New York isn’t the cool new club or the new restaurant opening downtown.
It’s the bodega on your block. It’s the deli down the street. It’s the bartenders at the neighborhood bar. It’s the bum on your corner. It’s the other bum. It’s the neighbor who has loud sex every night. It’s your elusive super.

It’s the restaurant where you tip 30% because you’ll be back again and again and they know your favorite dish and knock off a few bucks off the check.

It’s those 5 blocks.
Different ones. My blocks are different from yours, and we love ours all the same.

On Streetsblog I learned that a number of NY Ranger players regularly take the subway to work and one bikes. This shouldn’t seem so strange, but sadly I think it is. One major reason for down to earth lifestyle of these players is that Hockey paychecks are a lot less grand. A commenter on the blog named the other big reason, which is pretty sad – a lot of these players are not from America and they are just doing what they consider normal.

I am not facing the shopping and tourist crush in Manhattan right now, cause I am back in Pittsburgh. London has taken the step of having several car free shopping days in it’s busiest shopping district and so far it seems like a huge success.

“The one million shoppers who turned out on Saturday were entertained by choirs, acrobats, giant illuminations and a performance of the Snowman. A fireworks display finished off the event. Mr Tyrrell said: “There were no problems with the roads closures, everything went really smoothly.

“The day was about giving something back to the shoppers and we would love to see many more car- free days, and not just at Christmas.”

Under current rules, two car-free days are allowed each year but the New West End Company wants to increase it to three or more.

Really this isn’t the time to be mad at the tourists who are showing us their wide eyed love and dropping serious cash. The big problem is that at this time of year, the sidewalks are not close to meeting demand.

Photo from Facebook

This weekend, I went to see Joan, a NJPAC production performed at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Written and directed by my former theater director, Christian Ely, I was very excited to see the show.

This play was a deconstruction of the myth of Joan of Arc inspired by George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan and Bertolt Brecht’s Visions of Simone Machard. The cast consisted of talented students between the ages of 13-18, who had studied both influential pieces for this production.

This play began in an apocalyptic 2008, in a world torn apart by war. The simple set involved a web of ropes woven around the stairs, which served as obstacles through which the actors navigated. It was a physical show, demonstrating the emphasis on physical training that the actors received as part of NJPAC’s Summer Youth Performance Workshop.

I was very impressed with the work of this youthful cast, particularly Samantha Kaye Henning (Joan), Kira Seiger (Mary), and Tyrell Willis (Shekree). The production was compelling and thought-provoking.

The world’s largest metro subway system has many pluses. However theiri”lost and found” department it seems is not one of them.

According to the NYT

Only three of the items eventually showed up at New York City Transit’s lost property claim office, in the subway station at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue, where lost property is supposed to go.

Keep in mind that this was a sting operation conducted by the MTA’s own Inspector General.

The audit also uncovered a chaotic system for handling property once it is turned in, with few safeguards. Often it can take weeks or months for lost items to make their way to the property unit’s office where people can claim them.

Anyone reading this have any first hand experiences with the MTA Lost and Found ??

Last night in my dreams I must have been at odds with my mustache. It chose to revolt and attack the eye.

Very unprofessional mustache, very unprofessional.

As I was listening to meditative music on 39th and 8th avenue. A giant UPS truck came towards me as I attempted to cross the street during a “DON’T WALK” that was nearly finished.

Not only did the driver accelerate at an aggressive level, he also moved his truck to come at my face.

Have you ever watched those close-calls in movies? And the shots where people get hit in the face by buses? Imagine looking at that head-on. And this was not an ordinary UPS truck, it was a monster-sized one. Not the 18-wheeler but not the regular ones either. Very big.

Well UPS ain’t getting none of my business for a while, that’s for damn sure. But then again FedEx lost a shipment for me. Good thing I’ve been reading the yogi news

Photo from Wikipages.com

For the first time, I went to the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Concert at Carnegie Hall. My friend recently joined the group and I happily agreed to come see him in the show. I had a fabulous time!

The show started off with the song, “Sound Sound Your Instruments of Joy”, beautifully sung. They then launched into “Hooray for Holidays” sung to the tune of “Hooray for Hollywood”, which was very cute and funny. Broadway actress Kelli O’Hara joined the men to sing several songs. Beautiful in her looks and her voice, she would have been hard to fault, had she not messed up the lyrics to “Let it Snow”! The first act ended with Santa and Mrs. Claus dancing with elves to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”.
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Thousands of disabled and/or elderly New Yorkers rely on para-transit to get around, the strike by drivers of 4 companies providing vans for Access-a-Ride. The strike is especially critical for patients who use the service to and from dialysis centers, and chemotherapy treatments. And terribly inconvenienced are wheelchair users, who need a lift to get into a vehicle, and doubly for riders from the outer boroughs who must go into Manhattan. Most subway stations are not accessible. But, as I’ve learned, there are even Manhattanites who can’t use the lifts on the buses because their wheelchairs are oversized. There are also elderly or disabled citizens who have no other way to go to and from work every day.

Four of the eight companies that service NYC paratransit, are operating however. And a state mediator will be stepping in this week to speed up negotiations. Those clients of Access-a-Ride who can take buses, subways, and taxis, have been encouraged to do just that during this strike period. So, it has all been functioning on a contingency basis with less vans and drivers. But I hope the MTA and the Access-a-Ride drivers come to an agreement this week.

Photo from www.shekys.com

I went to the bar M.J. Armstrong’s last night, where my friend was guest bartending. Located not far from Union Square, this regular’s bar has a comforting and friendly vibe. The menu includes tasty pub food. I always enjoy the familiar atmosphere of the place, particularly when it’s a good friend who’s bartending.

M.J. Armstrong’s is named in honor of Michael J. Armstrong, a victim of the September 11th tragedy. A frame inside of the bar commemorates this man.