Metropolitan Odyssey: ChinaBetEastVillAzoid

Guess what?

That's right.

We assume you said, "The scavenger hunt is coming!" Because that is what is right.

The scavenger hunt is coming!

On Saturday, April 30, starting at some morning-based hour, the third Manhattan scavenger hunt will take place. Many of you recall scavenger hunts of yore. Many of you don't. We have put something together for both groups.

Teams will be of 3 (three[3]) people. You’ll thank us later at the “Thank-Metro-Metro-for-helping-us-get-rid-of-the-deadweight-from-our-last-year’s-scavenger-hunt-team” scavenger hunt for three (3[three]) people. On April 30.

So sign up!

Metropolitan Odyssey: ChinaBetEastVillaZoid
Official Rules

Boundaries:
ChinaBetEastVillaZoid refers to the trapezoid comprising Chinatown, Alphabet City, the Lower East Side, and the East Village. The street boundaries are South of 14th St, North of the East River, East of Broadway, and West of East River Park. Those boundaries may be included in the playing field. For the purposes of the hunt, avenues run north-south, and streets run east-west.

Check-In:
Registered teams may check in at the registration area beginning at 8:30 AM, April 30th, 2005. The registration area will be in Tompkins Square Park - there is a large semi-circular area with two trees in the southern central part of the park, which you can easily find if you enter the park from 7th street. Each team will be given an orientation packet at this time, which will include several items that may help along the way.

We will distribute the task list to team captains, and then right at 9:00, or really close to it, we’ll give the signal for captains to open the task list and being the hunt. The signal will likely be one of us shouting “Go!” or “Now!” or “Okay, open your packets now!” or something like that.

Cameras:
This year, TEAMS MUST PROVIDE THEIR OWN CAMERAS. This means you can use digital cameras. But all photos must be turned in as printed photos - not as disks or jump drives or anything like that.

Team Costumes:
We recommend you devise some sort of costume, uniform, or emblem. Not only will it help your score and possibly garner you a prize at the end, it will aid us in identifying you at the all-important midday rendezvous. (Examples in the photos at the top.)

The Tasks:
Each task is assigned a certain number of points based on its difficulty or our whimsy. In general, it is up to the team to decide which tasks they want to try and complete within the allotted time. Please note: there are a ton of questions this year. We don’t expect that you’ll be able to get to them all, so don’t make that your focus. However, there will be a list of COMPULSORY tasks that MUST be completed by each team. You see, that's what "compulsory" means. These tasks will be clearly identified on the list and CANNOT be skipped. Any team which does not complete the COMPULSORY tasks will be penalized.

Teams may split up to cover more territory if they desire, but you just might find we’ve been diabolical in making it detrimental to separate. We want people to stick together as much as possible. Sure, you’re competitive and want to win, but we want people to have fun and discover things together.

All tasks have been designed such to be both SAFE and LEGAL, as far as we could figure. If you feel as though you or a teammate is engaging in unsafe or illegal activity, STOP! You are off-track and this activity is not helping your cause. It’s probably not helping ours, either. We cannot be held responsible for participants' behavior. Unless, of course, you save somebody’s life during the hunt, in which case we claim full credit.

Turning It All In:
All materials must be turned in no later than 4:00 PM Saturday, April 30th, 2005. Late materials will result in the team being penalized. The materials have to be turned in all together, all in one envelope. We will only accept ONE completed task list, so if you've made copies make sure you transfer all the answers to ONE list. No materials will be accepted after 4:30 PM. Whining will not be tolerated.

Judging:
Bo Bigelow, Brady Richards, Will Sakran, and their appointed minions will be responsible for judging you. We mean, judging each team's material set. The team that accumulates the most points wins, as that seems to make the most sense. In the event that there is a tie, the winning team will be the team that turns in their material set earliest. There is no official bribing structure in place. The judges' ruling is final. Whining will not be tolerated.

Afterparty:
We will give you the afterparty details on the day of the hunt. Only people who did the hunt can come to the afterparty. No spouses, friends, out-of-town guests, etc.

Electronics:
Use of the Internet, cell phones, PDAs, electrocardiograms, blenders, etc. is up to the teams. However, be forewarned that we gear this hunt to be done on foot, so what information you discover without observing it firsthand yourself may be erroneous. For instance, a web search might give you a different answer to a clue than you would get if you went there yourself. If you are simply using the internet to solve the clues, then you have signed up for the wrong hunt. Whining will not be tolerated.

Other Notes:
It will be helpful for each participant to bring a backpack or messenger bag in which to carry around collected materials, as well as any small gifts you might want to get separately for the judges. Gifts probably have no bearing on a team's final score.

You will be doing a lot of walking, probably more than you've ever done on a single day in Manhattan, unless you’ve done our other hunts, or unless you’ve been court-ordered to walk everywhere. Therefore, wear good shoes or sneakers and bring water with you or be prepared to buy it along the way.

It is also perfectly okay to wear a hat.

Guinness the Dog was born on July 3. This is good information.

If you do not already have an unlimited ride Metrocard, you might want to buy one first thing Saturday morning, though this year’s hunt takes place in a notoriously un-subwayed part of town. A One Day Fun Pass Metrocard is $7.00 and is good from the time that you buy it until 3:00 AM the following morning. It's good on subways and buses, and includes transfers.

The show will go on regardless of the weather. Please dress appropriately.

Refunds:
At this time, we do not offer refunds.

Sample Questions

Take a photo of two team members dancing with two other people not on your team under the awning of “the hottest spot north of Havana.”

At the U.S. Customs House, there is a rotunda. Stand in the center of the rotunda. Look up. See the paintings by Reginald Marsh? We are looking for the name of one of the ships. Not the land of Rouen and Caen, it shares a space with a boat named for a state that was inducted into the union one July many years ago. What ship are we looking for? ___________________


Go to the R. H. Sangster painting on Franklin west of West Broadway. The sun shines directly on where you must go next. Now go there. Find the building with all the numbers on it. What number has no little box above it? _____


At Our Lady of Esperanza no one can tell us we’re wrong when we say Pat Benatar might find it inspiring. Why are we so confident, and whom do we have on our side? ________________________________________________________________________

After all, what is art? _________________________________________________

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