Should Spitzer Resign?

Mr NYC hasn't made up his mind.

Needless to say this is very sad.

Tonight only the bad guys on Wall Street feel joy.

But the law is the law. More than anyone, the Governor knows this.

What do you think? Should he stay or should he go?

New York: Never a Dull Moment Part 2

This is really too sad. It sounds like our state's otherwise admirable governor made a monumentally stupid lapse in judgment.

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

I certainly wish him and his family the best. Let's hope that the state is able to recover.

Back in Town

Well I got back from Florida last night after only a NINE AND HALF HOUR delay. Normally there are plenty of direct flights from Tampa to NYC but ours got canceled and we had to instead catch a connecting flight -- FROM DALLAS. Needless to say Mr NYC is a bit sleepy today but persevering nonetheless.

Otherwise I had a nice time in the Sunshine State. And at the end of the month, I'll be headed to the Hoosier State.

You can call me many things but Mr NYC is not provincial.

Mr NYC in the Sunshine State

Well folks, sometimes even Mr NYC has to get out of town. Tomorrow my beloved and I are jetting down to New York City's sixth borough, otherwise known as the State of Florida. No, we're not going there so we can possibly vote in a rescheduled Democratic primary -- we're going to see some of my love's family. So I shall not be sharing my brilliance with you until Monday. Blog ya then!

New York: Never a Dull Moment

Well, you've probably heard by now that some royal prick decided to set off a bomb in Times Square 'round 3 AM this morning. It damaged the military recruiting station there but fortunately hurt no one. Frankly I never understood why the military would set up a recruiting station in the middle of Times Square but hey, real estate is real estate. I don't know what point this bomber was trying to make but he failed to scare anyone or really screw up traffic. Still, I hope they catch him (I assume it's a dude) and dangle the slug from the Brooklyn Bridge with only dental floss around his ankles.

In other depressing news, it looks like Moynihan station is getting delayed yet again. Ya really gotta hand it to these New York State bureaucrats, they manage to make the Italian government look like a model of efficiency. I just saw the late great Senator's daughter on TV and she made the point that they built the Empire State Building in 13 months! As Henry Hill's father said in Goodfellas, "In months" (okay, technically a year and a month but this Moynihan station project has been going on for almost NINE YEARS). What's the hold-up? A disgrace.

But in happier city news, there are actually landlords in this city with a heart of gold who want to make it easier for artists to live here. Interesting article in today's Times: The Lords of Dumbo Make Room for the Arts, at Least for the Moment.

Gentleman, break out those mops ...

Men Who Do Housework May Get More Sex

Here's an idea of a pick-up line that guys might want to try: "Baby, I'll make your kitchen floors shine like the floor of the top of Chrysler Building."

The MTA's Grand Design

Thanks to chief Lee Sander, the MTA now has a forty-year, multi-billion dollar vision to expand and improve transit in this town. It includes expanding subway service in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn with new lines in under served areas (running parallel to LIRR lines) and an Air Tram to LaGuardia airport. In addition, over $20 billion would be devoted to capital improvement projects which we badly, badly need.

Well, it's about damn time that someone took charge and created a longterm design for the MTA so thank you Mr Sander. Anyone who reads this blog knows that the MTA is a pet peeve of mine, an embarassingly incompetent agency that miserably serves this town. So I have strong doubts that anything will ever really improve when it comes to the MTA. After all, how many decades have we been waiting for the 2nd Avenue Subway? Good luck Mr. Sander. You'll need LOTS of it.

MTA chief outlines program expansions in his 'State of the MTA' speech

Best of New York 2008

New York Magazine has published its annual Best of New York lists for 2008. Here you can get all the info you need about where to shop, eat, shop, go on a blind date, shop, see shows, shop, even get your kid a haircut.

Here's an interesting thing I learned from this year's list. One of the best places to get a great steak is Robert's Steakhouse at the Penthouse Executive Club. Apparently it has the best rib eye in town. Steak and strippers? Can a man ask for more? My beloved might have something to say about that ...

Bobby Short - A New York Legend

For almost forty years, Bobby Short entertained New Yorkers with his magical singing at the Cafe Carlyle. He sang all the great jazz and blues standards - George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, you name it - and getting a ticket to one of his shows wasn't easy or cheap. Bobby Short was probably the classiest man in New York City, a standard bearer of sophistication in an increasingly vulgar age.

I sadly never got to see Bobby Short perform live (he died in 2005) and have always regretted it. Thanks to TV and the Internet, however, we can still see him play. He also appeared in Woody Allen's great 1986 movie "Hannah and Her Sisters." And will always be remembered as a New York icon. The city even named the street around the Hotel Carlyle on 76th street and Madison as "Bobby Short Way."

Here he is performing in that other elegant venue, The White House.

Mormons in New York City

In the last few years, Mormonism has burst into the national consciousness. The Presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney, the hit HBO series "Big Love" (although the mainstream Mormon church, it should be pointed out, abandoned polygamy in 1890), plus the great PBS documentary series "The Mormons", have put a bright new light on this most controversial of religions.

Mormonism is a complex faith. It claims to be part of Christianity but differs in certain ways. Mormons believe God is an actual person with a body; they believe people can be baptized after death; they believe the Garden of Eden is in Missouri; besides their past practice of polygamy, they used to believed that black people were put on Earth to represent the devil, white folks to represent Jesus (they have since abandoned this belief, thankfully). They believe, in essence, that they have 'righted' Christianity. You can see why it's been so controversial.

The Mormon health code is notoriously strict: no booze, no tobacco, no caffeine, no narcotics, no premarital sex. Do lots of exercise and get lots of sleep. Eat meat sparingly. As a result, Mormons have fewer health problems and live longer than most Americans. Why this strict health code? Mormons believe the body and soul are of equal importance and both should be kept pure.

So what does this have to do with NYC? Well, there are over 42,000 of them here. In fact, there is a Mormon temple in that most non-Mormon of places in this town, the Upper West Side. You can find it on 65th street and Columbus, right near Lincoln Center and ABC Studios. You can visit it if you like and learn more about this booming religion.