Classic Mr NYC

This week the Village Voice came out with its Best of NYC (it seems like all the newspapers and magazines in this town are always doing "best of" the city things and quite frankly it gets overwhelming! With all these different best of lists, how do we know what's really THE best of the best? Gets confusing).

But I digress.

The Voice's Best Ensemble Improv Comedy Ensemble this year goes to Elephant Larry, the wacky sketch comedy group that this spring did a brilliant show based entirely on the shlocky 1997 movie Con Air. I saw the show and it was hi-larious (I also saw the movie and it was hilarious too but I laughed at it, not with it, which I'm sure wasn't the filmakers' intention).

Anyway, I did a short interview with one of the members of Elephant Larry in April and he told me all about their particular brand of comedy and how they've survived in NYC. Check it out here.

City Hall News

If you want good news on local politics, check out City Hall News.

There's an interesting interview in it with former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer who talks about what it's like to run for mayor against Bloomberg's billions. And Freddy is also the only public person I've heard so far to comment on the scandal of mob infiltrating the Department of Buildings.

He says in this interview, "Let’s see, apart from the fact that cranes fell down on people, and how many people needed to be killed and property needed to be damaged before you figured out you needed a new commissioner at the department of buildings? As it turns out, the Luchese crime family got hold of a city agency? And this isn’t the cause of a major scandal in this city? Excuse me? But not only are apparently politicians at City Hall asleep on their jobs, but so are newspapers. This isn’t a major scandal in this city?"

Good question Freddy. Don't expect an answer any time soon.

Some people on the blog Brownstoner.com also seconded this sentiment so I'm not along in thinking that this is a major scandal that seriously question's Bloomberg's competence as mayor. But again, don't expect the major press in this town to make this a big scandal, the press is way too scared of of the man.

Bernard Kerik Indictment Briefing

Two years ago former NYC Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik was indicted by the Feds.

He's still awaiting trial. And now he'll be waiting in jail.

Wowza. An ex-New York City police commissioner is in the pokie -- and he's one of Rudy's best buds. And now Rudy wants to be Governor? Can't wait to see who he appoints then.

Protecting the Skyline

If there's one thing our city is known for, it our skyline. A most beautiful, distinctive thing, the New York City skyline is a masterpiece of architectural imagination and skill. Needless to say, whoever controls the shape of our skyline is a very important person indeed. So who is that exactly?

Meet Amanda Burden. As head of the city's Department of City Planning and chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, she has immense power over what gets built (or not) in this town, and over what buildings get the honor of joining NYC's skyline. She determines what proposed buildings get to "break" the skyline and if they are in character with the neighborhood. And if she don't like, it don't get built.

This easily makes this daughter of Old New York society one of the most powerful people in town.

Considering the number of glass box apartment buildings and office complexes we've seen built in recent years, you'd think Ms. Burden thinks bigger is better. Its seems like there's no building project too big for her to approve. But as this lengthy article in the New York Observer points out, there's been some projects that were even too big for her out sized tastes! It's scary to think what monstrosities might be going up if she didn't have such a good sense for city planning.

In many ways, Ms. Burden has one of the toughest jobs in the whole city government, mainly saying "No" to developers who just look at the skyline and see dollars falling out of it. Ms. Burden is protecting New York from turning into one giant skyscraper that would just destroy the character of our neighborhoods and the flavor of our city. Let's hope she keeps up the good work.

Vermeer at the Met

Through the end of November, there's a special exhibit at the Met featuring Johannes Vermeer's masterpiece The Milkmaid. A truly extraordinary painting circa 1658, the detail and composition almost make it look like a photograph, and it has influenced realist painters for centuries. I'm no art expert but the confidence of technique, the use of shadows and light, just the pure hyper-realism of the work is truly breathtaking. For art lovers and experts, this is a painting of great historical importance.

Not only that, it's just really beautiful and is exhibited along with several other Vermeers from the Met's permanent collection. Word of caution: because this painting has such great appeal to art geeks, there will probably be a huge crowd around it and you'll have to fight your way through to see it. When we went, there were a people who literally DID NOT MOVE for more than ten minutes and just stood there staring at the thing. Just because people are cultured, doesn't mean they have manners.

