Visitors to New York should know about a great way to save money and time when they visit some of New York’s most beloved attractions, CityPASS.

For only $79 for an adult and $59 for a child, New York CityPASS allows holders to strut right past the lines for tickets to the following six destinations, at about half the price it would cost if the entrance fees were paid for at each site.

•    The Empire State Building
•    The Metropolitan Museum of Art
•    The American Museum of Natural History
•    The Museum of Modern Art
•    Either the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour or a Circle Line Cruise
•    Either Top of the Rock or the Guggenheim Museum

The CityPASS is valid for nine days from the time the first attraction is visited. You receive with your tickets in-depth information about each site, including hours of operation, location, a map and tips.

Next time you are in New York, consider getting a CityPASS to ease your stay and make it the best visit to the Big Apple that you ever had.

Remember the film Sister Act? Whoopi Goldberg plays a singer who must hide from the Mafia after witnessing a murder, and the police hide her in a convent where she must play the part of a nun. The screenplay was adapted for the theater and became a big hit in London’s West End after it opened there in 2009.

Now you can see Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy on Broadway. Unfortunately Goldberg is unable to reprise her role as Sister Mary Clarence, but Patina Miller is up to the challenge, with a wonderful voice and amazing stage presence. The chorus of nuns backing up Miller is spectacular, singing some old favorites and original tunes by the likes of Alan Menken, who gave the Little Mermaid her voice, and Aladdin his genius.

Sister Act is taking part in “Broadway Week,” and tickets can be purchased at the 2 for 1 price for shows beginning September 18 through the 30th.

Ground Zero Museum Workshop is Kid Friendly

This is an appropriate time to remember the events of September 11, 2001, now that it is exactly ten years after that horrific attack on New York’s World Trade Center, Washington DC’s Pentagon, and a downed airliner whose final destination can only be nightmarishly imagined.

In New York the Ground Zero Museum Workshop:Images and Remnants from the Recovery is the ideal place to spend some time, looking at stunning and rare photos taken by the “Official Ground Zero Photographer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association,” Gary Marlon Suson.

Visitors have described the one room exhibit as the “biggest little museum” in New York; with large content in a small facility.

Many photos are displayed in realistic 3D installations. Also on display are remnants from the towers and rare video footage.

There are daily two-hour long tours with your own tour guide for explanations. Entrance fees are donated to 9/11 and FDNY related charities. The images are non-graphic, making this memorial to the tragic day a kid-friendly venue.

Please note that the Ground Zero Museum Workshop is NOT located at Ground Zero, but in the meat-packing district just 7 minutes away on the “E” train from the site of the WTC at 420 West 14^th Street, 2^nd floor, 212-209-3370.

On most days there are two tours, and it is strongly recommended to buy tickets in advance, they sell out quickly since only 28 people can be on any one tour at a time. Follow the link for more information.

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell was in New York recently to promote what will be his last album, “Ghost on the Canvas.” Still young-looking at age 75, and still the same genius on the guitar that he was decades ago when he played with the famous Los Angeles group “Wrecking Crew,” so why is this his last album?

Campbell, sadly, is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and although he still gives a wonderful performance, and this last album may even be his best, his memory is showing signs of deterioration. He already cannot remember who in his family rescued him from drowning, the name of the last city he performed in, or which guitar he played on “Good Vibrations.”

The songs on “Ghost” were written by such talented songwriters as Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan and Teddy Thompson and others were co-authored with Campbell, and are every bit as good as some of Campbell’s greatest hits like “Galveston” and “Wichita Lineman” from the late ‘60s.”

When asked if his memory loss has impeded his ability to play and sing at all, Campbell had this to say:

“Not really,” he answered in the faintest Arkansas accents which still sharpen his vowels. “My producer, Julian Raymond, and I went through about 50 submissions and picked a bunch. Co-wrote some others. Recording is still easy for me. Like when I played with the Beach Boys. I just put the capo up to the proper key and go! We had a saying in the ’60s: ‘Make the feel, feel good.’ It was no different this time.”

Founder Edith O'Hara

Are you ready for something really different, and uniquely New York? Try the 13th Street Repertory Company, located at 50 West 13th Street between Fifth and the Avenue of the Americas. At this bastion of contemporary theater new artists are welcome to come and find their individual voices.

The company performs as many as seven shows each week, including theater for children in addition to its trademark “New Works Reading” series.

Especially enduring has been the play “Line,” written by Israel Horovitz and first performed at the 13th Street Repertory 32 years ago. The show is still performed weekly, making “Line” the longest running off-off-Broadway play in history.

For more information follow the link to the 13th Street Repertory Theater’s web site, or call (212) 675-6677.

What would New York be without the fashion industry, and what would the fashion industry be without shoppers? This is the question that Fashion’s Night Out answers. All the crucial elements of the fashion industry take part, including the planets of designers, models, fashion editors, and other interested celebrities, all revolving around the great shining sun of shoppers.

