Signs of the Time

Just a couple of man-made signs that I saw in NYC today. They conjured up mixed emotions in me.

Dubbing a table sexy is quite cool but, sadly, the sexiest thing about the sexy table was the sign.

Also, it was great to see a sign in the subway on the weekend announcing normal service. Sadly, it's become such a rare occurrence that it did, appropriately, make the exclamation point necessary. 

Alexander McQueen at the Met

Just came back from the Alexander McQueen show at the Metropolitan Museum. This has been a surprising blockbuster exhibit, the biggest in the museum's history. Over half a million people have attended this show which ends on August 7th. The wife and I were able to get in this morning through a special member's entry time and entrance. Our membership has never felt so cheap because, on the way out, the lines were literally wrapping around the second floor with 2 hour waits. I've never seen anything like it in the twenty-odd years that I've been going to the Met. 

But enough about the hype.

Alexander McQueen was a brilliant fashion designer who, tragically, killed himself last year. I'll admit that I've never been a big fashion guy and knew nothing of McQueen's work. Yet I  can honestly say that I've never seen an exhibit quite like this. McQueen's designed clothes that seem to have been influenced by various styles and put together in totally original ways. His works are Asian, Venetian, and British -- all at the same time. Many of his clothes have a sadomasochistic theme (but not in a gross way). He designed shoes that look like they've been carved out of Chinese ivory. His work is that of a wild, brilliant imagination that is, at the same time, amazingly disciplined and intelligent.

McQueen also brought history and literature into his designs. (There are images of Jesus on them, for example.) His works have wonderfully descriptive names like Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims and Nihilism and Dante. There is also an an incredible hologram exhibit as well as, of all things, a Faberge egg. It's really a crazy, fun show and I can understand why it's become so popular.

There isn't much time left so go as quickly as you can. It's a once in a decade kind of exhibit and, sadly, is probably the last big McQueen one that will ever be staged.   

Discovering Jamaica Bay

Did you know that there's a public space in NYC that's bigger than Central Park?

Did you know that you can take a train from Times Square and end up in the wilderness?

Did you know that, amongst NYC's many wonders, we have a national park that contains over 300 species of birds?

It's called Jamaica Bay, one of those places you see on the map but don't think about much. It's just south of Kennedy Airport and is a giant salt water marsh spread over 20,000 acres spanning the southern edges of Brooklyn and Queens. The New York Times has a huge article and amazing video about this amazing natural preserve in the greatest city in the world.

Like most New Yorkers, I've never been there, but I hope to get there soon. 

Fortunately, the future of Jamaica Bay seems bright as a new generation of environmentalists and community activists are taking it upon themselves to save and preserve it. The pictures and video are amazing, seeing this wild and beautiful place with the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty in the background. It reminds you that as busy and sophisticated and overbuilt as NYC is, that we're still a part of nature and that we live in it. It's a reminder also that our city doesn't just build buildings and make money but also preserves its natural beauty and makes it accessible to all. 

And it's all just a subway ride away.

Robert Moses Revisionism

Recently I was sent an article about Robert Moses that attempted, awkwardly I must say, to revise and re-assess the master builder's legacy. You can read it here. 

Basically the argument is this: Moses did more good stuff than bad and, hey, he was a product of his times. It takes issue with The Power Broker and says that not everything in it is true.  

Well, I think this revisionism is nonsense. You should read my original review of The Power Broker here for the classic argument against the Moses legacy.

See, I grew up in the city that Moses built and I can say that the book is spot-on regarding his diminished legacy. This article lauds Moses for building bridges and, yes, he built lots of them -- with no accommodations for subway lines. Yes, he built lots of parks -- that are depressing and ugly. Yes, he built lots of public housing -- that was even more ugly and depressing. And he rammed so many highways through this town that it destroyed neighborhoods and flooded NYC with cars -- and for this, there is no counter argument.

And the "product of his times" argument holds no water with me. There were lots and lots of people at the time who told him he was wrong and who advocated for increased public transportation, for building fewer highways and building ones in ways that didn't destroy neighborhoods, for not cutting off access to the city's waterfront, and for building better public housing. Moses was not a victim of any kind of group-think: he was an arrogant, abusive man who misshaped NYC and there were lots of people telling him at the time that this was disastrous -- and he didn't listen. 

So beware the revisionists! Beware those who wish "to set the record straight." It's like people today who talk about Nixon and say, "Oh, besides that whole Watergate thing, he was a great president."  Or LBJ: "Besides that whole Vietnam thing, he was a great president."

