City · NYU Local

NYU Local Goes Food Tripping

May 17th, 2013 by Kyle Walsh

Have you ever tried grapefruit and absolutely hated it? Well we’ve found a solution, temporarily at least. And no, you don’t have to be 65 years old. Apparently there’s a real fruit called Synsepalum Dulcificum which naturally turns sour foods sweet. The effect is due to miraculin, which is used as a sugar substitute in the food industry. Sadly, we couldn’t get the fruit, but we got the next best thing. It’s a tablet called Miracle Frooties, that when dissolved onto your tongue, inverts the taste-buds from sour to sweet. As in, It takes sour things and makes them taste like the sweetest candy you’ve ever had. We tried various foods and flavors to give you a hands-on report to their flavor profiles when under the effects. Surprisingly, it’s not as disgusting as you might think.

Lemons- It tasted exactly like the sweetest, freshest lemon-aid you’ve ever had. Beware, if you take too big of a bite, your body will squirm from the effects your body normal feels from sour foods. The only thing that changes is your taste-buds, not your body’s reaction to it. Your taste-buds may be tell you it’s sweet, but your body will not. Read more…

employment discrimination Longbow Pub & Pantry McSorley's Tea & Sympathy Tuck Shop

The Case For (Mild) Discriminatory Employment: Aussie Pies, Irish Drafts, & English Tea

May 17th, 2013 by Ava Kiai

Of course equal-opportunity employment is a totally rad thing. But maybe I want my Australian meat pie served to me by a Aussie-accented dude, my double-dark ales slapped down on that worn McSorley’s table by an Irish expat and for no one to bug niche restaurant owners trying to maintain the authenticity of their establishments.

But Longbow Pub & Pantry, a Welsh bar in Bay Ridge, found itself slapped with a $2,500 fine from the city’s Commission on Human Rights last year when it posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a new bartender with the addendum: “being British definitely works in your favor.” The conciliation meeting with the commission is scheduled for next month, and if the case goes to trial the fine could be jacked up to $7,500.

But really now, potentially $7,500 for saying it would be nice to have an English accent if you’re serving English drafts? In the spirit of Louie C.K., a la the HBO special: “Of course!… but maybe…” Read more…

Commencement graduation seniors Seniors We Out Here

Lulls And LOL’s: The 25 Best Things To Do Between Finals And Graduation

May 16th, 2013 by Melissa Cronin and Sophia Melas

Graduation is fast approaching! But never fear—there are still six full days before D-Day. So, seniors, this is your moment to fully bask in your NYU-ness, enjoying all the best things about our little slice of the Village, without the worst – homework, tests, pesky professors. We here at NYU Local want you to enjoy your weeklong lull before graduation as a carefree millennial with days to fill and drinks to imbibe. So we’ve compiled the 25 best ways you can spend the next week. It’s never too late to have some lol’s in your lull.

Films Not Movies nostalgia

[PHOTOS] Why You Should Care About Digital Projection

May 15th, 2013 by Caleb Savage

Film Forum’s marquee on Houston Street. The theater shows contemporary and classic films, using both digital and analog projection.

We went to chat with Chad Bolton, general manager of art house theater Film Forum, on the subject of digital projection in cinemas. In the past few years, traditional 35mm projection has rapidly been replaced by new digital systems in movie theaters all over.

Film Forum installed digital projectors about two years ago, at a cost of approximately $75,000 per screen. For a three-screen independent theater, this was a heavy financial burden— especially considering the possible swift obsolescence of the computer systems involved. Chains like Regal or AMC have large corporations behind them which help absorb the cost of new equipment, but smaller theaters have to shoulder the cost independently.

The conversion is happening swifty and from the top down. Studios, quick to rid themselves of the high cost of producing and distributing physical copies of film, are pushing digital cinema heavily. Some are no longer producing film prints of new movies, and the rest won’t be doing it for much longer. Theaters must convert or die. Many small theaters which couldn’t afford a digital retrofit are gone already, or will be in the very near future.

