Good to be Mike, Bad to be Bernie

So obviously the big news around town today is that Bernie Madoff, Ponzi-scheme mastermind extrodinaire, is finally in the poky. He pleaded guilty to all charges and will be sentenced on June 16th, probably to life in prison. The death penalty would be too good for this SOB.

This is a tragedy of such huge proportions, with such massive ramifications in the lives of its victims, that sarcasm and snarky comments feel inappropriate. It wasn't just a lot of rich folks who lost money -- it was regular, hard working people who saved, invested, thought they were doing the right thing by their futures and then ... poof ... alll gone ... Let's just hope these people can find some peace in their lives.

One person most definitely not victimized by Bernie was our Mayor Mike. He not only didn't lose money last year but, when everyone else's financial portfolio was tanking, his went UP. According to Forbes, he's now worth &16 billion, making him the richest as well as the most powerful man in NYC.

It's Mike's city, we just live in it.

Beauty & Wellness Spa

Just wanted to give a plug to an excellent and reasonably priced spa on the East Side: Beauty and Wellness.

I got a much needed massage from there last week. It was so good that I left there in a wonderful mood -- and I had gone in there more than a little cranky. Any place that can do that is great in my book.

It's a real find. Check it out.

Broadway Gets By

Some good news out there in a sea of bad: Broadway theater is apparently not fairing so badly after all.

Broadway Holds On, for Now

Hopefully this is what we might call an economic contraindication - if people are spending money on theater (being they tourists of native NYers), then maybe things aren't quite so bad ... but, as the article states, only time will tell.

I'll keep my theater-loving fingers crossed.

Opie and Anthony Fired

Big news in NYC radio today: 92.3 K-Rock flipped its hard rock format and will now be another cookie-cutter Top 40 radio station. This has resulted in the firing of the station's morning team, Opie and Anthony.

K-Rock was the home to Howard Stern who did morning for 20 years (1985-2005) before he departed for satellite radio. In 2006, K-Rock became "Free FM", a "shock talk" station with David Lee Roth as the new morning man. "Free FM" was a ratings disaster - its lasted less than a year and a half, and Roth lasted less than five months. He was then replaced by the now departed Opie and Anthony.

Opie and Anthony have been kicking around New York radio for about a decade. They came here from Boston in 1998 and did afternoons at the old WNEW. They were very popular and very controversial, and they were fired in 2002 when they sent some dumb listeners into St. Patrick's Cathedral to have sex -- on air. They then disappeared and went to satellite radio in 2004 before being simulcast on K-Rock in 2006.

Now they're fired again. Will they return to regular radio in NYC ever again? Who knows! This morning on his satellite radio show their old predecessor and nemesis, Howard Stern, talked about their firing, his time on K-Rock, and the miserable state of New York City radio today. As always, Howard is brilliant in his commentary.

God I miss listening to him on New York radio. As he said on his last show on K-Rock, he's "the last of a dying breed."

Are You a Happy New Yorker?

The New York Times recently published a city survey of 25,000 New Yorkers rating their quality of life. Not surprisingly, if you're wealthy, your quality of life in this city is better and you're a happier New Yorker than if you're poor. Also, the wealthy tend to live in Manhattan so that (again, no shock) is the happiest borough of the five. The Bronx is the poorest, and the least happy.

There was one big surprise in this survey: people generally find city government to be responsive to their concerns and needs. Again, the wealthy feel that the gubment is more responsive than poor people but basically New Yorkers feel positively about City Hall.

Well, that's nice. But since this is a city survey, I think that makes this finding a bit suspect.

So what is a good quality of life in NYC?

Tom Wolfe once said that New Yorkers live here for many reasons but quality of life most certainly isn't one of them.

My opinion? "Quality of life" is a slippery phrase. If your idea of quality of life is being able to afford a big house, own multiple cars, and live in peace and quiet then no, NYC doesn't offer much of that.

