EXPLOSION!

Less than an hour ago, there was a steam explosion in Midtown, right near Grand Central Station. It's a developing story and Mr NYC will follow it.

Breaking News

Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden

As our city sweats through the summer of '07, refreshment and fun can be found in the heart of Astoria. In the last few years, the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden has become the city's new hot spots (in fact, I'm behind the eight ball in talking it up here). I recently hosted an event there with my beloved and, if you ever go, you'll understand why its such a great place to have a party.

The Beer Garden is basically a big open space with lots of picnic tables where you can congregate with family and friends. A pitcher of beer costs about $14 and you can get one (or just a glass of beer) at one of the indoor or outdoor bars. Waitresses circulate and take orders for the fine Czech food they serve (best bet: chicken crepes). There's also a place you can line up for hot dogs and franks.

It's a fun place and people come from all the boroughs to enjoy it. People even bring their kids! Some advice: get there early. If you're going on a Saturday or Sunday, go there before 4 PM. Because it's so popular, there's crowd control. Go there on a Friday and Saturday night, and you'll find a nightclub-like line down the block, and you'll be forced to wait! But it's worth it. The Beer Garden's some of the funnest, least expensive, and unpretentious fun you can have in New York City.

Here's the link for their website:

Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden

Also, find out what others in the neighborhood say. Check out the great blog Joey in Astoria:

Joey in Astoria

Some Questions for the MTA

• Why are you so incompetent?
• Why are there so many late trains?
• Why do so many of them stall in the middle of tunnels?
• Why are there always door problems?
• Why are there so many red signals?
• Why aren't there people on the platforms preventing overcrowding?
• Why, when it rains, do the tracks and stations flood?
• Why aren't people ticketed for blasting music in the cars?
• Why can't you prevent track congestion?
• Why have you been "repairing" the same stations for the last eight years?
• Why can't the workers get a fair contract?
• Why are you still run by the most dysfunctional state government in the country instead of the city?
• Why do you engage in sleazy accounting practices?
• Why do you humiliate this great city?

Restaurant Week!

NYC & Company, the city's tourism bureau, is launching Restaurant Week this month. Starting tomorrow, July 16, until July 27 (not including weekends), you can eat at some of the city's best restaurants for only $24.07 for lunch and $35 for dinner. This is for a three-course, prix-fixe meal. You should really check it out and try to go if you can. To get more info, find which restaurants are participating, and to make reservations, go to:

NYC and Company - Restaurant Week Summer 2007

Joan Hamburg

If you're looking for a great resource for New York City cultural info, then listen to the Joan Hamburg show each weekday morning from 9-11 AM on 710 AM.

Like Mr NYC, Joan's show has information on theater, restaurants, shopping, news and lots of other cool stuff that makes New York City great. Each week her daughter Liz does a segment called "New York Uncovered" that reveals the city's secret treasures. Also, Joan herself does a feature every morning at 8:25 AM where she shares even more city secrets. And unlike other radio talk show hosts who thrive on controversy, Joan's shows thrives on life.

Here are her links which include Podcasts:

Joan Hamburg
Joan Hamburg's Morning Feature

The Magnolia Bakery

Yuppie hearts were pounding last week when the famous Magnolia bakery had to shut its doors for a day. The Board of Health determined that it had one too few handwashing sinks so this was remedied quickly and now cupcakes are being scooped up once more.

Magnolia cupcakes are probably the most delicious you'll ever have. They are thick and rich and are a sweet-tooth's delight. But be careful: although Mr NYC is a devout cupcake lover and has a huge appetite, not even I can devour more than two at a time. Oh, and they cost about $2 a pop so you'll be doing both your waistline and pocket book a favor if you practice restraint.

Located at 11 street and Bleecker in the West Village, there are usually long lines out the door. Try going in the middle of the afternoon, at night, or on a weekend, and there'll be a good 15 minute wait. The best time to go, I found, is right after work, between 5 and 6 PM. People are usually not thinking about cupcakes at that hour so it's a good time to go and pick up a bunch.

