I recently did a quick site for fellow New Yorker Ellen Shumsky who has a new book of photography out called Portrait of a Decade 1968-78. These are remarkable photographs - the student uprisings in Paris, the people of Croatia and Cuba, Vietnam War demonstrations, Gay liberation marches of the day, and some amazing shots of Brighton Beach, etc. I’m a huge fan of the B&W photo in general and especially B&W photos of New York.
So many sides of New York are illustrated here and - you know what? I’m not sure some of them would be as powerful in color. As I said - collection of her pictures has been put together in a book but they are also being exhibited here in NY at the LGBT Center. Don’t know if the exhibit will become a traveling exhibit but if it does - I shall give you all a heads up. Definitely worth a see - especially for fans of Greater Gotham.
I am totally planning on posting about this in more detail later today or tomorrow (non-blogging life demands my attention at the moment) but I wanted to pop in and say, “OMGWTF State Senate???????”
Ah New York. Where all the world is - indeed - a stage.
Don’t believe me? Well, it’s true and the reason I know that is because I was just out running an a very important errand (two thumbs up to TD Bank for their Penny Arcade machine - $58 in change, thank you very much) when I saw the On Location Tour bus toodling by. I’ve seen them in other parts of town before. After all, you can hardly move in NYC for all the tv shows and movies locales (both real and replicated). Parks and Buildings, interiors and exteriors, street and subway scenes from The Devil Wears Prada, The Interpreter, Gossip Girl, I am Legend, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Enchanted, When Harry Met Sally, Friends, Ghostbusters, Will & Grace, Men in Black, Sex & The City, Serendipity, Seinfeld, Ugly Betty, etc. etc…
Still, this latest encounter was a surprise. Why? Because I live on the Upper East Side which isn’t - by and large - as awash with pop culture locations as neighborhoods such as the Village or the West Side. Or wasn’t until recently. Thanks to Gossip Girl (*) - the UES is the place to be. To see and be seen.
And doesn’t On Location Tours know it. Their latest tour offering is the Gossip Girl Sites Tour and that - or the general tour - is what I must have seen. I’ve been meaning to go on one of their tours for ages now. I love going on tours of my home town. Literary and historical walking tours, haunted New York tours, the Circle Line (which never ever gets old) - years ago I went on a FANTASTIC “mob tour” of the city. I never see it mentioned anywhere anymore. Gosh - I hope nothing “happened” to those guys. But in all this time, I’ve never gone on a TV/Movie tour of the city. Which is sort of weird when you consider how much enjoyment I get out of playing “spot the spot” while WATCHING these programs and films.
What are your favorite tours of New York? What tours have you always wanted to go on? Have you been on a TV tour?
(*) which I confess I do not watch and wouldn’t recognize if I fell over it. But all sorts of people ask about it now - or do once they realize I live in the area. I suppose I shall have to catch up on the Gossip Girl details if I want to continue to blog knowledgably. Hmmm… Maybe the tour could be a business expense
So how do you all feel about the “Times Square As Pedestrian Mall” issue? Personally, I am all for pedestrian malls but Times Square isn’t exactly someplace I’d necessarily seek out to wander around in - even now., And it’s not about safety. I’ve always felt perfectly safe there. It’s more about the fact that there’s nothing there I was to do or see unless I’m going to see a particular show. It’s a bit like Leicester Square in London but without the actual SQUARE shape, benches or green. Maybe that would come with a more permanent pedestrianized Times Square.
At the moment, all I can think off when I get there or see pictures of the newly closed off areas is, “Damn, blacktop gets hot when the sun bakes it.” Not really the same as going for a stroll or a sit in Central Park.
I know the taxi drivers and other motorists are upset but I think they are also being a tad over dramatic about what this all means. It’s not the end of the world and won’t result in NYC folding up and going home. Major cities all over the world have pedestrianised areas - and some of the older ones have whole city centers off limits to cars (medieval streets just weren’t built for truck traffic). It means change - yes. But change happens. Pedestrians, drivers and bike riders will all have to suck it up and act like adults. Besides, walking a couple of blocks won’t hurt you.
