You can use either the NYC Board of Elections poll location finder page to find your polling location, or use the Google Maps voting location link. I’ve found the Google version to be mostly accurate, except that it can’t map the address of my polling place (I think this is because the address is formatted incorrectly, but I still was able to figure it out).

After you’ve voted, you can get free stuff! Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Krispy Kreme and Babeland are all giving away free stuff today. At Starbucks, you can get a cup of coffee; at B&J’s, a free scoop of ice cream; at Krispy Kreme, a free star-shaped doughnut; and at Babeland, a free sex toy. After all that you’ll be all hopped up on caffeine and sugar and uh, other things, so you can stay up late watching election results.

Don’t worry about long lines at your polling place, either, as it’s sure to be an entertaining wait with all the kooky characters that live in our fine city. But don’t expect an “I Voted!” sticker. Apparently most, if not all, NYC polling places aren’t giving them out. If you really want one, you can print one for yourself.

Located in Alphabet City, Lula’s has a whole range of sweet vegan treats to tempt your palate. Ice cream, shakes, floats, flavored sodas, even a New York egg cream (with no actual egg or cream, of course). They also have cookies, cupcakes, and hot cocoa, for those whose sweet tooth isn’t partial to cold. And for those who are gluten intolerant, never fear - they have gluten-free options, too. Which means I can take my vegetarian husband, gluten intolerant brother-in-law, and vegan friends there and everyone’s sweet tooth will be satisfied!

Photographer extraordinaire and Metblogs pal Glen E. Friedman, who is part owner of Lula’s, tell us that if you mention Metblogs/Metroblogs when you order, you get an extra free topping on your sundae. I say try the caramel. Yum.

Lula’s is at 516 E. 6th Street between Avenues A & B. Tell ‘em we sent you!

In NYC, you can register by mail (scroll down to see links to downloadable voter registration forms), or you can stop by one of NYC’s Board of Elections offices (or use this convenient Google Maps link to find your nearest office). It’s really easy and the board of elections officials will help you if you have trouble with the form.

But hurry! If you’re not registered yet, you only have until October 10 to register to vote in New York State (this deadline also applies to changes to party affiliation for 2009). So pop your voter registration in the mail ASAP, or if you really want to be sure, take it in to the Board of Elections on or before October 10.

As the wife of an avid cyclist and friend of many people who commute on bikes, I’m always concerned for their safety while they bike in the city. Though some cyclists disobey traffic laws themselves, the key thing to remember is that cars are large, made of steel and glass, and weigh thousands of pounds, and bicyclists are small, unprotected, and weigh a couple hundred pounds at most. In a contest of car vs. bicycle, guess which one will win?

I think that cyclists should obey traffic laws, and so should drivers. I see plenty of cyclists on the road doing irresponsible things, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be hurt or killed. They deserve traffic tickets. So do drivers - and during an average cab ride or stroll around town, I see tons more vehicular traffic violations than I do cyclist traffic violations. I know everyone wants to get where they’re going as fast as possible, but at what cost? The cost of someone’s life? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be late.

What do you think the city can do to make NYC more bicycle-friendly?

This news report says the plane was turned around due to an “unusual smell”, but believe me, folks, there was visible smoke all through the cabin. It wasn’t so bad that they had to deploy the oxygen masks, but it was visible. And smellable.

Apparently this is the second incident in a week of one of JetBlue’s Embraer jets returning to JFK due to smoke in the cabin or cockpit. I hope they figure out what’s causing it, because I sure as hell don’t want to fly in a smoking plane!

Stay classy, NYC van driver

Originally uploaded by kmcgivney

On Friday as we headed out of town to visit family, we got stuck in some really bad traffic on the FDR due to an accident. Luckily, we had some reading material generously provided by the fellow in the van in front of us.

If you can’t see it, across the rear windows of his van reads the poignant and poetic statement, “USA LOVE IT OR GET THE F..K OUT”. His flowery, almost musical language continues on the door panel below with, “IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE SIGN CALL 1-800-EAT-SHIT”. Truly a man of conviction and purpose, he also drew upon his artistic creativity to place a rubber chicken inside the door so that its body hangs out, with a sign describing who he is portraying for those without his pure, artistic vision: “OSAMA B.”

I’ve seen vans that claim to be art cars before, but never have I seen such a brilliant translation of performance art on a moving vehicle before. I hope you take your show to Broadway one day. Bravo, sir.