And yet ... if you're idea of quality of life is being surrounded by the greatest culture in the world, the most diverse and dynamic population in the world, the best economic opportunities in the world, and a place where all your hopes and dreams can come true ... then there's no better place than NYC. That, for me, is the best quality of life on the face of the planet -- and NYC has it better than anyplace else.

My biggest complaint of quality of life in NYC? Obvious: transportation. There are WAY TOO MANY DAMN CARS IN THIS TOWN! Thanks to you-know-who, public transportation in this city is totally inadequate for its needs. If I had that magic wand, I'd wave it and solve all our city's transportation problems: more subways, better bus routes, and congestion pricing. Ah, Mr NYC can dream can't he?

Dreams, after all, is what this city is all about!

Mr NYC in New Orleans

Being Mr NYC (pretentious I know), you might think I have no use for other cities. Quite wrong. I love all great cities and, after NYC and San Francisco, New Orleans is easily my next favorite. Last weekend my pals and I went to NO – home to Fats Domino and Lestat the Vampire – for a weekend of food and frivolity. So here it is, the long overdue New Orleans wrap-up:

Day One: NYC to NOLA is expensive -- hence the need for cheaper connecting flights (only in America are multiple flights cheaper than one). So we’re scheduled to go from NYC to Detroit to Nawlins. Flight from Dee-troi is dee-layed. Miss connecting flight. Rebooked to New Orleans through Charlotte, NC. Told I’ll get bumped to first class on both flights with one of my pals. Get to gate for Charlotte: THEY LIED! It’s coach for me to Charlotte (first class to NO only. Okay!) My classy friend in first class sends me back a complimentary glass of wine and a Twix bar (forgot how good chocolate and red wine go together; must make part of my decadence diet). So now we’ve zig-zagged from the East to the Midwest back to the East to get South. This is the kind of route only George W. Bush could love.

Touchdown in New Orleans. We meet one of our friends at the gate who had just gotten in on another flight. Apparently he caught the eye of one his flight’s flight attendants for she dropped him off a note that read:

YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL EYES. I’D LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU.
CALL ME (NAME, NUMBER)

We congratulate him. If I ever got a note like that, it’d be ten years of therapy right there.

Cab it to our hotel in the French Quarter. It’s a great hotel, several old converted townhouses, and we got one with lots of space and a patio in the back. We meet up with our other friends from across the USA who had already gotten there and we head off to Jacques-Imo’s for dinner. Phenomenal food! I have the crawfish etouffee and we also have some delicious stuffed shrimp and the famous alligator cheesecake. Dinner done, we stroll through a pulsating Bourbon Street with lots of loud, partying people who prove that Mardi Gras never really ends. We stop at the legendary Pat O’s and order a round of Hurricaines in tall glasses.
While sipping our beverages and bantering, a young blond gal comes up to us. Why, she asks, did we get our Hurricaines in glasses while she and her friends only got them in plastic cups?

“’Cause we put out!” one of my friends jokes.

“I put out,” says the girl. Needless to say, we’re all ears.

She then formally introduces herself and invites us all to join her and her friends at their table. Playing it cool, we idle for a bit (don't want to look like dogs in heat) and then finally go over to their table. We talk to the ladies for a bit and are shocked to discover that they … are … boring … And when it’s finally revealed that nearly all the girls and all the guys in this situation are either married or shacked up with someone, the flames of conversation die out quick.
No worries, It’s now 3 AM, the bar is closing, and we’re tired. Back to the hotel. Day one is over – and already memorable.

Day Two: get up around noon and head over to the world famous Café Du Mond. What do we have for breakfast? Must you ask? Coffee and beignes are downed by all of us with gusto (naturally the powdered sugar gets everywhere). After that, it’s a stroll around beautiful Jackson Square, then a bunch of us are hungry again. We go to Napoleon House nearby and have some delicious Italian muffalettas. If you’ve never had these, they are sandwiches with multiple Italian meats (like Genoa ham, salami, sausage, etc.) plus melted cheese. Unlike a panini, these aren’t pressed and they also have some vegetable in them like chopped broccoli and spinach. They are out of this world delicious, a perfect mid-day snack.

