I always love reading about New Yorkers who captured the city -- or people of and about the city -- in unique ways (hmmm wonder why?).
Anyway, one such person was a photographer named James Hamilton who worked for the Village Voice and other publications from the 1960s through the 2000s. He took pictures of the rich and famous as well as people on the streets (including the Tompkins Square riots in the late 1980s -- I remember that), always managing to capture his subjects' humanity.
Hamilton is the subject of a new Apple TV documentary, produced by Wes Anderson, called Uncropped that covers his life and career, and his unique views of NYC. I can't wait to see it!
Thirty years ago today, right here in NYC, the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon died at the age of 81.
Like many, Nixon has always fascinated me -- he was perhaps one of the smartest people ever to become president and his rise from poverty in California to the heights of American power is truly astonishing. But he was so paranoid, so full of rage and anger, that he never seemed to enjoy his historic success or where his brilliant mind had taken him in life. Ultimately his rage and paranoia overwhelmed his genius and accomplishments, leading to his presidential and reputational demise.
But I come not to praise or criticize Richard Nixon but to bury him (again) along with the other US Presidents who have died in NYC. Nixon is the most recent of four presidents who expired within the five boroughs. The others are:
- James Monroe, 5th US President, died in NYC on July 4th, 1831 from heart failure at the age of 73.
- Chester Arthur, 21st US President, died in NYC on November 18th, 1886 from a stroke at the age of 57. He's also only one of two presidents (the other being George Washington) who took the oath of office in NYC as well.
- Herbert Hoover, 31st US President, died in NYC on October 20th, 1964 from an internal hemorrhage at the age of 90.
I won't speculate if any of the current living presidents will pass away in NYC but I can't think of a better place for someone who achieved America's highest office to go into their permament reward.
And how appropriate that a criminal case against another former president is opening today in NYC on the anniversary of the death of this other criminal president -- an accountability that Nixon himself managed to avoid.
For four decades John Sterling has announced Yankees games on the radio. He's broadcast over 5000 consecutive games, creating a vivid "theater of the mind" -- or "game of the mind" to say more accurately -- for legions of Yankee and NYC baseballs fans.
Now, at the age of 85, he's retiring, as much a legend as any player whose games he announced.
I remember listening to some of his games on the radio back in the 1990s and his voice was powerful and unmistakable. And his legendary motto, when a player hit a homerun, be would "It is hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, it is lowwwwwwwwwwwwww, it is GOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEEEEE!"
He'll be irreplaceable. Enjoy retirment, John, the city miss you.
If you're in my age-range then you remember his trial. Before Monica Lewinsky, before 9/11, before the Iraq War, before the Financial Meltdown, before Trump, before COVID, before any number of disasters and horrors, the late-1990s OJ Simpson case seemed like the most important thing going on in the country.
I distinctly remember when, one night before I had a final high school exam, I saw a news report that OJ was being questioned in his ex-wife's murder. I barely knew who OJ was except that he was in the Naked Gun movies, was a sportscaster, and endorsed a lot of products on TV. Old as I am, I wasn't old enough to remember his 1970s glory days as a football star -- not that I would have cared then or now.
Anyway, I remember the night after I finished 11th grade, coming home at 8 in the morning from a party, going to sleep, and waking up to news that he was wanted in this murder. It sounded crazy but I didn't really pay that much attention to it. (We weren't living a world of constant screens or news or social media then). Later that night, sacked out on the couch, watching an episode of a dumb forgotten show called Burke's Law, the news broke in to cover the now infamous, historic Ford Bronco chase. I spent the rest of the night watching it, a truly surreal thing, and I was just glad that it didn't end in violence or a shootout.
In many ways, the OJ chase and case was the first surreal episode of the last surreal 30 years.
Now think back to March of 1993, if you can (if weren't old enough, or alive, you're excused). Bill Clinton has just become president. The country is at peace.
And radio host Howard Stern is the epitome of the "shock jock", the most outrageous mouth in America, and becoming a huge star.
