Dive into Sherman

I drove up to Sherman CT yesterday for an interview. Though the trip was an hour and a half by car - it takes the same amount of time for me to get to midtown from where I live on the outskirts of Queens right now.

But the benefit of driving an hour and a half is that you get to see the beautiful country that spreads across the upstate NY and CT area. Green lush trees fill the sides of the highways - all of them on the verge of shedding all their leaves - but not before putting on a brilliant fall display.

As if this was not enough, the closer I got to my destination, the road turned into 2-way lanes. Curving side by side, following a splendid lake being hit by the brilliant sunlight. I was in awe. It was truly incredible.

Just a few hours away from the middle of the busiest city in the world lies uninhibited, raw, natural beauty. Check it out if you can! The 3rd weekend in September would probably be the right time to see all the fall foliage.

I can’t find exactly when the hearing is, I believe it is this week though at City Hall. A hearing on whether or not the White House Hotel - one of the last remaining flop houses of the Lower East Side, can be renovated or not.

Usually these things are simple. A hotelier comes along tears down a building - places its residents in other places. But this time around, it is not that simple. What’s happening at the White House hotel is that the landmark folks - people that decide whether or not a building holds historic value - have stepped in.

They’re saying that the White House hotel may be a historic landmark and therefore cannot be torn down. Or at least, the facade would have to be maintained before anything happens. So they’re going to decide what happens next week.

From what I understand of flop houses and hoteliers, this is one of those battles that will continue being fought until people lose interest in NYC and forever invest in countries like Dubai.

There were some chores to be taken care of today. Some mundane tasks, but they happened to be on Central Park East. And any task that’s on CPE is OK by me. The neighborhood is filled with the sort of NYC essence you’d find in a Woody Allen film or a Neil Simon production. Something about the place just exudes classic New York.

I feel it has a lot to do with the preserved buildings. Especially the ones that are open to the public like the Frick Collection. Or just the tree-lined sidewalks that overlook the Central Park Zoo.

So I meandered into the park from 6th avenue and after going over a gazebo, some picnicking folk and taking in the skyline from different angles, I just found a nice boulder to rest my butt on and looked at the Victorian Gardens. It was filled with kids - sounds of laughter, screams, and laser-like noises in the distance from below and sounds of honking, sirens, and horses to the side.

A live unadulterated stereo of New York City. Perfect place to take a nap. It was awesome.

Before I get to the story, we’ve all run into this situation before. How far is too far? Eastside, Westside, Uptown, Downtown, Brooklyn, Queens? For me, as long as I can get there by subway, it’s not too far. The PATH is usually a stretch for me, but I’ve been known to attempt a date out in New Jersey.

During my last family visit to Long Island, I stopped by my brother’s job to meet him for lunch. After my quick stop into the ladies room to primp, this guy walked out of the men’s room at the same time and smiled at me. Turns out, it was Little Dougie from the 5th Grade. Well, not so little anymore. I’m not sure what came over me but I ran over to him, gave him this huge hug and after some small talk, I told him to give me a call the next time he was coming into the city so that we could catch up. Thinking back, I find it amusing that I didn’t even consider telling him that this city girl would meet up on the Island for a drink. God FORBID!
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On my way home, I get this call from an 877 number, but I didn’t pick up since I figured it was probably the Blood Bank - they call me daily.

Anyway, it was Con Ed calling to tell me about their concerns about a shortage specifically in the Yorkville ‘hood and that I should turn off any unnecessary appliances. OK. I can do one better than that, I’ll grab a friend in the ‘hood and hit the Heidelberg for a beer.

Even though it wasn’t the coldest place - they must have gotten the call too - the beer was ice cold, it wasn’t crowded and the scenery was just perfect. I joke about the Upper East Side a lot but if you look around, we’ve got some good looking men walking around these parts!

Did anyone else get the call - or are you home with the AC blasting? That’s ok, my friend and I took one (two) for the team.

Inspired by the previous “Tour de Brooklyn” and “Tour de Bronx”, about 500 cyclists will ride their bikes through parts of Queens this Sunday, June 8. Run by the group Transportation Alternatives, the Tour de Queens is expected to become an annual event. The 20-mile ride will start and end at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows Park, and will pass through East Elmhurst, Astoria, Queensbridge, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village, Rego Park, and Forest Hills.

