PKPR News
NYC’s Largest Residential Green Roof Unveiled
December 18, 2010
Zeckendorf Towers, the famed pyramid-topped building that initiated the revitalization of Union Square more than 20 years ago, set a new benchmark for the booming neighborhood with the opening of the city’s largest residential green roof last month.
Located at One Irving Place, the 14,000 square-foot green roof will put the full block, mixed-use property at the forefront of New York City’s new green roof initiative. In late September, Mayor Michael Bloomberg kicked off NYC Green Infrastructure, a major campaign aimed at integrating infrastructure, such as green roofs, to improve water and air quality, cool the City, and reduce energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.
Coverage included a front page Sunday real estate section story in the New York Times, NY1, Metro NY, Crain’s NY Business , Curbed NY, DNAinfo and Real Estate Weekly.
Live Out Loud Video Inspires Gay Youth
December 17, 2010
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In the midst of a national wave of anti-gay bullying and violence, a powerful short video is revealing how one person can change a school - and the lives of hundreds of gay and straight youth - in just one day.
Academy Award-winning screenwriter Lance Black (“Milk”) is one of the many LGBT leaders participating in The Homecoming Project, Live Out Loud’s grassroots initiative that brings successful gay adults back to their high schools to share their stories, lessons, and hope with today’s students.
PKPR placed stories on the video in numerous blogs including Queerty, Gawker, The Miami Herald, Logo TV’s 365Gay.com, and AfterElton.
For more on The Homecoming Project, read Black’s first-hand essay on his return to his high school at MTV.com, check out this interview in 2BMag with Live Out Loud founder Leo Preziosi, or see Time Out New York’s round-up on the most effective organizations supporting gay youth.
Canstruction Dazzles NYC
November 29, 2010
Over 100,000 full cans of food were transformed into epic eye candy when they were assembled into fanciful, mind-boggling sculptures at the World Financial Center Winter Garden this month.
The fantastical installations, created by 25 teams of architects and engineers, were part of Canstruction, an exhibit and design competition that drops jaws in more ways than one. In addition to being a visual smorgasbord for New Yorkers to feast their eyes on, Canstruction is an inspired campaign aimed at raising hunger awareness during the Thanksgiving season. At the closing of the exhibit, the pop art was dismantled and donated to City Harvest for distribution to programs that feed hungry New Yorkers.
Coverage of the exhibition included CNN, New York Times, New York Post, WABC, Metro, Time Out New York, Flavorpill, NBC New York, and Gothamist.
Calvin Trillin Honored at Moth Ball
November 24, 2010
The Moth presented acclaimed journalist, novelist, and humorist Calvin Trillin with the Moth Storytelling Award at its annual Moth Ball on Tuesday, November 16th at Capitale in New York City.
Trillin’s honor was the centerpiece of a star-studded evening celebrating The Moth, the 14-year old non-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. A strong literary voice chronicling the American scene for more than four decades, Trillin has taken storytelling to new heights in every conceivable genre and medium from childhood memoir to food essay to political satire. His diverse and prolific career includes contributing to the New Yorker since 1963 and writing his weekly “Deadline Poet” column for the Nation since 1990.
To build buzz leading up to the gala fundraiser, PKPR placed in depth previews in the Wall Street Journal, Metro, Time Out New York, and Gothamist.
Post-coverage of the event included The New York Times, VanityFair.com, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, The New Yorker, WNYC, NBC New York, Time Out New York, Flavorpill, Mediabistro, and Guest of a Guest.
Opera on Internet Addiction Stirs Controversy
November 23, 2010
In a world increasingly dominated by texts and tweets, a timely new opera offered a digital-age take on the time-honored tragic heroine.
“The Empty Hours” (Las Horas Vacias) by acclaimed Spanish composer Ricardo Llorca had its staged world premiere at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on November 19th. The tale of a lonely woman whose obsession with the internet fuels an extraordinary fantasy world, “The Empty Hours” was presented by the New York Opera Society in a special, one-night only performance.
PKPR secured an in-depth feature on the opera in the Wall Street Journal (“The Music of Modern Mania”), and previews on WNET’s Sunday Arts, WNYC, and TheaterMania.
We also leveraged the opera’s Internet theme to generate buzz in outlets like Time.com, Wired.com, Time Out New York, and Mediabistro.
Watch the full episode. See more SundayArts.
Eggers, James win Dayton Literary Peace Prize
November 15, 2010
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and The Book Of Night Women by Marlon James were named winners of the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for nonfiction and fiction, respectively.
“It can be lonely, believing that books can still change how we think,” said James. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize reminds us that the book is still our most eloquent tool to speak truth to power, and to bear witness to the good and not so good in human nature.
Coverage of this year’s winners ranged from Huffington Post and UTNE Reader to Minnesota Public Radio and MediaBistro.
Raves for Second Issue of Vintage Magazine
November 08, 2010
“A reading experience so unique, there could never be an app for that.” - San Francisco Chronicle
“The mag illuminates the possibilities of print.” - The National Post
“Perusing Vintage is like sipping a Tanqueray and tonic at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore—a pleasurable blast from the past.” - Mediapost
Those are just a few of the accolades the press has heaped upon the much-anticipated second issue of Vintage Magazine. Other fans range from influential design critic Stephen Heller, who writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review to Mr. Magazine to BettyConfidential.
SpaFinder Slideshow on Huffington Post Travel
October 29, 2010
Check out this awesome photo gallery on Huffington Post of the world’s top spas as selected by thousands of fans in the 2010 SpaFinder.com Reader’s Choice Awards.