Magnolia is also a stop on the "Sex and the City" tour. If you're interested in that, here's the link:


Zerve.com/On Location/SATC

Dope-Ass Graffiti Part II

In one of my very first posts, I told of overhearing a young tourist on the subway indicating that she wanted to see some "dope-ass" graffiti, and I reflected on the social and symbolic importance of this particular art form. Well, the dopest of the dope-ass graffiti that I have found can be viewed on the #7 subway line between Queensboro Plaza and Vernon-Jackson. From this above-ground train, you'll see building upon building with some of the most colorful, artistic graffiti in town. In some cases, you'll marvel at the literal heights some of these "artistes" must have had to scale in order to create their work. It's really a sight to see, and unlike our $20 per visit museums, all it costs is a subway fare.

4th of July

New York City is famous for Macy's 4th of July fireworks show above the East River. Here is a photo taken by a friend of mine.

Radio New York

Did you know that New York City owns its own radio station? It's called WNYE, dubbed "Radio New York", and it can be found at 91.5 on the FM dial. It contains a mix of NPR and local programming.


WNYE 91.5 FM

Reggie, Ed, Steve, Rupert, the Blackout, and Son of Sam: New York City in 1977

New York is a forward-thinking city, but in 2007 many a New Yorker's mind is turning backwards. Nostalgia is taking hold for the year 1977 - perhaps the most seminal year in the city's almost 400 year history. In life, sometimes everything happens at once: in 1977, so many things were happening, so many social, cultural and political events were occurring - that the city is still catching its breath today. Even those not yet alive or (like yours truly) not old enough to remember, will recognize what the New York of 1977 wrought. If you want the full, in-depth story, I highly recommend the excellent 2005 book Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler (now showing as a mini-series on ESPN called "The Bronx is Burning"). Here at Mr NYC, we'll give you a thumbnail of that remarkable year:

• Long before he created the Fox network, and three decades before he tried to buy The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch bought The New York Post. The Aussie enfant terrible acquired the old liberal broadsheet from long-time owner Dorothy Schiff and turned the paper founded by Alexander Hamilton into a conservative tabloid. The Murdoch effect still resonates today: he went on to create Fox News and helped to make American journalism more sensationalistic and openly partisan.
  

• In 1977, little known Congressman Ed Koch stunned the city's political establishment by defeating Mayor Abe Beame and future New York State Governor Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary. Koch would then serve as Mayor for the next twelve years.
  

• Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager emerged from the outer boroughs to create the now legendary Studio 54 in April, 1977. The nightclub became synonymous with 1970s club culture and disco decadence - it was the place to be seen, the place no one could get into, the place where anything and everything was permitted. Today, every hot club in New York or anywhere else exists in the shadow of "54."

• In 2003, New York and the entire eastern United States suffered a blackout. But it was mild in duration and chaos compared to the blackout of '77. In the broiling July of that year, riots and lootings and mayhem raged, and it looked like the world's greatest city was literally and figuratively melting. It stands in stark contrast to the relatively peaceful New York of today.
  

• If New York City is remembered for one thing in 1977, it's the Son of Sam murders. The deranged David Berkowitz stalked women and couples at night and senselessly murdered them. He taunted the police with notes he left behind and he became the city's first serial killer in decades. Columnist Jimmy Breslin made his reputation with his breathless coverage of the Son of Sam case, and like the blackout riots, it became symbolic of a city literally destroying itself.
  

• Two classic New York City movies were released in 1977. Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" transformed and defined the urban romantic comedy for the rest of the 20th century and also managed to win a few Oscars (including Best Picture). Also, "Saturday Night Fever" came out, capping the zenith of the disco craze, and making John Travolta a movie star and the Bee Gees chart-toppers.
  

• Finally, in 1977, slugger Reggie Jackson joined the Yankees and gave the city its first World Series win since the Mets in 1969.
  
  It marked a glorious end to a rough but historic year in NYC. And the city hasn't been the same since.