MTA Commercials: 1970s to 1990s

Classic Mr NYC

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. 

The Ceramic Arts of Mr NYC

I made these:

Not bad, right?

Remembering Fernando Wood, NYC's "Scoundrel" Mayor

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 ...

Of course I'm talking about the mid-19th Century NYC Mayor Fernando Wood.

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.

QC Spa on Governor's Island

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.

Enjoy!

Howard Stern Celebrates Jim Kerr's 50 Years on NYC Radio

Listen here.

Hamilton Grange

Recently I visited Hamilton Grange, the home of Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. 

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!

Memo from NYC

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). 

Willets Point Redux

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.

Power of the People

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. 

Mr NYC in Boston

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.

The museum is also the site of the biggest art theft in American history which happened on March 18, 1990 -- and remains unsolved. 

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.

Remembering Mark Harris, A Man of No Talent

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

La la la la la la la