How to Stay Cool in NYC
New York City felt like George Bluth’s sweat lodge from the new Arrested Development over the past few days, but that didn’t stop some of us from venturing out and enjoying the weekend. Here’s how a few of us in the New York office stayed cool.
A group of Texties ventured to Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices to cool off with a sweet treat! (via @lauren_ashley86)
Even in the sweltering heat, Sheep Meadow in Central Park is still the place to be “cool” (in spirit, not temperature). (via @lauren_ashley86)
Some escaped to the new Singlecut Brewery in Astoria to keep cool with a cold, locally brewed beer. (via @bwgohn)
While others just continued to live the High Life. (via @bwgohn)
Stay cool, New York.
-Bob (@bwgohn)
Happy Canada Day, eh.
As a proud Canadian living in New York City working at an awesomely global company, I feel compelled to write a quick post to commemorate Canada Day. If you didn’t know, Canadians celebrate “Canada’s Birthday” on July 1st. Similar to the 4th of July, it’s a day usually filled with fireworks and barbeques. In some parts of the country you’ll also find music festivals or parades. Canada is a young country, established in 1867 when the Constitution Act united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire. I won’t bore you with the details (and no we’re not a British Empire anymore) but if you’re interested to learn more about the history of Canada, I recommend checking out Wikipedia or this video.
If you ask my pod mates, they will tell you that I talk a lot about how much I love Canada. What’s not to love? The people are overly nice to a fault, it’s extremely safe to live and we’re always making it into those top cities to live in the world surveys (Toronto is #15 and Ottawa #14 in this MSNBC list). ABC News featured an article today titled, “Canada Day: 5 Reasons to Love our Neighbor to the North.” Fellow Canadian reporter, Katie Moisse does a great job highlighting some of my favourites about the country - from the landscapes (both scenic countrysides to cosmopolitan cities), to the culture (both our sincerity and multi-culturalism), healthcare (not perfect, but seen as more of a social good then a purchasable commodity), food (poutine, ketchup chips, butter tarts) and of course the people (Ryan Gosling anyone?).
So, if you’re looking to take a road trip this summer and not sure where to go, I’d urge you to consider beautiful Canada. I’m partial to my hometown Toronto, where you can enjoy amazing food, nice people and great shopping. We have a beautiful lakefront (although I wouldn’t recommend swimming in it) and aren’t too far from the wondrous Niagara Falls.
I know I’m biased, but Canada is truly a unique place and will always hold a special place in my heart. As long as I live in the US, I’ll continue to tell everyone about its beauty and all-around awesomeness. To celebrate Canada Day, I’ve pulled together a list of my favourite things about Canada:
All Dressed Chips
Poutine
Toronto Blue Jays (World Series champs ’92 and ‘93 what what),
Canadian Tire Money
Bagged Milk
Butter Tarts
Happy Canada Day, eh!
-Jenn M
Summer and CitiBike are (almost) here - Grab your helmet and get moving!
This past Saturday I took advantage of the not too hot, not too cool weather to stop by my local bike shop and rent some wheels. At $6/hour, it was a hard deal to pass up. After a brief moment of contemplation on whether or not to also borrow a helmet (thoughts of my mother’s Australian-accented cries of “are you bloody stupid?” rang through my head and sealed the deal) I hopped on my rented Schwinn and headed for the Hudson River. Seventy-five blocks later, I found myself in a small park outside the 125th Street Fairway, which boasts a walk in freezer palace for all their frozen goods, and stopped to take in the scenery (and let’s be serious, rest my quads).
It struck me that I’d covered 75 blocks in a lightning fast ten minutes (I wasn’t wearing a watch, but my mental clock says that’s about right), which is way more ground than I’ve ever covered in this city in that amount of time. Suddenly having a bike meant more than dealing with looking awkward in a helmet and having a sweet bell and basket – it meant freedom from public transportation!
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the launch of New York’s bike sharing program, CitiBike (brought to you by CitiBank, naturally) and am now officially raring to go. CitiBike, launching in July, will provide 10,000 bikes at 600 locations all over New York for users to share when you purchase an annual membership ($95), a 7-day pass ($25) or a 24-hour pass ($9.95). According to CitiBike, 54% of all trips New Yorkers make are less than 2 miles (truth!), so for me this makes local bike trips a brilliant solution, particularly on the weekends when subways and buses have all those wonderful service changes. I estimated that I could go from my apartment on 53rd street to Chelsea Market and back (while still doing some grocery shopping) in under 45 minutes on a bike, versus 45 minutes for travel time alone on public transportation.
Assuming you’re wearing a helmet (safety first!), that’s what I call a no-brainer.
