Ed Asner RIP -- A Man and a Superman in Heaven

The great actor and activist Ed Asner has died at the age of 91.

His career was legendary: the Mary Tyler Moore Show followed by Lou Grant in the 1970s and '80s (winning several Emmys), then making innumerable guest spots on other TV shows and in movies, then finding late-in-life success with the movie Up and on the big Netflix hit Cobra Kai. He was Mr. Showbiz, a veteran actor, a brilliant talent.

Ed Asner wasn't a New Yorker (as far as I know) but in 1994 I saw him on the stage at Symphony Space on West 9th Street when he was part of a reading of Don Juan in Hell, the play within the play Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw. The reading consisted of Asner, Rene Auberjenois (then on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at the time, also now deceased), Harris Yulin (who would appear in Clear and Present Danger that summer), and Dianne Wiest (soon to win her second Osacar for Bullets Over Broadway).

It was a great array of talent to see reading this amazing work, and Ed Asner gave it his all. His joy of performing with his fellow actors, all of them at the top of their game, was memorable, and I'm honored that I got to see him, and them, do it on the stage. 

RIP Ed, you won't see your likes again. 

Dorothy Parker Comes Home

More than fifty-years after the death of the legendary comic writer and public wit Dorothy Parker (think Fran Liebowitz before Fran Liebowitz), the great lady has come home to NYC.

Specifically, her ashes were returned to the city and interred at Woodlawn Cemetary in the Bronx, now to rest in eternity with fellow scribes like Herman Melville and Irving Berlin.

Parker died in 1967, leaving her entire estate to the NAACP but not indicating what should be done with her remains. For various reasons, largely due to Parker not indicating what should be done with her remains after her death, the ashes bounced around lawyers' offices in Westchester and Manhattan before taking up a long residence in the NAACP offices in Baltimore (where the great lady stayed in a filing cabinet for years). After closing their offices in Baltimore, the NAACP decided to send Dorothy home to NYC -- all without closing her eyes or clicking any ruby red slippers.

Dorothy Parker may not be well known today but she was a rare female to succeed in the male-dominated 20th century snake pit of comic writers. She wrote stories, poems, and books, even working in Hollywood. She also had bad marraiges, love affairs, and drank LOTS of booze. She was a party.

I've written about Dorothy Parker before -- you can read it all here. However, I previously failed to mention that she was the subject of a fine 1994 movie starring Jennifer Jason Leigh called Mrs Parker and the Viscious Circle, about her days with the Algonquin Roundtable. It's worth a viewing if you want to know more about this quintessential New York City character whose like we won't ever see again (although Dorothy Parker would doubtless be brilliant on Twitter if she were still around).

Remembering "Diff'rent Strokes": 1978-1986

How exactly does it take "diff'rent strokes" to move the world? 

What are these strokes?

Who's doing the stroking?

And how in God's name does stroking, different or otherwise, move the world?

Lots of people stroke and the world keeps spinning on its axis!

Times Square Ferris Wheel -- Making Times Square ... Square

Starting today until September 12th, you can ride in a Ferris Wheel in Times Square. 

Let that sink in: a ... Ferris Wheel ... in ... Times ... Square. For $20 per ride, per person! 

Lest there be any doubt that this city has turned into an amusement, this seals it. 

Okay, this may be the Times Square of today but, for Mr NYC, this will always be Times Square:

Madame Governor

For the first time in history, New Yorkers woke up this morning to a woman sitting in the Governor's chair. Kathy Hochul was sworn in at midnight as New York State Governor.

For 244 years, since 1777, there have been 57 Governors in the history of New York -- all men, until now. Some of her predecessors include Presidents Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore & Franklin Roosevelt, plus other great historic figures like George & DeWitt Clinton, Charles Evan Hughes, Al Smith, Averill Harriman, and Nelson Rockefeller.  

Good luck Madame Governor! 

Classic Mr NYC

I don't often troll for comments but, in this case, I will. 

Does anyone get why this picture funny?

View Over Lower Manhattan -- July 16, 2021, 1:38 PM

 

Henri & NYC Homecoming Concert

"Modern Love Season 2" on Amazon

In the fall of 2019, Amazon Prime had a delightful NYC-centered anthology series called Modern Love about various people, at various points in their lives, grappling with their love lives -- and the fallout out from them. 

It was a delightful, fun, poignant diversion, and I blogged about it at the time.

And now ... Season 2 has arrived! It has a great cast, including one of the main Game of Thrones dudes. Also, not all the stories, from what I can tell, take placed in NYC.

