Major League Baseball has joined the NBA and NHL in operating major retail stores in Manhattan. The opening in early October 2020 follows the transfer of the commissioner’s office from Park Avenue to the upper floors of the Midtown Manhattan building. Baseball Advanced Media also moved to the new facility from the City’s Meatpacking District, as did the umpires’ video review control room.
The flagship store, on the street level of a revamped television studio building, is 10,000 square feet of MLB merchandise displayed on two floors. There is also a customization station, game-used gear on display and for sale, and a photo booth.
MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden related to the timing of the opening and said, “It’s a challenging environment out there. But certainly, as it relates to this store, there’s no better city for retail in the world than this one. And it’s going to come back, and as it does, we’re going to be here to service the fans and the folks that are traveling in the streets.”
While official tourism data suggest a bleak summer, some brave visitors are making their way to the Big Apple. After months of being cooped up indoors, cooking countless meals, tourists are eager to experience new tastes and culinary favorites.
New York City’s Broadway and the museum scenes might be closed, but the sidewalk and rooftop dining options are booming.
There are also open street fairs, verdant parks, breathtaking architecture on every block, bridges, ferries, and bike-riding trails throughout all the five boroughs. If you can get to New York safely, and don’t come from a state requiring quarantine upon your arrival, a fun, food-filled, relatively affordable vacation is still possible.
Good news for New York City’s beach lovers: all eight of the public sandy ocean fronts will be open for swimming as of July 1.
The city’s 14 miles of beaches have been closed since March to curb the spread of coronavirus. Swimming hours will be 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with lifeguards on duty. Social distancing precautions will be put in place and NYC Parks Ambassadors will distribute face masks to those who arrive at the beach without.
“New Yorkers have worked hard to fight back this virus and to put us back on the path to a safe reopening,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This summer is still unlike any in our history, but now, we will all have the opportunity to cool off and swim at our cherished beaches.”
The city that never sleeps is currently taking a nap. All the things that make New York City the vibrant, exciting, and enchanting place that it is have modified their programming and reaching customers despite the current restrictions. There are plenty of the city’s finest haunts and jaunts available to enjoy virtually.
Social distancing, school lockdowns, and stay at home orders have made the days of the week virtually indistinguishable. Rosé Mansion makes sure you launch your weekend off right by offering virtual happy hours every week! They even have customized Zoom Backgrounds so you can feel like you are in your favorite mansion room. No happy hour is complete without a glass of wine, and Rose’ Mansion has got you covered. They will deliver a 6 or 12 pack of wine—produced by small businesses—right to your door. And while down your drink you can feel good about giving to charity too: 100% of the money from the online sales go toward paying the staff and reopening the bar.
If you are missing the sounds and beats of New York, you can check out the Music for the Soul of NYC’s Health + Hospitals Heroes. This new series brings inspiration and comfort to the 43,000 staff at NYC’s 11 public hospitals and their patients. It is providing paid work for musicians and features professional NYC musicians performing songs requested by health workers and patients at NYC public hospitals. Music for the Soul is livestreamed on NYC Health + Hospital’s Facebook page every day from noon-1pm.
Thought Gallery is live-streaming hundreds of talks, lectures, performances, and cultural events to enjoy. If you like to curl up with a good book, The New York Public Library is offering access to more than 300,000 FREE e-books and e-audio books during this crisis.
In late March, New York City Governor Andrew M. Cuomo ordered all nonessential businesses in New York to close. With little notice or time to prepare, most businesses felt they needed to convey some kind of message to their customers. Some are handwritten expressions of gratitude. Others are hastily typed messages of resolve, affixed to shuttered storefronts with industrial tape. And others evoke a tone of humor or inspiration.
It is still unclear what New York City will look like on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic, but the current tour of the Big Apple’s businesses shows a kind of determination and grit that has always served them well. It is not the kind of tour anyone expects to enjoy. But walking along New York’s streets at this time offers a glimmer of hope that is the city’s strength. Collectively, all of these “closed” signs give voice to New York’s unbreakable spirit.
New Yorkers and Big Apple tourists are all impacted by
COVID-19. But not even the raging pandemic can put New York City’s culture to
rest. Check out this list for those looking for some good, old-fashioned New
York fun to enjoy from the safety and coziness of your own home.
The Metropolitan Opera is offering live audio streams of most performances. Some of Broadway’s best musicals are available for viewing on stage but at home. Netflix, AmazonPrime, BroadwayHD, and others are offering classics like Rent, Cats, and Kiss Me, Kate. Check provider websites for full listings.
New York Operas are being audio streamed for home-bound listeners
No matter how you get your New York fix these days, keep
yourself New York ready- and healthy- for when you can finally get back to all
your favorite spots.
Whether you are a die-hard New Yorker or “just” a New York enthusiast, you can now get your NY-fix when you are in the United Kingdom.
Manahatta, a New York-inspired cocktail bar is opening in York on November 8.
A real New York City vibe in York’s Manhatta bar
The venue, like its namesake, will have many unique Instagrammable features, from neon signs and peacock blue booths. Stacked burgers like the ‘Godfather,’ a stack of beef, fried chicken, pancetta, pulled pork and Monterey Jack Cheese, is sure to please. The Beyond Brooklyn is a veggie option, with pulled BBQ jack fruit, vegan cheese, and spicy chipotle. Prosecco, Aperol Spritz, Bloody Marys, beer, and unique NY cocktails are all available.