Late during one show on a March day of 1993, OJ Simpson briefly dropped by the show. OJ was not a scheduled guest but he was in Howard's radio station because OJ was on the board of Howard's radio company and was there for a meeting.
Howard and his producer Baba Booey coaxed OJ to come on the air. They had a hilarious, lively, and racy conversation where Howard told OJ how smartly he had handled his career, how great he was in the Naked Gun movies, how good he looked for his age, and, naturally, about all the "hot broads" OJ was "nailin'."
"I've never been with that caliber of woman" Howard tells OJ about OJ's then model girlfriend -- a comment I'm sure Howard's then wife greatly appreciated.
Some of this stuff is extremely creepy to listen to in retrospect: OJ talks about his recent divorce from his wife Nicole but declares that they have a "great realtionship." And after Howard talks about how awesome OJ and his life is, OJ simply says, "I'm having a good life."
Fifteen months later, that "good life" -- and American culture -- would change.
You can listen here to Howard's crazy interview with OJ followed by 9 hours of talk about the man, the murder, and the case that riveted the world. It's fascinating to hear how Howard, like America, went from lionizing OJ, to being incredulous at the thought he might be involved in this double homicide, to being 100% convinced of his guilt.
Beyond his life, OJ's life feels like the end of some of kind of weird era, a kind of closure. The whole thing was and remains a tragedy. But, of course, Howard found some way to make it hilarious -- his conclusion, "White broads are nuthin' but trouble, damn my penis."
When you read a novel or watch a movie or any standalone story, the timespan it takes place across can vary: the story can take place over a few hours, a few days, a few weeks -- or a few years, decades, or centuries.
It therefore takes a special skill to tell a story within one day -- 24 hours -- that has an engaging beginning, middle, and end. Obviously the goldstandard of a 24-hour story is James Joyce's 1922 legendary novel Ulysses, a tale of two down-on-their-luck Dubliners, whose lives intersect on June 16, 1904.
Most movies that take place over 24-hours are action movies -- they're basically lengthy chases, one slambang sequence after another -- that only work narratively over a short period of time. Also, the movie usually has a hook that such and such a thing must be done before a specific time or else a bomb goes off. Non-action movies are harder to tell within 24-hours but some have tried.
A couple of other very good set-within-24 hours NYC movies that aren't on this but that I've also written about are New Year's DayandVanya on 42nd Street.
Of course NYC is the perfect place to set a story within 24-hours because there's so much to do, and it's so relatively easy to get around, that a lot can happen within a short period of time. I hope many such movies will be made in the future!
Certain parts of NYC become known as little satellites of other countries: Little Italy, the Chinatowns of Lower Manhattan & Sunset Park and Flushing, the Greek and Egyptian neighborhoods in Astoria, the Russian neighborhoods in Brighton Beach, and others.
Now, apparently, in NoHo, there's also Little Paris. This area used to be heavily French in the day (much like Yorkville used to be heavily German) but this waned over the 20th century. Now there's been a rebirth of French businesses in the area and it's been official redubbed as Little Paris.
A few years ago I did a short review of the 1989 movie Road House, a dopey flick about a bouncer from NYC who is hired to go out and work at a bar in Missouri.
Originally played by the late Patrick Swayze, his character is expert at bringing calm and order to bars whose clientele spend all of their time beating each other up -- and, of course, there's also a greedy businessman villian and a hot chick who complicate his life.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, people like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Vandam and some forgotten others were stars (briefly) since there seemed to be a huge appetite amongst audiences for movies where good big guys with muscles beat up bad big guys with muscles.
Lots of big guys with muscles beating each other up was huge box office back then.
Interestingly Patrick Swayze wasn't really one of these guys -- he was a geniunely talented actor better known as a dancer (thanks to Dirty Dancing) and "sensitive" man, but Road House was his contribution to the genre and, extremely dumb movie that it is, it was a huge hit.
