I’m always on the look out for a new drink and/or a new place to grab the same. What’s wrong with the old neighborhood standby, you ask? Nothing, except that what if I’m not actually in my neighborhood? What if I’m say - out at a show or meeting out of town friends at their hotel? Then what do I do? I could find myself on a street or in an area where the only thing I know for sure is that the Starbucks on the corner will be like every other Starbucks and therefore a safe if dull as dishwater choice for a sit-down and a chat.

However, they don’t serve cocktails as Starbucks⁽¹⁾ so I like to try new places in different neighborhoods periodically so that when the mood strikes somewhere other than home, I have a plan of action and don’t waste valuable time trying to remember what the name of that place was from 3 years ago. That place that may or may not have been too crowded and may or may not still be open but I seem to recall not getting poisoned, ripped off or kicked out so how bad could it be.

Rooftop bars may be the new black in New York drinking according to NewYorkology but that’s not why I’m checking them out lately. I don’t care about cocktail trends. If I did, I would have spent 6 years ordering cosmos a la Sex in the City only to switch to mojitos in 2004 after the show was canceled and would certainly have tried absinthe a few months back only so I would be able to jadedly declare that I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.⁽²⁾

But I digress. Why am I checking out the rooftop bars? ‘Cause I love a room with a view and I hate crowds. It’s really that simple. Even in a crowded rooftop bar I can find a spot for some air and if the company begins to pale or irritate, I can always look out over the city - something that rarely fails to soothe or improve my mood. Besides, the rooftop bars impress out of town guests.

So where and when to go for your booze with a view?

When is easy. Now. Before winter sets in (Note to self: crowds likely to be even more manageable in Nov/Dec). As for where - well, thanks to a flurry of summer openings, you are spoiled for choice. June 2008 saw the opening of both mad46 at the Roosevelt and the Empire Rooftop at the Empire Hotel. Opening just ahead of them in May 2008 was Salon de Ning @ The Peninsula New York.

Of course, being the newest thing, these might a tad too crowded for you and you might want to try something of a more established vintage. If you don’t mind tourists en masse, you can head over to the Marriott Marquis Times Square hotel - the 360 degree view from the Lounge at The View is pretty darned impressive. While the Rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art isn’t a bar per se and is only open seasonally (you have until late fall), they do have a robust bar cart and can provide you with wine, beer or any number of cocktails as you peruse their latest rooftop installation. If you want something a bit more comfy with you East Side tipple, try The Terrace” at Sutton Place. Like the grande dame of rooftop bars, the Top of the Tower at the Beekman Hotel sits quietly and unchanging. The food isn’t bad either.

These are only a few of the places to that offer a vista or two to go with your vermouth. In a city like New York views not only nice but thick on the ground and lots of places - some maybe not as high as others - have found a way to make the most of them. As a result, the ‘rooftop round’ up is a staple of the New York nightlife media coverage.

• It’s More Fun on a Roof (2008/New York Magazine)
• Roof Bars: Drinking In the Skyline (2006/New York Times) - sure it’s a 2 year old list but you’ll find that a view extends the life span of the average New York bar.
• City Search’s Outdoor Bars List includes some of the most popular roofs in town
• Take In Spring, says the New York Daily News (4/2008) with a selection that includes some options not found elsewhere

So go on, go up and look out over the city. You’ll be glad you did.

⁽¹⁾ Hey, that’s not a bad idea. Irish Coffee might boost late afternoon or evening bottom line.
⁽²⁾ Um, I really don’t, by the way.

Culinary Celebration. You’re doing it right! Not only is the Magnolia Bakery expanding into midtown late September (reason to celebrate enough as for as I am concerned), but beer bashes abound with New York Craft Beer Week is fast approaching (September 12th-21st) and the 3rd annual NY Brewfest September 12th at South Street Seaport. ! I know what you’re thinking - Deb, you don’t care about beer. You’re right. I don’t. Terrible stuff, beer (in my opinion. your mileage - along with almost everyone else’s - may vary) . But along with beer comes BBQ. And that, I care about most deeply and passionately.

Decongesting. You’re doing it wrong. When I said something needed to be done about the traffic congestion in this city, I did not mean cutting non-stop flights to 25 cities from New York. The continuing rise in car insurance rates won’t really help either since it will just lead more people to buy and register their cars out of state.

