DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

For decades, Munch’s Make Believe Band at Chuck E. Cheese has performed for countless birthdays, end-of-season Little League parties and other celebrations. There’s been Chuck E. Cheese and Helen Henny on vocals, Mr. The band of robot puppets has been a mainstay at the colorful pizzeria-arcade chain where children run amok and play games for prizes in between bites of pizza slices. By the end of 2024, the animatronic performances — endearing and nostalgia-inducing, if perhaps slightly creepy to their audiences — will be phased out at all but two of the chain’s more than 400 locations in the United States: one in Los Angeles and another in Nanuet, N.Y. The departure of the band comes as Chuck E. Cheese undergoes what its chief executive, David McKillips, recently described as its largest and “most aggressive transformation.”

Persons: Chuck E, There’s, Helen Henny, Munch, Jasper T, Jowls, Pasqually, David McKillips Organizations: Little League Locations: United States, Los Angeles, Nanuet, N.Y

☆ Williams Syndrome: the Joy and Sadness of Loving Strangers
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-20 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

She's been greeted with hugs from strangers at the biannual convention for people with Williams syndrome, which make her "feel like a rockstar." That's common for those with Williams syndrome, said Mary Van Haneghan, the executive director of the WSA. Online environments can be difficult for people with Williams syndrome to navigate, says Joel Liestman, the director of family support at the WSA. She sees Williams syndrome as a gift and believes everyone could learn more empathy from those with the condition. He has had two relationships with women with Williams syndrome, but in both cases they didn't work out.

Persons: Tobi Akbas, he'd, Tobi, Williams, I've, Jackie Molloy, Terri, he's, Robert Boddie Jr, Boddie, Karen Levine, She's, There's, Haley Gallinger, Daren Bjerke, who's, Devin, John Martinez, Mary Van Haneghan, it's, doesn't, You've, neurotypical, Allie, Joel Liestman, That's, Callie Truelove, I'm, Jocelyn Krebs, Truelove, we're, he'll, we've, Levine, Josh Duffy, He's, Duffy, vlogs, We're, Hayley Cuccinello, Louise Ridley, Kevin Kaplan Organizations: Williams Syndrome Association, Business, Continental Village Fire Department, Tobi, Go, WSA, New York, Louise Ridley Design, Trenton Almgren Locations: Garrison , New York, Santa, Garrison, Peekskill , NY, recliners, Maine, Brunswick , Maine, labrador, New, New York City, Trenton

At a speed-dating event in August, $25 bought attendees 20 dates with strangers, each roughly five minutes long. When the first blind dates began, it wasn’t long before some people — mostly men — tried to go out of order so they could talk to the person they were most attracted to. “There’s a seat right here,” one of the event’s organizers said, steering a wayward attendee back into the designated flow. Speed dating is no easy feat, requiring the conversational stamina of a filibuster champion, the brevity of an auctioneer and a positive mood to fight the boredom of repetition. Drinks were encouraged.

Persons: —, “

☆ A Brooklyn School Pioneers New Ways to Teach Children With Disabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Troy Closson | Jackie Molloy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Brooklyn pilot began in 2017 and is distinct from other city offerings for students with disabilities, although it is modeled on a similar program for students with autism. Two teachers lead a class, which includes a small group of general education students and about four children who follow special education plans for those with intellectual disabilities. A team of paraprofessionals and about a dozen in-house therapists work alongside them. The environment is not necessarily appropriate for all children, but even those in special education-only classrooms are invited to join other students through other means. Pupils who are nonverbal might use their adaptive speech devices to lead morning announcements, for example.

Persons: Srikala, ”, ‘ Who’s Organizations: Brooklyn, Teachers College

☆ Hilton Boutique Brand to Make Debut on Broadway, as Times Square Revives
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-12 | by ( Kate King | Photographs Jackie Molloy For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has tapped a major development project in Manhattan’s Times Square to debut a boutique hotel brand, another sign the entertainment district is bouncing back after languishing for much of the pandemic. The hotel, which will be the first under the new Tempo by Hilton flag, will feature 661 rooms when it opens next year. It is part of TSX Broadway, a $2.5 billion, 550,000-square-foot tower located next to Times Square’s red bleachers and the TKTS discount-tickets booth.

Property ReportThe biggest landlord of the city street renowned for bespoke tailoring wants to demolish two buildings and redevelop the site as a mixed-use complex, relocating several tailors and in some cases requiring them to move off the row altogether.

☆ Proms Can Be Painful. Pride Prom Is Different.
▼ + stars: | 2019-06-22 | by ( Jackie Molloy | Aaron Randle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It’s so fulfilling being here, seeing this,” said Savy Dunlevy, a 23-year-old gender nonconforming audio engineer. Sporting a tapered bob cut and blue blazer, Savy stood last Thursday on the back terrace of House of Yes, the cavernous warehouse-turned-disco in Bushwick, and thought on the awkwardness of an earlier prom . You’re going to be okay.’”Savy and hundreds of others had gathered in Bushwick for “Pride Prom,” a revisionist soiree thrown on June 13 by the dating app Hinge in celebration of World Pride 2019. The 21-and-over celebration served the dual purpose of raising money for It Gets Better, the L.G.B.T.Q. youth suicide prevention nonprofit, and affording community members a chance to relive a possibly painful moment of self suppression.

Persons: “, ”, Savy Dunlevy, Savy Organizations: Sporting, “ Locations: Bushwick

Search resuls for: "Jackie Molloy"

7 mentions found