Bloomberg tucking into a slice of pizza. Image copyrights Mary DiBiase Blaich for The New York Times

The NYTimes has a front page (web) article on the eating habits of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Now this would be a waste of valuable e-newsprint, one may say. However the article brings into sharp contrast the positive motions the Mayor brings into the realm of public health, while at the same time having a completely different set of personal standards.

The article talks about the Mayor’s affinity for (of all things) salt.

Mr. Bloomberg, 67, likes his popcorn so salty that it burns others’ lips. (At Gracie Mansion, the cooks deliver it to him with a salt shaker.) He sprinkles so much salt on his morning bagel “that it’s like a pretzel,” said the manager at Viand, a Greek diner near Mr. Bloomberg’s Upper East Side town house.

This is while the city wages a battle against sodium. There are directives in place recommending restaurants reduce salt consumption by 20 %.

Some may raise a stink about the so-called “double standards” from the Mayor. And in this election season, I would not be surprised if it does. However what the Mayor in his own personal time is no one else’s business.

Even with all the excesses of salt, bacon and what not, the Mayor, at 67, weighs what he did in his college days. How many people can claim to do that. ?

I think the real story here is that he indulges in “sinful” eating but also exercises self-discipline by exercising and balancing his food intake on other days.

The only thing that irks me is salt on a bagel. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth :)

Much of what is considered “New York” in a very “Greenwich Village” kind of way owes itself to one lady. Jane Jacobs, in her 1961 seminal book “ The Death and Life of Great American Cities” documented the urbanscape of her surrounding neighborhood in Greenwich Village. This book opened up the debate about how we perceived our cities and what urban planners, architects and designers need to consider in preserving and revitalizing neighborhoods.

Jane Jacobs passed away in 2006, however the preservation group GVSHP that she helped found continues her work and mission. They had initiated a proposal to change the name of the street outside her former home at 555 Hudson Street between W 11th and Perry to be renamed as “Jane Jacobs Way”.

The Architects Newspaper in a blog post announced today

In a released statement by the GVSHP, Executive Director Andrew Berman said, “Jane Jacobs had such a profound effect upon our city and our lives; there are few people more worthy of the honor of having a street co-named in their honor.” Approved in 2006 by the local Community Board and the full City Council, the naming will take effect early next week with the installation of the official “Jane Jacobs Way” signs.

Way to go, GVSHP. Am sure Jane Jacobs will be happy with this one !

And in recent months a similar phenomenon is taking place. The halal carts have competition and it is from the Taco trucks.

Just around my office on 6th @ 20th are at least two taco trucks within sight of each other. Taco trucks have never been the common gastronomic presence they are in LA or other cities with larger percentage of Hispanic populations. Here in NYC you would find them in some of the outer boroughs, the most popular ones being the Red Hook Vendors trucks at the Red Hook Ball fields.

Am happy to report that lunch at both these trucks is a tasty affair. They have everything from tacos to tortas, huaracheas to quesedillas; and a good selection of Mexican sodas, juice drinks et al. All most stuff for 5$ or less.

These trucks and their clientele is not just a result of the ever-changing palettes of NYCers. I think the slowdown in economic climate has a large hand to play in this. Where else do you get a full meal for $5? And I am not counting fast food joints !

The city plans to suspend Alternate Side Street Cleaning for a couple of months till they change all the boards and then street cleaning shall be once a week. Whew !

My sincere thanks to all those who campaigned to get this approved.

Read below fold for actual notice and area coverages.

Alternate Side Parking Regulations Suspended in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Starting May 18 for Six to Eight Weeks as DOT Posts New, Reduced Street-Cleaning Restrictions Release # 09-020

Suspension is the first of three phases for neighborhoods in Community District 2

Effective Monday, May 18, 2009, Street Cleaning/Alternate Side Parking Regulations will be temporarily suspended in the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill sections of Brooklyn’s Community District 2 for approximately six to eight weeks as the Department of Transportation (DOT) installs approximately 2,000 signs with new, reduced regulations. In most cases, daytime residential street cleaning parking restrictions will be reduced from twice a week to just once a week to ease parking for local residents. On commercial corridors, some streets will now be cleaned more often and regulations will be better coordinated to help ensure some curbside parking for local shoppers. The new rules were established by the Department of Sanitation at the request of Community Board 2. Changes for the rest of the district will occur in two additional phases, which will be announced over the summer.

Street Cleaning Regulations will be suspended within the following borders from May 18 until further notice:

North: Flushing Avenue (included) from Navy Street to Classon Avenue.

East: Classon Avenue (included) from Flushing Avenue to Fulton Street.

South: Fulton Street (not included) from Classon Avenue to Flatbush Avenue.

West: Flatbush Avenue (not included) from Fulton Street to Myrtle Avenue;

Myrtle Avenue (included) from Flatbush Avenue to Navy Street; Navy Street

(not included) Myrtle Avenue to Flushing Avenue.

