Bonus (Or, perhaps, Punishment):
Friday, June 13, 2008
Things are getting really tough at the Fed
Bonus (Or, perhaps, Punishment):
Old sign of the day
Also, it's a one-sided sign, apparently to attract the one-way traffic moving east on the street.
This former business is directly across the way from the closed-off back entrance of the Blarney Stone, where their neon goodness brightly shines. Must enter through the front door on Fulton.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
"Every successful society needs its Bohemia, a haven for the artists, exiles, and misfits who regenerate the culture"
Recommended reading, this piece by Christopher Hitchens:
Last Call, Bohemia
Every successful society needs its Bohemia, a haven for the artists, exiles, and misfits who regenerate the culture. With the heart of New York’s West Village threatened by developers, London, Paris, and San Francisco have a message for Manhattan: Don’t do it!
[The photo: The studio of the artist Arnold Bergier, at Greenwich Avenue and 10th Street, which was demolished in 1960 to make way for a 14-story building (despite the painted entreaties). Photograph by Fred W. McDarrah.]
Checking in with "The God of Gambling"
The regulars clustered at the branch on Lafayette and Canal streets Wednesday morning almost all said that if they can’t gamble in the stark, grimy, fluorescent-familiarity of OTB, they’ll go to the track instead. No matter how inconvenient playing the ponies becomes, if OTB were to close, no one we spoke to had any intention of stopping.
“Gas is five dollars now, but people still want to bet,” said Sylvio, a suavely dressed retiree, sporting a Panama Jack straw hat. “If people want to bet and they got money they’ll bet, it doesn’t matter where.”
A man placing a bet at the counter interrupted, shouting, “We’re never going to stop! We can’t stop!
“I don’t work. I just play the horses,” said the jumpy, Asian man, who identified himself as “the God of Gambling.”
“I can survive. I pay rent and I have two cars, but too many people lose. I suggest they close it. A man will come in here with three restaurants and leave with two. They’ll come back another day and leave with one. Then they lose that and they’re broke. It happens all the time.”
A retired merchant marine who served for 38 years now visits the Canal Street OTB two or three times a week and goes to the track on Wednesdays. Though he “loses more than he wins”--$700 to $800 per day is not uncommon—he keeps on coming back “for revenge.”
“Some people come with 50 bucks to bet, they’ll lose 48 and have two dollars for the subway home,” he said. “Some people come with 50 bucks, lose it all, and walk 60 blocks home.”
“New York at that moment was bankrupt, poor, dirty, violent, drug-infested, sex-obsessed — delightful”
[Expletive] was already percolating by the time I hit Manhattan as a teen terror in 1976. Inspired by the manic rantings of Lester Bangs in Creem magazine, the Velvet Underground's sarcastic wit, the glamour of the New York Dolls' first album, and the poetic scat of Horses, by Patti Smith, I snuck out my bedroom window, jumped on a Greyhound, and crash-landed in a bigger ghetto than the one I had just escaped from. But with two hundred bucks in my pocket tucked inside a notebook full of misanthropic screed, a baby face that belied a hustler's instinct, and a killer urge to create in order to destroy everything that had originally inspired me, I didn't give a flying [expletive] if the Bowery smelled like dog [expletive].
Drv-In moving to the East Village?
The folks at Grand Opening, the small Lower East Side venue with a rotating roster of quirky activities, are expanding their offerings—both indoors and outdoors. The fall and winter concept was Drv-In, an intimate screening room outfitted with a 1965 convertible four-door Ford Falcon. This summer, the same concept (and the same car) moves to a larger, permanent venue in the East Village. The new Drv-In has a reception area and concession stand, and while the car still only seats six, the space can hold as many as 15 guests. For a bigger group, the company’s new summer drive-in series, Cars Under the Stars, takes over parking lots around the city.
According to the link for the new Drv-In supplied by BizBash, the address is 215 E. 4th St., which also happens to be the address for the very-much-still-open wine-and-tapas joint In Vino.
Or maybe the new location is the vacant storefront to the west of In Vino. Though that place still has a "For Rent" sign above it.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Hope for OTB: The end may not be so near
No one is apparently approving the reader recommendations at visitnyc.com
Why did I have such a mean-spirited high-school moment? Part of it was just wishful thinking. I wish that the Cedar Tavern didn't become a condo, for instance. Plus, I was actually curious if anyone was paying attention and patrolling the comments. More important, though, I'm tired of seeing these "Just Ask the Locals" ads everywhere. Seems as if I can't even walk to the bodega on my corner without seeing an ad with Mr. Mickey telling me about the lobby bar at the Bowery Hotel.
I don't mind real locals offering some advice to out-of-towners at the site, as we're invited to do. (Well, I mind a little bit...particularly when it's awful advice.) But! The site also features input from real celebrities! Say I'm from out of town looking for a place to go for a drink. Hmm, Sean "Diddy" Combs suggests a cocktail at the Mandarin Oriental. Perfect! Alan Cumming suggests the Box on the LES. Coltrane Curtis suggests the Beatrice Inn! Go the site and you'll see nuggests like this:
"If you are into clubs, I’d check out Butter, Marquee or 1 Oak." -- Sean "Diddy" Combs
All places that even tourists might know about, and likely couldn't get into unless they were really wealthy and dressed the right way. Here's the thing, the campaign (and site) only caters to an upper-class demographic. (For example, the site lists the most popular hotels, shops and restaurants based on user page views. The top three hotels? The Waldorf, the Bowery Hotel and the W.) This is the sanitized, condofied city our leaders apparently want us to be. All nice and glossy and...
Oh, and there's a whole Sex and the City section on the site:
This is the Life.
This is New York City.™ This is home to Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. This is a city known for its cutting-edge dining, shopping, entertainment, nightlife and culture. It’s where lines wrap around the block for a cupcake; where cosmos are sipped over conversation and where energy, excitement and style are found on every street. It’s classic and modern all at once with iconic landmarks that never lose their allure and new hotspots are constantly emerging. So whether you want to try the places made famous by Sex and the City or discover you own favorite locales—this is where it’s done. This is New York City.
Related: Et Tu, Debbie? (Flaming Pablum)
By the way, I don't have an approval system for this site. Yet.
Hot in the city (1910-1915 style)
Caption reads, "Fountain, Madison Square Park on a hot day." (Where's Shake Shack?)
No mention where this was taken. Just a note about a man cooling his head on a hot day.
Caption reads, "Asleep in Battery Park on hot day." (Maybe they're just waiting for the new Apple iPhonograph to be unveiled.)
Caption reads: "Milk House, Tompkins Sq.; hot day."
Meanwhile, I wouldn't mind this scene in Union Square for a few minutes right about now...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Speaking of hot . . . checking in at the FunHouse Disco
So what is this? According to the YouTube description: "New York Hot Tracks visits the popular FunHouse Disco on 26th St. in Manhattan NYC 1984. Carlos DeJesus introduces Adam from Canarsie. Adam does some Buggin also known as kick dancing. This style of dance was unique to the club in the early 1980's."