Exploring New York City by delivering the info on the social, one-of-a-kind,
inexpensive and astonishingly fun things do in NYC since 2007
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Friday, June 24, 2011

Because even the big city needs some school spirit...

The Big Adventure once overhead someone say  "New York City is the greatest city on earth because it has everything you'll ever need....well, except College Football" So, yeah, perhaps the closest thing to regular competitive university sports  is either hours away in Syracuse or in (gulp) Jersey at Rutgers. And before you start taking exception because I'm leaving off schools like Fordham, St. John's or even Hofstra - we're talking schools with strong divisions of sports across the board. Top tier Archery doesn't count (I'm looking at you here, NYU)

To that end, we're re-posting this information because it's kind of adorable and we believe in supporting the local guy: Columbia University is on a quest to get a big 4,000 Facebook Fans in order to have the most in the Ivy League! Aww, good luck! We won't point out that Penn State has 167,575 fans of their official Athletics Page:  Seriously though, we once attended a Columbia Men's Basketball Game as part of our Winter Big Adventure and had a blast for low cost. We support the Lions:

Lion fans, join the ROAR for FOUR campaign and help Columbia Athletics get 4,000 fans and become the most 'liked' Facebook page in the Ivy League!  Show your support for Columbia Athletics and LIKE the Official Columbia Athletics Facebook Fan Page.  All fans that LIKE the Facebook page receive an inside look to your favorite Lion teams, along with exclusive Facebook content! 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Best Places to Ditch Work for a Day in NYC

In the spirit of our upcoming Big Adventure Day Off on July 21st, we're daydreaming of the best places to play hookey in NYC from the hustle and bustle of every day life. We've got a few quality places on our list that we'll share with you and we're eager to hear yours.

Our first such location is a somewhat isolated locale that's technically part of Manhattan. In fact, you couldn't even access this place regularly until about 2006. Hmnm...any guesses on this great place to ditch work on a Summer day?

Real life tales of a NYC Television Actor

Venerable and seemingly omnipresent actor Willie Garson has always held a special place close to the heart of The Big Adventure. We've always found Willie to be a guy one can relate to. Truly a working actor who has had every role under the sun. Any notoriety he has earned has come by grit and drive rather than stunning looks and easy fame. If you look hard enough, you can even spot him in the film Groundhog Day. A local from the NYC area, you're more likely to run into him at Parkside Lounge or The Redhead then Peter Luger's or The Rainbow Room. 
Long before his Sex and The City Days, Willie was locking down TV parts - bit parts to guest staring roles - in every place from Star Trek Voyager to Boy Meets World. Below is a link to the most interesting and entertaining thing we’ve read all week.


We hope that we bump into Willie one day so we can buy him a drink and hear more about his appearance Family Ties and Quantum Leap because, well, that's the type of guy he seems to be. Hey, maybe we can even get him to join in on our Next Big Adventure. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream for Free in NYC thorugh July!

Well, this was just too good not to share. And we're thinking that perhaps we'll arrange a meeting with these guys on the Next Big Adventure on July 21st: Those lovable, dairy-loving Vermont Hippies/Ice Cream Moguls are dosing out Free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in random locales from now through late July all across NYC.

Every day, The Ben & Jerry Ice Cream truck (powered, no doubt, by hemp and used cooking oil) will be transversing the mean streets of The Big Apple to dish out the good stuff. This isn't just a shoddy one day affair. For a big Six Weeks beginning, appropriately enough, the day before the official start of summer and continuing through July 29th they'll be out there. 
Pinpoint their current location or propose a future visit through Twitter &Facebook . They are updating their Twitter Feed just about every hour with new locations here The Big Adventure's favorite flavor? White Chocolate Flannel Cake. OK, so we just made that up. That's not actually a flavor. 

More sweet, sweet info here: http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/feature/2011-truck-tour/nyc-scoop-truck/

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Most Unique Subway Station Entrance in NYC

In a transit system with over 468 individual subway stations, a lot of them start to look the same after a while. In New York City, there are surprisingly few stations that really stand out. A while ago, we posted on the art on the 14th street. Now, we wanted to share a subway entrance that truly knocked our socks off.

Below are three photos we took waaaaaay uptown outside the 181th Street a line station in the Hudson Heights section of Upper Manhattan. The entrance looks so impressively grand that it could have been lifted right out of a movie set.
Opened way back in 1932, all of the original styling seem in tact. Note the IRT stencil lettering on the third pictures above the wood doors. The station itself is notched deep within the station; the platform is accessible via elevators and escalators only. Which, you know, is a real pain in the backside when the elevator and/or escalator is out.

True, there are some similar quality facades in some parts of Brooklyn and such, but this one really stands out. Makes our local subway stations look like an architect's undergrand projet.  The station also really ads to the low key charm of the neighberhood complete with windy, narrow streets and the highest natural peak on Manhattan Island. The Big Adventure wants to know, what is the most colorful, unique NYC subway entrance that YOU’VE ever seen?