My apologies to all. I was taking this economic meltdown by the horns (on a personal level) and wrestling it to the ground. This took more resources and a bit more time than I thought it would. But I’ve returned! Battered and bruised by the battle but victorious. And I bring news! I am seriously considering a train journey. Amtrak has cut their fares across the Northeast for the summer. Let the planning and pondering begin!
Closer to home - at long last - a nice sized chunk of the American Wing has reopened at Metropolitan Museum of Art. While I was never much interested in the majority of the pieces in the American Wing (I’m still not) , it was very often my inter-museum destination thanks to the Tiffany garden. I would bring a snack and a book and spend hours there. Then they closed the wing so they could revamp it. Apparently, long after I noticed the place was a badly lit rabbit warren, someone in authority finally reached the same conclusion. They decided it was so convoluted and hard to navigate that most people never saw the majority of the collection. Bravo to them for fixing it but damn! It took ages and I was denied my garden escape. Sadly, it looks like I will continue to be denied by habitual escape since they have replaced my beautiful jewel-like atrium with one of their cold, marble courts. Grrrrrrrr.
And when I tire of the museum, I can wander out into the park to catch a classic flick. What’s that? Yes the Central Park Film Festival has returned! And even better 0 the first film on the schedule is SHAFT!
I’m on a transport kick at the moment but not my usual ranting about traffic transport kick. No, I am attempting to focus my interest more positively. I am doing quite a lot of reading about the water taxi system (which seems to not be working out as one might have thought) as well as bike sharing plans (which I am very excited about after listening to a piece about it on WNYC).
Before you scoff at the bike sharing idea, I am not - nor is anyone else - proposing that racks of bikes be scattered across the city for people to walk up and use willy-nilly. And no one is naive enough to think that some people suck and bikes will be stolen. They do and they will be. But if you build accountability into the system (make people ‘check out’ a bike a la library books) and budget for a certain about of “people suck”-age, the idea is viable.
No, New York is not too big or too complicated. They manage it in London, Barcelona and Paris as well as tons of other places. Oh and DC. They can manage it here. I plan to collect links and information about such plans so I will put them up shortly.
The big obstacle as I see it is untethering the city from the screaming mass of car drivers who don’t want anything to interfere with their ability to make everyone’s life a misery. The city can no longer support the number of vehicles that descend upon it every day and the longer we let the convenience of the few distract us from the changes necessary to benefit the many, the worse (and more expensive) it will be when we finally DO address it.
Guess what, drivers? We are going to need bike lanes. Real ones. Bike lanes that will take some of your space away and will be separated by raised curbs. Stop screaming about how it will make traffic worse. Any change in the traffic pattern makes traffic worse until people get used to it. But if there are viable, maintained, alternatives (a well run subway, a comprehensive bus systems, bikes and water taxis) to driving in, people will use them. There will be fewer cars on the street and you can get along quite nicely in your reduced space.
And you - bikers! Stop that smug posturing. Drivers will have to adjust but so will you, you two wheeled, maniacs. You must stop maneuvering like kamikazes, weaving like madmen and generally treating pedestrians as badly (if not worse) than the drivers are treating you. We all have to live and work here and we must all share the space between the building to get where we are going.
I am not saying automotive vehicles should be banned outright. Of course not. Deliveries must be made, buses are needed, taxis (once given more freedom to move about) will all be needed on the streets. But I am willing to lay good money on the fact that easily 50% (if not more) of the vehicular traffic on the streets of Manhattan (and I focus on Manhattan here since it is the most confined area) are merely there for the convenience and comfort of a single individual.
For point to point trips within Manhattan, bikes may be a good addition to what will need to be a stable of options. Of course, none of this will matter if the MTA can’t get itself straightened out. The State legislature is useless, focusing only on getting re-elected by groups of people who are more interested in “sticking it to downstate” than they are interested in the bigger picture. The MTA is worse than useless since it apparently is brought to a screeching halt by simple maths.
I made the tragic mistake today. A mistake I have made before. One I keep telling myself I will not repeat. After all, that would be insane (at least according to Einstein who defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.)
