this weekend!

didn't research anything yet, but you all should know it's halloween tomorrow, that means a big night saturday, maybe some pre-parties the night before too?

BUT also the New York City Marathon is on Sunday closing off a bunch of streets for long times like 1st avenue and many more throughout the city.

Oh P.S. I've heard November first is the first day where we will have an extra 50 cents surcharge for every single ride, which will then be calculated as a total at the end of the day/week what have you, and you will then have to pay the total from the new surcharge back to the MTA via your garage/broker etceteras. bleh.

WATCH YOUR TURNS (or lack thereof)

1. New No Left unto 58th off of Broadway.
DETOURS INCLUDE:
a.) Right on 57/Right on 8/Right on 58.
b.) Follow Columbus Circle around
to Central Park South (59th).
Then Right at 7 Av/Left on 58.

2. Cop trap on Broadway and 14th, still active during morning rush hours. Vehicles traveling downtown on the Left Turn Only lane will be ticketed.

3. New cop trap on westernmost Houston (before ending at West Side Highway). Left lane is coned off the entire block, to accommodate parked NYPD vans, while 2 (or more) officers on foot motion violators to the left. They seem to be enforcing wide turns off of Washington, as well as cellular use if caught (especially Yellow Cabs).

SIDE NOTE (reminder): on that last block of Houston (normally) the left lane is for Left Turns Only, while the middle lane is to go straight ahead into Pier 40 (and right turns as well), and the right lane is for right turns only. The dotted segment of these 3 lanes (for legal lane shifts) is only available the 1st half of the block. The 2nd half are solid white lines. So don't procrastinate. But then again, don't turn wide either, to align yourself early with the lane you need. Both ends of this spectrum are 'illegal'.

Between you and me, in a city this congested, a tactic like this, in that location, for bringing in revenue, is indeed a cheap shot. Motorists are forced to be so anal about the law, to avoid tickets, that it could easily unfold into a neighborhood-wide traffic jam.

Perhaps it's simply part of Bloomberg's plan to dissuade motorists from driving on Manhattan's streets, which is fine by me, but please give us hacks a break. We fit nicely into Plan GreeNYC! No? But the cops don't care and apparently neither does the mayor. Ironically enough, he just became the first mayoral candidate to win the endorsement of all 5 area police unions. Unfortunately, taxis are not excluded from transportation initiative #12, while in all other major cities of the world, taxis are cut slack in bus lanes, etc. etc.

GOING NYC

Yet another site for finding out where to scope for fares:
http://newyork.going.com/?src=g_nyc_t_manhattan-manhattan_weekend&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google

FDR Closure

From Gridlock Sam -

All lanes of FDR northbound Houston to 23rd Street will close midnight Friday until 8 am Sunday.

The northbound entrances at South, Pearl and Montgomery Sts. as well as the Houston St. southbound entrance will also be closed.

Just discovered a new website for the nightlife in NY: nyc.alltheparties.com

I drive day shift on the weekends so I jot down little lists like this

for the last of the crowds when I hit the streets between 4 & 5 am....

BRANCH                       226 E 54 @ 3 Av

MARQUIS                     289 Tenth @ 26th

DUVET                           45 W 21 @ 5 Av

RETREAT                      37 W 17 @ 5 Av

TWO 5TH                      218 E 125th @ 2 Av

L. POISSON ROUGE   158 Bleecker/ Thompson

ELEMENT                     HOUSTON/ESSEX

today's parades and street fairs:

Korean Times Parade:

• 6th Avenue from 40th Street to 25th Street -11am to 4pm

Formation of parade will be at: (before 11am?)

• 40th Street between Broadway and 5th Ave
• 41st Street between Broadway and 6th Ave

Dispersal of parade will be at: (after 4pm?)

• 27th Street between Broadway and 7th Ave
• 31st Street between 5th Ave and Broadway

Korean Times Festival:

• 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue -11am to 6pm

NIgerian Independence Day Parade:

• 2nd Avenue from 54th Street to 43rd Street -11am to 6pm

Formation of parade: (before 11am?)

• 54th between 2nd Ave and 1st Ave

Dispersal of parade: (after 6pm?)

• 43rd Street between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave
• 44th Street between 2nd Ave and 1st Ave

Nigerian Independence Day Festival:

• 47th Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue -11am to 6pm