hizzoner mayor bloomberg

 I walked outside my office building at 1 pm and found many people staring at a giant bus. I noticed there were camera crews. My first thought: car crash.

Then I saw shortie Mayor Bloomberg step out of the bus looking like a celebrity. I was so close to him while talking to my mom on the phone that a member of his security squad about 4 times hizzoner’s size shoved me out of the way saying “can’t stand here folks.”

bus stop indicators of arrivals

Photos of the event thanks to a vegan in brooklyn – not that one. Oh the big deal was that now you’ll know how late your bus is arriving at select stops in NYC.

Another small incident happened today that confirmed my belief that New Yorkers are the nicest citizens ever. I had dropped my earphones by accident on the busiest freaking place – 5th avenue and 39th street – and someone brought it over to my attention. I was on the cell phone and someone said “excuse me, excuse me” and I was being a typical New Yorker and pretending not to hear him thinking he was after something.

Then he poked and said, “your headphones, they fell” I looked around my neck and they weren’t there. He then went backwards, picked them up, ran back to me and gave them back.

I’m experiencing the true meaning of bromance. . . or brotherly love. Thank you man.

In return, if I find someone’s something on the somewhere anywhere, I’ll do the same that you’ve done for me today.

Love.

So, around 6:10 pm tonight, I saw you, Mr. Gottfriend – crossing Houston from Whole Foods, heading further into the East Village on 2nd avenue.

I think you waved at me once you crossed the street because I saw you and didn’t recognize you at first. But when I realized that it was you I was like man I should have let you know that you rock.

So, this is me saying, you rock. I didn’t see the roast for Joanne Rivers that you did but I’m sure it rocked too. Peace.

NYC is calling you for service. After living here for a long while, it’s time that the city can benefit from us. Sure they’re charging 25 cents more now on the subway, but it’s also because we have more people living here now than ever before.

I’ve never found myself defending the MTA before today, but it’s much more than that. Less jobs, less money, less food, less housing, less luxuries.

But the same isn’t true for all. We have talents, ideas and can use them to help the people out as needed. So check out the above link and see if you can stand up and help the city that you love.

Tonight in Union Square at 7 PM there will be a rally for the support of the Iranian people. As you may have seen on the news, since the recent presidential election in Iran, in which incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad purportedly won, there have been protests and riots throughout Iran alleging election fraud. The rioting and subsequent military crackdown on the people of Iran, as well as the attempts at internet censorship that have plagued Iranians trying to get word out about what they are going through, has motivated people throughout the world to support them. Tonight, along with the rally in Union Square, there will be rallies in DC, Philly, Portland, Iowa City, and Irvine, CA.

More info on the protest rally here. If you’re not on Facebook, the info is: tonight, Union Square, 7-9 PM. Flyers for printing can be downloaded here. The organizers are asking that those attending stay on the sidewalks on the south side of Union Square and not in the actual park, and that they bring candles to remember those who have been killed or injured in Iran during the past week.

Museum Mile is happening tonight. Do not miss it, whatever it is you do.

• FREE ACCESS 6pm – 9pm
  to all the museums along the mile
• 23 car-free blocks
  5th Avenue between 82nd & 105th

Click here for more details. Actually all the details you need are right above – click there if you want to browse their Website.

Starting today, the city has begun closing down several blocks of Broadway in midtown to vehicular traffic. This is part of the mayor’s plan to try and ease midtown traffic congestion. Broadway will be closed to vehicles and open to pedestrians and bicycles only from 42nd-47th Streets and 33rd-35th Streets. Permanently.

As one might imagine, the change has been met with mixed reactions. Honestly, I had no idea about it until a few days ago when I read about the closure at Curbed – and as evidenced by the NY Times article about the closure, apparently some pedicab drivers were unaware as well. I expect cab drivers to be pissy about it, especially the ones I’ve had lately who complain about the traffic (which requires its own blog post entirely), and I expect the tourist masses to embrace it.

It seems as though the city is approaching this cautiously, blocking off the closed blocks of Broadway with orange barrels instead of installing concrete or other more permanent barriers and gauging how the closure will be received by the public. I’d imagine that it will be difficult for some businesses on the closed blocks to get deliveries, but they’re still working all of the kinks out.

What I really want to see is what Broadway, 7th Ave, 47th Street, and 35th Street look like on Tuesday morning, when all the people who are crazy enough to drive to work return from the Memorial Day holiday. Anyone want to volunteer to take photos? Post photo links in the comments. Best angry cab driver photo wins a freakin’ awesome Metroblogging t-shirt.

This has to be some of the best news in a long time for the neighborhood. As a car owner, it is one of the least favorite tasks of mine…..to switch the car around every other day.

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.

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A woman rides the Dutch bicycle

The Dutch are so proud of their friendship with NYC that the Dutch minister recently gifted the city 400 Dutch bicycles.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber and NYC&Company CEO George Fertitta were on hand to receive the bikes at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84 and to highlight the many biking opportunities throughout New York City this summer.

What will happen to these bikes next? I don’t really know but there’s a lot of history to be learned about the Dutch’s colonization of America at the port we now know as Manhattan (and parts of Albany too).

It’s great that this event ties in with NYC-wide bike month. I’m sure you’ve seen the green posters on the subway as I have. They have quite an extensive schedule of events posted. But really, what exactly is bike month? It’s a way to encourage more New Yorkers to consider pedaling instead of peddling (read: illegal substances). HEYOOOOOOO!

(njoi bicycles. njoi life. njoi nyc. thank you dutch people. sorry native americans.)

Visited the ever monumental American Museum of Natural History this weekend with some out of town guests, like you do. Went into the Butterfly Conservatory. If standing around inside a terrarium with a lot of flying insects is your idea of fun, go see it! It was really quite magical. On our way home we took the A train, which was running on the C track in front of the museum. In the station was a man in a green trench coat, wearing a beard, playing the violin. At one point a small child was very interested in what was happening with that weird looking stick the man was rubbing on that small wooden box, so the man knelt down to let the boy hold the bow. He showed him how to push it across the strings and did the necessary finger work to play a tune. The boy was elated and the whole platform of people immediately gained new found acceptance for the man in the green trench coat with the violin. Little moments like that are another reason to fall in love again with this city of ours. Then on the train a man in a dirty jean jacket sitting next to my friends mother asked if we were going uptown or downtown, classic. The A train is for April.