Occupy Wall Street: The Collector's Edition

Ever since the Occupy Wall Street movement sprang to life last September, debates have raged about whether or not this is a passing fad or an historic change in the flow of American politics, economics, and culture. Needless to say, Americans Left and Right have very different ideas about the impact of OWS -- but it's made its mark, nonetheless.

And now it's being collected.

The New-York Historical society has been acquiring kitsch and knickknacks and stuff that has been produced by OWS: posters, news releases, lists of demands, and various odds and ends. So far they have about twelves items that they have indexed and produced here on the Vanity Fair website. It's interesting to look at but what's probably more interesting is whether or not one day there'll be an actual OWS exhibit or whether or not this stuff will put in some box in the bowels of the NYHS, to be forgotten about. 

We shall see (or not).

S**t New Yorkers Say

And then there were four ...

... Republican city council members, that is.

Until today, there were five. But Peter Koo -- a Republican member from Flushing, Queens who was elected in 2009 -- is apparently planning to become a Democrat next week. That means the Democratic advantage of 45/51 will become 46/51. Not exactly an earth shattering political realignment but a change nonetheless.

Two of the four Republicans on the city council are from Staten Island, and their seats are as safe as can be. The two others are from Queens and are in seats previously held by Democrats. One of them (Ulrich) is pretty safe. The other (Halloran, who I've blogged about on here before) is probably the most vulnerable. Next year, we might end up with only three Republican city council.

A blogger can dream can't he?

Once more into the breach ... of contract

Last year New Yorkers and tourists alike guffawed at the bloated mess that was the "Spider-Man" musical.

It was a $75 million train wreck of bad songs, confusing story lines, and accidents galore. It was shaping up to the biggest disaster in the history of Broadway and the clock seemed to be ticking on when it would close and all the investors would lose their shirts. 

Then the producers got smart: they closed the show down, fired the director, Julie Taymor, brought in some new writers to fix the songs and story, worked out the kinks, re-opened it ... and the show actually turned out to be a success! 

But this musical is far from having a happy ending -- yet. 

Now the producers and Ms. Taymor are suing and counter suing each other for breach of contract. They are dumping emails and private information into publically filed lawsuits, bringing the whole nightmare back to life and giving this show -- which was just getting over its bad press -- even more bad press.  

You gotta be a genius to do something this dumb. 

And I don't know who's dumber: Julie Taymor, for suing the producers of a show that she almost wrecked, or the producers for not quietly settling with her and putting this whole situation behind them. It's not just about money, clearly -- it's about ego. What's really dumb, is that Taymor and these producers seem to want to drag "Spider-Man" down with it at just the moment its fortunes seems to be turning around.

Oh what a tangled "Spider-Man" web we weave when first we sue ... 

A Giants Bet

Daddy duties have prevented me from blogging lately but I did manage to catch the recent Giants/Packers game last Sunday where our hometown team beat Green Bay and landed in the NFC Championship Game. Big Blue will be playing against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday and the heat is on: whoever wins goes straight to the Super Bowl.

Needless to say, I'm rooting for the Giants. 

So is the entire City of New York and, of course, dear Mayor Bloomberg. He made a bet with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. If we win, San Fran will send us some sourdough bread and hang a Giant flag from a cab car. If they win, 49th street and Broadway will (hopefully temporarily) be named 49ers street and we'll be sending them bagel.

Interesting: the Giants and 49ers have a long history of playing against each other in championship games. The 49ers have a 4 to 3 edge over us -- something that will hopefully be evened out this Sunday. 

Dolan named Cardinal

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.