History Down the Block

When you walk down the streets in NYC, you're really walking through history.

I'm not just talking about the historic sights or tourist attractions. I'm not talking about passing great buildings like the Empire State or places like Fraunces Tavern. I'm talking about the homes and businesses that make up our neighborhoods, and the people and families that live and have lived there, sometimes for generations. Together they tell the story of our city.

And that history surrounds us -- and we interact with it daily. 

I've lived in two neighborhoods in NYC -- Morningside Heights and Astoria -- and in both there are people who have lived there for decades, if not all there lives. They remember the old stores, the old buildings. They remember when there was a movie theater on that corner, a fish store on that. I remember the old mom and pop drugstore that sadly went out of business -- replaced by the chain drugstores. But I'm heartened that Chinese laundry that opened in the 1950s is still there. 


And there are still some of these old businesses hanging on in our city. In this era of chain stores, franchises, and mega-marts, these are defiant stand-outs that have managed to survive the corporate onslaught. A great article today looks at how some of these small businesses have hung on while the neighborhoods they exist in have changed -- some for the better, some for the worse -- but how they have all kept the history of their neighborhoods alive. We should be thankful and grateful that they have. 

Of course, nothing lasts forever. Some day all of these businesses will be gone. History will be replaced with more history (hey, even Borders is going out of business so not even the big stores are immune).   

Of course, nothing lasts forever. Some day, all of these businesses will gone. For example, the original Ray's pizza is closing in Little Italy. Not the Original Ray's Pizza or Ray's Original Pizza or any of the countless Ray's knock-offs -- no, the original Ray's Pizza that's been a hallmark of its neighborhood since 1959. This was an iconic pizza shop, a place where New Yorkers of all stripes went to get a slice. No more. On September 25, it will close. And a little bit of NYC's history will be lost. 

Riots in the Streets! So says our mayor

On the Street where George Carlin Lived ...

Many a time on this blog, I have quoted and paid tribute to the brilliant, late comedian George Carlin. He was a legendary comedian, pushing social boundaries that most of us didn't even know existed, saying things most of us would never dare even to think about let along say out loud. 

His place in history was secured in the 1970s when his "Seven Dirty Words" monologue challenged FCC guidelines that ended up in a Supreme Court case, and then in 1975 he was the very first host of "Saturday Night Live." Over the decades he influenced and inspired every comedian who came after him and his insights on the insanity of American life made him the Mark Twain of his time (in fact Carlin was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for comedy).

Carlin was an American original -- and a native New Yorker. 

Best of all, he grew up in Morningside Heights -- my neighborhood! (I've only mentioned that on this blog a couple million times.) Now there is an effort underway to rename a part of 121st street, the street where Carlin lived on Morningside Drive, after the late genius. This effort is, not surprisingly, something that Carlin would have mocked and pointless vanity. But his daughter Kelli is supporting this drive and so are many others. Thus far, almost 3,500 people have signed this petition, including yours truly. It is a petition to Community Board 9 in Morningside Heights, formally requesting that this name change be considered. And I greatly encourage all of my readers all over the world to sign this petition as well.

Oh, and while some might thing this re-name is a bit silly, consider this: Carlin was a life long, avowed atheist and yet he grew up, as all of us Morningside Heights natives did, in the shadow of Riverside Church. So a street bearing the name of an infamous atheist just down the block from a house of worship has a certain irony to it -- and it's something that I'm sure the great one would have approved of.

Sign it now!

On the streets where they lived

In the early 1940s, the world was changing. Like now, it was a crazy time. 

We were at war. We were coming out of the depression. America was still reeling from the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the death camps in Europe were still a secret. One of our greatest presidents, FDR, was in office as was one of NYC's greatest mayors, Fiorello LaGuardia. For everyone in NYC and around the world, life was at a crossroads.

But then, as now, life still went on. 

Vendors sold hotdogs, people drank in bars, children played in the streets, and ships came into port. The routines of life and economy were and are perennial. 

Between 1938 and 1969, a photographer from Indiana named Charles Cushman came to NYC many times and took some of the best photos of this city that you could ever hope to see. He had a beautiful Kodachrome camera -- which took lush color photographs -- and he took lots of them.

This article contains some of the Cushman's best photos of NYC in 1941 and 1942. You have to see them to believe them, they are truly breathtaking. You can also see more of the other NYC pics he took on a Flicker page here. They're really amazing. 

The 9/11 Windfall

Fascinating article in the Village Voice about people who have literally profited over the last decade from 9/11.  What was tragedy and heartbreak for many became filthy lucre for some.