Shout out. ‘Cause they deserve it. Who doesn’t love Tough Guys and Puppies. These guys - collectively known as Rescue Ink - are inspiring and deserving of much praise. And the puppy pictures? Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

New York isn’t just a big place - it is MONUMENTAL. I mean that literally. It is full of monuments. You’ve probably seen a lot of them yourself without really looking at them (unless you are like my father - an dedicated plaque reader wherever he is). I thought it might be nice to stop and take a look at some of these monuments - starting with one of my favorites.

One of my favorite monuments and one I make a point of stopping to consider each time I pass it, is the Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial in Riverside Park - just at 72nd and Riverside Drive. There are, as one might have expected, many many more monuments across the city to men than women and among those dedicated to women, even fewer of them are statues or prominently placed. So this statue of Eleanor - located at such a cross roads (for pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic) is a stand out on that front. But for me - one of the best things about it is another way it differs from the majority of the other monuments.

It’s relaxed.

Look at her. Nestled in a lovely shady spot, half-leaning, half-seated on a large boulder, legs crossed casually in front of her - arms, hands and face all coming together in a pose of pensive contemplation. From the side, one might notice that her posture isn’t all it should be but how much more true to life is that than the ramrod stiffness more commonly found in works such a these. Much more so than the statue of Eleanor at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C. She is - even in bronze and granite - far more approachable than those guys on horseback, standing on plinths or surrounded by lines of -faux Grecian columns.

I was out on the streets along with many of my fellow New Yorkers on Saturday. And like many of my fellow New Yorkers, I was in near constant peril of being run over by cyclists.

Hey! Cyclists! I’m all for cycling but we’re walking here! Do you all NEED the whole of Park Avenue to shoot down? Can you not leave one lane for those of us on foot? I know exactly the feeling of “pedestrian anxiety described at Walking Off the Big Apple.” I shared the anxiety all day. But I also know - as was mentioned on Streetsblog - I know that the majority of the bikers were not the ones weaving in and out of foot traffic and waiting until they were breathing down the necks of pedestrians. The majority were out and about, enjoying the day WITH the rest of us. But the few bad apples were seemed determine to own the road could use a few lessons in manners and consideration.

There were quite a few spots where the “bikers to the left/ walkers and bladers to the right” actually was posted and - I use the term loosely, enforced. But there just as many places - more in fact, where such a division was no where to be seen, announced or followed. I gather it was better the second week than the first. I hope the improvement continues because I love the idea of shutting the streets down in general and want it to continue to be a success so it becomes a regular thing.

One positive development in the battle between bicycles and bipeds - another good sized chunk of Riverside Park South is now open. Thank goodness! That stretch remained apparently completed and closed for so long, I thought they might just have put it there to taunt the walkers.

“Look,” it seemed designed to say. “Look at where you might walk free from the danger of being run into a chain link fence or knocked over by an angry biker. If only we would open this place of calm and safety.”  And listen, bike folks - I get it. It’s the bike path. I see the little illustration of the man on the bike. But come on - we all gonna have to share and play nice while improvements are being made. It’s not my fault as a walker that they parks department took so long. And they have gotten it open now so can’t we all just get along? All will be peaceful now though since we walkers can now move at our own pace in our own space (until we reach the end right near the Sanitation building and then we have to squeeze in with bikers again.

And slow though the parks department may have been to open this section, they are oodles faster than the MTA at anything. At least with the Waterfront work, you can see where the money has gone and how well it’s been spent. Oh well - nothing is perfect. But having another piece of beautiful waterside promenade done, make the imperfections a lot easier to bear.

You know - I was just whining about the heat on the subway platforms the other day. And the week before. And the week before that. And last year and the year before that.

I knew it was practically an annual summer ritual here in Gotham but I had no idea that this time-honoured tradition was so well-documented. Nor did I realize that the difference between outside and down below was so vast! 20 degrees? Come on, would it KILL them to put in a fan. Not even air conditioning. Just a fan. It helps on the Metro-North platforms. It will help in the subway system too.

The MTA has been informed (by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA — its own advocacy group) that the subway stations in this town are in need of some attention.

There are no words to express how much obviousness this statement encompasses.

Yes, the subway stations are in need of attention. Lots of attention and on many differently levels. Attention should be paid to layout, cleanliness, safety, pest control, signage, lighting and countless things that have fallen by the wayside or disintegrated after ongoing neglect.

