NYC in 2012

2012 is one of those years -- a Leap Year, a Summer Olympics year, and a presidential election year. It's going to be a busy, busy year in America and around the world (add to the list that this year is Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee or 60th anniversary on the throne for even more interest).

So what about NYC? 

Hard to say. Nothing big -- like a mayoral election or political convention or Superbowl -- scheduled. Anything and everything "big" that might occur (like a World Series or the continuation of Occupy Wall Street) will happen by happenstance. 2011 taught us that A LOT of unexpected stuff can happen and to shape events. Only time will tell.

Talking about time, today is an anniversary of sorts: January 1, 2012 marks the 10th anniversary since Mike Bloomberg became mayor. Yes, that's right, he's been mayor for a whole decade now. It's getting hard to remember a time when he wasn't mayor. (If my kid had been born ten years ago when he became mayor, she'd be in the fourth grade by now. Scary). 

So the Decade of Bloomberg is official. And there's only two years to go! Let's hope for him, and the city, 2012 all goes well. That'll be good for all New Yorkers.

Lynn Samuels RIP

A little late in blogging about this but I was very sad to hear about the death of Lynn Samuels, the radio talk show host, who bounced around the airwaves of NYC for many decades.

She was a one of a kind, and a real New Yorker (or "Noo Yawka" as she would probably say). Her voice bled the city, her attitude and views were totally New York -- strong, in-your-face, honest, unpredictable, and one-of-a-kind. She an iconoclast: a woman in a man's business, a liberal in a conservative world, a screeching voice in an industry that rewarded smoothness.

We probably won't see her likes again in radio ever.

Lynn Samuels broke every rule and offended every sensibility -- and for that, she'll deeply missed. 

Happy New Year NYC

Well, well well -- it's 2012.

And NYC has never been better.

Yours truly is doing well too -- as a sleep deprived but happy new daddy.

I will be posting as much as possible over the course of this new year. Of course, the baby will take much of my time. But I'll always find time for you, my loyal readers. I'm just that great a guy. 

Livin' Long Enough for the City

As someone who just became a father a week ago, it was a pleasant surprise to read today that the life expectancy of babies born in NYC beats the national average. Babies born in our fair city can now expect to live an average of 80.6 years while babies born nationwide can expect to live 78.2 years.

That's amazing!

Proof that living in NYC is great for your health. Cheers.

Mr NYC is a Daddy

Just a small note that my current and, probably, future lack of blogging is due to the birth of my Little Miss NYC yesterday.

Yes, as scary as the thought is, there is a wonderful little girl in this world tonight who calls the shlub who writes this blog Dad.

Thank you for all your kinds thoughts.  

Classic Mr NYC

The hit play from a couple years back, "God of Carnage", is now a movie directed by Roman Polanski, simply called "Carnage." 

It was a huge success on Broadway. It'll be interesting to see how popular the movie is.

Yours truly went to see the play back in 2009 and posted a little review of it here. 

Re-Imagine NYC?

NYC is a place that always changes -- including geographically.

Trying to grasp how it has transformed over 400+ years is virtually impossible. The city's geography has evolved in countless ways. And it's not just the bridges and tunnels that have been built over the decades, nailing this city of islands together.  It's not just the buildings that populate our skylines. 

It's the land of NYC itself.

Manhattan was largely filled in by concrete, smoothing out the skinny islands rough edges. Wards and Randalls Islands used to be two separate islands until they were fused together. Same with the islands off the Bronx that were joined to form Orchard Beach. Central Park, Prospect Park, Flushing Meadows Park, etc. -- none of these green oasis existed until human beings created them. Our topography is a work in progress. 

And now comes another idea that is both horrifying and amazing: building a land bridge from Lower Manhattan to Governors Island. You read that right: essentially extending Manhattan island downwards until it meets and then subsumes Governors Island -- as this picture indicates. It's a wild idea. 

I don't know what I think about it. I like Governor's Island the way it is and needless to say the cost and controversy of doing something like this is so huge that I doubt it'll ever happen. But who knows? Maybe it will. 

Recently this was discussed on WNYC and has always been the subject of some articles. Research it for yourself and see what you think. 

Mitt takes Manhattan

Apparently Republican Presidential candidate Mitt "I'll say anything, take any position, be whatever you want me to be, whore myself out to anyone" Romney was in town today. He was showing what a salt of the earth, man of the people he is by spending the entire day raising money from hedge fund billionaires.

It's probably a good thing that he was surrounded by these rich people, since they're probably the only people in NYC who'll vote for him.  

As the great Matt Taibbi once wrote, Romney is an utter tool. He's as phoney a politician as I've ever seen and I really, really, really, really hope he loses. 

Even though I didn't vote for them, I felt sorry for John McCain and Bob Dole when they lost their presidential elections because those two men totally devoted their lives (even their bodies) to serving this country. Not Romney. He's devoted his life to serving Mitt Romney. He was born to wealth, grew up wealthy, spent his life getting wealthier, never served in the military, had trouble getting elected to office and then, when he did, had trouble staying in elected office, and now he thinks he should be president. 

Please. 

Unlike McCain and Dole, if he loses the nomination or the general election, it will fill me with nothing but joy. Go Mitt! (To defeat!)

City Talk: Pete Hamill, author, "Tabloid City" Part 1

City Talk: Pete Hamill, author, "Tabloid City" Part 2