Shepard Fairey Mural at World Financial Center
October 11, 2010
Celebrated artist Shepard Fairey (of the Obama “Hope” poster fame) guided more than 100 young New Yorkers in creating a powerful 40-foot long mural that made its public debut at the World Financial Center this month. The mural, A Positive Thought Cannot Be Denied, expresses the kids’ views on teen violence, the environment, education and other issues relating to social justice.
Coverage included WNET Sunday Arts (video below), Time Out New York, Village Voice, Time Out New York Kids, Gothamist, DNAinfo.com, Newsday, Curated, and The Dirt Floor.
SpaFinder Deal Days on TV Nationwide
October 01, 2010
PKPR secured major coverage for SpaFinder Deal Days in markets across the country, from New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Diego to Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle, Portland, and Birmingham. Check out some of the highlights below.
Apps Get Webby Love
September 17, 2010
Kicking off its 15th year celebrating the best of the Internet, The Webby Awards is expanding its mission to reflect the sweeping impact that apps are having on digital culture and commerce.
As part of the launch for its 15th annual call for entries, The Webby Awards debuted a new suite of categories saluting apps for handheld and tablet devices, as well as a diverse mix of mobile experts, including Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, Yelp.com CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, who will judge the new awards.
Coverage included WSJ’s All Things D, Los Angeles Times, Mediabistro, Broadcasting & Cable, TheWrap, BrandChannel, Folio, and Mobile Marketing Watch.
Widespread media coverage for SpaFinder Deal Days
August 27, 2010
From September 20 - 26, hundreds of spas, yoga studios, and Pilates centers nationwide will be slashing prices by 50%, or offering flat-rate $50 deals on treatments and classes.
It’s all part of Deal Days, a major national promotion developed by PKPR client SpaFinder.
To encourage early sign-up and bookings, PKPR has implemented an aggressive national and local campaign. National coverage to date has included Fitness Magazine, USA Today, MSN.com, AOL, iVillage, Women’s Health, and Seventeen.
Local coverage includes Time Out Chicago, New York Daily News, Philadelphia Magazine, Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Austin American-Statesman.
48 Hour Film Project on Good Day LA
August 27, 2010
On Good Day LA yesterday morning, Jimmy Stewart and Shain Gillette of the 48-Hour Film Project discussed last weekend’s competition.. Other recent highlights include: Los Angeles Times’ Brand X Blog, KPCC (NPR-LA), LAist, ” title=“LAist”>LAist, San Diego Union Tribune, and San Diego City Beat.
SpaFinder on WABC
August 24, 2010
Check out this great segment that PKPR developed for WABC’s Lauren Glassberg on the hot new trend of cold spa treatments.
Dayton Literary Peace Prize in NY Times, Reuters
August 20, 2010
Geraldine Brooks, a historical novelist who taps into her own experiences as a wartime reporter to vividly illustrate the horrors of war, will receive the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Brooks spent many years covering crises in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans for the Wall Street Journal before going on to write acclaimed novels, including the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March. She will accept the award at a ceremony in Dayton, Ohio on November 7th.
PKPR secured coverage for the announcement in the New York Times, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Publishers Weekly, Mediabistro, Poets & Writers, and more.
Aubrey Daniels on “Managing the Albert Haynesworths” in This Morning’s Washington Post
August 19, 2010
The author behind “Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money And What To Do Instead” writes about how overvaluing smart, talented employees is a practice as common in the NFL as it is in the boardroom. (link)
Dancer Captures New York’s Imagination
August 06, 2010
Acclaimed Canadian choreographer Paul-André Fortier has captured New Yorkers’ imaginations with Solo 30 X 30, in which he is performing the same 30-minute dance for 30 consecutive days, rain or shine, at One New York Plaza.
Part of The River To River Festival, the extraordinary event has become one of the most buzzed-about public art events of the summer, attracting coverage in almost every major NYC outlet, including reviews in the New York Times and Metro, profiles in Time Out New York, New York Press, This Week in New York, Capitol File, and DNA Info, and segments on WABC-TV, WNYC, NY1, and NBC New York.
River To River Festival Remembers Merce
August 05, 2010
Just a few days after the death of their company’s namesake choreographer, dancers from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company gave a memorable performance as part of the 2009 River to River Festival, which drew more than 3,000 people to Battery Park City in Manhattan. Now, almost a year later, five choreographers paid their respects to Cunningham in a program titled “We Give Ourselves Away at Every Moment: An EVENT for Merce,” on July 26th. Lucinda Childs, Bill T. Jones, Susan Marshall, Jon Kinzel and Faye Driscoll presented new dances created for the occasion, as well as existing works inspired by Cunningham’s Events pieces.
Reviews of the performance included The New York Times (and slide show), Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and WNET Sunday Arts.
Wonderwall in EW, Huffington Post
July 16, 2010
Who do celebrities secretly wish followed them on Twitter? Wonderwall.com asked some of the biggest celebrity Tweeters and got some surprising answers.
The responses from stars like Russell Simmons, Joss Stone, Brandy, and James Van Der Beek generated major buzz, including an exclusive photo gallery on The Huffington Post and a feature on Entertainment Weekly.
4th of July Concert with Dan Zanes
July 05, 2010
For the first time this year, the River To River Festival expanded its annual 4th of July concert in Battery Park to an all-day family affair headlined by Grammy® Award-winning artist Dan Zanes. The holiday concert was capped off by a giant parade of musicians of all ages performing “76 Trombones.” Coverage highlights includes interviews with Zanes in New York Times, WNBC, and Time Out New York Kids, and previews in DailyCandy Kids, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and MommyPoppins