Inaugurated in 2009 as a way to restore buyer’s confidence, boost the economy of an industry that had been in the doldrums, celebrate fashion and to put the fun back in shopping for fashion, Fashion’s Night Out, or FNO, is returning with a vengeance this September 8th.

FNO is the opening gambit of the entire fashion season, and it is quite an event. From 6pm to 11pm shoppers will flock to their favorite fashion outlets, drinking champagn, shopping till they drop, and enjoying other fashion related exclusive events.

Check-out the official website of Fashion’s Night Out for a complete list of events and help planning your special evening.

Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering a lobster salad, getting your order, eating it and not even noticing that the main ingredient – the lobster – was amiss.  Well, apparently that has been the case at Zabar’s for the last decade and a half, the grocery located on the Upper West Side.  The crazy part of this is, is that according to a recent article in The New York Times, “apparently no one noticed.”

It was only when a reporter from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Doug McCash, made a stop at Zabar’s that the omission was noted and some days later a blog in the West Side Rag was written entitled with the question, “Zabar’s Committing Lobster Salad Fraud?”  But this wasn’t enough to phase the 83-year old president and co-owner, Saul Zabar.  He insisted that “selling lobsterless lobster salad, was not dishonest, getting pedantic in his comment, “if you go to Wikipedia, you will find crawfish [that was in the salad] in many parts of the country is referred to as lobster.”  He then went on to read out loud the beginning of the Wikipedia entry for crawfish:  “crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads — members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea — are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related.” Thus, he argued that one could term a product whereby the main ingredient was crawfish, a lobster salad.

Still, the reality is that when one is ordering a lobster salad, they have in mind the Maine lobster.  Indeed, Mr. Zabar did admit that a lot of his customers – while noting the tastiness of the salad – said that it was not a lobster salad.

So, let this be a warning for all those in New York who frequent Zabar’s.  Next time you go and order a lobster salad, ask for a list of ingredients before footing the bill for a lobsterless lobster salad.

Could America Soon Have a First Divorcee Instead of a First Lady?

It seems that big time TV entertainer Roseanne Barr wants to run for President. On her recent appearance on the Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, she announced her intentions. But she won’t be doing this as part of a political party. She claimed, “I’m not for either party because they both suck and they’re both a bunch of criminals. So I made up my own party. It’s the Green Tea Party.”
Roseanne seems to be more of a funny gal than a political gal though given her reality show Roseanne’s Nuts which doesn’t exactly put her in the serious light for being considered a first lady. Well, she feels that she wants to participate in “the debates, because I want to represent the taxpayer. In fact, I’m choosing the taxpayers as my vice president.”

But if she is indeed this serious, she will have to start thinking about how she can get more viewers as when her show started last month there were 1.5m viewers. However her latest episode, according to an article in The Daily News, had only 785,000.

If you want to take in a bit of history and culture while hanging out in the Big Apple this summer, check out different activities occurring at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  As part of the 2011 Festival, this August you can enjoy the Mostly Mozart program that will be running from August 2^nd to August 27^th.

On opening night as well as August 3^rd, the program will be the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra with conductor Louis Langrée.  On August 4^th and 6^th, there will be the Don Giovanni concert with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and conductor/director, Iván Fischer.  Prior to the August 6^th concert there will be a discussion with Jane Moss and Iván Fischer.

On August 11^th, enjoy the sounds of the International Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Matthias Pintscher at the Alice Truly Hall, Starr Theater.  This will be a true celebration of Mozart, opening with a gentle Mozart composition performed in a new Salvatore Sciarrino arrangement.  It will end with Gran Partita, one of the maestro’s most majestic works.

For more information on what is available during August through this program, check out: http://www.ny.com/cgibin/frame.cgi?url=http://www.lincolncenter.org/&frame=/frame/events.html

There are lots of ways to experience the glamor, history, and uniqueness of New York City. The conventional methods include tour buses, boat rides around Manhattan and other boroughs, or just plain walking. But New York Fun Tours offer something a bit different to those wishing to put a little pizzazz into their New York experience.

• See the City from a classic convertible: A private tour guide, who doubles as your chauffeur will drive you through some of New York’s most exciting neighborhoods in a full-size, busting with luxury, classic Chevrolet Caprice Convertible. Cruise around lower Manhattan and see some of New York’s most famous locales, including Chinatown, SoHo, Little Italy and more.

• Some have called New York a ‘concrete jungle.’ So what better way to explore the city’s special inner heart than from a safari type Jeep Wrangler SUV. The adventure of New York will be experienced in utter comfort as you investigate places like the West Village, the South Street Seaport, the Financial District and other equally exciting places.

• If you prefer feeling perfectly pampered, consider a tour in a luxurious stretch limo, SUV or even a limo bus. Have the ride of your life in what is one of the symbols of New York glamor while you learn about some of lower Manhattan’s most fascinating places, including TriBeCa, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and other areas.