And yet - I did it again. So I have decided that the only way to avoid repeating this pattern of behavior is to make my self publicly accountable for it.
What was this mistake? I went into my neighborhood Duane Reade.
Is there a more annoying drug store chain in the city? I doubt it. Despite being in their new premises (across the street from their old one) only a few months, the place already looks in need of major cleaning and not insignificant repairs. The staff, by and large the same as they were in the old location, continue to stun me with their ability to reach new levels of inaction and/or slowness each time I go in (the single exception being the very prompt and helpful gentlemen who seems to have drawn the early morning shift straw every day for the last two years).
The selection of goods - that one might have assumed would expand or at least be better presented in a new and larger space remains “shot in the dark” at best.
Now that the weather is improving, I am recommitting myself to avoid Duane Reade (and their ridiculously redesigned logo that should have raised eyebrows in the legal department of Radio Shack) as much as possible.
I loathe them with every fiber of my unsatisfied shopper being. I was all ready to post lyrically about bike sharing programs (and still will) but now I am so grumpy I’ve lost my train of thought.
The Central Park Walking Tours aren’t just a stroll in the park anymore. They are now a combination of podcasts, maps and interactive guides. I’m going to try this next week and will report back!
Cupcake alert! Friends and fellow New Yorkers, I have a cupcake alert for you. the cappuccino cupcakes at Crumbs. It is the Cupcake of the Week this week. Go now. Try one. You will thank me.
And now, if you all will excuse me I must go try to tackle one of the great classic New York City dweller dilemmas: How to Make The Air Conditioner/Heating Unit Not Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb. All options seem rather “meh” to me. Surely there is some attractive, reasonably priced option that will complement my decor?*
I am rather inspired by some projects I have seen at Ikea Hacker. I may try a DIY kind of thing - even if it’s just a proof of concept pass for a more skilled person to consider (should I be able to find one - another classic New York City dweller dilemma. Finding a good, dependable, creative handyperson).
More as this story develops
_______________ * No, $400-500 plus for a custom built cabinet is not ‘reasonably priced’ option and since the word ‘custom’ appears to refer only to size and never to appearance — mysteriously they are all shaker or arts & crafts style — they will not complement my decor.
Now and again - in the interest or time and the remarkable coincidence that a single post can be of interest to more than one audience, I will use a post from Fabulous Foodie on here or a post from here in Fabulous Foodie. This is one of those times.
I gather that March 30 is Turkey Neck Soup Day. Because I’ve always believed that a truly wise person doesn’t hesitate to admit when they don’t know something, I feel perfectly comfortable with the knowledge and admission of the knowledge that I have no idea what Turkey Neck Soup is. Anyone? No? Moving on . . .
The weather - though a tad chill this morning - is showing distinct signs of Spring so I have decided that it is a good time to see what culinary socializing the city holds for the upcoming months. And as usual, this time of year does not disappoint. We’ve got food festivals:
International Restaurant Week (May 1-10, 2009 ): Normally one doesn’t associate airlines with fine dining but this event is a Continental Airlines creation. Not only do you get exclusive offers at 12 of New York City’s top Zagat-rated restaurants - you also get behind-the-scenes kitchen tours, unique menus, complimentary tastings and take home treats.
Ninth Avenue International Food Festival and Street Fair (May 16-17, 2009) - still going strong after 36 years. I know, I know - New York Street Fairs are all the same — except that they aren’t. Sure, you’ll see non-food vendors but the food is the things here and from 37th Street to 57th Street, you’ll see everything from chorizo sandwiches to pad thai to alligator to cheesecake.
8th Annual The Cuisine of Queens & Beyond (May 19, 2009) lots to savor here but this year is special because this year Dish du Jour Magazine is hosting the first Meatball Melee where borough restaurants are invited to compete for the title of “Best Balls in the Boroughs.” Now admit it - you’re hungry already, aren’t you?
Third Annual NYC Food Film Festival (June 13-19, 2009) where filmgoers are able to watch food films then sample the food portrayed in those films.