Here Are The Concerts NYC Has In Store For Us This Summer And Beyond

May 14th, 2013 by Luis Landas

The warm weather and constant drinking isn’t all there is to look forward to this summer. In case you haven’t had a chance to scope out which musicians are coming to NYC this year, or are still depressed you couldn’t afford that Governor’s Ball ticket, we’ve got you covered. We’ve got dates for Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Crystal Fighters, The Roots, Disclosure, and TNGHT between now, summer, and New Year’s – and we also threw in a date for a Daft Punk tribute band since everyone’s on their Daft Punk kick right now.

While everyone else’s faces are buried in their books, why not take a minute to book some tickets? The Killers, Beyoncé, and Belle & Sebastian are playing shows here too, but they’re sold out, but when’s that ever stopped anyone? Also, stay tuned for our Entertainment section’s best picks later this week for a more in-depth summer itinerary.

Read more…

Brooklyn Dodgers Nets Sports

Brooklyn’s Here! The End Of The Nets’ First Season Has Us Looking At Dodger Pasts And An Islanders Future

May 14th, 2013 by Joshua Z. Lavine

Brooklyn was in love with the Dodgers. Just ask J-Sex. For over 70 years, the team had been entrenched in the borough and was something the residents of Brooklyn could call their own. When the Dodgers left Brooklyn, a gaping hole was torn in the hearts of the Brooklyn die-hards.

To say the Brooklyn Dodgers were legendary is an understatement- they played their first season in the International League in 1883, and after winning the American Association Championship in 1889, joined the National League in 1890, and the rest is history.

But the Dodgers were not always known as the Dodgers. They were originally known as the Atlantics, Grays, Bridegrooms, Trolley Dodgers, Superbas and Robins before the Dodgers moniker stuck. The name was taken from Trolley Dodgers, which the Brooklyn fans were called because they used to dodge the trolleys on the streets of Brooklyn. Read more…

Dojo food Gentrification So long farewell The Man The Olds

Dojo Is Closing

May 13th, 2013 by Aaron Marks

Sad news for fans of cheap eats around NYU: Dojo, the venerable West 4th Street eatery, will be shutting up shop soon. According to Vanishing NY, rising rents will force the cheap and healthy eatery to close sometime this summer and “reopen as something entirely different.”

Dojo, described once by this blogger’s waiter as “a sort of Japanese diner,” has been serving healthy, fresh foods at reasonable prices since 1991. Their location at Mercer and West 4th Streets has made them a favorite among NYU students for as long as most of us have been alive.

No hard date is set for Dojo’s closing, and a bartender yesterday told us that “Nothing is finalized, yet.” But Vanishing NY says they’ll be gone this summer, so best go take advantage of their cheap eats while you can. Seriously, their food is absurdly cheap: $6.95 for an enormous plate of nachos, $7.25 for a soy burger and salad and Japanese favorites like ramen and tempura.

Senior Bucket List: Drunk In Class

May 10th, 2013 by Melissa Cronin, Sophia Melas, and Delia Pless

Here at NYU Local, we have a long history of going places that we are not invited to. We also have a long history of substance abuse. At 3:30 pm on Thursday afternoon, we combined both of these things.

Two intrepid reporters went where no one has ever gone willingly before: a Natural Science II class. This one, however– called “Molecules of Life”– has gotten rave reviews, and so has the professor, CAS legend Trace Jordan (No, not Tracy Jordan.) Professor Jordan has a stellar 4.8 out of 5 grade on RateMyProfessor.com, and many students have called him the best professor they’ve had at NYU.

Former NYU VP Catches Heat In Benghazi Hearing

May 10th, 2013 by Aaron Marks

The big event in D.C. yesterday was the Republicans’ investigation into the attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans last September. The underlying goal of the investigation, as BuzzFeed reports, is to call into question the response from Hilary Clinton, whose State Department was mostly responsible to respond to the attack in Libya. This investigation looks forward of the 2016 Presidential Election in which Clinton is an ostensible Democratic front-runner. And while Clinton received most of the media coverage, interestingly enough a former member of the NYU community is drawing heat as well.