30 New York Statues Sport Cloaks To Promote NBC's The Cape (GALLERY)

above: The James Stranahan statue donning NBC's promotional "cape"


As part of a marketing push for the new NBC series "The Cape" (two-hour premiere tonight, Sunday, January 9, 9-11p.m. ET), 30 New York public statues and monuments have been cloaked in black fabric capes accompanied by a temporary kiosk or plaque that gives a brief mention of the figure's history along with the story of The Cape (Vince Faraday, a valiant cop framed for murder played by David Lyons) - linking the two "heroes".



The blue-black capes began appearing on statues all over the city on Januaray 5th. City Parks Department officials allowed NBC executives to create hype for "The Cape" by draping the frocks on sculptures of historic figures until Sunday in exchange for a $120,000 donation to maintain public art.

The locations:

NBC's interactive map tells you which statues have been cloaked.

Vickie Karp, Director of Public Information for New York City Parks & Recreation, says "The new NBC series is a novel way to remind even the most jaded New Yorker that heroes are all around us."

For those of you who don't live in New York, here's a look at some of the various "caped" statues:

President Lincoln:


Admiral David Farragut:

Frederick Douglass:

Christopher Colombus:


Harriet Tubman:

Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva:

Eleanor Roosevelt:

George M Cohan:

Horace Greeley:

General Fowler:

Fiorello LaGuardia:

James Stranahan:


William Henry Seward:


Statue visitors will also be able to enter the “Hero Behind the Cape” giveaway contest using FourSquare and Twitter. Participants can enter the sweepstakes by visiting any one of the 30 caped statues all over New York City and checking in via their FourSquare account. Also, visitors can enter by taking a photo of themselves at any of the statue locations and posting their photo to Twitter. Users will simply need to direct message the official Twitter handle (www.twitter.com/NBCTheCape) or use the hashtag #herobehindthecape when they post their picture. You'll have a tough time beating Pete Labrozzi, though.


above: Pete Labrozzi has been diligently posting images of himself in front of the statues for the past few days.

You can get directions to all the cloaked statue locations here

Of course, had they cloaked Lady Liberty, I'd reeeeally be impressed.

above: digital art by laura sweet

Special thanks to the following sites and blogs for the images:
http://www.dnainfo.com/
http://online.wsj.com
http://www.nydailynews.com
http://www.brooklynpaper.com
http://www.wnyc.org
http://gothamist.com/2011/01/05/citys_statues_get_caped.php
http://emanatepr.com
http://prospectheights.patch.com/

The Paris Treasure Hunt - Ooh La La!

Talk about an interesting way to promote a city! This engaging Paris Treasure Hunt (trésors de paris) is a lot more interesting than your typical Tourism Board advertising. Last year, the 2007 event had more than 15,000 participants.


Above: The poster for last year's treasure hunt

So, what is it?
The treasure hunt is free and open to all (yes, the site is available in english as well as french). You can enroll here or in front of the town hall of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts on July 5th. The surreal adventure organized by Paris City Hall (Mairie de Paris and Jean-Bernard Bros) is a unique way to discover the city, its secrets and its inhabitants.



You can hunt for the treasures alone or with friends (6 max). On your way, you will need to use your brain, your intuition, your observation skills, and you'll have to be brave. Navigating in the maze of Paris streets, the treasure hunters will have to ask mysterious Paris characters for some clues.



The treasure hunters will also get a feel for the authentic heart of Paris: meeting shop keepers, craftsmen and artists or discovering little-known places like hidden gardens, narrow streets and secret passages.


Above: The landing page of the website

trésors de paris gives visitors (and even locals) a chance to discover secret passages, unknown streets and hidden gardens in the 3e, 6e, 13e and 18e arrondissements. just sign up (it's free) with up to six of your friends, and receive clues and mysteries to help you navigate the maze of Paris streets. Lost? Stop and ask the paris "characters" for help. There are fabulous prizes for the winner: access to a secret cabaret, a night in a five-star hotel and dinner at a top restaurant. With many treasure hunts throughout the year, each one is themed to fit your interests. The theme on july 5th is ecology and sustainable development.


The rules:
Come and hunt Paris treasures. The treasure hunt is free and open to all. You can enrol here or in front of the town hall of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts on July 5th. The surreal adventure organized by Paris City Hall will be a unique way to discover the city, its secrets and its inhabitants.

You can hunt for the treasures alone or with friends (6 max). On your way, you will need to use your brain, your intuition, your observation skills, and you'll have to be brave. Navigating in the maze of Paris streets, the treasure hunters will have to ask mysterious Paris characters for some clues.

The treasure hunters will also get a feel for the authentic heart of Paris: meeting shop keepers, craftsmen and artists or discovering little-known places like hidden gardens, narrow streets and secret passages.

Paris treasure hunt will start at 10 AM and will end at 3.30 PM, on the 5th of July 2008. In order to play the contestants have to register on this website in advance or in front of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts town halls.
Registration is free and open to everyone.
The enigmas (clues in the form of questions) will be given to the treasure hunters, the 5th of July 2008 between 10 AM and 1 PM. There will be a treasure hunt with different winners in each of the districts.The treasure will not be timed. However, the closing time of the game is set at 3.30 PM. The winners will be determined at random by drawing lots amongst the teams that finish before closing time.
Game Mechanics :
Several enigmas (clues/ questions), following different itineraries, will be distributed at random to the contestants. All the courses of a district will converge toward the same ending. Every member of a team will receive the same enigmas. By following the enigma, the contestants will be guided toward several neighbourhood of Paris where strange characters will be awaiting them to challenge them to trials of wits, humour, taste, scent and who knows what? If they succeed they will win clues that will take the form of bits of paper.At the end, the contestants will have to use their clues to solve a final enigma, which will lead them to the arrival place. There, the contestants will be asked to put a coupon with their name and the phone number where they can be reached in France, in a ballot box.
The final challenge :
At the arrival point, in order to increase their chances to win, the contestants will have to answer a question about the course they just finished. If they answer it right, they will be able to put extra coupons in the ballot box.
Prizes:
There will be winners in each of the five districts.The prizes include :an access to the secret Paris Cabaret, which opens only once a year, dinners in top Paris restaurants, nights in chic Paris hotels, special “Paris tours” showing the mysterious side of the city.
Pour plus d'informations (For more information)
Contactez Ma Langue Au Chat –
Tel. : 33.1.44 92.93.94 – facteur@tresorsdeparis.fr

This event was organized by Mairie De Paris.