Road House has just been remade with Jake Gyllenhaal, another very talented actor. I don't know, if this movie is successful, if it this will trigger another round of movies of big guys with muscles beating each other up -- the main draw for this movie is that apparently he spends most of his time with this shirt off so women should enjoy this.
I haven't seen it yet and I know if the main character originates from NYC like in the original but apparently, instead of Missouri, he heads out to the Florida Keys. But it's a reminder that movies about guys who from NYC who head into the wider world and get into crazy adventures in a great genre all its own.
Imagine a politician who built his wealth in real estate, was a racist demagogue who supported the Confederacy, incited a riot, married and fathered multiple children with multiple women, tried to undermine democracy and the law to make himself a dictator, and used his executive public office to enrich himself ...
Born in Philadelphia in 1812, Wood migrated to NYC and worked as a laborer, got involved in Tammany Hall politics, and was eventually elected to Congress in 1840. After one term he left and got into real estate, accumulating a fortune but remaining involved in politics until he finally was elected mayor in 1854.
His administration was basically a giant shakedown and bribery operation but he did notch some significant achievements: rebuilding the city harbor, overseeing the approval and eventual creation of Central Park, and implementing the grid system. He also attempted to change the city charter to essentially make the city government the extension of one man – him – so he could act as a dictator. When he ran for re-election in 1856, he furloughed the police department and got a band of thugs to menace and beat up voters in order to get reelected. He was never prosecuted for this.
Defeated for a third-term, Wood eventually got elected mayor again in 1860 – just as the Civil War was breaking out. He supported slavery and the Confederacy, and called for NYC to secede from New York State so it could keep trading with the south.
So did Fernando Wood ever face public disgrace or jail for his corruption and crimes?
Oh no. In 1862, he returned to Congress and opposed abolition. And he remained in Congress, becoming chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, until he died in 1881, a very wealthy man with a mansion on West 77th Street.
He also had three wives and fathered 16 children. The man was forever busy.
Today we live in an era of aspiring dictators and corrupt chief executives with a love of racism and violence and money. So while history has not been kind to Fernando Wood's memory, in some ways, he'd be right at home in our era.
But he's been condemned, at least, by popular culture: see the 2012 Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln and listen to the 2011 Bowery Boys episode.
In many ways, Fernando Wood makes later NYC mayors Jimmy Walker and Eric Adams look like pillars of virtue.
Recently my lady and I visited the QC Spa on Governor's Island. It's REALLY NICE and REALLY EXPENSIVE but it's a great place for couples to go and luxuriate together in this lovely spot on one the city's odd but gorgeous islands. A few things:
1. As mentioned, it's EXPENSIVE. You might do this an a "stay-cation" activity instead of an out-of-town trip.
2. It's located in an old multi-story building and it's easy to get a bit lost in. Also, some of its more interesting rooms can be a little tricky to find so keep your eyes open and explore.
3. Bring a bathing suit -- they provide a robe, slippers, and lots of towerls but not anything below the waist.
4. There is an amazing outdoor pool and jacuzzi complex right on the edge of the island where you can swim and relax in the water with the view of Lower Manhattan right in front of you. It's amazing!
5. Leave your phone at home!
6. Finally, try to go during a weekday if you want some privacy. Despite its cost, this place is very popular and the weekends can be crowded.
7. If you spring for a massage, be prepared for one of the best massages you ever got.
You might know it as the "little place in Harlem" where Hamilton and his wife Eliza "figured it out."
Located on a steep hill on 141st street, it now sits in St. Nicholas Park, surrounded by trees and lawns, a big standout to the urban landscape surrounding it.
The house has an interesting history. Hamilton built it at the turn of the 19th century, finally moving in with his family in 1802 -- after his public career was over. He only actually lived in the house, the only one he ever owned, for two years before his fatal duel with Vice-President Aaron Burr in 1804.
Also, it's original location was not on 141st street -- it was on 143rd before it was moved to 142nd street in 1962 and then, finally, moved again in 2008 to current location. Otherwise, the house remains completely intact.
