Where can I contact the organizer with any questions? No Derogatory signs that discriminate against any race or gender etc. (There's parking availability at the event)Ĥ.
What are my transport/parking options getting to the event? Is ID required or is there an age limit to enter the event? ''Like astronauts, we have to be in good shape,'' says one Alphaman, leaping on his Alphaship to join the phalanx of his comrades zipping down the crowded New York streets to spread more cheer - and cookies.PLEASE BE AWARE THAT BY ENTERING THIS AREA, YOU CONSENT TO YOUR VOICE, NAME, AND/OR LIKENESS BEING USED, WITHOUT COMPENSATION, IN FILMS AND TAPES FOR EXPLOITATION IN ANY AND ALL MEDIA, WHETHER NOW KNOWN OR HEREAFTER DEVISED, FOR ETERNITY, AND YOU RELEASE DIAMOND & SILK, ITS SUCCESSORS, ASSIGNS AND LICENSEE FROM ANY NATURE.ĭO NOT ENTER THIS AREA IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SUBJECT TO THEĪll Property including Persons are subject to search prior to entering this event. The spacious white bakery in New York's garment district is homey, with lots of sun, plants, and music, and employees do calisthenics together on the roof before their shifts. The company bulletin board is covered with warm thank-you letters from such grateful recipients as the Bowery Mission and Children's Aid Society.Īlpha's owners also want to create working conditions for their employees that reflect the same humanitarian spirit. Mantis is serious when he says his goal is to ''set an example of responsible capitalism.'' One way he does this is to donate unsold cookies to charities. Mantis hired a modelmaker to build the plastic pouches, chose the especially sturdy bikes, and started to bake. That friend, Justine Woolman, became a partner, and six months later, the pair now employs five Alphamen (including one woman) and five bakers. ''I said, 'Only if it looks like a rocketship.' '' Mantis, a sculptor, writer, and filmmaker who also likes to bake, recounts how a friend urged him to sell his chocolate chip cookies: Hunter: ''How'd you do these bikes?'' ''Does each bag contain a different question?'' ''How many cookies do the bags hold?'' (A ''baby bag'' contains seven cookies, a ''mama bag'' holds 14, and a ''papa bag,'' 28.) A volley of friendly questions are fired at Mr. about six months ago.Īnd the gimmick does get people talking.
We want to break down superficial barriers between people, get them to talk,'' says Costa Mantis, who originated Alpha Chip Inc. ''We want this to be a dialogue on the streets of New York. The questions are, to say the least, bizarre: ''Who are you?'' ''Do you speak humanese?'' ''Who are we?'' and ''How about Spanish lessons?'' The nonsensical queries, which change every day, are meant to spark conversations. Hidden in each bag of cookies is a piece of paper with a question on it.
Clad in a white aviator's uniform with a red and silver cape, white cap, and red wrestler's shoes, he and his Rocketship stop onlookers by the dozens. ''Get your Alpha Chips - the cookie that asks the question,'' hollers Shep Hunter, an ''Alphaman'' working late one Friday night in the heart of Greenwich Village. While the cookies (made with natural ingredients, according to the company) are fairly standard, the marketing concept is extraterrestrial. The company logo, a red lightning bolt, zigzags out of the rear pouch. The pouches contain up to 250 bags of cookies. They're black bikes with two egg-shaped white pouches mounted on the wheels. The big draw is the ''rocketships,'' which look like something out of a comic book. Only seven weeks old, the cookie sales are causing quite a stir on the over-vendored streets of New York.īusiness has quadrupled, and the owners are getting ready to crank out more dough. It's Alpha Chips - cookies sold from bicycles that look like spaceships, by vendors dressed as celestial pilots. In a city where new food fads rise and fall with meteoric speed, one chocolate chip cookie is providing a note of whimsy to jaded Manhattanites and their palates.