National Park Service

Will There Be Face-Recognition Surveillance at the Statue of Liberty?

The National Park Service describes the Statue of Liberty as "a universal symbol of freedom and democracy." What better place to implement powerful new surveillance systems complete with next-generation facial-recognition technology? Late last year, Police Product Insight, a trade journal for polic ... More >>

Ten Big Deal Albums We're Hella Excited For

Hey: Albums! In case people still care about these things, here's a batch of potentially interesting releases arriving in the coming weeks and months:

Who Will Run Washington Square, Union Square Parks? (UPDATE)

Some are now reporting that Becky Ferguson, administrator of Washington Square and Union Square Parks, is leaving her position. As mentioned in The Villager, "Becky Ferguson has left her job as administrator of not just Washington Square Park but also Union Square Park for a plum position with the ... More >>

9/11 Family Group Wants National Park Service to Take Over WTC Memorial

A 9/11 family group is calling for the National Parks Service to take over the memorial/museum at the World Trade Center site, claiming that the folks currently running it have turned it into a "memorial-industrial complex characterized by gross mismanagement, bloated salaries and out-of-control spe ... More >>

Local Pols Say Federal Government is Getting in the Way of NYC's First Outdoor Film Studio *UPDATED*

New York City is oh so very close to being a better city for film and television than Hollywood -- if the federal government would just get out of the damn way! At least that was the message today on the corner of 36th Street in Astoria, Queens, where Sen. Chuck Schumer, flanked by relevant neighb ... More >>

Kill The Geese, Now! (Or People Might Get Killed by Them)

Avians and airplanes are a bad mix -- and the skies above New York City are no exception. On Tuesday, a bird strike prompted a JetBlue plane to make an emergency landing. Last week, also, a bird strike forced a Delta flight to make an emergency landing. And don't forget the Miracle on the Hudso ... More >>

What It Was Like Inside the Washington Monument During Last Month's Earthquake

This video recently released by the National Park Service shows what it was like inside the Washington Monument during the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia, sending vibrations up the Northeast coast, last month. It is unexpectedly scary!

New York to Become 'Leading Example' of Urban Camping, Maybe

Not exactly what Salazar had in mind.​Ken Salazar, the Interior Secretary, has come up with a fun idea. Urban camping! Okay, the idea to camp in urban areas is not Salazar's per se, but he has just announced that Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn will be developed by the National Park Service to ... More >>

Oil Is Washing Up All Over Florida Beaches

via tampabay.com​Yesterday Foster shared a video of a kid on the beach in Destin, Florida (where this blogger spent many a Spring Break) screaming because of the oil -- BP oil -- clinging to her foot. Today we have these St. Petersburg Times photos of Pensacola Beach, which is just around the ... More >>

Ellis Island reopens after fire

​Ellis Island was evacuated yesterday after a transformer fire shut off electricity, trapping visitors in elevators. Jersey City Fire and Emergency Services Department responded to a call about the elevator problem at 12:50, and discovered a failed transformer in the mechanical room of the Imm ... More >>

Getting the MTA's Goat at the Verrazano Bridge

Black Pride Hits Queens Beach

Park Service, Black Pride Party End Standoff

Gentlemen, Start Your Bulldozers

Park Service Okays Yanks' Park Demolition

Theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!

Yanks' Stadium Deal Not Over Till It's Over

Two Stadiums. No Waiting.

Yanks and Mets plans leave little room for public debate

Leisurely Bush, Bumbling Feds

Only the Coast Guard looks good after Hurricane Katrina

Exhibit A

Politics on Display in the Fight for a Black Museum

Monumental Errors

Can the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Campaign Be Saved?

Traveling Exhibit

Making the Case for a National Black Museum

What Becomes a Legend Most?

Selling King's Papers; Reclaiming Malcolm X's

Exhibit WTC

Dividing the Artifacts of September 11

Refill Madness

Hemp-Powered Car Rolls Its Own Fuel

Nation

Trivial Necessities

How to Win Friends and Influence People

From the Field To A Garden

The Fascination of What’s Difficult

Nation

Gay Is Global

Three decades after Stonewall the movement it spawned has become a worldwide symbol of freedom