The house is beautiful but simple, built in the Federal Style that was elegant, tastefully furnished, but not overly lavish or ornate like Baroque European architecture.
Hamilton Grange is certainly worth a visit, it's a living piece of history to perhaps the single most important American who ever lived.
A few pointers: you can only see the house on the regularly scheduled tours that start every half-hour in the late morning and early afternoon. The tours are free but the house is relatively small so the size of the tours are too -- only about 14 people can go at a time. So you should show up early and put your name on the list for the tour unless you want to wait for another hour. However, there is also a great visitors center in the basement of the house that has a couple of short films and big exhibit about Hamilton's life and career.
And if you're wondering if there's a lot about the musical at Hamilton Grange, I hate to dissapoint you but, no. Besides one t-shirt with the words "It's Quiet Uptown" for sale (one of the show's songs), and book about locations where the show takes place, the musical barely has a presence at the museum. This is about the man, his life, and his impact on our country -- and what a life it was!
Great cities don't just have beautiful buildings, fun neighborhoods, vibrant economies, wonderful culture, and diverse populations -- they also produce fascinating people.
New York City has produced so many such people over the centuries that it's impossible to fathom -- just look at this list and it'll blow your mind.
Recently I blogged about Marco Polo, the great Venetian explorer and chronicler. Venice is, obviously, one of the world's greatest cities -- a beautiful city of islands and business, just like NYC -- and not only did it produce history's most famous traveller, it also produced history's most famous lover -- Casanova.
And here's what's crazy to realize -- while Marco Polo lived in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Casanova lived in the 18th century. That means there was a nearly five-hundred year difference between the lives of these two historic Venetians! And both men are my heroes because they did what any man would love to do -- travel the world, far and wide, and make love to numerous women.
What more could a man want in life?
So it made me happy to learn recently about another fascinating Venetian who lived between these two men -- and was a woman.
Veronica Franco was a 16th century poet and courtesan. She came from a modest, middle-class family in Venice, and into a world where the only thing expected of her was to get married. She did marry -- briefly -- and had several children, but she pursued a career as a high-class, intellectual courtesan in order to have her own money and control her own life. And while she was very beautiful, she was also so smart, so witty, and so intellectually vibrant that men not only paid for her sexual favors but also her company, her conversation, and her humor.
She also published books of poetry, including one called Familiar Letters to Various People, which was dedicated to the Franch King Henry III (with whom she shared a night of passion and who subsequently gave Venice ships to protect the city from invasion).
Franco was popular but also hated by puritan factions and was eventually put on trial for witchcraft -- but acquitted. She was a fascinating, self-made woman, a real feminist trailblazer.
The legend of Veronica Franco has persisted to the point where, in 1998, a movie about her life was made called Dangerous Beauty. She wasn't royalty, she wasn't rich, she didn't travel far and wide, but she was a one-of-a-kind original, a fearless advocate for herself and all women, as well as fierce patriot of her city, and that's why she's remembered so many centuries after her death.
P.S. If I had any playwrighting talent, I'd write one about Marco Polo, Veronica Franco, and Casanova meeting in heaven, discussing their amazing lives and life in Venice during their respective centuries. I'd call it the Venice Trio -- any playwright is free to take my bright idea and run with it (I just expect an invite to the premiere).
It's been well over fifteen years since I last blogged about Willets Point, the perennially blighted area in Queens, just a stones throw away from the mighty of Flushing-Meadows Park but existing in another world.
F. Scott Fitzgerald immortalized it The Great Gatsby as the "Valley of Ashes" -- and that was nearly 100-years ago.
Back in the summer of 2008 there was a massive development plan from the then-Bloomberg administration about redeveloping it -- mostly centered around building a mall and convention center. It turned into a bitter, nasty fight between the city and residents of this area that, while forelorn, was theirs and they didn't want to change -- or get evicted from -- it.