I didn't mention when I first blogged about it that this series is based on the "Modern Love" column in The New York Times -- first person stories about the complexities of their love lives. Each episode of the series is based on one of the column. I should probably enter a story myself!

Interview: Lisa Cintrice on Her Adventures in Early ‘80s NYC

Forty years ago, New York City was a very different place. Dirty, dangerous, crazy, and too much fun for anyone’s good, this city was a cauldron of depravity, culture, and craziness. You didn’t live in NYC back then, you survived it – and no one survived it or had more fun in it than Lisa Cintrice.

A great beauty from Long Island and Queens, Lisa endured a rough childhood and made it to NYC, falling quickly into the adult film and club scene. She lived in the heart of Funky Town, a sexy and wild Bohemia, a time and place that has become mythic – although, as she makes clear, it came at a price.

Eventually, Lisa moved away and changed her life.

Lisa was kind enough to answer some questions about her life in early 1980s NYC, and she has some wild stories! She tells us about her early life, a memorable stunt she pulled off in Times Square, a unique record she holds, why she eventually left NYC – and also gives us the best advice about what all of us should do to get a great workout.

Briefly, tell us about your life. Who is Lisa Cintrice?

So Lisa Cintrice was an 18-year old adult actress who worked on 9 adult films and got a lot of publicity from how I got out of the army. I led a sheltered life as Lisa Vanasco and I ended up living the high life in NYC as a young adult actress known as Lisa Cintrice.

In 1981, still a very young woman, you enlisted in the Army but then, before shipping off, managed to get out of it in a way that literally made headlines - and got you TV. It’s a great “Only in New York” story. Even though I’m sure you’ve told it many times, please do share it here if you don’t mind.

So when I was 16 my dad went to federal prison and I got pregnant and married a man that was 26. I was very sheltered and naive. He became abusive very quickly so I left when I was 17.

At that point I had no direction in my life so I joined the army. I had 10 months before I shipped out. My husband's sister knew what happened, actually, she saw him punch me and pulled him off me. 

She asked if she could photograph me to send to her friend who worked with Oui magazine. I ended up getting a layout in Oui, and Peter Wolf took me under his wing and I ended up doing an adult film.

I went to my recruiter to tell him I was doing porn and wanted out of the army. I was told I had to go and I was also told not to link the army to my porn career.

Well, once I told Peter what the army said, he came up with an idea to get me out. Peter Wolf and Richard Milner did a press release where I was going to strip out of an army uniform in front of the army recruiting station in Times Square so that’s what I did.

I also was in every newspaper and magazine in NYC. I was going to be discharged but then I went on the Tom Snyder show. After Tom Snyder the army said if I stopped doing talk shows I would get a general discharge that turned honorable so I got out.

Truly, “Only in New York!” What was early 1980s NYC like for you? Did you find it scary, exciting, both?

I grew up in Queens and Levittown so the city was fascinating to me. I went to the city to shoot the Oui layout and literally never went home.

I ended up moving in with Tiffany Clark, Fred Lincoln, and Jean Silver. It was one big party to me intertwined with filming adult films. I honestly don't know how I survived.

Keep in mind I had just turned 18. Clubbing, coke, dancing at the Melody Burlesque, hanging out at Bernard’s which was across the street. Partied at Studio 54 and other clubs I don’t even remember. I had no fear. I would walk all over the city at all hours of the night not even thinking maybe it wasn't safe to be out alone at 3 AM.

I would end up in gossip columns because I was always taking my clothes off in clubs. Also spent a lot of time at Plato’s Retreat and the Hellfire Club which was an on-premise S&M club.

Those were the days!

Sounds like fun! I’m curious about two movies you made at that time: Mascara, about as NYC as any movie gets (it even has scenes on the subway), and Debbie Does Dallas 2 (a sequel to one of the most famous adult films ever). What are your memories of making those films?

I don’t remember much about Mascara. I remember I worked with Ken Yontz. He was Seka’s ex. I remember Lee Carroll and Tiffany Clark were in it. I haven't watched that one.

However, I do remember Debbie Does Dallas 2. I actually watched one scene and I will get to that.

So Bambi Woods clearly was only doing the film ‘cuz she needed money so it was obvious she didn't want to be there. I did a scene with her in a bath tub and Jean Silver and I bathed her with penis shaped glycerine soap so just imagine what we did with that soap LOL! I got the vibe that Bambi hated every minute of it.

I also had a scene with Ron Jeremy where I was supposed to give him a blow job. I told him I was going to deep throat him and he said not to do that because it was not possible and my teeth my hurt him.

