How to give back in NYC? Try New York Cares

New York City is a tremendous city and those who have spent time in the Big Apple knows that the people are the heart and soul of this town. Despite the stereotype of the surly, rushed New Yorker, most people who live in the five boroughs are warm and generous with both their time and their money.

But what's the best way to give back? There are thousands of deserving good causes spread near and far. Most are amazing, some are a bit sketchy and only a few are the right fit.

The NYC Big Adventure recommends checking out New York Cares. The organization was founded by a group of friends in 1987 who wanted to take action against some of the endless social issues in New York City. Today, the organization engages 59,000 volunteers in service each year, helping 400,000 New Yorkers in need.


But what we really dig about New York Cares is their superior interactive website that offers an amazing selection of opportunities. A highly searchable listing system with features such as a map and filters provides details and clearly indicates the number of spots left. In our opinion, it make determining how to spend your time giving and contributing!


NY Cares doesn't get enough love and it is one of best for showcasing 1000s of volunteer opportunities in NYC. Make a difference today, yo!

Announcing: The "Greatest Hits" NYC Big Adventure coming on Saturday, June 30th!

We're back at it yet again! Thrilled to announce our next outing will be The NYC Big Adventure’s Greatest Hits on Saturday, June 30th starting around 1:00 PM and continuing late into evening. Feel free to join for as few or many of our best hits of the day as you like!

After over a dozen memorable and successful NYC BigAdventures that have consisted of scouring the city for locales, haunts and activities we’re ready to build an entire day around the best of the best! This album has all your favorite tunes: Unique, Social, Inexpensive and distinctly NYC.

Making a best of is no easy task. Our first draft of the itinerary has us spanning over several days, so narrowing it to just the one disc shall be one of our greatest challenges yet.

The Big Adventure crew is combing over the itineraries of Big Adventures that includes five years and over ninety (!) unique stops to create a track listing that highlights our best moments. No small task since there are so many to choose from. And just to keep things interesting, we may even throw in a couple of completely NEW stops that revolve around a familiar theme. Intrigued? Hoping that YOU can join us to revisit a familiar stop from a past Big Adventure or encounter a Big Adventure beloved place that we love and that you might be seeing for the first time.

We'll announce a full itinerary along with a few surprises in the next couple of weeks well in advance of the event. All are welcome and we’ll have space for all. Pass along the invite to whomever you think might be interested on another Big Adventure that is designed to be the pinnacle of a day that is unique, inexpensive, friendly and very NYC. Ah, it’s one thing that we’ve learned to do pretty. Hope you can join us! (Note that some of our stops will be 21+).

  

Feel free to RSVP if you think you might join us on Facebook The Big Adventure Event Page and E-mail us if you have any questions!

 

Sweetery NYC's Free Cookie Giveaway Head's Up!

The Big Adventure always digs the colorful and diverse Food Trucks found of New NYC streets, but these trucks are infinitely better when they are giving away free food!  In order to build some hype for this Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, Sweetery NYC is teaming up with America’s Best Racing to give away 10,000 (!) horse-shaped cookies all day today and tomorrow. They have also been giving away some tickets to the Belmont Stakes race to some lucky recipients.

You can find the Sweetery NYC truck, “Wilbur”, at the locations below throughout the day starting at 8:00 AM (again, !!):

• Madison & 42nd St 8-9:30a
• Saatchi & Saatchi 10-11:30a
• Park Ave at 52nd St 12-p 2p
• 42nd St btw 5th & 6th Ave 2:30-4p

Apparently, Sweetery has been on a giving-away-free-stuff kick for a while now. On Tuesday, they were handing out yummy treats made with Maker's Mark. You can follow them on Twitter to get the scoop @SweeteryNYC

This Weekend's New York City Dumpling Festival is an event in Tastiness

Need some delicious plans for the weekend:? How about the 2011 New York City Dumpling Festival this Saturday afternoon down on Houston Street. Yes please. We'll take 86 Dumplings.

From Noon to 5:00 PM on Saturday, September 17th, this festival will shatter your notions of the traditional dumpling by offering everything from pierogis to potstickers from Poland to China. The event is free, but there will likely be big crowds and long waits for tickets and booths ($20 typically can fill your belly of dumplings). Donations are even being made to the Food Bank for New York City. 

If you need a sneak preview, the website even has a mouth-watering gallery of what you can expect.

Ah, and don't forget the obligatory and slightly disgusting Dumpling Eating Contest in which an attempt will be made to shatter the Guinness World Record of 66 dumplings in a mere two minutes. Astonishing.