Return to the hotel where we shower, change, and head over to August’s for dinner. We consume a five-course wine pairing dinner, and our meal consists of caviar, pork bellies, and Kobe beef amongst other delicacies. It was classy, and tasteful, and out of this world.

Next, it’s back to Bourbon Street where we hit multiple bars and drink various beers and liquors. And how do we end the night? Why, with MORE food of course! Around 3 AM we find a funky little diner and consume burgers and apple pie. Then, all of us in a serious food and booze stupor, it’s back to the hotel.

Day Three: we wake up to CHAOS. The impending East Coast storms have canceled many of our flights. Cell phones are working overtime, airline 800 numbers are being called endlessly, some of us are lucky and get rebooked, some us not so much. This doesn’t stop us, however, from having a delicious farewell lunch back in the French Quarter. I have a Gumbo Poopa which is gumbo in a bread bowl. Did you also know that you can get a dozen fresh oysters on the half shell for $12 down in New Orleans? A steal!

Friends and I head to the airport. We fly to Memphis where we’re forced to spend the night in an airport hotel. That being the case, we take a cab to Corky’s and have a delicious BBQ dinner of dry baby-back ribs. They were so good and rich that I was unable to finish them all but WOW! They were awesome …

Next morning, we hear it’s snowing like crazy in NYC. We expect our flight to be canceled yet again. But miracle of miracles … it’s ON TIME. We’re good to go! One of our friends (the man who got the note) wasn’t supposed to be on our flight but he managed to get on, and lucky man that he is, GETS INTO FIRST CLASS! GETS A DELICIOUS MUSHROOM OMELETTE BREAKFAST WHILE ME AND MY OTHER PAL ARE STUCK WITH CRAPPY COFFEE IN COUCH. ARGGGGGHHHHH!
But no hard feelings.

Our flight lands in NYC on time, early Monday afternoon. You’ve never seen anything so beautiful as the sight of the whole city down below you, blanketed with snow. We land, bid adieu to each other, and thus ended one of the more memorable trips of my life.

Stanley Kubrick Interview Part 1

Ten years ago today one of the greatest movie directors of all time, Stanley Kubrick, passed away at the age of 70.

He only made a handful of movies in an almost 50 year career but they were almost all classics: The Killing, Killer's Kiss, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut. Any of those movies I could watch over and over again.

Kubrick was a native of the Bronx and, in this interview from 1966, you can hear his distinctive New York accent. This is the first part of an hour and ten minute interview that is posted in nine parts on YouTube.

In this part of the interview, Kubrick talks about his early life in New York and the influences that shaped his career. You might not know that he started his career as a photographer for Look magazine. He's the one who took this picture that I posted in a December blog post: a picture from 1945 the day FDR died. Kubrick took it as a teenager and the rest was movie history.

Falling Rents in Brooklyn

A friend of mine sent me a link to this PDF of a New York Times article from 1878 about great rental finds in Brooklyn. Isn't it nice to know that New Yorkers had agita about real estate more than 130 years ago?

Of course, in 1878, Brooklyn wasn't actually part of NYC. It was its own city, the fourth largest in the whole country, so moving to Brooklyn actually meant leaving New York City.

In 1897 Brooklyn voted in a referendum to become part of the city and it passed by the slimmest of margins. The five boroughs of this city formally unified on January 1st, 1898 to become Greater New York thus creating the wondrous place we call home today.

Meanwhile ...

... some sanity is coming to New York.

Albany Takes Step to Repeal Rockefeller Drug Laws

Way overdue. Maybe law enforcement should spend more time busting the crooks who gave us this financial mess and less time locking up poor people who like weed.

New Orleans Hangover

Oh man ... New Orleans was great ... in fact, I'm still recovering from it ... haven't had the time or the energy to blog about it properly ... will do so this weekend ... hard for me to form a coherent, uhhh .... you know ... sen, cents -- SENTENCE! Look for a complete wrap-up this weekend ... stand by, your patience is much appreciated ...