To unlock the badge, you need to check in to three of the 50 venues highlighted in the magazine's annual "Best of New York City" list. The magazine has also launched a Best of NYC Leaderboard that lets users compete over the "King of New York" title. The magazine is also promoting the tie-in on its cover this week, which highlights the badge.
Time Out New York was previously behind the Happy Hour badge and sibling publication Time Out Chicago has a Bar Hunter badge.
The Time Out New York initiative is the most recent attempt by a publication to harness Foursquare's 10 million-plus network. In April 2010, The Wall Street Journal began a partnership with Foursquare which includes three badges: a Banker Badge for three checkins in New York's financial district, a Lunch Box badge for checking in at two WSJ-reviewed restaurants and an Urban Adventurer badge for checking in to each of the city's five boroughs.
Prior to that, The New York Times launched a Foursquare program around the 2010 Winter Olympics that offered NYT recommendations for restaurants, attractions, shopping and nightlife in Vancouver, Whistler and Squamish, where the competition took place.
Other media companies that have tied in with Foursquare include Zagat and The History Channel.