Did they really need this group to tell them the stations are in a deplorable state? Have they not eyes to see (the garbage, the dirt, the rats, the broken stairs, the chipped tiles, the missing signs, the out of order lifts and bathrooms, the burned out lighting). Have they not ears to hear (the unintelligible announcements not to mention the announcements that never seem to come when such a thing might be helpful, the sound of shills and panhandlers punctuated by - and I use the term loosely - musicians)? Have they not noses to smell (the piles of garbage, the puddles of urine and the unmistakable odor of throngs of New Yorkers milling about and becoming packed onto the platforms in the hot, sticky air while trains continue not to arrive)?

Sure, I know these things take time and money but you know what - the MTA habitutally wastes a staggering amount of both. The development of this report cost time and money though I am sure it was a mere drop in the budget bucket but the fact that it was deemed necessary is symptomatic of an organization that ignores whatever it can for as long as it can (they didn’t assign line managers untl last year) and then cannot manage it’s own spending. Let’s not even mention the “two sets of books” accounting procedure in their not so distant past. Oh dear - I mentioned it didn’t I? Well, never mind that now. The past is the past. Let’s keep focused on the economic flaws of today. Lest you think the flawed thinking is all on the side of the MTA, let me present some balance. The report itself is full of flawed thinking.

• Station impact fees: Wait a minute. You want to charge developers extra money to build near stations? Isn’t the idea to have housing and stations within a reasonable and useable distance to encourage use of mass transit? Why create a situation where being further away is even more economically attractive?
• Private sector partnerships: Get the BID’s and local corporations to “adopt” stations? That might fly better if they weren’t being asked to partner with the MTA (did I mention the inability to manage it’s own budget?)
• Create a Water Intrusion Task Force: As the committee looked around the stattions, they noticed a lot of water damage. But instead of fixing the aforementioned damage, they suggest the MTA should form a task force to see it again. Why? Is there something wrong with the eyesight of the Committee members?
• Rodents on the run: Rats were sighted in 7 of the stations studied. Ah. Clearly there is something wrong with the eyesight of the Committee members if they only spotted them at 7 stations.

I sure hope ‘attention’ in this case is a polite way of saying rehabilitation because some of these stations are not fit for man nor beast. Except the rodents.

It’s almost here! It’s almost here! Summer Streets Saturday is almost here!

I couldn’t care less about the activities planned along the route - speaking of the route, here it is - though it’s nice to see so many different kinds of dance being demonstrated and the New York tour at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge seems cool. That would be my activity of choice if I had to pick one. Happily I don’t and I can stick to my original plan of just strolling down Manhattan into Brooklyn and having a nice, long leisurely lunch. So ixnay on the activties.

But I do like the tips provided. It’s entirely likely that I would have forgotten my camera if I hadn’t just seen in on the list. I tend to forget my camera alot these days despite the fact that I am surrounded by things worthy of photographing.

The etiquette list they’ve compiled ought to be required reading. “Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, so yield to them.” I’m looking at YOU bike riders. Read it. Learn it. Love it. Did you notice the word ‘always’? If you peddling maniacs can handle that, I can handle the etiquette advice for walkers - “Be aware of cyclists and don’t dart out suddenly in the path of a cyclist.” Deal?

So, start stretching now, clean off your sturdiest walking shoes and get ready to hit the streets!

Greater Gotham is just one of the blogs I am involved in. The other is Fabulous Foodie. Today I thought I’d bring together and this is the result - not so much a guide to the food of New York as a guide to online guides (with a few specifics thrown in). So sit back, grab your classic gotham coffee and wander along with us.

New York Magazine’s Best of New York Food is always worth reading (and keeping for future reference) but the real, daily stop at NYM for food lovers is Grub Street, their food blog.

The food section of the New York Times practically deserves a post in and of itself but can be summed up with the The Dining & Wine Section and the Diner’s Journal blog

Time Out New York helpfully provides the New York Cheap Eats Pyramid as part of it’s annual Cheap Eats issue. After all, one must pay rent but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t want to go out and enjoy what the city has to offer. But it’s not all cheap over at Time Out. The Restaurants and Bars section of their site offers not only a wealth of listings but “refer to again and again” content like their Eat Out Awards, their “only online” additional information and foodie gift buying tips.

There are, of course, the usual guides to the Grub of Gotham. Typical of that breed is the Food Network’s A Tasty Travel Insider’s Guide to New York which if uninspired, is at least well organized. I prefer my guides with a bit more originality and personality of their own.