-Katy
yep.
When you catch a cab down Park Ave and get caught at a red light every. five. blocks.
vs. when you catch a cab down cab down Madison and you make it to your destination in five minutes.
This afternoon, One World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in New York City.
Construction began this morning on the 100th floor of the new One World Trade Center downtown. By this afternoon, it is slated to become Manhattan’s new tallest building. The addition of the 100th floor will bring the building to a height of 1,271 feet — 21 feet higher than the Empire State Building.
The new building won’t reach its final height for a few more months, but when it does the tower will stand 1,368 feet at rooftop level – identical in height to the original World Trade Center tower it is designed to replace. With the addition of the antenna, it will bring the total height of the building to 1,776 feet.
-Mike
Working and living in Manhattan, there’s a sort of unwritten rule book that native New Yorkers abide by. Granted, not everyone knows of this said rule book. But Time Out New York recently got these rules down on paper and published, “The rules of New York life.”
It’s a great piece that lets those ‘outsiders’ get a better glimpse into the way things work in the city.
Some of our personal favorites include:
“If you hug the pole in a crowded subway car, thereby preventing others from grasping onto anything in order to stay upright, you merely advertise to everyone that, if the train stops abruptly, you should be the one who breaks their fall.”
“Life in New York is fast-paced and busy, and walking quickly here isn’t just about getting from one place to the next as fast as possible; it’s a point of pride. If you’re not keeping up with our breakneck pace, kindly let us pass you in peace.”
“Refrain from posting on your various social networks about the nonharmful yet potentially weird-to-you things that your new roommate does at home. It might be annoying to return to your apartment and find someone practicing naked yoga, but your roomie probably thinks it’s weird that you write songs about your plants.”
“Be careful about bragging. We know, you’re the best, but are you really? Don’t raise your voice to earsplitting levels. Your name-dropping or namechecking, enhanced by power statements, isn’t that impressive. Rest assured: New Yorkers legitimately do not give a s*it.”
-Mike
Although, we’re all wrapping up a few last minute deliverables before heading out to enjoy the awesome weather NYC has been having, we wanted to leave you with this.
Personally, we think it’s a little slated (okay not really).
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
-Mike
‘1st is the Worst, 7th is the Best, 3rd is the one with the…’
Okay, so I guess technically, first isn’t the worst. But you get the idea. Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending Crain’s NY Best Places to Work in NYC Luncheon at the Sheraton with nine other Texties. We were invited to the prestigious event after qualifying for the Top 50 – an honor in itself! We had a fancy lunch and even got to listen to our very own CEO Aedhmar speak on a panel with other leaders from NYC’s 50 Best Places to Work about what exactly makes a business a great place to work.
Finally, after lunch and the panel came the big reveal. We anxiously waited to hear TEXT 100 called as they counted down from 50. Each unveiled ranking seemed to take a lifetime, and we were thrilled to make it in the top 30. And then the top 20. And then the top 10! When we finally heard our names called for lucky number seven, we couldn’t have been happier. We all know how great working at Text is, but to be recognized by a major media leader for it, is a huge honor and something we’ll be bragging about for awhile.
I took a quick pod poll on our favorite things about working at NYC Text. Here is what they had to say:
- Duvet days
- Snack stash
- Bagel Friday
- Open environment
- Andy our beloved and hilarious doorman
- Jeff Cleveland
For the full list of winners check out Crain’s Best Places to Work 2011 and of course, Jeff and Kari’s Hypertext recap coming soon!
What’s your favorite thing about working at Text 100 in NYC? Or any Text office for that matter? Share in comments, we want to know!
-Brittany Kotary
How to Make it on Spotify
Hi Texties,
So as some of you may or may not know, I’ve become obsessed with HBO’s “How to Make it in America.” It’s all about being on the grind in New York City, so it resonates with me a bit.
One of the great things about the show is the soundtrack, and how the different songs all seem to tell a story about NYC. One of my friends took it upon himself to create a Spotify playlist of EVERY song ever played on the show. I’m not going to list out the songs because there are over a hundred, but its definitely worth a listen! Enjoy! (All credit to my friend Matt!)
How To Make It in America playlist
We love New York. We love the energy, the crowds, the parks. We even love that disgusting, steamy smell during the summer when it’s 90 degrees and the sun beats down on the garbage bags lining the streets (okay.. that one’s a stretch).
But for many, seeing NYC is an occasional thing, done through a three day visit in the summer or quick trip around the holidays. Thanks to this video by Andrew Clancy, city visitors can experience in just five minutes what city dwellers get in a year.
Take a look.
-Mike
