So just what is David Blaine doing to fill the time during his "Dive of Death" stunt? A trip uptown yesterday revealed that yes, as has been reported, Blaine has taken regular standing breaks to be checked on by a physician. He also noted that standing was the only time he can drink water because drinking it upside-down "makes me feel like I'm gonna puke." With all the upright time, Blaine seemed to be holding......

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had a busy day yesterday. While the McCain-Palin spokespeople were disinviting then re-inviting the press, she met with Afghan President Hamid Karzhai, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The press got under 90 seconds—for all three meetings—of access. Even the Fox News producers, on their blog, wrote, "the Palin camp went to new lengths to control the media, which is covering the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee":It......

David Blaine has been upside down since yesterday, and today his medical team will be on hand at Wollman Rink to check in on their patient. There have been some concerns about what being in his position for 60 hours can do to the human body (like blindness!), so stay tuned for what's likely to be a dramatic yet reassuring press conference with the docs. Tomorrow Blaine ends his latest challenge with "a heart-stopping plunge......

Illusionist David Blaine is looking for your support when he suspends himself to a cable with magnetic boots upside-down above Wollman Rink for three days next week. In today's NY Daily News, he revealed more details about the stunt including that doctors will check on him every few hours, a cherry-picker will lift visitors to his level and he will urinate through a catheter. Blaine has been practicing by hanging upside-down with gravity boots at......

Brooklyn's leading magician David Blaine will live in the great outdoors of New York once again in just a few weeks for his next major public stunt, walking upside-down above Wollman Rink for three days. Blaine will perform the "Dive of Death" starting on the morning of September 22 as passers-by in Central Park will be able to see him as he hangs upside-down like a bat while connected to a wire via magnetic boots.......

National Go Topless Day was held over the weekend, and protesters were out in full force in and around Central Park to fight for their rights to be topless in public. Of course, in New York it is legal--in 1992 the NY State Appeals Court ruled that women have the right to go topless, just like men. The Empire State ladies were merely marching in support of the women who get fined, humiliated and arrested......

Speaking of Moonstruck, this week the Central Park Film Festival is screening movies highlighting the different boroughs of the city. Tomorrow night's kickoff film is Working Girl, starring Melanie Griffith as a plucky secretary from Staten Island trying to make it in the business world. The rest of the films: 8/20, The French Connection (a Bronx candy store under surveillance); 8/21, Strangers on a Train (the Alfred Hitchcock thriller); 8/22, Moonstruck (with an introduction......

Julian Koster, member of the Elephant 6 Collective, former member of the legendary Neutral Milk Hotel and current leader of The Music Tapes, will be playing in Central Park tonight to his two stuffed animals. An acorn will be your ticket in, and there are plenty of other instructions that should keep you busy up until show time, which is 10:46 p.m. (not a moment sooner). This is a rain date for a previously scheduled......

Tonight’s hot ticket, as you know, is Plants and Animals at Central Park Summerstage; the phenomenal Montreal trio will also be joined by up-and-comers Yeasayer and The National (never heard of ‘em.) This event is sold out, but funnyman Mike Birbiglia is giving away a pair of tickets to whoever writes “the nicest request on my Facebook wall.” To snag the tix, you'll at least have to top this misspelled plea: "I request that you......

Tonight Plants and Animals open up Central Park's SummerStage show, warming the crowd for both Yeasayer and headliners The National. The Canadian trio has had the honors of doing the same for both Wolf Parade and Gnarls Barkley, something not many bands can put on their resume. Appealing to a wide range of artists while simultaneously being pigeon-holed as having "jam band" influences is no easy feat, and it certainly speaks volumes about the band's......

Last night, two 15-year-olds were arrested after allegedly attacking and robbing a tourist couple in Central Park on West Drive near West 85th. The incident occurred around 9:15 p.m., according to WABC 7, with two boys punching "33-year-old man in the face, while a 15-year-old girl tried to swipe a 26-year-old woman's purse." Though the girl didn't get the purse, she and her cohorts ran away with the victims chasing them. The police managed to......

The Bowery Boys take a look back at the sordid history of the Naumburg Bandshell, which still sits in Central Park (since 1923) "thanks to some tenacious descendants of the man who donated it, Elkan Naumburg." Seems the bandshell's time in the sun has passed, and as the music has moved on elsewhere, it's become a homeless haven. "In the comprehensive 1985 survey by the Central Park Conservancy, it was recommended that the bandshell, never......

The latest art project to be plopped into a public space is Zaha Hadid's Chanel Pavilion, a 7,500-square-foot temporary, traveling art gallery that has a number of stamps on its passport already. The spaceship-esque pod will land in Rumsey Playfield in Central Park by October 20th, and be open through November 9th -- housing artwork (including a piece by Yoko Ono) inspired by the Chanel handbag, of course. The NY Times took a look at......

If you were wondering why the crowd at the free Bon Jovi concert in Central Park was numbered at a measly 48,538 people when previous concerts by entertainers like Garth Brooks reportedly drew 750,000, former city parks administrator Doug Blonsky is here to tell you that those old numbers were totally bogus. “You would get in a room with the producer, with a police official, and a person from parks, and someone would say, ‘What......

Central Park may be pretty from the ground, but the view from above will give New Yorkers a whole new perspective while taking in "the brilliance of the Greensward Plan, Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux's 1858 design." The NY Post reports that starting tomorrow, helium balloon rides will be offered for just $25 a pop.The rides will be offered from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Aug. 22, and children 12 and under ride......

