Barely Dressed, Wildly Free: NYC's Weirdest Party

 

Congestion Pricing: It's a Hit!

In April 2007, literally just over a month after I started this blog, I first blogged about then-Mayor Bloomberg's proposal for congestion pricing.

That was 18 friggin' years ago! At the time, the politics for it were awful  and legislation for it kept dying ... and dying ... and dying. Finally, it passed, although there were lawsuits, the governor delayed its implementation, and there was even intervention from the criminals in the Trump administration to stop it.

Well, it all eventually failed. 

Three mayors, four governors, four presidents, and more than 3000+ blog posts later, congestion pricing finally took effect at the beginning of this year. And now the results are in and it's clear as day: congestion pricing is a smashing success!

It has generated $500 million in revenue in six months, and will generate a billion by the end of the year that will go to MTA improvements. Traffic delays are down, cars are getting through the tunnels faster, traffic deaths are down, and more people are using public transportation which is good for the environment and good for MTA revenues.

This is what good, people-focused public policy looks like, and BRAVO to all the politicians and activists who made it happen and SHAME to all those who tried to stop it!

Mets vs. Yankees -- July 5th, 2025

Excellent subway series game. Both teams played well but the Mets played REALLY well, and the final score was a stunning 12-6 (Mets win).

Not to sound too arrogant but I think this game might go down in history, like the 1951 Shot Heard 'Round the World. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but it was an amazingly tense, high pressure game -- the kind of game you want to see when you shell out dough and sit in a blazing hot stadium for three hours. And don't usually see both teams scoring like that in one game.

And damn -- Pete Alonso is one helluva power hitter, the dude made two homers in the game, and he's closing in on Daryl Strawberry's record. Wow!

I did the best I could getting pictures and videos but our seats weren't great and people kept getting up and down in front of us so here's my personal pics/vids:

And here's the game:

Two Classy Brits Talk Zohran Mamdani

There's nother weirder than listening to two upper class British dudes talk about NYC politics. Last year they talked about the legal predicament of Mayor Adams (that was interesting/weird) but this conversation, starting at 9:24, is really interesting -- they're impressed by Zohran and his superior political skills.

I hope they interview him sometime -- truly evidence that NYC is the Global City. 

Zohran Wins ... BY A LOT!

Three weeks ago I asked the question Can Zohran Win?

Seemed reasonable at the time, the polls were close and Andrew Cuomo looked like the favorite in the Mayoral Democratic primary.

Well, now it's official -- Zohran won by 12%!

That's, yeah, A LOT -- and basically unheard of in a multi-candidate, competitive primary. 

Now its onto November where Zohran will be running against the insane Curtis Sliva (the GOP candidate) and the corrupt failed Mayor Adams who's running as an independent. It's gonna be a rough, nasty, ugly campaign but, fingers crossed, hopefully Zohran triumphs and Eric can go back to New Jersey and Curtis can go home to his cats. 

Excelsior! 

Mr NYC Described by AI

Central Park Pool Opens

Mr NYC Twofer

So today is a combined Classic Mr NYC and Mr NYC Ahead of His Time post:

First, the Waldorf-Astoria is reopening after an eight-year renovation. Mr NYC spent his wedding night there. Read about that here and then watch this story about the new Waldorf below:

Second, there's a new book about how the English gained control of Manhattan island from the Dutch. Well, yours truly wrote about it back in 2017 so read that post here and read the excerpt from this new book here.

The Biggest Political Upset in NYC History?

These people seem to think so -- they discourse about it at 20:24.

I don't know if Zohran can win the general election but he's without a doubt a genuine political talent, a natural, and they fact that he's brown, Muslim and left-wing scares the wits out of the rich, powerful, and old. He's the future -- and they know it because the future always wins. 

Zohran Wins, Heads Explode

Now Zohran hasn't actually won the mayoralty -- he still has to win the general election in November. It looks like there's going be a cluttered and super nasty general election campaign. He'll be up against the Republican candidate, the always crazy Curtis Sliwa, and Mayor Adams himself, running as an independent.  

Expect super racist, fear-mongering propaganda to flood NYC for the next four to five months -- the NY Post will go nuts on him, and he'll get little actual support from the Democratic party. 

And you should also watch this interview from CNBC who gives you an insight into his enemies minds. This prick totally contradicts himself when he says that city hasn't recovered since COVID but there's also not enough housing to match the city's job creation. Dig the logic: "The city is in crises, people are leaving! And too many people want to live here!" The truth: NYC has a bigger population than ever before, 8.4 million. Between 2010 and 2020 over 600,000 people moved in -- that's the equivalent of the entirety of Miami moving here. The DEMAND to live here is greater than the SUPPLY to house everyone -- that's capitalism, something I thought CNBC understood. And usually demands increases, and therefore prices go up, because it's a highly desirable product.

People move in and out of NYC all the time for work, family issues, life changes, many reasons, that's been true since the time the Dutch ruled this town. This focus on how rich people feel about this town is gross -- without a vibrant middle class that can afford to live here we'll turn into a dead city. I don't know if Zohran can actually achieve his goals but the voters clearly want someone who'll try.

I strongly advise watching these two videos from the Bulwark, one that analysis Zohran's victory and the other with an interview with Zohran himself. He's a natural politician, a super talent, one of a kind. 

Something I also learned: he's another Morningside Heights kid! Zohran, George Carlin, Fiona Apple and moi are all residents of those strange streets around Columbia University. Very cool. 

Also, apparently Zohran did very well in Waterfront NYC -- Queens (Astoria, LIC) and Brooklyn (Williamsburg, Gowanus) that's now being renamed the Commie Coast. Cute.