Same thing with Moses: "Oh yeah, he destroyed neighborhoods, flooded the city with cars, built ugly and depressing public parks and housing, and starved badly needed public transportation of money, all of which still plagues us to this day but really, the good outweighs the bad." 

Ha! Please. Revisionism is a feeble attempt to make bad people and bad decisions look less bad. To somehow portray a negative legacy as a good one. It's an Orwellian exercise, like trying to make two plus two equal five. And it reminds me of that old joke: "Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Hollywood on the Hudson

Increasingly, New York City is turning into one giant movie and TV set. According to this article, there are now 23 prime time TV series being filmed in our fair city. Can you believe that? I didn't even there were 23 scripted shows left on prime time TV!

And here's where it gets weird: you'd think that all the shows and movies being shot here are set in NYC. But they're not! The Good Wife shoots here but is set in Chicago. The Oscar-winning Scorsese movie The Departed was mostly filmed here but was set in Boston. And believe this if you can but the mini-series of Mildred Pierce was shot here and New York was made to substitute for Los Angeles. Haha! Take that LA!

Increasingly, shows like Friends and Seinfeld that were set in NYC but shot in LA are a thing of the past. And that's a great thing too because nothing drove me more crazy than seeing movies and TV shows set in NYC but that looked and felt nothing like the real city. There's a great and very weird show on FX called Louie about the moron comic Louie CK that's set in NYC and it is the most realistic, NYC-feeling show I've seen since Law and Order. 

While it's great that so many productions are set here, the only problem is that they're taking up a lot of space in a city that has little to spare. Streets and sidewalks get blocked off and people are inconvenienced. But if, in these hard times, its pushing cash into the economy than we can't complain.

Media Meltdown!

Well, not really, I just liked the catchy title.

Actually, there's some very good news about the news in NYC. Too whit:

1. The Murdoch scandal continues to grow and grow, now with former News Corp. executives saying that James Murdoch lied before the British Parliament. The longer this scandal goes on, and the worse it gets, the more damage it does to News. Corp (which owns The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal). Hopefully that means that Murdoch will lose control of both newspapers and that'll be a great thing for real journalism in NYC.

2. And talking about legitimate journalism, The New York Times is back! Okay, so it never went away, but two years ago it was in dire financial shape, on the verge of going out of business. But some smart moves by the paper's leaders, including the new pay wall, have apparently born financial fruit. Now the paper of record is moving towards a brighter future and this is great news for real journalism.

3. Breaking news! Fortune magazine has just published a blistering expose on its leading competitor Forbes, revealing that the magazine is in dreadful financial shape. Forbes is run by Steve Forbes, the loathsome Republican son of closeted homosexual Steve Forbes, and is a leading proponent of mean-spirited trickle-down economics. It seems that those champions of fiscal discipline aren't very good at it themselves.

4. But not all is well in the NYC media universe. Rock radio in NYC is basically dead. Last week, WRXP dumped its alternative rock format and became another boring adult contemporary station. Now there is no place to hear great bands like Foo Fighters, the Pixies, or Nine Inch Nails. The only thing left really is the classic rock station Q104.3 but that's all old stuff, not new, cutting edge music. While this might be a great victory for doctors offices and retail stores in the Tri-State area, it's loss for those who love interesting music.

So not all news is bad news -- or good. It's just the way of the world.

Bloomberg Blues

Mike Bloomberg has been mayor of NYC for almost a decade. That's a long time. He's been mayor so long that it can truly be called an era. And there's two-and-a-half years to go!

But exhaustion as set in. 

Mayor Mike appears to be just going through the motions now in his bought-and-paid-for third term. Remember how incredibly important it was for him to serve again that the city council flouted the public will and voted to let him run again? Well, now that he has t his extra term, what exactly has he done with it? Mike seems tired of the job that he paid more than $200 million to get. And even his strongest allies, the press, and many of his past supporters seem to be getting bored with him. As for the rest of us regular folks: we're like hostages in solitary confinement, marking the days off on the wall, waiting for that blessed day when Mike will be Mayor no more. 

This is a vampire mayoralty now, dead but still walking around, sucking every one's metaphorical blood out in order to survive. 

Yet make no mistake about it: we're still living in Bloomberg's NYC. His money and power remain, even if his public support does not. He has squeezed middle class NYC to the breaking point, the poor are truly poorer and the gap between rich and poor has never been wider. But it has never been a better time to be rich in NYC. After all, they have a mayor who caters to their every whim, their every desire. The rest of us shlubs? We're just trying to survive.

Government Is the Solution

At least when it comes to the Bronx that is. Read this.

Howard Stern's First Day on 92.3 K-Rock (November 18, 1985)

Gay Marriage Begins in NYC