Autumn in New York

In defense of New York

New York does not like to be in the news.  We don't like to hear about what happens, or does not happen, in New York.  The last time we had our photo on the front page of the world's newspapers a lot of people died and we don't like that sort of thing.

Some talk has been made about how New York is the world's most self-important city (fair) and how a stiff wind and some drizzling is eating up all the oxygen of the news media.  I just want to go on the record and say we don't like this.  We don't like it any more than you do.

As the saying goes, people go to New York to be alone.  True.

We don't enjoy this coverage.  We want it off the newspaper; that's certainly not helpful.  We want it off the cable news.  We want our local TV stations to just go back to showing old reruns of Seinfeld or golf on Sunday afternoon.  There must be a soccer riot in Africa somewhere that can be screen-grabbed off YouTube.  Or a bombing.  Can we have a bombing, between commercials for a car sale in New Jersey?

Just stop.  Go about your business.  This is not a party we threw, thus it's not a party you were invited to.  Talk to us next week; I'm sure we'll have a meteor disaster or raining frogs or something else to talk about.

A new addition

So my mom's meet'n'greet with her coop board went well.  Looks like the sale is going to happen.

I just found out earlier, as I was walking her into the building that is soon to be her building, that across the street on 72nd lives the last shrink I talked to.  That was some years ago.



The awkward part of that is that I recognized the building because of the berry bushes out front, and I remembered collecting some and putting them in my pocket before going in for a session, at the time then.



Most awkward, of course, due to Yoko Ono coming out of the Dakota, next door, waving John Lennon's femur around like a shillelagh yelling "No berry picking.. No berry picking!  Sacred berries.. you leave berries be!"





... and what are you gonna do when you've already half-chewed the berries?

Governors Island

New York City recently (re) acquired rights to Governors Island, which is a small, unpopulated, and mostly undeveloped enclave used as a US Coast Guard station for some decades. It is now being turned into.... well, no one is quite sure yet, but so far a lot of people are enjoying taking the free bike-friendly ferry service from Manhattan and Brooklyn to it on weekends for some traffic-free biking and exploring.





Governors Island Preservation web site.

This link goes to a full set of photos taken by me on Saturday.

Skating with Prometheus

Something we did a couple of weeks ago:



The ice really was all fucked up and I was worried about dropping the camera otherwise I would have gotten more "action" footage. (it's surprisingly affordable for the what / where it is.. something like $10 admission + $10 skates rental each person.... I highly recommend it as one of those new york things one absolutely must do, such as fall in love and lose all hope).

(click to skate)

The Gentleman in the Water

From NYT:

A 32-year-old man competing in the New York City Triathlon died Sunday after being pulled unconscious from the Hudson River on a day when competitors battled heat, humidity and stinging jellyfish along the course.
[...]
“Other swimmers noticed the gentleman in the water, and they were actually waving and signaling for the nearby jet boats to come assist them,” Burke said.

I enjoy a good swim myself... and I enjoy a good drink at a bar.. This story made both of those activities intersect in my mind in the sense that every now and then while in the game the arbitrating authority (bartender / referee) is asked to take a player out due to inability.... but rarely due to death.

Autumn in New York

Autumn in new york
Why does it seem so inviting
Autumn in new york
It spells the thrill of first-nighting

Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds
In canyons of steel
Theyre making me feel - Im home

Its autumn in new york
That brings the promise of new love
Autumn in new york
Is often mingled with pain

Dreamers with empty hands
They sigh for exotic lands

Its autumn in new york
Its good to live it again

New York City, at eye level

Months after I finished building its web site (link goes to it) I finally went out of my way to go see Top of The Rock, the observation platform on top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the building seen during the opening credits of Tina Fey's 30 Rock sitcom; used to be the "RCA" building, now GE headquarters).

(I did not take the photo to the right,
but I did take this one)

So, from 70+ floors above street level:

The Pan Am building, with the Chrysler behind it.




The Sony building


Upper West Side


Upper East Side


Empire State building, with a new twin


Central Park...


...which isn't as big as one thinks




Citicorp Building



Then afterwards we went to a restaurant with lawn jockeys out front:

This really has me all steamed up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SImhkapRuIs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fgothamist%2Ecom%2F
(link above goes to this video link)

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_199211634.html

I was working in midtown today... but on the west side, "safely" about a mile away in the early PM when this happened. Had no idea about it until the other half called me from work to see where I was (he works in an E.R. so he's privy to these things more immediately than yours truly boring web developer). You can still (midnight now!) hear firetrucks go by outside MY HOUSE IN BROOKLYN rolling in to help out.

My proposal for a tourist season slogan: "New York City: Home of the 27-alarm fire". What we'll do is implode a building every year at the exact same time, like the New Year's ball drop, and invite people from all over the world to come see it. The twist is we don't tell them which building. Seeking a good vantage point for the event then becomes as much an effort in game theory / positioning as that of having a good exit strategy. No other city in the world could pull it off; we don't just have a handful of oversize skyscrapers... we have MOST of them. I'm sure the t-shirt sales would produce a healthy net gain after just a few years of promotional losses.

First Democratic Primary debate watched on TV

(All photos link to something because I'm compulsive.)

The first Democratic Party primary debate was held last night in South Carolina. There was a gathering of Obama supporters at Sputnik, a swanky Soviet-themed lounge in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

There were about 20 people there as the broadcast began at 7pm and by the end there were easily 40. I hope that is representative of the overall TV audience (in the sense that people don't usually gather in bars to watch political primary debates like it's a football game).

Richardson looked a bit nervous and stumbled verbally but weirdly that wasn't until the 4th or 5th question asked of him. Clinton is a total screecher (seriously; there's a mic right there and she can't seem to get out of outdoor-rally-voice mode; apparently, and ironically, Chris Matthews agrees with me). That ugly thing called The Consensus says Obama won, but overall I thought all the candidates did quite well and they were all strong and knowledgeable and electable.

(of course, the bar having been
lowered to the level of a municipal
sewer over the last six years,
that was of little surprise).

Well, maybe not all the candidates. These two guys
probably deserve the presidency more than the
rest of the candidates combined; will they get it? No....

...unfortunately...	... and unfortunately.
click here and here to make dennis speak	and here to hear mike

This is Jordan, our main Brooklyn organizer.

He runs a grass-roots pol org called Brooklyn4Barack.

We were also joined by a news crew from the CBS Evening News who interviewed a few of us afterwards (myself included). I was told that if they use it it will be on tonight's (Friday) broadcast. Set your Tivo's to "stun".

There was also a leprechaun, helping to elect the second Irish-American to the Presidency.

(that's a four-leaf clover in place of the apostrophe; very cute)

they also had these great lamps there
that took me exactly 15 seconds to
find in the ikea web site

This week's photo