 All Information on Saturday's Dumpling Delight can be found here: http://www.dumplingfestival.com/  and http://www.facebook.com/nycdumplingfestival

Announcing: The Next NYC Big Adventure!

Join us as we transverse The Big Apple on The Next Big Adventure with a series of events that are extraordinary, social, inexpensive and unique in New York City. The Big Adventure is planning on taking advantage of the (finally) nice weather. The plan is to spend as much time in the sun and outdoors as we can while hitting up a number of distinctive destinations. 

After all, it has been a particularly brutal winter for what feels like the last 17 months. As per usual, all are welcome to join our semi-regular Adventure as we explore the best well-known and yet-to-be-discovered locations, events and scenes in NYC.

Come join us as we celebrate the Onset of Spring in NYC!

Complete details coming in Early April, but for now  we suggest you "like" our Facebook Page for to get  looped in to regular updates and more: http://www.facebook.com/TheBigAdventure

...And if you would like to know more about all our past big Adventures, Click Here
 

Two-For-One Broadway Tickets - The Real Deal, Baby

In case the good word hasn't reached you yet, NYC is trying to kick the January Great White Way Blahs (or the JGWWB as its known) with two-for-one deals on 18 Broadway Shows from now through February 10. There are surprisingly few restrictions and this is a quality collection of stalwarts. Note that this is part of a universal tourist partnership by the city and the theaters and not offered through the suspicious and concerning off-market ticket agencies. 

Also, to take things one step further, you can enjoy Kids' Night on Broadway the week of Feb 6th through the 10th which allows you to get a free ticket for any child age 6–18 when you purchase one full-priced adult ticket to the same show.

 

This is all part of Mayor Mike's hard push to reach a goal of 50 Million (!) visitors to NYC by the end of 2011. Since Winter Months are a traditionally sluggish time, this is a great change to take advantage.

In the end, its a nice change of pace from a typically expensive doings of seeing a show. Also strikes before the hot plays and musicals that will get Tony nods open. The Big Adventure picks The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, Memphis and Million Dollar Quartet as best options.

List of Broadway Shows included in the 2-for-1 Ticket Promotion

The Addams Family – A New Musical	La Cage Aux Folles
American Idiot	The Lion King
Billy Elliot The Musical	Lombardi
Chicago The Musical	Mamma Mia!
Colin Quinn Long Story Short	Mary Poppins
Driving Miss Daisy	Memphis
Good People	Million Dollar Quartet
The Importance of Being Earnest	The Phantom of the Opera
Jersey Boys	Time Stands Still

 Book tickets and more info here

 

The Top Five Holiday Windows in New York City

The Top Five Window Displays in New York City this Holiday Season

Ah, it almost goes against the spirit of the season to pick one window over another. Yet, due to popular demand, we're giving in and posting the best of the best in the Season Holiday Retail Storefront Windows throughout the city. This list was created after eye-witness judging, internal debates, heated discussion and absolutely no scientific criteria at all.... Honorable Mentions go to Bergdorf Goodman and Anthropologie who just missed our list.  


5. Macy's - 34th between 6th Ave and 7th Ave-  Along with the classic "Miracle on 34th Street" windows that is up year after year, The world's largest department store also has a great window for kids based on the "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" - All made of paper! Fun!


4. Barneys New York - 61st and Madison Ave-  We're not sure how to best describe this other than: Whimsical, Creepy and focused solely on celebrating American's love for...food and celebrity chefs. Seeing Paula Deen gathered around the Christmas Kitchen in a Snuggie is particularly intriguing/disturbing.


3. Lord and Taylor - 38th and Fifth Avenue - Always one of the most popular sets of windows due in part to their location (right at Rockefeller Center), they've gone classic with sets of detailed miniatures over 12 windows that tell the tale of Christmas stories over the past 100 years.


2. Henri Bendel- 56th and Fifth Avenue - We were surprised that this made our list, but we just couldn't get over the sheer elegance (that also reminded us we certainly can't afford to shop here). Designs inside and out focus on fashion intertwined with a stunning take on the Nutcracker. And, really, who doesn't love the Nutcracker?


1. Saks Fifth Avenue - 49th and Fifth Avenue - Amazing. The best in the city. The light and music show on the side of the building builds to a breathtaking crescendo. Check out the video below, but this is a must see in person. The light show combines with traditional windows themed of Snowflake and Bubbles and a young girl on Christmas morning. Truly, it is all heartwarming and exhilarating. If this doesn't put you in the holiday season then nothing likely will change your Grinch like spirit. Light show is every fifteen minutes through Jan 6th. 


Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Not quite "The Ride” of your life (a bit closer to "disappointing experience")

Planning on doing some NYC Site seeing in the near future? Visiting the city yourself or taking some guests on a “let someone else do all of the talking” tour? The Big Adventure suggests you avoid “The Ride.”

Recently, there was a no holds barred article in the NY Daily News that illuminated a fact that many of us already knew: The new tourist attraction The Ride is overpriced and underwhelming.

Since the company launched in September, there have been ubiquitous ads all over town for this bus tour that’s part “entertainment experience” and part…well bus tour.

We give ‘em credit, The Ride is a new twist on the decades old, standard bus tour. For starters, they’re rolling down Broadway in a 1.3 million dollar vehicle that features comfortable stadium seating. The seating all faces the right side of the road giving everyone the advantage of looking at the same thing  Plus, the coach is stacked with state-of-the-art audio and video, seats that shake, move and jimmy, and enough in-bus special effects that would make James Cameron drool.

But after you get past the allure of the cool bus, The Ride quickly goes downhill. Instead of trying to enlighten, educate and simply point out the wonders of NYC, The Ride “re-enacts” scenes from NYC life. On the sidewalk outside the bus, you’ll occasionally see a variety of performers who churn through their corny shtick among other real people. A variety of gimmicky stunts are played out mixing the tour with some quick one-act scenes. What is indented to be surprising comes off as amateurish. What is supposed to show a “slice of life” in NYC is ridiculous. Trying to be part show and part tour, it instead ends up being a lot of nothing.

Plus, with the $65 ticket price needed for a seat on The Ride, your better bet is to spend that money on a real Broadway show or buy TWO tickets for one of the more traditional double-decker classic buses.  

In short, The Ride is a great attempt but ends up being an overdone miss. Spend your money on one of the better,more classic options. The Ride operates 364 Days a year and leaves from the Marriott Hotel in Times Square. 75 Minutes. 4.2 Miles.

Visit “The Ride” on “The Internet”:

http://www.experiencetheride.com/home

Trip Advisor digsThe NYC Big Adventure!

The Big Adventure made Trip Advisor! We're going to big time now. Well sorta. Trip Advisor's editors posted a link to us on their page of  “New York City Useful Websites" waaayy down at the bottom under “Homages, afficionados and obsessed fans of NYC”. Great. We made the obsessed fans category. Hey, maybe we’ll get some legit European Tourists on December 11th.

Trip Advisor NYC Websites

NYC November "Must Do" Event #1: Hand Out Water at the New York City Marathon

The Big Adventure Presents NYC November "Must Do" Event #1: Volunteer at the ING New York City Marathon

This Saturday brings back an annual Autumn tradition as the ING New York City Marathon hits 26.2 Miles of pavement throughout the five boroughs. To be a part of it, you could cram the sidewalks with an estimated crowd of two million of your closest friends. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and land a choice viewing point from a packed corner. 

However, the Big Adventure has a better option: Volunteering at an Aid Station or as a Course Marshall for 41st running of the ING New York City Marathon.

Speaking from experience, volunteering is an incredibly exciting and fun option for getting involved with the race. For the true “part of the race” experience, try to volunteer on the course either as an Aid Station attendant or a Course Marshall in charge of guiding runners in the right direction. A Course Marshall! Think of the prestige with a title like that. At the Aid Stations, your charge is to be part of a fifty-plus person team that prepares and hands out water to each runner from the elite race-leaders to your office co-worker struggling through their first ever marathon.

When handing out water and Gatorade, don’t be surprised if you find you’ve suddenly become the most beloved and desired person in NYC. Grateful runners – fast and slow – will snatch cups from your hand and throw them down mercilessly at your feet. And, yes, you’ll even see a few cases of the dreaded, infamous bloody nipple caused to shirt chafing. You may have a choice of mile markers, but the stations in Central Park towards the end of the course are usually regarded as the best. In short: it is a rare and unique volunteering experience that allows you to see an amazing race up close and personable.

But the best part? Volunteering tends to be much easier on the legs than actually, you know, running the marathon. You must by 18, work the requested hours (a few hours) and you’ll even get some official gear out of the gig. For more information and to sign up, visit this page on the office ING NYC Marathon site. Sign up soon as the race is this Saturday:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/course_vols.htm