Illustration by Carolita Johnson. Who doesn't enjoy a peaceful lunch in Central Park? The above illustration is succinct in showing the ornithological, et al, breakdown of just who's getting leftovers. From pigeon to rat, there are two-winged and four-legged creatures savoring every dropped crumb in the park -- and they're just as pushy as some human New Yorkers when it comes to their lunch break.......

The Central Park Conservancy working on renewing the lake, which means removing some sediment, draining some parts of the lake, and rescuing the wildlife in it. The NY Times witnessed the "fish rescue" in one area, and the findings included finding a 30-pound snapping turtle and almost 3,000 fish, like a bullheaded catfish and pumpkinseed sunfish. All of the inhabitants--see the slideshow here-- were relocated to another watery home in the lake.......

Picnics always look so appealing in the movies, like that scene in O Brother, Where Art Thou? where John Goodman breaks off the tree branch and starts swinging. But here in the real world, picnics take a lot of work and schlepping, and if you don’t have one of those deluxe picnic baskets an unspoken feeling of inadequacy can quickly turn that potato salad to sawdust in your mouth. Thankfully, there are a number of......

Incase the news managed to escape you, Jon Bon Jovi came, sang and conquered Central Park over the weekend. Of the over 60K tickets given away to fans, around 50K showed up to the Great Lawn...leaving a reported 150K plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The AP reports, "Major League Baseball, which sponsored the event, said that more than 100 volunteers worked into the next day collecting the recyclables," an effort made in collaboration with the......

The eagerly anticipated free Bon Jovi concert attracted an estimated 48,500 people to Central Park yesterday. And were the audience members pumped: People were waiting since Friday for prime seats on the Great Lawn while others settled for arriving many hours before the concert, after having cased the stage set-up ahead of time. The NY Times spoke to one woman who had Jon Bon Jovi's signature tattooed on her back (immortalizing the time he signed......

Aside from the music, this evening's Bon Jovi concert on Central Park's Great Lawn will be different from the regular Metropolitan Opera or NY Philharmonic concert-- primarily because of the things one won't be able to bring into the park. While security is generally laissez-faire towards alcohol and food at the classical music events, today's free show is another story. Ticket holders will not be allowed to bring strollers, umbrellas, alcohol, cameras, backpacks, large bags,......

Photos by Joe Schumacher and orangejuicy. Will the Bon Jovi madness never end? amNewYork reported that the line for the Saturday concert was expected to form last night. Hard core fans want to secure good spots, and not get pushed into the overflow section. As we mentioned earlier this week, only 50K of the 60K will have spots with a view, the rest are sent to a space with no sightline of the stage......

It's no surprise that ticket prices for the Bon Jovi concert being held in Central Park this Saturday went from free to $1500 in no time. As we mentioned yesterday, Spitzer had signed a legislation making online scalping legal, and Bloomberg agrees that there's not much that can be done. The mayor declared to the NY Post:"The scalping is just a way of life. I can't tell you it's not worth that kind of money.......

How much would you pay for free Jon Bon Jovi tickets? This much? As the big Bon Jovi concert approaches tickets to the free show are going for as much as $1500/pair, The NY Post reports. The show is going down this Saturday on the Great Lawn in Central Park, and an additional lot of tickets will be released at the Javits Center this Friday (more details at MLB.com). Hardcore fans of Jon Bon......

Yesterday Bon Jovi fanatics rushed to the closest ballparks to pick up their tickets to a free concert on the Great Lawn next weekend. NY1 reports that fans lined up for hours at all four stadiums; the concert is part of the upcoming All-Star Game celebration. One fan declared of JBJ: "Back in the day he was number one and he still is," while others were happy he was doing the show for free and......

Die hards are surely in line already, but here's your reminder that today is the big day -- in just a short time from now (at 9 a.m.) tickets to the July 12th Bon Jovi concert in Central Park will be handed out at Yankee, Shea, KeySpan Park and the Staten Island Yankees stadiums. Bon Jovi's site states that "free tickets can also be obtained on a first-come, first-served basis, two per fan," and that......

Photos by Seth Wenig/AP. Yesterday came the announcement of a free concert that would be held on Central Park's Great Lawn this month featuring Mr. Jon Bon Jersey himself (now a Manhattanite). Today more details about the July 12th show and how to procure your golden tickets are unveiled via Bon Jovi's official website. Essentially, tickets will be made available at every major, and some minor baseball stadiums beginning July 2nd. Starting at 9......

Mark your calendars: Bon Jovi will be giving a free concert in Central Park next month. The concert will be on Saturday, July 12, and is apparently a "prelude to the July 15 All-Star baseball game." Bon Jovi is touring this summer and has two concerts at MSG on July 14 and 15, with The All-American Rejects opening.......

Photo of the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Naumburg Bandshell by David Velez. As mentioned earlier this week, last night an unplanned Battle of the Bands took place between the Brooklyn and New York Philharmonics, both playing Central Park with just 30 minutes between their starting times. Who won? The above photo of the Brooklyn Philharmonic was taken at 8:10 p.m., about 40 minutes after they went on. The below photo of the New York......

Tomorrow evening, while the Brooklyn Philharmonic plays the Central Park Naumburg Bandshell...the New York Philharmonic will be performing at the Central Park Great Lawn. According to those involved, the coincidence is a surprise, but a good way to check out both symphonies in one evening. The unofficial "battle of the bands" is open to the public and free, with Brooklyn starting at 7:30 p.m. and New York at 8 p.m.......