Photo from imp-ep.three-half.com

A college friend of my fiance’s has begun holding mini reunions the third Thursday of every month. Yesterday was the first we attended, hosted at Luzzo’s. The invitation had confused me, miscalling the place Puzzo’s - which does not exist on the internet, but is a fairly amusing name.

The restaurant location is inconvenient from all subway lines but the L. After a cold walk over, we arrived to find the group seated at a table all the way in the back, right next to the kitchen. I ended up in the unfortunate seat closest to the kitchen entrance, and throughout the night got jarred by inconsiderate servers rushing past. This and the fact that we had to practically beg for water refills throughout the meal left me with a bad impression of Luzzo’s service. We split several large pizzas, including the bufalo and mushroom. Everything tasted delicious. We also split a few bottles of red wine, all relatively inexpensive.

This establishment definitely serves a tasty, authentic Italian pizza for a reasonable price. But everything else about the place just left me unimpressed.

I grew up in New England and love the winter. I love when it snows, and when it does in NYC it makes me happy. I know some people might find it a bit inconvenient but it always puts a huge smile on my face. Above are a few pictures I took this morning when I arrived at work after my morning bike commute (yes I still ride even in the snow). Camera used was Kodak V570 p&s.

Dave Cook, whose blog Eating in Translation, is subtitled “Fascinating Food in New York and Occasionally Farther Afield”, has written a great column in About.com’s Queens newsletter. In it, he reviews Thai, Argentinean, and Indonesian restaurants. Elmhurst is the home of the recently renovated Queens Center Mall. But walk a few blocks west down Queens Blvd and turn right on Broadway, and you enter arguably the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in NYC’s most diverse borough. Along Broadway, you see traditional Chinese [ducks in the window], Thai, Indonesian, Argentinean, Indian and Pakistani eateries. Continue walking into Jackson Heights, and you come into streets lined with bakeries and restaurants from every country in Latin America, along with another Indian sub-continent stronghold on 74th St. [with my alltime favorite Indian spot, the Jackson Diner]

Anyway check out Dave Cook’s column here.

Here is a shot I took of Grand Central on my lunch break. One of those places that is a bit frightening and yet magical. (Shot with a Leica M6 ttl with Zeiss 21mm lens on Fuji Velvia 100F film.)

Photo from Cavatappo.com

When a friend from out of town told me she’d be visiting in the Upper East Side, I knew exactly where to meet up - Cavatappo. Located on Second Ave and 89th, this tiny wine bar is adorable! I heard about it through a friend when while working together in the area. It’s owned by the same folks as Luca Restaurant, a chic Italian restaurant with delicious fried olives.

Anyway, we arrived to find the place with just the right size crowd (busy, but still with seats to spare). We sat down on a couple stools and hung up our bags on hooks underneath the table, one of my favorite things about this quirky spot . Why don’t more places have these hooks? They make so much sense! Belle and Sebastian songs played at just the right volume, as my friend and I sampled some of their delicious wines. They offered a special on several reds, $4.50 for half a carafe. I started off with a Rioja, but a couple glasses later switched to Merlot (and I couldn’t resist quoting Sideways).

The place is such a perfect spot for catching up. I’d gone here another time with some friends who got restless after a glass and left to go dancing. It certainly isn’t a wild hangout. But if you want a cozy spot to chat with friends and drink delicious wine, Cavatappo is it.

Caught this view of the Chrysler building in midtown this afternoon with a Leica M8 + 28mm Zeiss lens.

I came accross this tale out of Brooklyn, in which a number of people are proposing using the government’s now apparently, unlimited power to sieze private land and take a now prime piece of land from the drug giant, Pfizer which was happy to recieve a solid chunk of New London, CT from it’s owners for “redevelopment.” It might be interesting to see the company’s arguments in court.

“Now, though, the tables may be turned on the drugmaker, which wants to revamp a 15-acre site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where until recently it operated a plant for more than a century. A local assemblyman isn’t content with Pfizer’s plans to sell the property to a private developer, who would replace the plant with mixed-use development that the drugmaker maintains will include affordable housing. Vito Lopez, however, wants to use eminent domain - of all things - to seize the property, because he doesn’t believe enough, if any truly affordable housing will be created.”

Um, on second thought, I’ll just have a greek salad or perhaps some fish ladies. Seriously, this holiday was never about the food– it’s all about the love and we need to get back to that. Men, there ain’t much time to earn yours if you haven’t already. She knows if youve been good or bad so be good for goodness sake!

It’s Presidents Day. Why do we have this holiday? I feel compelled to remind everybody of the significance of this holiday. Unlike July 4th, nobody’s having a barbecue or a family celebration. Nobody’s going to church or temple or mosque to commemorate. There’s no parade. There’s no festival, block party, race, street fair. It’s February after all.

Today is a day off from school,[and part of a week off public school] and work — if you work in a government office or financial institution, or school. Most people are working today. There are door-busting sales, so that the retail industry can stock up for spring. There are no street-cleaning, aka alternate-side, parking restrictions. For union workers and/or civil servants, there is probably a wage-premium today– double-time, time-and-a-half, or more.

But let’s remind ourself that the holiday is PRESIDENTS DAY. At one time we had February 12 for Lincoln’s Birthday and February 22 for Washington’s Birthday. Some decades ago, the two days were merged into whatever Monday fell between the two. Do we know who George and Abe were, and why we celebrate them? Neither George Washington nor Abraham Lincoln could ever have imagined a black man or a woman voting, let alone running, for President. Yet, without their visions, this wouldn’t have happened. And that is the true meaning of today.

Imagine for a moment a giant multiarmed god; with half of its arms hitting itself with a hammer and the other half trying to stop the bleeding and bandage its wounds and you have a perfect metaphor for New York City government.

While mayor Bloomberg and many city agencies are actively trying to reduce the problems caused by private vehicles in the heart of Manhattan, fund improvements in mass transit and provide affordable housing; city mandated policies in the outer boroughs promote driving and car ownership by requiring building owners to build parking garages even in areas reasonably well served by mass transit.

The Times ran this OP -Ed in January

“But off-street parking requirements have themselves become an expensive problem: developers must devote money and space to parking lots and garages, or not build at all. This limits the supply of housing, retail and office space, creating higher rents for residents and businesses, and higher prices for consumer goods.

Like any market distortion, parking requirements have created their own set of absurd choices. For example, affordable housing developers looking to build in most parts of New York outside of Manhattan must either provide parking that their target market can’t use, forgo construction altogether or change their mission and construct fewer apartments for higher income tenants.” (Which is what usually happens)

Streetsblog has pointed out the harmful effects of these policies, on recent construction along 4th Ave in Brooklyn in which a line of new condos are being built with ground floor parking instead of stores. The city is even dumb enough to be trying force parking minimums in a vital area like Hells Kitchen in the heart of its congestion pricing zone!! The result is often that the city government is force feeding cars into areas against the will of many local residents.

One such area is Atlantic Yards, in which at least 4000 parking spaces will be put in with over 2000 required for residents in spite of the fact that the site is a major transit hub served my multiple subway lines and the Long Island Railroad. Many of these will come in the form of hugely expensive and potentially dangerous underground parking. Doesn’t anyone remember the first World Trade Center attack which thankfully did not involve plastic explosives?

“Last year, several commentators on the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) questioned the provision of parking–not just interim surface lots, but also the 2570 underground spaces intended for the project’s residential component and an additional 1100 underground spaces for the arena.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.