Well, telling me I can’t do something is a sure way for me to do it. So I did it and that blowjob ended up in the book Only the Best by Jim Holliday which rates the best scenes in adult film. I was number 4 of the 5 best blowjobs. Number 5 was Marilyn Chambers and Ron Jeremy.

Now that is a very cool record to have! What made you move out of NYC?

I left NYC to tour with one of my movies and I was doing a lot of coke back then. I had a moment of clarity and chose to not go back to NY because I felt like it was too easy to score coke in NYC. I cut all contact with everybody I knew. I got sober, went to college, got married. I have grown kids, and I reconnected with my old crew a few months ago.

Was is hard leaving the city and the business?

It was hard at first because I didn't have job skills and I didn't want to call my family till I got my shit together which I did. Got sober, went to college, got married, had kids, and life is good.

It was difficult because of the publicity about the army and porn. The only time in my life that I was fired was from a bartending job where someone saw me in Debbie Does Dallas 2. I kept that part of my life private until recently when I finally felt ok to talk about it.

Do you ever visit the city and, if so, what do you think of NYC today? Do you miss anything about it? 

My dad died in 2016 but even though my dad moved to Los Angeles he kept a place in NY so I would go back every so often and see friends and family. I miss New York food the most.

You have a great Twitter account where you mostly chronicle your physical fitness regime. As someone who needs to get in shape, how do you get and stay motivated to exercise regularly – and what do you think makes for a great workout?

I have been lifting weights since I was 19 and I am 58 now. I posted my workouts to keep me accountable and, if it motivates someone, that's even better.

One thing about working out is the adrenaline you feel when your done training. I am addicted to how good I feel after. That feeling motivates me. I plan my workouts a week in advance so I don’t even have to figure out what I am going to do, it’s all on a list  I have good and bad days at the gym. Some days I am stronger than others.

You know you had a good workout when you feel energized. What I tell friends who want to be active is do it for 90 days and stick to the goals you choose. After 90 days it will become like brushing your teeth it will be habit. Think of it this way: there are 24 hours in a day so anyone can spare even 30 minutes to take a daily walk. Start slow and do what you like.

I love running, my husband swims, some friends bike. Do what you like so you look forward to working out. I need to follow this advice!

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about Lisa Cintrice?

I am finally at a place where can embrace my past and my future. I outed myself to most of my friends that had no idea. I have no regrets. I lived an interesting life, and if no one likes it then, oh well, life goes on.

Back in 1981 there were only about 200 people who did adult films. Now it’s really evolved where anybody can be a webcam girl. I am glad it’s getting to be more accepted. 

Lisa, you will always be accepted! Congratulations on surving so much so well, having so much fun, and creating a great life for yourself. You are truly an inspiration.

Thanks so much for talking to Mr NYC!

"New York State of Mind" by NYCNext

"Liza with a Z" @ the Lyceum Theater -- May 31, 1972

Hot on the heels of the release of their hit movie Cabaret, acting and singing star Liza Minnelli and director Bob Fosse reteamed to produce this legendary TV special, Liza with a Z.

Recorded live at the Lyceum Theater in the heart of the Theater District (Broadway & 45th Street), Minnelli and Fosse staged this brilliant, one-night only concert where Minnelli sang, danced, rapped with the audience, and displayed the full range of her incredible talents. Some of the songs that Liza sang and danced to include "God Bless the Child", "Son of a Preacher Man", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and several songs from Cabaret. 

This event was recorded live and broadcast on television on September 10, 1972. Subsequently, in 1973, Minnelli and Fosse won Oscars for their work on Cabaret and Emmys for this special -- and Fosse also won a Tony for his direction of the musical Pippin, making him the only person to ever win an Oscar, Tony, and Emmy in the same year.

When you watch this, you're looking at major talents performing at the top of their game -- a moment in time, a moment in cultural history, that's nothing less than lightening in a bottle. 

BOOM! (Shaka-laka) or Meet the Bigger Apple

Oh, the wailing. Oh, the nashing of teeth. Oh, the predictions of doom and despair!

Didn't you hear? It's over! New York City is over! We're dying, people are fleeing! 

They just can't take the crime and unaffordable housing and rotten public transportation and liberal tax-and-spend policies and just all the mean awful nasty stuff that this city doles out. 

Get out while you still can!

Well, you'll be in lonely company. The Census results are out and ... drumroll ... in the last ten years 629,000 people came to live within these Five Boroughs. 

Six ... HUNDRED THOUSAND ... people. 

Put another way: 100,000 more people than live in all of friggin' MIAMI came to live here. More people now live in Brooklyn than Chicago -- the nation's third biggest city. More people than the population of whole states found a home within the city limits in the last decade. 