Speaking of originality and personality: Eater. From the folks that brought us Curbed. There are a few Eaters now - San Fran and La - but this is the original. Not only does it cover who and what is happening in the Gotham Grub scene but it rounds up what everyone else is saying about it. That’s helpful not only for those who want to follow the crowd but those who want to avoid them. Two guesses as to which category yours humbly falls into.

Also brimming with personality and opinion are NYC Nosh, Restaurant Girl and Savory New York. Savory is eating up tons of my time lately. Why Savory, in particular? Because it’s a wiki (one of my favorite things) and a video guide to New York City restaurants scene and if there’s one thing I like better than reading about it, it’s watching it.

Slow Food New York City has a directory of eateries, bars, food markets and shops that have earned the Slow Food Snail of Approval. If you ascribe to the Slow Food philosophy or even just think they might be on to something, pick your night out from this list and you won’t be sorry. If you don’t want to wait to “walk it off” then you’ll want to try out Foods of New York, food tasting walking tours of New York. Don’t feel like leaving the house after all? Surf on over to Menu Pages, the ultimate directory of NYC restaurants menus. 4000! Read them online or print them out.

If you want a side order of history with your meal, you could go to Fraunces Tavern but while no doubt interesting to some, is not the first place I think of for a fun meal. Instead, stop by Katz’s Deli, Lombardi’s or Old Town Bar. All three have been dishing out the goods for over 100 years and there’s a tasty reason they are still around. If you’ve still jonesing for more history, Forgotten NY (a favorite website of mine in the general sense) also has some culinary offerings worth looking at in their New York’s Oldest Bars and NYC’s Classic Diners sections.

And that brings us to the end of today’s tour. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I know I have but now I really must go get lunch. I’m STARVING! Next time we take a virtual tour, it’s gonna be a tour of the food itself. So, come hungry.

One of the most exciting things happening in Manhattan this summer is the creation of more pedestrian promenades. Some are temporary and some are permanent but all are a welcome addition, as far as I am concerned.

Some seriously major streets are going all foot traffic for a period of time - albeit temporarily - this summer. Yup, the city is closing off to traffic a 6.9-mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays in August. Bliss! And more than that, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a long and honored tradition here in the city!

And - more long-term joy for those of us who consider walking the city one of the great joys in life - starting on August 15th, Broadway between 42nd to 35th Streets will be opened as a bike path and pedestrian plaza featuring chairs, tables, benches, umbrellas and planters. The bike lane and plaza areas will be set off from the street and each other by a coat of small-grained gravel mixed with epoxy onto the pedestrian areas. Is it a perfect plan? No. Only a crazy person would put the plaza areas between the cars and the bikes (shall we start calculating now how many bike/pedestrian collisions will occur as people try to get from the sidewalk to the plaza?). And honestly, how relaxing can it be to sit under an umbrella (assuming it hasn’t been stolen or vandalized within days) within a foot or two of some of the worst traffic in the city? Not very. But the idea is a good one. A solid one and should be encouraged as something to spawn other similar areas.

And please - don’t whinge about the traffic. Cars are NOT king in New York and I can’t believe the number of people who have been carrying on like this is the end of the world. Hey, we all know driving in the city is a hassle and guess what? This isn’t going to make it any better. Have you considered the train?

A review of data and statistics reveals July to be the hottest and wettest month of the year and here in New York, July seems determined to live up to its reputation. Still, it’s a great time to be in New York because there’s a lot going to that will get your mind off the heat and the humidity.

The Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks (start time approx. 9pm) are the keystone Fourth of July event. You can catch a great viewing spot along the FDR (which is shut to vehicular traffic starting at 7pm), South Street Seaport or Liberty State Park.

Other evenings in July needn’t pale by comparison. Check out the July features for the Bryant Park Summer 2008 Movie Schedule:

• July 7: The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) — An acerbic radio commentator drops in one night for dinner and stays all winter. Written by the Epstein brothers (who penned the crackling dialogue in Casablanca), the cast of this farce includes Bette Davis, Anne Sheridan and Jimmy Durante.
• July 14: Fail-Safe (1964) — As the stalwart President, Henry Fonda faces a dilemma: due to computer error, a U.S. bomber is en route to Moscow to drop an atomic bomb. This tense cold war drama, directed by Sidney Lumet, also features Walter Matthau and Larry Hagman.
• July 21: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) — The great screwball comedy, directed by Frank Capra, stars Cary Grant as a strait-laced young man who comes to the realization that his sweet old aunts have a nasty hobby. Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre lend hilarious support as two befuddled baddies.
• July 28: The Apartment (1960) — In Billy Wilder’s cynical-but-sweet romantic comedy, Jack Lemmon tries to get ahead by loaning out his apartment to the bosses for a little “ring-a-ding-ding”. That is, until the place is used to entertain the woman of his affections, played adorably by Shirley MacLaine.