An in-house DJ will fill Manhatta with NY-style music, including tunes played by various ensembles in NYC subways.
A private dining room on the top
mezzanine, and other areas available for private hire, provide more intimate
spaces to enjoy a taste of New York when visiting York.
A private letter written two weeks by Seth A. Klarman to his Baupost Group investors has become one of the most popular reading items on Wall Street in recent memory.
This is not that big of a surprise considering that Klarman, called by The Economist magazine as “The Oracle of Boston,” is most likely the most successful and influential investor that you probably never heard of.
Well known in Wall Street circles, Klarman tends to keep a low profile outside the rarefied environment of finance. One of the few hedge fund managers to earn the praise of Warren Buffet, Klarman declared in his letter the need to come down from the unreasonably high expectations President Donald Trump’s promises has buoyed the investment community with.
Describing the stock market’s response to the election of Trump as a collection of “perilously high valuations.”
“Exuberant investors have focused on the potential benefits of stimulative tax cuts, while mostly ignoring the risks from America-first protectionism and the erection of new trade barriers,” he wrote.
“President Trump may be able to temporarily hold off the sweep of automation and globalization by cajoling companies to keep jobs at home, but bolstering inefficient and uncompetitive enterprises is likely to only temporarily stave off market forces,” he continued. “While they might be popular, the reason the U.S. long ago abandoned protectionist trade policies is because they not only don’t work, they actually leave society worse off.”
Specifically, Klarman fears that investors have become blinded by all the Trump pro-growth policies without giving much thought to the full consequences of such policies. Klarman is nervous about Trump’s stimulus activities actually proving to be “quite inflationary, which would shock investors.”
He is also worried about the expanding national debt that Klarman thinks will undermine long term growth of the economy.
“The Trump tax cuts could drive government deficits considerably higher,” Mr. Klarman wrote. “The large 2001 Bush tax cuts, for example, fueled income inequality while triggering huge federal budget deficits. Rising interest rates alone would balloon the federal deficit, because interest payments on the massive outstanding government debt would skyrocket from today’s artificially low levels.”
Country-Wide now offers a mobile app to its customers to help smooth the claims process.
Anyone who has ever been in a car accident, even the most minor, knows that it is a scary experience. It is normal for our first response to be “Am I and my loved ones OK, physically?” Once you have established that health-wise everything is fine, now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of getting the help you need. But if you are like most people, it is probably hard to think about all the details of what you need to do once you have established that you are physically OK.
Insurance companies know this, and several have come up with an answer that streamlines the process that a car accident sets in motion: a mobile app designed to make the moments immediately following a car accident as stress-free as possible.
Large insurance companies such as Geico, AllState and State Farm offer their customers mobile apps, but did you know that smaller underwriters are also developing and making available mobile apps for their customers as well?
One example is Country-Wide Insurance. This family owned and operated insurance company was incorporated in New York State in December, 1963. It is licensed to write all types of property and casualty insurance, but has a special focus on lower limit private passenger and commercial automobile insurance. They also limit their reach to downstate New York, and offers competitive rates to loyal customers through their neighborhood representatives.
Now Country-Wide is joining insurance companies, big and small, to offer their customers an app for their smartphones which will help smooth the process of getting through a car accident. The app guides users through the necessary steps which must be taken after a car accident, such as collecting all the information required to file a claim; getting whatever emergency responders are needed on the scene as soon as possible; finding the closest towing service; and/or calling for roadside assistance.
The mobile app also helps with tips to remain calm; knows automatically the date, time and location of the accident; produces a detailed accident report, including photos and contact information; easily sends your report to any email address; and has within it answers to the most frequently asked claim-related questions.
It goes without saying that car accidents are extremely unpleasant affairs at their best, and should be avoided to the extent humanly possible. But it’s nice to know that if such an inconvenient and troublesome event were to take place, there is a small precaution you can take which can make a big difference. There is no question that it is a good idea to be prepared with such an app already downloaded on your phone in the hope that you will never have to use it- but if you do need it, you’ll be glad it was there for you.
Not yet convinced that New York is amazing? What if you were to learn that there are more fast-growing companies lurking in the Big Apple than in any other US city? New York City is home to 204 of 2014 Inc 5000’s best businesses.
You can check out all 204 on your own, but here we will just mention three. Prepare to be thrilled.
1. Centric Digital was founded in 2009 and ranks 34 with an incredible 6,898 percentage three-year growth rate. CD has 140 employees, and this is what one co-founder, Jason Albanese says was his ‘lightbulb moment.’ “We saw a gap in business services: Traditional large companies that are not in the business of digital were not getting the services they need to become more digital.”
2. Adore me ranks 49 with three-year revenue growth of an astounding 5,505 percent. Founded by Morgan Hermand-Waiche in 2010, her light bulb moment went like this: “The birthday of my girlfriend was coming up, and I wanted to buy her some lingerie, and I couldn’t find something as nice as I wanted in my budget.”
3. Tough Mudder was founded in 2009 by Will Dean while he was attending Harvard Business School. This event company has had three-year revenue growth of a very solid 4,737 percent. The company offers: extreme runs through inventive–and curse-inducing—obstacles. Dean began with $8,000 when he graduated Harvard, marketing his first even on Facebook, which inspired 4,500 people to sign up. “We set goals way outside of what we logically can accomplish, and then break all our existing systems to get it done,” says Vice President of branding Alex Patterson.