The city's population is now at 8.8 million. If that's decline, well, I guess I have another idea of decline than you. 

So, yes, NYC is dead. Long live NYC!

Great Performances on Live from Lincoln Center: American Ballet Theater's "Romeo & Juliet" -- May 7, 1988

Ever found a great old photograph or video from a long time ago? It's like discovering an ancient artifact from your past, a sort of personal archeological dig, unearthing living history. 

You stare at your younger self -- or the younger selves of the other people in the picture or video -- and you experience a kind of headrush. The past becomes present, a memory turns vivid, something in your head escapes and becomes real before you -- and the thoughts and emotions you held at the time that have vanished suddenly well up again, like a pipe bursting from underground.

It's both amazing and unnerving, a unique mental and emotional sensation.

So that's how I felt when I recently found a 1988 performance of Romeo & Juliet on YouTube that was performed by American Ballet Theater on May 7, 1988, broadcast across America from the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. (Shakespeare's famous play is danced to from a score by Sergei Prokofiev, one of the greatest ever written).

See, yours truly, Mr NYC, was in it -- as an eleven-year old boy with a funny wig in the background. You'll see there's two little boys in funny wigs in the background -- I'm the handsome one!

I have some memories of this night, mainly that it was just another performence (we did several) only this time I had to sign a release allowing my visage to be televisually blasted across the Fruited Plain -- and there were cameras in the balconies and audience staring at us. When I saw a recording of this later, I saw that I one point I scratched my nose (which all of America saw, how embarrasing) but my embrassment was trumped by the dancer Kevin McKensize (who played Romeo) rushing out for the dramatic finale -- wearing his sweatpants. This was a faux pas extrodinaire and, if you watch this, and has gone down in television history along with that Starbucks cup that popped up on Game of Thrones.   

Anyway, this brought up some fond memories but I still feel the tension, the anxiety of that night. And it's hard to imagine that I was ever 11-years old!

Here's more info about this Great Performence. The recording appears to have been done by someone in San Diego who, for whatever reason, threw it up on YouTube. I saw in the comments section that one of the chaperone's for the kids (i.e. me and the other one) weighed-in on the sweatpants fiasco. Sadly I don't really remember her -- but I hope she's doing well! 

Dragon Boat Festival NYC

Last weekend in Flushing Meadows-Corona park was the annual Dragon Boast Festival. It's called a "festival" but it's actually more of a race -- various teams compete against each other in long sporty paddle-boats in Meadow Lake got up to look like Chinese dragons. An all-day event, the teams engage in various "heats" where the team with the best racing time wins. 

There are Dragon Boat races all over the country and all over the world. The Dragon Boat races are a tradition that comes out of Ancient China, specifically from the Hong Kong region -- around 300 BC an official who was advocating reform yet being ignored by the king jumped into a river to commit suicide. The Chinese people took to their dragon boats and sped along the lake to find and rescue him. To prevent his body being eaten by the fish, they threw rice into the lake -- and rice cakes, a great Chinese delicacy was born, and they are consumed at each Dragon Boat Festival. 

I don't know if they ever rescued the man but, more than two millenia later and on the other side of the world, his attempted rescue has become a traddition is still being honored.

If you want more information about it, go here. And here are my photos of the 2021 NYC Dragon Boast Festival. 

Classic Mr NYC

Last month, when the primary winners in the NYC muncipal elections were announced, I indicated how interesting it was that the winners for all three city-wide offices -- mayor, public advocate, comptroller -- were from Brooklyn. Assuming they win the general election in November, Brooklyn will cement itself as the center of political power in this city.

As usual, Mr NYC was ahead of his time -- only now are other political analysts examining this fascinating phenomena, the Brooklynization of the whole city. I did more than a month ago!

As far as I know, until now, NYC has always had at least one city-wide elected official from Manhattan -- now it will have none.

About 123 years ago, Brooklyn was its own city until it begrudgingly got annexed into Greater New York in 1898. It became just another "outerborough", one of five oddly connected political entities, instead of being its own glorious metropolis. Now, a century-plus later, Brooklyn will rule its conqueror, the servant will become the master, la chassure est sur l'autre pied (the shoe is on the other foot, in case you were wondering) -- and Manhattan now is, at least in NYC power terms, the outerborough now. 

Oh, and talking about politics, this happened today:

Remembering the WMCA Good Guys

In the early days of "Top 40" pop/rock music radio, the family-owned WMCA 570 AM radio ruled the city's airwaves and ratings. It was due not only to the popular music it played but to its personality-driven DJs known as the "Good Guys." 

