca for both movie stars and penniless, struggling dancers.
From the start, tap and flamenco dancers thronged there, as well as Broadway hoofers. By the late 1950s, Alvin Ailey was teaching there. Something of Fazil’s Dance Studio will live on in scenes from the movies that were filmed there, including Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose and Nick Castle’s Tap. Gregory Hines, a fixture at Fazil’s, modeled “Sonny’s”, the hoofers’ hangout in "Tap", after Studio A-1.
Photographs, a photo-gallery and videos are included. The videos include a scene of Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. dancing in the movie "Tap." Places where cultural history was made in Manhattan have vanished for the most part. On Friday, another cultural institution was lost ... more -
The Old Gray Lady's Moved from Times Square: But She's Still a Victorian...
The grand old 18-story Neo-Gothic structure on 43rd Street, home to The New York Times for nearly a century, had its sentimental charms. Its complex warren of desks and piles of old, yellowing newspapers were reminiscent of tradition, but it also seemed to be conspicuously old-fashioned.
The new 52-story Times building, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, is a towering modernist composition of glass and steel, all dressed up in a ladylike veil of ceramic rods. Some are calling it "modern boring."
Photographs, a gallery and videos are included. The grand old 18-story Neo-Gothic structure on 43rd Street, home to The New York Times for nearly a century, had its sentimental charm... more -
New Year's Eve Celebrations Around The World
Missed welcoming 2008 in with a bang because you wisely chose to join Current to watch Radiohead's epic Scotch Mist? If so, there's two bits of good news.
1. You have excellent taste.
2. You can find over a dozen spectacular, eye-poppingly gorgeous panaromas of New Year's Eve celebrations around the world by clicking the image above. Missed welcoming 2008 in with a bang because you wisely chose to join Current to watch Radiohead's epic Scotch Mist? If so, there... more -
The New Times Square New Year's Eve Ball: A Symbol of Renewal
In 1907, the New Year's Eve Ball made its inaugural descent. It was made of iron and wood, adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs, and weighed 700 pounds.
The new Waterford Crystal Times Square Ball marks the 100th birthday of the New Year's Eve Ball, a universal symbol of celebration and renewal.
A photograph and video are included. In 1907, the New Year's Eve Ball made its inaugural descent. It was made of iron and wood, adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs, ... more -
Times Square Ball Goes Green
Happy Sustainable New Year. ;-)./////excerpt:By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writer
Mon Dec 31, 10:19 AM ET/////NEW YORK - The Times Square New Year's Eve ball is celebrating its centennial by going green./////The star of the world-famous holiday extravaganza was revamped this year with 9,576 energy-efficient bulbs that use about the same amount of electricity as ten toasters. Philips Lighting, which created the light-emitting diodes, or LED bulbs, specifically for the event, says they are smaller but more than twice as bright as last year's lights, which were a mix of more than 600 incandescent and halogen bulbs. And the new lights can create a more than 16 million colors making a kaleidoscope of hues against the 672 Waterford Crystal triangles./////"The ball at Times Square ? it's iconic," said Kaj den Daas, chairman of Philips Lighting North America. "The whole world looks up to New York's New Year's Eve. I'm proud to be able to save energy and show off this technology to the world with such a special event."/////end of excerpt. Happy Sustainable New Year. ;-)./////excerpt:By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writer ... more -
Photo of the Day: Desperately Lonely Santa
"Photo of the Day: Desperately Lonely Santa." This is a very, very lonely Santa seen in Times Square. The stunningly colorful photograph is presented for you in high-resolution, although it is also extremely sad. The photograph is accompanied by a touching, heart-warming vintage animated music video (1934), "The Shanty Where Santy Lives."
I truly hope you'll take a look at this composition! "Photo of the Day: Desperately Lonely Santa." This is a very, very lonely Santa seen in Times Square. The stunningly colorf... more
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