The new regulations will take effect once sign changes are complete in the entire area. The changes do not affect 8:00 am to 6:00 pm parking rules or meter regulations, or any other parking rules that are not street cleaning regulations.

The DOT will give advance notification before enforcement resumes, and the public is encouraged to check the DOT’s Web site at www.nyc.gov/dot and call 311 regularly.

Similar conversions and temporary suspensions of ASP rules will occur in the coming months in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, and remaining neighborhoods within Community District 2, affecting approximately 4,000 additional signs.

Regulations were similarly converted last year in the Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook neighborhoods in Brooklyn Community District 6. During that transition, DOT conducted a study, which found that the suspension of ASP regulations had minimal impact on traffic and parking conditions in the area.

For more information, please contact the Citizen Service Center at 311 or

visit the Department of Sanitation’s web site at www.nyc.gov/sanitation, or

contact Brooklyn Community Board 2 at (718) 596-5410 or CB2K@nyc.rr.com.

However no protestors outside with placards and slogans and stuff.

I have no love for Best Buy and therefore dont mind their new “fan” outside their store.

However what is really interesting with this inflated balloon is that it is a perfectly Mobile Dissenting Machine (MDM….patented yo !)

Sitting on a truck, it can be driven to the next dissent site in a jiffy. If you want one outside your (or rather your employers place) just dial 1800-MOBILErat.

OK, I just so made that up. Slow news day and weather suck, so….

As Metromix NY puts it

The economy may be tanking but business seems to be booming for Michael Bao Hyunh, who expands his wallet-friendly Murray Hill Vietnamese banh mi shop Baoguette with a second location in munchies-friendly St. Marks Place. (He also opened BarBao on the Upper West Side last fall.) In addition to the usual suspects—i.e. baguettes stuffed with pulled pork, country-style pate, catfish or curry-braised corned beef—the new spot will feature seating for 24, plus a more eat-in friendly atmosphere (as opposed to the original joint’s counter-style takeout vibe). It’s also more grub, including a new menu section filled with snacks (lemongrass sausage, lamb belly) and rice dishes.

I was there yesterday, their first full day open for the public. Tried their classic Vietnamese sandwich, and it was awesome. The bread was perfectly toasty, not too dry, not too soggy. The pork and ham were deliciously flavored and the pickled veggies added the right zing. I got the spicy version, but would have loved some more spice.

All in all a fantastic addition to St. Marks Place and a place I will be visiting often.

Baoguette Cafe:

37 St. Marks Place New York, NY 10003

Tel; 212-380-1487

GMAP

However, its slowly showing up in more visible ways, with the closure of commercial establishments. Below are some pics from a CNN ireport.

DOC-217670#

What’s the scene in your nabe ?

IKEA Brooklyn, Image courtesy The Brooklyn Paper

After lunch I venture into the store. Its fairly empty and I think the weather this weekend is to blame. Get some of the items I want and put them in the yellow IKEA bag along with my saturday copy of the NYT.

Once on the lower level transfer all of the stuff to a cart. I continue walking around the store slowly moving towards the checkout. The last stop I needed to make was at the shelving area, to pick up some shelves. Put my cart out of people’s way and get busy measuring different shelves to get the correct ones.

And then pick up the correct ones and turn back to the cart to put them in and go to checkout. And lo and behold ! There is no cart.

At first I check around to see if someone pushed it out of their way. But its nowhere to be found. Spot the IKEA personnel in charge of that area and she hasn’t moved my cart or seen it. She offers to call security and I take up that offer. Security shows up in 5 min and ask me a few questions etc. Luckily besides my NYT copy, I did not leave anything in the cart of personal value.

However by this time I was pretty pissed to go back thru the store to pick up what had now wandered away. Will go back another day for it.

However its really scary to think about how someone can either intentionally or unknowingly walk off with the cart. When we go shopping Shirrin seldom leaves her purse in the cart, and I always leave my bag. Perhaps this is a good and inexpensive lesson, and henceforth I will be wary of leaving personal stuff in the cart. 

As for Cart Thief, damn you.

And what makes it worse is really selfish drivers. On many an occasion I have seen cars parked a few feet away from the end of the block. Surely no car was parked there earlier that warranted the car to be parked the way it is. Have two cars like this in a row and for every three spots you have just two cars parked.

Just last week and again today, I see someone parking their car bang in the middle of two open spots. In both cases I had to pull up and ask them to move their car back or front so I could also park. If I was not there at that instant, they would have just parked and gone away.

I realize there is no rule to force them to park so as not to take up two vacant spots, but isn’t it the right thing to do.

The guy today who parked was already out of his car and then made a big fuss about getting back in. However I have a big SUV (ok ok I know!) and he realized that one way or the other I was going to try to squeeze in and would invariably bump his car. Only then did he get in his car and pull back freeing up one entire car parking spot.

Other than dismissing these drivers as assholes, is there something that can be done. Or does one just swallow it and move on ?