Category: Features

Meet Mr. Big Ears

If there was space, there was art.

Eileen Millan, an artist with a tenure of 40+ years in Chelsea, sprawled out her work in the Vermeer co-op’s boardroom. On the table, in rolling chairs, in bins and even the carts were filled with greeting cards, collages, watercolors and flowers galore.

And one character in particular was painted dozens of times with a different color palette for each face, all with differing personalities, yet mimicking the same round frame, protruding ears and a gaze that intrudes into the most dark and blissful parts of a soul. Meet Mr. Big Ears.

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A hot lunch line

Hundreds of New Yorkers queue up daily at the tiny Soup Spot on West 31st Street.

Walking down 31st Street across from Madison Square Garden at lunchtime, there’s always an intimidating line running outside of the tucked-away, hidden gem that is no bigger than a typical college dorm room.

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A Night at the ‘Zombie’ McDonald’s

Inside an Eighth Avenue hangout, with fights, stretchers and nodding-out patrons

With ten, maybe twenty bags of trash slushing onto each other on the curb, the doors open to four men leaning a little too far into their chairs. Are they asleep? They’re not really moving. A line curls, immobile, from the lone cashier. This is 10 p.m. on a Monday at the McDonald’s on 34th Street and Eighth Avenue.

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“The spirit of the neighborhood”

Five days after the downtown terror attack, the NYC Marathon gave New Yorkers something to cheer about.

With a rented truck, a lead foot and eight dead in an act of terror, flashbacks of last week’s fatal collision haunted the minds of New Yorkers as the NYC Marathon quickly approached.

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Remembering Chelsea Girls

Hotel Chelsea, where most of "Chelsea Girls" was filmed, used to be a central hub for famous artists and musicians. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library
Hotel Chelsea, where most of “Chelsea Girls” was filmed, used to be a central hub for famous artists and musicians. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library
Behind the scaffolding, the old sign for the Hotel Chelsea on West 23rd Street is still visible. Photo: Liz Hardaway
Behind the scaffolding, the old sign for the Hotel Chelsea on West 23rd Street is still visible. Photo: Liz Hardaway

Here they come now: Chelsea Girls. 

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Do you have what it takes to stand up at Open Mic Night?

Five comedians dish about opening up at the Houston Improv.

AT THE HOUSTON IMPROV, more than 20 acts and two hosts take the stage for Open Mic Night every Tuesday. With ample seating and plenty of food and libations, audiences sit back and watch comedians use their five minutes to try to get laughs from 50 starring strangers.
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