Our first specimen in the Walk of Shame is the Mapquest Mvibe. Neighborhood scores are allegedly based on "editorial evaluation of what would be the range and pattern of optimal scores to experience a vibrant lifestyle." The small print notes that the neighborhood description is "excerpted from Wikipedia."
It's been years since I've relied on Mapquest for any sort of directions and this doesn't restore my confidence. I'm at a loss to explain how the United Nations Headquarters ties for "best place" with what Yelp labels a dive bar.
Better yet are the suggestions for hotels in the area. Somehow, the website ignores the UN Plaza Millennium Hotel and lists no less than 5! FIVE!! parking garages. Yes, I know. Beds are expensive in NYC. Overnight parking is the only civilized accommodation rate in the city. But I would prefer to have access to a toilet without wandering to the Starbucks on 2nd Ave.
Things are not much better with the iPhone app Flagthat. I tried using it to look up the sushi spot Oms/b. I was less than 100 feet away at the time. However, the application seemed to be doing a white pages search, somehow returning results for oral surgeons and what looked like residential listings.
This is particularly disappointing since the developers are based in Manhattan and city hall provides a concise list of every single restaurant in the city.
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