Online Registration has ended, but there is there is some space for on-site registration [starting at 8am] on the day of the Tour. They also need volunteers. The Tour de Queens is not a race, but a leisurely ride, so families with children are encouraged to attend.

Apparently, the folks at MTV who helped launch the scourge against good programming that is reality TV with “The Real World” back in 1992 are bringing it back to NYC for its 21st season. (Has it been that long? Man, that makes me feel old.) Specifically, the show will be filmed in Brooklyn. There’s no mention of which Brooklyn neighborhood they’ll film in, but like the MTV News blogger, I assume it’ll be Williamsburg, because all the kids think it’s hip or something. (Damn. I feel old again.) Unlike Choire Sicha of the Observer, who would like it to be The Real World: East New York, I’d like to see it in Bed-Stuy, or maybe Bensonhurst. The Real World: Whaddya, a Tough Guy? might be kind of interesting.

Yes, I live on the Upper East Side, but it’s rare to find me out and about in my own ‘hood and hitting a local bar on Saturday reminded me why.

At 11pm, a friend called to let me know that she was at Mustang Grill (on 85th & 2nd) drinking a margarita and convinced me to meet up with her and a friend. I would normally say no, but I figured it would be easy enough to ignore the crowd and focus on my friends. Wrong!

As soon as I arrived, I found my friends being chatted up by a group of boys in their 20’s. OK, if they’re fun I’ll play along. Not quite. This one kid approached me and his line was… so, let’s figure out a cool drinking game to play. Ha! Drinking game? Seriously? I didn’t play them in college and I wasn’t about to start now. Of course, I mentioned this, along with some other remarks that he didn’t like so instead of giving up he thought it would be cute to try and insult me. Oh yes, THIS is what works. Calling him a “prick” didn’t get him to walk away either, so he thought he’d push me. Last straw kiddo. He finally walked away after I threatened him. Too bad someone broke up my verbal assault. I was hoping to get him to cry.

Even if you took that experience away, I can’t hang where I have to yell to hear my friends talk, where people are trying so damn hard to hook up, where boys have no respect for women that just want to be left alone, and where girls dance on the bar. Actually, if these girls could actually dance, then I probably wouldn’t mind so much.

If you happen to be in your 30’s and can’t deal with the “college like” bar scene… stay away from my ‘hood. Unless you’re up for wine. If that’s the case, I suggest you stop by Caffe Notte, Bar Vespa and my absolute FAVORITE, Pudding Stones.

Today was the first Sunday of the Brooklyn Flea for the year 2008. Brooklyn Flea is a flea market that meets every Sunday at Lafayette Avenue at the corner of Cleremont in Clinton Hill. From the pictures below you will see that the fair was packed today, the gusty winds not withstanding.

This is Brooklyn’s largest flea market in its hippest neighborhood. Its definitely worth a trip for all the non-brooklynites.

Check out more pics at Clintonhill

Woo hoo! There’s something new in Rego Park, and it’s not an Uzbeki club, Russian-language video/cellphone/drugstore/optician combo! Not that I have anything against our newest immigrants, but not since Starbucks opened here, have I seen any business catering to the ever-growing number of young and middle-aged professionals who are moving to Central Queens to own co-ops, priced out of Manhattan and sick of paying rent.

Tierra Sana is a vegan, funkily-furnished eatery with a juice and smoothie bar that looks as if it could be in the Flatiron. It’s only weakness during my visit, was spotty service, which they are going to have to iron out if they want to reman afloat. It’s a huge space, and rents along that part of Queens Blvd. are sky-high, so they have to serve up a lot of panini, smoothies, wraps, and veggie juice.

But I am committed to trying to become a regular customer, to lend my support. The felafel panini I had on my visit was just the nutritious lunch I needed. And I would just as soon let Tierra Sana juice me up a carrot-apple mix if it means avoiding cleaning out my own juicer. And the friendliness of the staff made up for a little disorganization; you could tell that they care to please.