That said, it's definitely worth seeing. Usually housed in a museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, this is the first time The Milkmaid has been seen in this city since the 1939 World's Fair. Check it out if you can.

Yankees ACLS Game 1

Last night your humble shlub had the pleasure of going to the first game in the American League Championship Series where our very own Yankees battled the Los Angeles Angels. It was the place to be in the city last night and, happily, it turned out to be a good game. The Bronx Bombers won!

The weather report for last night was ominuous with forcasts of heavy rain and freezing temperatures. Fortunately, the rain only appeared lightly at the beggining and end of the game, and the temperature never fell below 40 degrees. The wind was mild too. So even though the weather was colder than usual, we were comfortable and enjoyed the show.

The Yankees scored two runs in the first inning and two more later in the game. Even though there were no homeruns, Damon, Jeter, and A-Rod earned their salaries with some hard line drives down the center, getting the players on base, and then delivering with some tight runs to homeplate. Damon scored twice and, in the most dramatic moment of the night, A-Rod slammed into the Angels catcher to take home. The Angels only scored one run and the final score was 4/1 Yankees.

The real star of this game was CC Sabathia. Man, that guy can pitch! He was awesome, at the top of his game. He did everything a great pitcher should and struck out Angel after Angel. He was quick on his feet, pivoted at the drop of the dime, and wore the Angels down. The Angels pitcher was no match for CC who truly showed why he's a great Yankee. Manny came in during the 8th inning to finish the Angels off and leave us fans singing "New York, New York" in celebration on our way out.

So while it may not have been the most exciting, wild game ever, it showed why the Yankees are a great team: surgical hitting, great pitching, marvelous technical skill. A hell of a team.

This also marked my very first trip to the new stadium. I have to say, I liked it. The seats were good, plenty of footroom, and the bathrooms and vendors were easily accessible. I'm no expert at what makes a great ballpark but I think this one does the city proud. It may not be the House that Ruth built, but I think the Babe would approve.

First Bloomberg/Thompson Mayoral Debate Part 1

NYCoitus Interruptus

You must read this story. It's a hilariously sad tale from this week's New York Press about a local girl who tried to lose her virginity to a rather sorry dude -- and failed!

Ouch ... or maybe not?

It takes a special kind of bravery to admit, as a girl, that you couldn't easily be de-girled. Talk about brutal honesty (and it's brutal). Gotta give this author props though, I'd never have the chutzpah to share such a story with the world.

Also, I've never heard of a woman who ever had a problem accomplishing this particular goal. It's always seemed like one of the few natural advantages women had over the male gender. For guys, it often seems that brokering Mideast peace is easier than scoring chicks, but for girls ... they just need ask ...

I always like it when my naive illusions are shattered. You go girl.

Good News/Bad News

So Hiram Monserrate -- the State Senator who, when not busy assaulting his girlfriend, is busy in the backrooms cutting deals with Democrats and Republicans to acquire more power -- was convicted of misdemeanor assault but acquitted of a felony. This man slashed his girlfriend's face, nearly disfiguring her permanently ... and it's a misdemeanor. He might go to jail for only a year and it's not clear if he'll lose his Senate seat.

Wow.

This guy is a first-class sleaze, a criminal opportunist who clearly has contempt for women and also contempt for the public when he joined in that little State Senator coup last June. People go to jail for a lost less than this. Here's the interesting thing: he was "convicted" by a judge, not a jury. Hmmm ... Monserrate is an politician and judges are politicians (in fact if not in theory) ... think this judge was looking out for his own kind?

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Live from the Met!

It's amazing that these broadcasts have lasted for almost 80 years, and just another example of what makes New York such a great city.

Kurt Baum sang "Addio alla madre" followed by the finale from Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana."

The broadcasts start in December and go through May. You can listen to them here in NYC starting December 12 at 12:30 PM on WQXR 105.9 FM (this first opera is called Il Trittico)