The park lawn opens at 5:00pm for blankets and picnicking and the films begin at dusk (typically between 8pm and 9pm).

Of course, July also means Restaurant Week Summer 2008 (which I mentioned as part of the Summer Fun Series). But July is a great food month overall in Gotham. To get you started on your mid-year culinary quest across the city, Ed Levine (of Serious Eats) compiled a list of 10 things you must eat this summer. Of course that list, which appeared in the Daily News, is just a small sample of the great stuff you can find on Serious Eats New York, where all the best food sites are trawled for the best tips and pointers. Also found in The Daily News was a quick hits guide to the best street food in New York. When did the Daily News become one of my ‘go to’ food places. I’m not complaining, mind you. Just feeling pleasantly confused

If you want to take a more hands on approach to food this month, why not check out the Whole Foods Market Bowery Culinary Center. Lots of classes, lectures and author appearance. You can sharpen up your knife skills, take a master class in chocolate or take a culinary trip around the world all in one evening.

Whatever your plans are - don’t forget that New York in July is only hot and humid but hoppin’ and happenin’ as well!

it’s been a busy time in Gotham but I admit that the Summer stories grabbing a goodly portion of the headlines - waterfalls, budgets, and baseball - are not what have caught my attention.

Oh I admit that the waterfalls as an idea intrigued when they were first proposed. I looked forward to them - and they still, as an idea, have been the thing that caught my attention - but in reality, during the day, the falls aren’t exactly all that and a bag of chips. At night they are lovely, exciting and ethereal at the same time. Night does that. Daytime is different. It’s like - well, have you ever eaten at the Water Club? It’s that kind of difference. At the Water Club, the view at night out the windows is magnificent. Lights move slowly past, their reflections sparkling and dancing on the waters as it parts, ebbs and flows. “Another glass of wine? Of course - isn’t the night magical? Let’s order coffee as well. I can’t bear for the night to end.” During the day? It’s more like, “Gosh, look at the traffic on the FDR. Getting home is gonna be a bitch? Is that a garbage barge?”

See? Time of day is the key here - and the key to enjoying the waterfalls. As for the others - there’s almost no reason for me to pay attention to the fact that a budget deal was brokered. Not that the budget isn’t important. It is. But there is always a budget being considered or passed or amended or being shot to hell. And baseball? Listen, no offense but baseball is a subject on which I am ‘meh’ at the best of times. Yes, I get it, I get it - local baseball teams slugging it out is special this time. Both teams are playing their last seasons in their respective stadiums. ‘Fans on the street’ are celebrating their teams and their team history and while ‘The Powers That Be’ don’t mind as such, they don’t seem to care either - as they don’t have to waste time doing the same. They are too busy pricing the average joe out and ignoring him in favor of big ticket corporates. Go team!

But the Summer stories I am excited about are

• Summer Streets No-Car Zones coming in August and which, according the New York Times, “. . . will run north-south along Centre Street, Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue to 72nd Street. The southern half of 72nd Street from Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue will also be shut to vehicles, to link to Central Park. ” I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. I am a walker by habit as well as necessity and the longer the walk, the better as far as I am concerned. The comments on the Times article were overwhelmingly positive (oh there are always gripers) but some made excellent points about keeping the street vendors from taking over. This is not - after all - intended to be a street fair. Oh and to whoever it was that thought Manhattan was flat? Dude. There’s a reason Lenox Hill is called Lenox Hill. Flat? Not hardly.
• Summer Restaurant Week starts July 21 and runs through August 1 (not valid on weekends). With a choice of 235 eateries and both lunch and dinner offerings to choose from, two weeks may not seem like nearly long enough. But it’s all you have so start planning now. There is a city of three-course, prix-fixe meals - lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35 - awaiting you! (Oh and that reminds me - you know how I mentioned the Water Club earlier? Well, they have a $24.00 pre-fixe lunch and offer a $39.50 pre-fixe dinner every evening 5:00 pm till closing all year long so if you miss SRW this time around, you can still go and have a fabulous and very special meal for a great price.. On a clear, bright day even the tug boats shine.
• Shakespeare in the Park - well, Hair anyway. OK- Hamlet was vile. But I admit to loathing the play as a rule anyway so I have only myself to blame for that lost chunk of my life. Never mind that. The rest of the day was fab. Beautiful weather, congenial neighbors in line (note to self - buy folding chair) and a drink lakeside afterwards. Who cares what happens to the Dopey Dane? Let him go back to Wittenburg if he’s such a pill! Bring on Hair! Lots of folks must be saying the same ’cause they’ve extended to run before the show even opened.