While the Food Festivals across the city are certainly worth checking out, it would be a culinary crime to miss out on the Great New York State Food and Wine Festival (June 19-21, 2009). After all, as a state New York produces some of the best cheeses, maple syrup, apple cider, cookies and ice cream and of course, wines. Why not head up the Clayton, NY (in the New York’s famous 1000 Islands Vacation Region) and check it out. Everyone could use a weekend away.
Another thing New York State excels at is strawberries. Yes, strawberries. Check them out at the Owego Strawberry Festival (June 19-20), a mainstay of the NYS food scene for 29 years (Where else can you get fireworks and a strawberry pie baking contest?) and - another long time strawberry soire - the Merritt Strawberry Festival (June 13-14, 2009) hosted at Merritt Estate Winery in Chautauqua County
Ladies and Gentlemen - I have returned. Possibly you are asking “Were you gone?” but on the off chance that someone is asking themselves, “From where?” I shall tell you. I have been in the Northwest Corner area of CT, dog sitting while my parents gallivanted across the globe and then assisting the aforementioned parents in the acquisition of an additional dog. Woof. And because everyone loves a dog picture, I present this:
But now I am back and ready to turn my attention back tp the matter at hand - the glories and goofs of Gotham. While I was up handing out dog treats and throwing sticks, I managed to keep an eye on things down this way - and even get my name (last name) in the paper. Yes, I posed a question in the latest round of “Taking Questions”, the City Room blog @ the New York Times and they chose my question. The topic at hand? Preserving New York’s Historic Districts. The questions were posed to Simeon Bankoff, the executive director of the Historic Districts Council.
In the interest of transparency (and because I think it’s neat when my friends are in the paper), I should point out that I went to college with Simeon so have known him since The Olde Days (which are like In Days of Yore but earlier). If you wander over to the City Room and check out the Preservation Q&A (and of course I think you should) - look for the second batch of selected questions & answers and mine is the one about the development of the Seaport.
In other New York news - I considered weighing in on the whole MTA fares thing while I was away but you know what? Even trying to decide where to start got me so annoyed and worked up that I decided to leave it until I calmed down. The disaster that is the MTA and shocking way it is handled are enough to send one screaming into the streets (and that might end up being the best way to get around town at this rate). So - later, I shall touch up it when I can do so without foaming at the mouth.
Did you ever think - I’d love to know what’s going on in New York at the moment but my newspaper is all the way in the other room? No, me neither. I’m all about reading the news online these days. Chances are you are too. If not, why not? So much easier, faster and more up to day. You don’t even have to go the news websites anymore. They will come to you. All the major news outlets have widgets you can download and embed on our desktops, facebooks, blogs… It couldn’t be any easier.
The New York Post has a free new widget you can download embed in your blog, facebook, myspace, etc that will keep you updated automatically. They’ve just launched the widget and are celebrating by offering those who download the widget, a free Ashanti tune to download as well. Don’t we all love something for nothing? Well this is two somethings for nothing.
Weather? Pop over to Weather.com and grab a desktop widget that gives you not only current local weather but instant weather alerts and local traffic reports
Sports? The ESPN Widget Center offers desktop widgets by sport and by team. So you can grab widgets for
Anyway - it’s just another way to look at the ever changing place that is New York.If you know of others you’d like to suggest - I’d love to hear about them. Enjoy!
Things are tough and there is no point in denying it. Jobs are getting cut, prices are rising (and let’s face it - it wasn’t cheap living around here in the first place.) But if it makes things just a bit easier to have a selection of job and career resources gathered in one place - then it’s the least I can do. I’m starting off with a list of career and job fairs happening over the next few months in and around New York, Long Island and Westchester. These were scattered across various websites when I found them and I thought it might be helpful to put them all together to save everyone some time and effort. As I find out about others, I will certainly list them. I’ll also be compiling some ways to stretch your Gotham dollars.
Chin up, my fellow New Yorkers. Things will get better.