If you can’t make it to the Saturday show, he will also be appearing with the regular sideshow cast during their normal hours doing selected short acts 8/1-8/3. Their weekend hours are Friday from 2-8 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 1-9 PM.

Admission to the Saturday night show is only $10 and the admission to Sideshows by the Seashore during their regular hours is $7.50. Directions and more information can be found at the Coney Island website.

Zeitgeist Films, an independent film company known for delivering intelligent arthouse cinema to US audiences, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a retrospective of its award-winning films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The company’s co-Presidents, Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo, sat down with Premiere in their Soho office to discuss entrepreneurship, creating a girl’s club within a male-dominated industry, and acquiring the documentary, Trouble the Water.

It’s an interesting article and outlook from two women who followed their passion for making great films (and kept the company local - their offices are in SoHo). You can also see the retrospective Zeitgeist: The Films of Our Time at the Museum of Modern Art, but hurry - the retrospective ends next Wednesday, July 23.

Today, BME News (site is not safe for work!) relaunched with a piece about Keith (interview link safe for work) as its lead story. Several people contributed their memories and thoughts about Keith, including me. Take a look, and if you knew him, share some memories of your own.

Last night, we arrived from Toronto on AA flight #1084. Originally scheduled to land at 7:15, we encountered a 2-hour delay both on the ground in YYZ and in the air circling over La Guardia. We did not land until 9:11 PM and I was out of the terminal and on the phone with LimoRes at 9:18 to inform them I was ready to be picked up. This is well within the 45-minute grace period for international flights that LimoRes publishes on its website, which states that they check the time of arrival with the airline and dispatch the cars accordingly. We entered the vehicle at 9:27 PM, still well within the grace period. However, upon arrival at my apartment at 9:45, still within the grace period and only 34 minutes after we landed, the driver presented me with my bill, with a $16 charge for 16 minutes of waiting time included. The problem? LimoRes told the driver that we arrived at 8:40 PM.

I called LimoRes and they proceeded to tell me that they checked the flight time until 8:35 PM, at which time the airline had posted an 8:40 estimated landing time, so they made the decision to commit the car at that time. Their policy, he told me, was that they’d make the decision to commit the car at some point and then all subsequent time would be billed to the customer.

I call bullshit.

How is it my fault that LimoRes failed to give accurate information to their driver? When we landed, I checked aa.com on my phone and the flight status indicated we were still in the air with a projected landing time of 8:59 PM, which was much later than the time of 8:40 they had given to the driver (they later revised it to the actual landing time, 9:11 PM - see below). How am I supposed to inform them of the continued delay while I am in the air? (I ask this because the gentleman suggested that they have no other information to go on, and I could have provided it to them.) I might even be willing to accept their argument if we had asked to be picked up inside by a waiting driver with a sign, but we were being picked up outside by one of their fleet. I even had a voicemail when we landed with a different car number than the one we ended up in, so they had obviously been checking the flight for delays and changing cars at some point. Why couldn’t they have continued to do that after 8:35 PM when almost every flight into and out of La Guardia last night was delayed?

He eventually waived the charge, but not after saying that he was waiving it because I “didn’t understand their policy”. No, I understand their policy, and I think it is bullshit - and I also think it doesn’t match the published policy on their website, which states:

(3) Does LimoRes provide free wait for airport pick ups?

Yes. You get 30 minutes free wait for Domestic flights and 45 minutes free wait for International flights. We check the arrival time with your airline, and change your order to reflect the new arrival time. Your free wait starts from that time.

If it takes you longer to retrieve your luggage, or if you come out later than the allotted free wait, you will be charged for waiting time.

(4) Does LimoRes check flights for arrival times?

Yes. LimoRes will verify the arrival time for your flight. As long as you remain on the same airline and flight, you do not need to contact LimoRes-we will check the flight. Only in the event that you changed airline, or flight, will you need to call LimoRes and give us the new information for your pick up.

What the gentleman on the phone told me was that their policy is actually to commit a car at an arbitrary time of their choosing and to charge all subsequent time to the customer. What if we had circled La Guardia for another hour? I’ve certainly been on flights where we have circled a New York area airport for well over an hour. In fact, when my husband and I returned from our honeymoon in Italy on a delayed flight, the driver attempted to charge us 30 minutes of waiting time, when we were in the car less than 25 minutes after deplaning (again, well under the 45-minute grace period for international flights).

The frustration of dealing with what seems like a blatant attempt to rip me off makes me want to use another car service company - or just wait in the damned taxi line.

Opinions, complaints, recommendations for another car service company? Hit me up in the comments.