Get your ‘Game On!’ Downtown Alliance hosts series of block parties, Wednesdays in Fidi
Wednesday is game day Downtown for the next month. The Downtown Alliance kicked off its 3rd-annual “Game On!” block party series on July 13 with games, drinks and music taking over the intersection of Coenties Slip and Water St. and extending up Coenties Alley to Stone St. “Game On! is a great reason to get outside and celebrate summer,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin. “We encourage everyone to come out, meet new friends, play a few games and just have fun Downtown.” Games and activities on offer range from the low key — such as shuffleboard, ping pong and cornhole — to the decidedly more intense, with instructors from CompleteBody gym hosting two free workouts using the TRX suspension training system at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. New York City Football Club will host a Kick Tunnel, where folks can pit their soccer skills against the club’s professional staff. After 5 p.m., the fun takes on a differ-
ent tone, with two outdoor beer gardens opening up as DJs spinning tunes at the corner of Pearl St. and Coenties Slip. The event runs for four consecutive Wednesdays: July 13, July 20, July 27 and Aug. 3, from 12–8 p.m. Rain dates are on Aug. 10 and 17. Downtown Alliance
The 3rd-annual Game On! block party series kicked off on Wednesday, July 13 with games, drinks and music at the intersection of Coenties Slip and Water St. and extending up Coenties Alley to Stone St. The event runs for four consecutive Wednesdays: July 13, July 20, July 27 and August 3, from 12-8 p.m., featuring 1) shuffleboard, 2) cornhole, 3) La Dama beer garden, 4) arcade basketball, 5) DJ booth, 6) bocce ball, 7) cornhole, 8) foosball, 9) Le Pain Quotidien beer garden, 10) ping pong, and 11) soccer kick tunnel.
Photo by Joseph M. Calisi
Downtowners turned out July 13 for the first of four Wednesday block parties, enjoying such activities as (right) ping ping and (above) a soccer “kick tunnel.”
Brookfield is for the birds BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y Dozens of blue, bird-like shapes are soaring above the palm trees of the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, but you have to pay attention to see what makes them special. In the hustle and bustle of the atrium, one might not notice at first that their wings are in motion — all at different speeds and intervals — unless you really take time to look, like 6-year-old Malak Ali did as she cuddled with her mother and sister on a bench far below. “How are they moving?” she asked her mom, pointing up at them. The answer is in the name of the art installation commissioned by Arts Brookfield from Toronto-based art collective Studio F Minus — it’s called “#Air Pressure.” Each of the more than 175 inflatable birds — fashioned in various shades of royal, cobalt, and sky blue — is connected via a translucent plastic tube to separate, tiny fans above the complex
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July 14 - July 27, 2016
kinetic sculpture, which are switched on and off individually at different intervals by timers. The periodic change in air pressure makes each bird slowly flap its wings. Claddis Arrington watched the two-day installation over June 25–26 and marveled at the engineering as well as the artistry. He returned to the Winter Garden last weekend to enjoy the smooth, naturalistic motion of the birds, saying that it reminded him of watching gulls at the seashore. “This is like looking at the ocean,” Arrington said. “It’s kind of soothing — very peaceful.” Studio F Minus said that #Air Pressure also has an ecological message. “Inflatable sculptures depend on constant airflow to maintain their form and structure,” said the art collective on its website. “This relationship parallels our own dependence on clean air.” The installation will be up until Sept. 12.
Photo by Tequila Minsky
The kinetic sculpture “#Air Pressure” will be up at Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden until Sept. 12. DowntownExpress.com