Several subway stations across New York City will test out replacing their traditional newsstands with high-tech vending machines.The MTA says it had trouble filling vacant newsstands in recent years and they are not doing the same kind of business they once did. The Vending machines from CVS have popped up at Union Square and in Chambers Street on the 1, 2, 3 lines for a trial run.

The MTA will test the vending machines for two years. In some cases, the locations competing with subway storefronts like one at Union Square, are just beyond the turnstile. The machines will offer products such as travel-sized toiletries, ear buds, phone chargers and on-the-go snacks. The MTA is testing the machines as a response to a reduction in subway newsstands, the result in part of declining magazine and newspaper sales.  A third of the 248 retail spaces in the subway system are shuttered — most of those closed outposts are newsstands. Many people hope that this will bring in more revenue for a struggling transit system.

Beginning Oct. 1, 2020, New Yorkers will need a new form of identification to cross the U.S. border or to fly within the country. The change is required by the federal Real ID Act, adopted in 2005, and the state Department of Motor Vehicles is warning New Yorkers to avoid common pitfalls when applying for the new IDs. Customers have three options when it comes to getting a driver license, permit, or non-driver ID in New York State.

An enhanced license (permit, or non-driver ID) is a New York State DMV issued document that you can use instead of a passport to return to the US by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and some countries in the Caribbean. New York’s EDL is compliant with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

 

An enhanced license, permit or non-driver ID is Federal REAL ID compliant and is accepted to board a domestic flight (within the US), enter military bases, and certain federal facilities.

For more information, visit: WHICH ID IS RIGHT FOR ME? 

AMC Movie Theatres are offering a special deal this summer where every Wednesday at select theaters, kids can get a movie ticket and snacks for just four dollars plus tax. It’s part of AMC’s promotion, “Summer Movie Camp,” which hosts special kid-friendly screenings of popular movies for a discounted price while school is out. The four dollars not only includes a PG movie ticket but also a carton of popcorn, a soft drink, and a box of Footi Tootis fruit snacks. The 2019 “Summer Movie Camp” will run from June 5 to August 14.

You can find the full list of participating theaters and their movie schedules on AMC’s website here. There are other ways to save on trips to the movie theater this summer, too. AMC recently announced that they’ll continue their Discounted Tuesdays program throughout 2019, where AMC Stubs members (who also get a free refill every time they order a large popcorn) can order deeply discounted movie tickets every Tuesday.

In New York City, it seems no one can afford to miss a text or email even if that means checking their phones when crossing the street. But soon you can be hit with a fine. A bill banning texting while walking has been introduced to New York’s state senate.  

If the bill passes into law, New Yorkers can expect to be fined from $25 to $250 if police officers catch them “using a portable electronic device while crossing a roadway”. There are some people who would be exempted, including “an emergency response operator” and employees of a hospital, physician’s office or fire department, among others. About 300 pedestrian fatalities occur annually in New York state. And while it’s unclear how many of these deaths happened because a pedestrian wasn’t looking while walking, John Liu, the New York state senator who introduced the bill, is determined to lower that figure significantly. “[The bill] does not say you can’t talk on the phone,” Liu said. “We’re talking about handheld devices … you can wait the five seconds to get to the other side.”

Teenagers will be able to work out for free this summer with Planet Fitness’ Teen Summer Challenge.  More than 1,8000  Planet Fitness locations in the United States and Canada are participating in the challenge.

It comes about as a way to get youth to pursue a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise each day. Teens can get a totally free summer membership at Planet Fitness! To participate, teenagers only have to sign-up in one of the Planet Fitness clubs. People under the age of 18 will have to have a parent or guardian with them during sign-up, however, once signed up, they can work out by themselves. Teenagers who sign up are also entered into a scholarship sweepstakes, where the company will award a $500 scholarship in each state and a $5,000 grand prize in both the United States and Canada.

The temperatures are almost where they’re supposed to be but there are many opportunities to take in outdoor movies this summer.  Here in the city Public parks and rooftops will be making the most of the warmer weather, offering free and ticketed outdoor screenings across the city. Some are beginning to release their schedules, so prepare your picnic blanket to watch your favorite films under the stars. If more outdoor movies pop-up throughout the city I will definitely update this post: Outdoor Movies In NYC

 

The MTA is looking to move ahead with plans for the next phase of the Second Avenue subway. MTA Officials said that they have formally asked the federal government to cover a third of the project’s massive cost which would rely on money coming from Washington. MTA officials said Monday they hope to shave about a billion dollars from the project’s projected $6 billion cost. The work would extend the Second Avenue line north from 96th Street, where it now ends, to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, with new stations at 106th, 116th, and 125th Streets. Sections of the line, from 110th to 120th Streets, were built in the 1970s, but the work was halted in 1975 because of the city’s financial crisis. Phase One of the Second Avenue line, from 63rd to 96th Streets, opened in 2017 at a cost of nearly $4.5 billion. The goal is for Phase Two to be completed in 10 years.

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2019/04/16/second-avenue-subway-mta-hoping-to-cut-costs-to-move-project-forward?cid=share_clip

 

The Girl Scouts are hitting the road with a truck traveling through all five boroughs and they’ll be running a pop-up store in Manhattan featuring Thin Mints, S’mores, Trefoils and their other crave-worthy cookies. The mobile cookie truck will be operating on weekends and can be tracked through social media at @GirlScoutsNYC and the hashtag #GScookietruckNYC or by using the online Girl Scout Cookie finder. The pop-up store at 1590 Lexington Ave. opened on March 8 and is selling cookies Wednesdays through Sundays through May 4. It’s operated by Girl Scouts on weekends and after-school hours.

Crystal Crawford works as a receptionist, and then her life changed when The Prize Patrol team at Publishers Clearing House surprised the single mother of two at her job. The Publishers Clearing House is a direct marketing and magazine subscription company known for running sweepstakes with eye-popping prizes. It’s awarded nearly $400 million over the years. Crystal Crawford’s prize is one of the larger giveaways. She will get $5,000, before taxes, every week for the rest of her life, and she can designate a loved one to continue to receive the payments for the rest of his or her life, after she dies. Her prize amounts to more than a $250,000 a year. An enormous sum for a woman who says she’s been struggling to make ends meet. As for how she will spend the money? She says she’ll use it to pay off debts, build her credit and send her youngest son, a senior in high school, off to college.

 

Now, it looks like everything is official: As NY1 reports, construction on the museum is slated to begin in the South Bronx at 65 E. 149th Street this year, and it’s expected to be complete in 2023.

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/02/20/what-will-be-in-the-universal-hip-hop-museum-in-the-bronx-nyc

Kurtis Blow is the chairman of the board of the Universal Hip-Hop Museum. The city’s Economic Development Corporation says the museum will be a part of Bronx Point, a housing and entertainment complex to be built on a vacant lot on East 149th and Exterior Streets along the Harlem River. Kurtis Blow released one of the first rap songs to hit vinyl and the radio, back in 1979. But hip-hop had already been on the streets. Hip-hop can be traced back to a party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in 1973. From its roots in the South Bronx, hip-hop and rap are now a multi-billion dollar industry, accepted by mainstream America and a global cultural force. But it hasn’t been easy getting major support and money for a museum about hip-hop. Plans for this project have been in the works for years. There will be interactive activities teaching visitors how to DJ on turntables or become a graffiti artist, and there will be plenty of old school hip-hop artifacts. There’s so much history that began in the Bronx, and will be showcased right here.