I don't think any blog post I ever did triggered so many heated comments. People were pissed.
Well, malls and retails pace and convention spaces are fast becoming a thing of the past, and now, nearly two decades later, a massive redevelopment project for Willets Point is on the cusp of approval by the city -- and the resistance doesn't seem quite so strong.
The proposed redevelopment will include a soccer stadium, a public school, a hotel, and around 2500 affordable housing units. It sounds like it'll be more mixed-used and community-focused which is a very good idea. Still, I'm sure some long-term residents will resist it changing it all.
But, if this plan comes to fruition, it'll soon become a major new neighborhood and attraction in this already mighty city.
If you want to understand, I mean really see and feel the consequences of living in a democratic country with a free press, then look no further than the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Douglaston Parkway in Queens.
Here stands what used to be the Congressional office of indicted felon/huckster/serial liar George Santos.
This blog has chronicled the bizarre rise and fall of this Only-in-America political conman. And during his truncated term in office, this is what his district office looked like:
But thanks to his being exposed as the fraud that he is by the press, thanks to the citizen activism that got him expelled from Congress, and thanks to the voters who replaced him with a real public servant, Tom Suozzi, this is what the office looks like now:
We did that. We the public, the ordinary citizen of this great city and country, exersied our power and literally got him out of office. Now this same place is being prepared for a real Congressman.
It's easy to be cynical about politics and government, and many of us are for good reason, but when you see this, when you see a mistake literally being corrected in front of you in real time, powered by the people, you can't help but be grateful to live in this great, free, amazing country.
For reasons that defy logic and simple comprehension, in my nearly half-century wandering the earth, and despite travelling multiple times to Europe, Asia, and all over the USA ... I never made it to the city of Boston, just a few hours away.
Last month -- finally! -- I did.
And I loved it! It's a great town, and very much an East Coast city -- compact, dense, highly walkable, history bursting out of every corner. Having spent time in Midwestern (like St. Louis) and Western cities (like Kansas City, Denver, and Phoenix), which are much more spread out, much less dense, much less walkable, much more industrial, and much less historic, Boston shares an obvious kinship with NYC but also feels distinct with a much more British, much more Old World feel.
I did and saw a lot when I was there and it'd be exhausting to write about it all but here are some of the many highlights that I saw, including a few snaps that I took:
We got around town on the T, Boston's subway/trolley system that is actually the oldest urban subway system in the USA (starting in 1897, about seven years before the first NYC subway line opened). I loved how, when the train approached, it dinged -- love me some dinging!
One of our trips on the T took us to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. Built by its namesake in the style of a 15th-century Venetian pallatzo, it houses a great collection of European and Asian art, all in rooms that are made it look like part of great historical houses. It also has a gorgeous, greenhouse-like courtyard and stainglass windows, just a beautiful and invigorating place to enjoy gorgeous art.
Later we walked around Beacon Hill, the central historic and upscale residential neighborhood of Boston, and also the location of the State Capitol. It is full of gorgeous Federal-style townhouses (notable residents include poet Robert Frost, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes, Daniel Webster, Senator John Kerry, and many other historic figures), and it's also the location of the bar from Cheers -- which still draws a crowd more than 30 years since it went off the air.
Nearby we also visited the Old City Hall, just a gorgeous building, to the Old Historic Meeting House -- a Colonial building that is perhaps the single most important single building in American history. This is where the first protests against British rule were organized in 1768 and where the Boston tea party was planned in December 1773. The sparks for the American Revolution were lit here, history turning on its axis in this building, the world we live in today formed in this modest place.
Other places we saw but I didn't get good pictures of are the Paul Revere House, home of the famous rider along with the Faneuil Hill marketplace, a place where lots of Revolutionary protests took place and that, today, houses perhaps the best food court I've ever eaten in.
We also walked all over the main park of Boston -- Boston Common -- and also passed by the first Macy's store ever opened in the USA.