With so much going on this summer - this as well as the other stuff I’ve been covering in my NYC Summer Fun Series - it’s a wonder I have time to do any real work at all. And yet, real work beckons so I leave you all to your planning for now. Back soon with my promised Westchester report

I’m off to Westchester this morning and it’s suddenly occurred to me that I’ve not really covered much of Westchester here. Now, you might say - “that’s ok, this is Greater Gotham and that’s not Gotham. That’s Westchester.”

Strictly speaking, you are correct but what about the “Greater” part? What about “out and about in the city and beyond?” Well, Westchester is beyond, isn’t it? (In more ways than one).

So, as soon as I get back from my jaunt to the environs beyond, I shall regale you with many of the wild and wonderful things to be found up Westchester way.

• White Plains - a city that anywhere else in the country would be a major metropolis to be reckoned with but which had the bad luck to be located next door to New York and has become the world’s largest urban addendum.
• Chappaqua - sure it’s where the Clintons live (well, where they bought a house) but it’s also home to - in my opinion - the quickest Starbucks ever.
• Pleasantville - which is, in fact, extremely pleasant.
• Bronxville - which looks less like reality and more like a move set. And, for those interested in criminal history, center of the Tylenol scare of the 80s
• Yonkers - yes, Yonkers, Famous in song and story (well, in Hello Dolly anyway). Home the Yonkers Raceway and - oh, wait. Did they take the raceway down? I better make sure my memories sync with reality on the ground.

And that’s just lower Westchester. Upper Westchester is a whole different kettle of fish. The Westchester County Tourism office - who knew? - looks like something I shall have to take a closer look at - if only because they have a section on agritourism. I miss the old says when we used to call that “Pick Your Own Apples.”

I may also point out some of my personal Westchester history along the way. I was - after all - born in Westchester (New Rochelle), went to college in Westchester (Sarah Lawrence College) and even when I lived in a different state all together came “this close” to attending a HS called Westchester. I did not. I went to Memorial but the fact remains that “Westchester” seems to have followed me around so the least I can do it pay some attention to it.

Orli, who sends me many cool “heads up” messages, sent one I simply MUST share immediately. Tuesday - in preparation for the Wednesday Season 2 premiere - there is a Shear Genius event in Times Square. He says:

They are giving out free professional blowouts on Military Island (7th Ave. btwn 43rd and 44th St.) in Times Square on Tuesday 6/24 @12 noon. The cast of the show will be on hand to provide free hair styling - host Jaclyn Smith will also be there, and you’ll be able to pick up a Nexxus gift bag too.

Kids? How can this NOT be a MUST see, MUST be there event? Jaclyn Smith! And just to get you in the mood, here’s a video preview of the new season.

Went to Shakespeare in the Park on Friday.

Saw Hamlet.

Wept for the loss of all I might have accomplished in those hours instead.

Salvaged evening by leaving at intermission.

Dreadful.

Discoveries of note today: the perfect time for breakfast at the Carnegie Deli? 9 am on Saturday.

Why? Because not only is there no line outside but there’s hardly anyone inside. My friend and I were gobsmacked. Pleased not to have to wait in the line o’ myth and legend, mind you. It is, after all, summer - a season we both agreed we would happily vote off the island. But gobsmacked all the same. It really didn’t start filling up until we were leaving.

The most shocking part of the whole outing was watching a family of four walk in, with Dad carrying a tray of Dunkin Donuts coffee. We assumed they must be lost or looking for a restroom. No! They asked for a table! They walked into the Carnegie with coffee from not only somewhere else but from Dunkin Donuts and proceeded to sit down to eat. The LOOKS they got from the staff! Lord, oh lord. Had they been grapes, they would have shriveled to raisins. But - the customer is always right even when they are deeply, tragically and outstandingly wrong. The staff served them - an air of pity (tinged slightly with  disapproval) in their eyes.

I decided he must be from out of town.