New York Career Fair 2009 (National Career Fairs )
Radisson Martinique On Broadway Hotel
49 WEST 32ND STREET
New York, NY 10001
Feb 18 (Weds): 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
April 14 (Tues): 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
June 17 (Weds): 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Aug 11 (Tues): 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Oct 13 (Tues): 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Long Island Career Fair (National Career Fairs )
Hilton Long Island / Huntington
598 Broad Hollow Road
Melville, NY 11747
Specific positions: New York Area Census. Yes, it’s that time again. The U.S. Census Bureau is gearing up and hiring for the 2010 Census. They are hiring 1000s of people for a variety of positions - both salaries and per hour. Check it out.
With the job market getting everyone down (especially for my many peeps in the publishing industry who are still reeling), I thought a little break from the real world was in order. Maybe we can’t take a real vacation right now but a little online sight seeing (which I think of as “site seeing”) never hurt anyone and costs nothing.
And so we begin with a quick trip into the past. If you don’t know about Flickr Commons and you fancy yourself a history buff - get on over there and wallow in the image collections.
One of my favorites is “Changing New York” from the New York Public Library. It is 160 photos by Berenice Abbott taken between 1935-1938.
The Brooklyn Museum is also one of the Commons Participating Institutions and they have a wonderful collection (or series of collections) tracing the evolution of Coney Island — Goodbye Coney Island.
And before we leave the Commons to venture further afield, I must suggest checking out the George Eastman House’s collection called George P. Hall & Son. This was a Manhattan based photography studio that operated 1886 through 1914 and this collection is of some of the many views of New York City they produced at the turn of the century.
Maybe delving into the past isn’t your thing or you see yourself more as Design Diva than History Buff. That’s OK. There’s a site seeing to suit you as well. Besides, even the New York Times knows that design thrives in hard times. Design Sponge (one of my favorite design blogs and one I am constantly found to be perusing) has a series of Design Guides to various cities around the world. Their New York-centric guides are outstanding, informative and downright gorgeous. Not one guide. Not two guides. But four! Four guides to design in the Big Apple and surrounding area.
So if you find yourself in need of a break and want to get your mind off the dour economy, the rising prices or seemingly endless downers from the news media - consider a quick e-vacation to Gotham. Distractions galore, all without leaving the comfort of your own home.
Sure - living in Gotham is like living in a fishbowl sometimes. Sure, we often feel we are on show or trapped in some massive dramedy no one told us about. And sometimes we actually do stumble onto - or even into - public performances. As they say in TV Guide, “Hijinks ensue” and that is one of the things I love about public improvs. The latest local example was just a hop, skip and a jump from home and I know the locale well.
In addition, while I love this for all the usual reasons I love Improv Everywhere stuff - I especially love this one because of the wide range of people involved. In particular - the older man in the beard nodding sagely as he holds his sign aloft.
I recently did a quick site for fellow New Yorker Ellen Shumsky who has a new book of photography out called Portrait of a Decade 1968-78. These are remarkable photographs - the student uprisings in Paris, the people of Croatia and Cuba, Vietnam War demonstrations, Gay liberation marches of the day, and some amazing shots of Brighton Beach, etc. I’m a huge fan of the B&W photo in general and especially B&W photos of New York.
So many sides of New York are illustrated here and - you know what? I’m not sure some of them would be as powerful in color. As I said - collection of her pictures has been put together in a book but they are also being exhibited here in NY at the LGBT Center. Don’t know if the exhibit will become a traveling exhibit but if it does - I shall give you all a heads up. Definitely worth a see - especially for fans of Greater Gotham.
Still, this latest encounter was a surprise. Why? Because I live on the Upper East Side which isn’t - by and large - as awash with pop culture locations as neighborhoods such as the Village or the West Side. Or wasn’t until recently. Thanks to Gossip Girl (*) - the UES is the place to be. To see and be seen.
Before you scoff at the bike sharing idea, I am not - nor is anyone else - proposing that racks of bikes be scattered across the city for people to walk up and use willy-nilly. And no one is naive enough to think that some people suck and bikes will be stolen. They do and they will be. But if you build accountability into the system (make people ‘check out’ a bike a la library books) and budget for a certain about of “people suck”-age, the idea is viable.
Cupcake alert! Friends and fellow New Yorkers, I have a cupcake alert for you. 