Our former mayor is the most famous example of 9/11 profiteering (he apparently is now worth $52 million -- wow!). But this exploitation of tragedy for profit goes way beyond him and includes companies that have gotten sketchy tax breaks to move to downtown Manhattan, "witnesses" to the attack who has gone on the lecture circuit, and the abuse of government contracts by shady security companies. There's also a myriad of strange "charities" and "non-profits" that have raised money off the attacks in order to "help" the victims, etc. It's been quite a cash cow.


Oh, and did you know that the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero is not a national memorial? No, it's a private, profit-making enterprise. And the people who run it are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year! There's even, I kid you not, 9/11 wine. Yes, you read that right.


The greatest tragedy in our nation's history has become a big business for many. Some people are evening calling it blood money -- but I'm not quite prepared to go that far.


Still, it's a tribute to the unending power of greed. The lust for money is never sated. Even this great tragedy was seen by many as a chance to cash in. These people aren't doing anything illegal (well, as far as we know), they just have no sense of decency and see everything as an opportunity to wheel and deal and make a quick buck. Hey, it's the American way. 

Politics ain't beanbag

There's a special election for Congress in Brooklyn and Queens today. The polls close in less than two hours. It's a very conservative district and it'll probably go Republican tonight. That would be awful for NYC and America but these are crazy times. After all, a Democrat won a special congressional election in upstate New York this past May for a seat that had been Republican for eons. So anything is possible these days. 

These days, what's up is down and what's down is up. Everything's a mess.

The race is between Democrat David Weprin, who has proven to be a lousy candidate, and Republican Bob Turner, your typical Tea Party scumbag. This race basically comes down to this: the district is very old, very conservative, very religious, and very racist. Therefore they hate President Obama. So they think that by voting for this Republican they'll hurt and embarrass the president. Simple as that. 

And, wouldn't ya know, the filthy Republicans are up to their usual dirty tricks. Apparently the Turner campaign is jamming the Weprin campaign's phonez and now the Turner campaign has -- ready for this? -- "served papers" on the Weprin campaign challenging the election results -- and the polls haven't even closed yet! So the narrative the Republicans are trying to set up is this: if we win, great; if we lose, it was voter fraud. Republicans have always been sore losers and now they're sore winners! Scary.

But if the Democrats lose this one, they'll have no one to blame but themselves. They ran a lousy candidate and a lousy campaign. Weprin failed to effectively show what a lying fraud Turner and Weprin made gaffe after gaffe. The good news is that this district is probably not going to exist after next year so, whoever wins, he'll have a short career in congress. And that's the only good thing about this awful, miserable election.

Bloomberg on Curb Your Enthusiasm

Mr NYC Looks Back

If you'd like a to look back at how 9/11 has been remembered or referenced on this blog, please click on this link and you'll find a variety of posts over the years. I hope they shed some light -- and boost our sorely sad spirits on this day.

National Sept. 11 Memorial: A Look Back

The Arrogance of Power

Mayor Bloomberg has managed to avoid most of the ugly, petty scandals that dog so many politicians. His money and popularity, for years, kept him above reproach. But his popularity has plummeted and his share of problems have increased (Cathie Black, the snowstorm, City Time, etc.). Now, for the first time in his decade in power, Bloomberg's has been revealed to be just another politician.

Last month, Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith resigned, allegedly because he wanted to go back into the private sector and because he was ill-suited for the job. He is widely blamed for screwing up the December snowstorm response and he seemed more interested in fancy ideas instead of the nuts and bolts of governing. So when he resigned it was shrugged off by Bloomberg and the press as, "Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time but it just didn't work out."

But that wasn't true. 

Turns out, Goldsmith resigned because he was arrested in DC in July for domestic violence. Now that's bad but what made it worse was that Bloomberg covered it up! He lied to the public at the time, said basically, "The guy's resigning because he's unhappy in the job and we don't like him anymore." Bloomberg NEVER revealed the real reason and it dribbled out in the most sleazy manor.

And what's Bloomberg's response now that scandal has been revealed? Total indifference. He basically says "Oh, I didn't want to embarrass the guy so that's why I didn't reveal it. But I liked him and would have kept him in the job anyway." Bloomberg flunked the basic lesson of Political Scandal 101: it's not the crime but the cover-up. Had he just said at the time the real reason why Goldsmith resigned, then there would be no scandal. It would be out he goes and that's the end of it. Shameful.

This shows you who Mike Bloomberg really is at his core. He is supremely arrogant man. And this is the arrogance of power in action: protecting your friends, and yourself by extension, by deceiving everyone else. It's wrong -- and our mayor should be ashamed of himself.