From 1960 to 1970, the Good Guys rocked and entertained New Yorkers with their clean-cut and family friendly (and very white male) shtick. They gave the station an identity, a brand, a community who listeners who became like friends on the radio. In the 1960s, the Good Guys were NYC music radio, the be-all, end-all of what was cool in the city's culture.

The Good Guys were, mainly, Joe O'Brien, Harry Harrison, Jack Spector, Don Davis, Jim Harrison, and others.

But then WABC music radio, with a stronger signal and a better spot on the dial (770 AM) came along. As did FM radio. By 1970 WMCA's ratings had tanked. It became a talk station (it's some kind of religious station today) and faded into radio obscurity. (WABC's time as a talk station would end about a decade or so later). 

And the WMCA Good Guys faded into radio history.

Some of these guys, most notably Harry Harrison, continued in NYC radio in later years (I think Jack Spector literally died on the air in 1994). But there would never be a line-up quite like that in NYC radio ever again.

Interesting Tree Stump @ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park - August 7, 2021 1:07 PM

 

Gotta Love New Yorkers

In this case, gotta love New Yorkers who left the city and can't get over it.

Long story short: I read a big article today about people who moved out of the city during the pandemic for various reasons (mostly professional or familial) and are missing the city like crazy. 

Even though they moved to a place that often has more space, a lower cost-of-living, and sometimes family members that're closer by, these folks can't help but be deeply nostalgic and longing for the city they left behind. 

And not only do they miss and are haunted by NYC, but they try moving to places that replicate many of its greatest traits: mixed-use neighborhoods, walkable streets, good public transporation, culture, culture, culture, and so much more! 

Once NYC captures your mind and soul, your spirit and psyche, it's impossible to let it go, to leave it 100% behind, no mattter where you go. 

It's why New York City is not only the biggest city in the country but possesses an outsize imprint on the rest of the country and world's imagination. The excitement, the energy, the liveliness, the busyness, the beauty, the atmosphere, and, most of all, the people -- it's all so immense, so dynamic, so amazing and diverse, that it makes everywhere else, no matter how great, seem ... just a little small. 

That's the power of this city, the greatness of it, and that's what makes NYC the colossus of America. 

Dramatic Subway Rescue!

Big New York News Day -- August 3, 2021

 

A Brooklyn Twofer

If you're looking for a pleasant excursion in Brooklyn that gives you both the glorious history and current glory of the borough, allow me to suggest the following agenda: a visit to Greenwood Cemetary followed by another to Industry City.

Greenwood Cemetary is a nearly 500-acre park-like beauty with some of the most head-snapping Gothic Revival architecture ever constructed. Located at the intersection of Park Slope, South Slope, Windsor Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, Greenwood is a lush and hilly preserve that stuns the eyes while also calming the senses. (The place became so popular in the 19th century that the cities of New York and Brooklyn were inspired to construct two new parks you may have heard of -- Central and Propsect Parks.) Interspersed amongst the many gravestones are stone chapels, memorials, and mausoleams of breathtaking and intricate design. Amongst the grassy hills, you'll see various nature projects (like bee-keeping and grass-cutting experiments) as well as ponds and lakes with benches where you can sit in the shade and relax. Greenwood is a stunning, gorgeous place, and is not too full of people, even on a Saturday afternoon. You can also seek out, if you want to, some of the famous "residents" of the cemetary: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein, DeWitt Clinton, Horace Greeley, Townsend Harris, Alice Roosevelt (Teddy's first wife), Henry Steinway (founder of the Steinway Piano company), Louis Comfort Tiffany, and many others. Here is the cemetary's website for more info. 

Then, a short walk way in Sunset Park, is Industry City. This is another all-consuming experience but an extremely modern one. Like in other parts of the city, it is a prime example of "repurposing" where old factories and industrial infrastructure (like the Highline) was transformed into something more genteel. In this case, Industry City consists of a vast complex of 16 buildings originally constructed in the 1980s as "Bush Terminal", a manufacturing and distribution hub on the waterfront that was convenient for shipping. In the 1960s it was largely abandomed as manufacturing vanished from the city. After around 50-year of lying empty, the buildings were developed into a "mixed-use" complex of office space, tech/production hubs, restaurants, retails stores, and a whole array of businesses. When you get there, you can walk from building to building to building, taking in the offerings, and each building is seperated by a small courtyard with sitting areas and activities. Even if you don't stop and buy or eat or drink anything, or partake in any activities, it's a fun stroll through a notable part of this of Brooklyn's past and present.