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Benjamin Popper

By Benjamin Popper 11/15/11 2:11pm

Freedom to Fight

Tell me that's not high art.

UFC Sues New York: Fighters Have First Amendment Right to Mixed Martial “Arts”

As we reported last week, New York is one of the few states where the sport of mixed martial arts is still illegal. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, MMA's biggest league, has lobbied for years to get this changed so they could hold lucrative live events at venues like Madison Square Garden.

But so far they have had no luck with politics. So today Zuffa, the league's parent, took a different tack. The UFC sued New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to overturn that state's 1997 law banning Mixed Martial Arts on the grounds that the ban violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"This is mixed martial arts, emphasis on the arts," said Barry Friedman, the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Constituional Law at NYU. "The reason these atheletes are suing is because they have been prevented from their self-expression on some of the biggest stages in the nation."  Read More

1 By Benjamin Popper 11/08/11 11:01pm

Fight Club

underground combat

Punch Drunk Love: Fighting to Bring Mixed Martial Arts to New York

 

Eric, a beefy Long Islander with legs like a running back’s and platinum blond hair that enhances his Jersey Shore tan, locked up with his opponent, John. It was the second fight of the night at the Underground Combat League, one of the busiest promotions putting on mixed martial arts fights in New York, where the sport is illegal. A crowd of around 100 people were crowded into a well-lit basement gym in Manhattan (the organizers asked us not to disclose its name for legal reasons), pushed up against a chain-link cage watching the action. Wrestling mats covered the floor and heavy bags hung from the ceiling. A burly bouncer stood by the front door to make sure no one arrived uninvited. The two fighters pressed each other against the chain-link cage, exchanging knee strikes to the abdomen. With a surge, Eric threw his opponent to the ground, mounted him, perched on his chest and began raining down blows. Read More
9 By Nitasha Tiku 5:26pm

App Economy

Buddy Media Founder Mike Lazerow

Buddy Media Teaches Hearst the Facebook Way

"The days of, 'Do we publish on Facebook? Do we tweet?' are over," Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow told Betabeat. "Either you do it, or you're crushed. Do it or go out of business." Hearst Magazines must have got the memo, because its Digital Media unit just announced a partnership today to use Buddy Media's platform to enhance its presence on Facebook. From its Midtown headquarters, Buddy Media will create "sapplets" (short for social applets) that overlay on the Facebook pages for titles like Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, and Marie Claire.

 

Sapplets like Buddy Media's  Interactive "Personality" Boutique, which recommends products based on answers to a personality quiz,  introduce a game-like aspect into the Facebook page and encourage interaction. They also offer a handy new advertising vehicle for Hearst, which is probably why Kristine Welker, Hearst Digital Media's chief revenue officer, was the point person on the deal. Hearst is further removing friction for potential advertisers by launching multiple brands (13 titles and websites will eventually be involved) at once. That way, if an advertiser wants to reach a certain demographic, they don't have to negotiate with each magazine individually.

"Instead of doing one-off siloed programs, they're almost selling it as part of a cable network that lives on top of Facebook," Mr. Lazerow explained. But why "sapplet"? Did the world really need another word for a widget? "I can't speak for the world, " he said sharply. Read More

1 By Benjamin Popper 11/09/10 11:49pm

Tech

Creating the Facebook of Stuff

Walking through his opulent office space above the Apple store on West 14th, Joe Einhorn passed a tall, handsome man with a shock of dirty red hair. "Isn't that guy some kind of celebrity?" he asked, as the actor Denis Leary, chatting with his agent, passed in the opposite direction and disappeared around the corner. Read More

By Benjamin Popper 8/25/08 4:06am

Welcome to Cheyenne, Brooklyn!

Michael O'Connell, scion of Red Hook real estate mogul Greg O'Connell, is taking charge of a project to move the recently closed Cheyenne diner from its Chelsea location to a seaside spot in Brooklyn.

Mr. O'Connell, 37, has worked on developments with his father since he was 7. "It's hard to do anything on my Read More

2 By Benjamin Popper 6/17/08 8:10pm

The Hero (or Villain?) of the Red Hook Ikea

With the opening of a massive 346,000-square-foot Ikea in Red Hook on June 18, New Yorkers’ attention turns again to this tiny corner of Brooklyn waterfront. What they see is largely the legacy of one man, Greg O’Connell, the beat cop turned real estate baron.

At times, Mr. O’Connell can seem Read More

By Benjamin Popper 3/25/08 8:21pm

Full Brownstone Nests

At 434 Henry Street, the four-story brownstone where the Eisenberg family has lived for 27 years, the street narrows until the opposing rows of 19th-century homes seem to lean out over the passing cars like full-grown elms. Allan and Rusti Eisenberg raised three daughters here—Jenny, 28, Annie, 25, and Lizzie, 22—and, since graduating from college, Read More