The last big place we visited was the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It is located on the waterfront of the Dorchester neighborhood, and it's surprisingly modest and simple, considering what a glamorous figure he was and what an outsized impact he left on American history. Since Kennedy's presidency was rather short, a lot of the exhibits are about his time fighting in WW2, his time in the Senate, his marriage to Jackie, and then his winning presidential campaign in 1960. There's also an entire film and exhibit about the Cuban Missile Crises, where JFK's role in saving the world from nuclear armaggedon in October 1962. My favorite part of this exhibit and everything we saw in the museum were JFK's personal notes he took during the crises where he wrote, on the top of the right-hand page, he wrote and circles "Missile, Missile, Missile." There's nothing about his assisination or, obviously, all the broads that he banged (no video of Marilyn Monroe breathily singing "Happy birthday ... Mister ... President" ...) but the museum does a good job summarizing his life, legacy, and aspirations for the country and the world.
Last but not least was the Brattle Book Store, the oldest and largest used book shop. It's located right by Boston Common and is totally unpretentious -- until you discover that it first opened in 1825 and was a favored bookstore of JD Salinger. In fact, it also appears in the new Oscar-nominated movie The Holdovers. So that was my trip to "Bahhston." Great town, great sites, great streets (just let's not get into the NYC/Boston sports rivarlies 'cause that means war). And as we drove into town our Spotify played a little joke on us ...
And, speaking of jokes, we also saw clowns and pants.
That is all.
P.S. Even though a lot of it was filmed in NYC, the 2006 Oscar-winner The Departed takes place in Boston -- and it's Jack Nicholson's last great movie and performance.
I've been a fan of radio host Howard Stern for more than thirty years. What's always made him so great is that, besides being funny and outrageous himself, he always put people on his show who were even funnier and more outrageous than him -- making the rest of us look boring and sane in comparison.
These were people who, no matter what, would create, in Howard's words, "great radio."
One of them was a bizarre character named Mark Harris.
Mark was a married to an movie actress and comic named Martha Raye, who appeared in silly comedies in the 1930 and '40s, then on TV sometimes in the 1950s, and beyond. She's forgotten today as none of her work was really that memorable but she's beloved by people who love old-timey Hollywood. She died in 1994.
Martha also had a crazy private life, being married around seven times -- and her last husband was this creepy fellow Mark Harris, a man decades her junior who was obviously a golddigger as well as a conservative Republican gay-hustler-aspriring singer/songwriter/talk show host.
Mark would pop up on Howard's show for around fifteen years, from the early 1990s, after he'd married Martha, until the mid-2000s, about fifteen years after her death. He was always promoting some horrible song or cabaret act that he was performing, or pitching TV shows that were never going to get made. Howard and the crew would goof on him relentlessly but Mark took it in stride.
Mark was truly a man of great ambition and no talent. In the last decade-plus Mark vanished from view and from Howard's show -- and it was revealed a few years ago that he had died. His life was strange, tragic, and also somewhat magical -- a real only-in-America type. But he left a legacy, one that few of us can say, of leaving behind hours and hours of "great radio."
P.S. After Mark died, I thought the best way to remember him would be with a riff from "A Horse With No Name" by America:
Mark Harris went through life with no talent or fame
But he was really good on Howard's show
When you have no talent no one remembers your name
And there ain't no one but Howard to give you some pain
Son of Brooklyn, got his start in the Greenwich Village clubs, then became a beloved, iconic stand-up comic and actor, Richard Lewis was a brilliant artist.
Richard has died at the age of 76, having been diagnosed with Parkinson's almost two years ago.
I remember in the 1990s Richard would call-in to Maria Molito's show on K-ROCK and make requests for classic rock songs. He would appear on Howard Stern a lot, talking frankly about his life. And, of course, he starred on two hit TV shows -- Anything But Love in the early 1990s and Curb Your Enthusiasm in the 2000s.
Richard was the classic case of the kid from NYC who went West to find fame and fortune but always kept the city in his soul. He was a funny man and a great humanist, and he'll be missed.
