New York City Rings In Spring With Food, Colors And Dance

This year's winter weather in New York City will come to an end at 11AM on May 2nd with a burst of Spring colors as NYC Bhangra presents its 6th Annual 'Holi Hai!' festival.

Holi Hai! is hosted annually by NYC Bhangra, an Indian dance company and school, and is a volunteer run outdoor festival for the whole family. It brings the Indian spring festival of Holi (festival of colors) to midtown Manhattan. Holi is a celebration that dates back many centuries to Indian mythology. During Holi, colorful powders of red, green, purple, orange, and more, are smeared on each other in a playful manner to celebrate Spring. Seema Gulati, an NYC Bhangra volunteer, recalls, "Volunteering for Holi Hai! allowed me to make new friends with people I wouldn't always come across and build lasting memories." The event draws volunteers from various walks of life, from doctors and teachers to engineers and students.

Traditionally, everyone comes dressed in old, comfortable white clothes, intended to be discarded as they act as a canvas for the colorful artwork that eventually drapes them. "New and previous attendees are always surprised at the events openness. There is no other Holi celebration in New York City that is free to the public, and draws over 10,000 participants," NYC Bhangra CEO, Megha Kalia explains. "Our goal each year for Holi Hai! is to make it the happiest Holi celebration in New York and the blissful day of smiles of the audience is our success." Some Holi veterans try to be artful dodgers as they play and aim to see who can keep their clothes white the longest.

NYC Bhangra will have a stage of dance performances and a DJ mixing the best of New York Holi's dance music that definitely satisfies the energized crowd. Vendors will sell Indian food, soda and water, henna art, Indian desserts and sweets, and of course an abundance of colored Holi powders.

This year's 6th Annual Holi Hai! will take place as usual, at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue) from 11AM-6PM. The plaza can be accessed from the 6 Train, the E/M Trains, or walking from Grand Central Station.

John F. Kennedy International Airport Introduces The First Terminal For Pets. Dog Lovers Rejoice

Contributed byTasmai Uppin, barkpost.com

If flying is something you don’t look forward to when it comes to traveling with your pets, this will make your globetrotting dreams come true.

The John F. Kennedy International Airport in NYC, is set to open the world’s first privately owned terminal dedicated solely to traveling animals. You know, so your pups can relax, get some Starbucks, wander around Hudson News finding the latest gossip mags to peruse, or just do some duty free shopping while they wait for their flights to board.

Image via Gothamist

All jokes aside, the terminal, aptly named “The Ark” will serve as a cargo holding area for all animals (exotic, farm, zoo, domestic) while they await transportation to their destinations.

Set to open in early 2016, The Ark is spread out over a 178,000 square feet and will house an overnight pet resort Paradise 4 Paws kennels, ample state-of-the-art cargo holding facilities, vets, an aviary and even climate-controlled stalls to ensure total relaxation prior to departure.

Image via Gothamist

Phil Derner of NYC Aviation spoke to the Gothamist about the $48 million endeavor:

“It is indeed unique. Some people seem to question its necessity, but if a private company wants to sign a multi-decade lease with PANYNJ, then by all means. This facility is in the cargo area of JFK, which sees tenants come and go, so this can be a good deal for a potentially economically unstable part of the airport.

“When it comes to travel, animals have always had the short end of the stick, flying in dangerous and uncomfortable conditions in the bellies of aircraft. Regardless of animal type, I am all for anything that improves their treatment. As long as this being in the cargo area doesn’t bring about a horse-related Goodfellas Lufthansa heist, it is just fine with me.”

Derner is right. Traveling with pets has always been quite the challenge. As pawrents, all our flying time is spent worrying about the safety of our furry friends down in cargo. So this is a welcome change!

Image via Gothamist

Cliff Bollman, architect at one of the firms designing the terminal, spoke to The Telegraph:

“For the animals who [will] pass through The Ark, as well as the people who own them, air travel can be stressful and confusing. Aligning the needs of quarantine with kenneling and elevating the experience for animals and their owners, our design team sought to create a comfortable, healthy environment for them all.”

Now that my pup knows about what’s to come, he can’t wait for his first air adventure. All paws aboard!

'Gett' App Offering Unlimited $10 Car Rides In Manhattan For The Rest Of 2014

This is kind of -- scratch that, TOTALLY -- awesome.

New "black car" app Gett is offering unlimited rides throughout Manhattan for a measly $10 during the rest of 2014, the New York Post reports.

The promotion starts today -- users must simply download the app and book one of the service's 3,000-odd cars to begin booking flat-rate rides.

It doesn't matter if you're going from "Harlem to Wall Street," stated an official app release. It "doesn’t matter if you’re stuck in traffic for 2 hours," either.

This is probably the most exciting thing to happen since ride service Uber announced a collaboration with United Airlines last month. Uber has quickly gained traction in the NYC area, duking it out with standard taxis for customers.

The Gett app, whose user interface looks uncannily similar to Uber's, launched in NYC last year. It calls itself "Uber's #1 competitor."

And with prices like these, we've gotta say Uber is getting a run for its (literal) money.

The Huffington Post  | By Suzy Strutner

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