Merry Leap Day as seen on '30 Rock'

Leap Day NYC

For some New Yorkers, this is their birthday.

Imagine -- they only have a birthday once every four years. That's gotta be tough.

Especially when it falls in the middle of the week -- makes it hard to go out and party.

See how some Leap Day New Yorkers are celebrating their birthdays.

Gotta Love New Yorkers

Well here's a funny story.

Apparently there's a lady named Holly Van Voast who likes to run around town taking her clothes off. She even went to St. Patrick's Cathedral au naturel. Naturally (ha ha) this gets her arrested quite a bit but public indecency.

J'accuse! 

But there's a method to her madness. She wants a reality show. I guess she thinks this will work.

She's quoted in this article as saying, "Nothing works like t*ts." 

S**t Politicians Say

If you've been watching the Republican Presidential primary freak show of 2012, the most entertaining part is hearing all of the dumb things that Williard Mittens Romney has been saying. Well, not really dumb things actually -- just things that show what a rich, out of touch, clueless elitist he is -- "I'm not concerned about the very poor," etc.  

Hard to remember but two years ago another politician, a carpetbagger named Harold Ford, thought about running in a Democratic primary against New York Senator Gillibrand. In the run up to the primary (that never happened), he also said one dumb thing after another that showed he lived in a rich man's world.   

If you want a side-by-side comparison of Romney and Ford, you should read this.

And be thankful both men are out of public office -- and hopefully will be forever.

Woody Wins

NYC should proud today.

Last night NYC's premiere filmmaker Woody Allen won his fourth Academy Award -- Best Original Screenplay for "Midnight in Paris." For the last 35 years, Woody has been nominated 23 times -- fifteen of them for best original screenplay (a record), seven times for best director, and once for best actor. 

And he has never shown up to collect any of them.

Most filmmakers would dream of being nominated as many times as Woody has. For most actors, writers, and directors, an Oscar nomination (and win), is a once in a lifetime thing. Some get nominated a few times over their careers -- and those are the really lucky ones. 

But Woody breathes the most rarefied of air. His string of nominations over the last four decades puts him the category of writers and directors like John Ford, Billy Wilder, David Lean, and Steven Spielberg. For him, an Oscar nomination (and the occasional win) is no big deal.

And he doesn't care at all.

Why? Let him explain for himself. 

Whole Foods Comes to the Gowanus Canal

In one of the most godforsaken parts of Brooklyn, heck, of the whole city, a Whole Foods may rise.

That means people who live in the middle of a food desert may soon be able to get organic yogurt, porcini mushrooms, fancy olive oils, and all sorts of neat, fancy stuff -- even though there isn't even a decent regular supermarket nearby.

What it will mean for this part of the city, who knows? Is it a sign of progress or encroaching development?

Only time will tell. 

Long Island City Rising

For years, LIC was sort of a forgotten neighborhood. Nestled in Northwest Queens, it lies in the shadow the Queensborough Bridge and sits between hip Williamsburg and funky Astoria. It was, and has been, a neighborhood without an identity but in recent years it has become a land of highrises and young families.

This article explores how LIC is now a booming neighborhood. Look out Park Slope!

International NYC Redux

A few years ago, my family and I visited China. Shortly after blogging about that trip, I blogged about the interconnected global village we all live. When you visit a KFC in the Beijing airport, you realize the world has indeed shrunk.

The world is big and small at the same time. Or flat, as others have called it. 

Living in NYC, you are acutely aware of living in the capital of the world. We are not just a great American city, we are not only an international city like London or Tokyo, we are the capital of the world because this is where the world comes together.

This is the home of Ellis Island and the United Nations. This is a city with whole neighborhoods defined by the nationalities that populate them (Little Italy, two Chinatowns, Koreans in Flushing, Greeks in Astoria, Russians in Brighton Beach, Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg, and on and on). This is where the Statue of Liberty sits, a symbol not only of our nation's liberty but a beacon to the world -- Lady Liberty, that Mother of Exiles, calling the poor, tired huddled masses from Ancient lands yearning to be free.

As much as I write about NYC on this blog, I also like to write about wherever I travel to in the USA and the world. So far I've traveled to, and blogged about, China, Venice, Paris, London, Portland, New Orleans, and Kansas City. I've also blogged about the various exhibits at the Met that have an international flavor. And the neighborhood I live in, Astoria, is not only the Greek capital of NYC but also the Egyptian capital of NYC -- and the Arab Spring has not only taken place in Cairo and Libya and Tunisia but also on Steinway Street. 

NYC is the world.

And learning more about the world is always fascinating. 

Increasing, like a lot of Americans, I've gotten sick of watching the TV news because so much of it is dumb and cynical. Also, American news poorly covers the world. But if you live in NYC (and have cable), you not only live in the capital of the world but the world can literally come into your living room. On our cable system, we have some of the best international cable channels available. Now a lot of them are in other languages but several of the best ones are in English. Specifically, CNN International, Al Jazeera English, Russian Today, and CCTV (the Chinese English service). Also, you can find BBC World News on most PBS stations. 

If you want to find these channels on your dial, go to the Time Warner website or flip around on the remote.


The quality of the reporting on these international stations is vastly superior to regular network and cable news. You learn so much about the world in which we live that you feel much smarter after watching it. And when you live in NYC, the capital of the world, it's great to have these international cable channels to compliment this international city. 

Spa Castle

Recently the wife and I took a break from parent duty and spent an afternoon at Spa Castle in Queens. To put it bluntly, this place is great!

Nestled in the somewhat remote neighborhood of College Point, from the outside Spa Castle looks like nothing more than your usual nothing special building. But inside is an amazing world. You walk in the door and pay your $35 daily fee (it's more on weekends) and are given a small watch like thing to put around your wrist. Then you go into the locker room, put your shoes in a small locker and your regular clothes in a bigger locker. Then you changed into a uniform, basically a pair of shorts and a Spa Castle t-shirt. If you want to swim (and, trust me, you want to swim), you wear your swimsuit underneath your uniform. T

hen you ascend the stairs into the spa, and you come into Nirvana.

Spa Castle has three stories: a main level with a Sauna Alley (there's like seven or eight different saunas you can visit), a sleeping area (I kid you not!), as well as a small food court and the massage stations (you have schedule one if you want one, and they cost extra). Then there's another small level that has places where you can rest as well as get foot massages (again, costs extra). Then, above this level, is the level where you can swim. Well, not swim exactly -- wade. There are indoor and outdoor pools that have all sorts of jacuzzi jets and handle bars so you can wade, get pelted with hot water, and just sit around. Best of all, there's one pool where you can sit on chairs in front of tables and order drinks!.

If you or some friends or a loved one would like a fun day to relax, refresh and enjoy yourselves, Spa Castle is definitely worth the money. Some suggestions: you don't really need to spend more than about four hours there to get the full benefits. Also, the food is very expensive so, if you can eat before or afterwards, I'd suggest that. Also, the massages and extra services are costly as well but they are really good and worth getting. 

We went on a Friday during the regular work week and it was pretty crowded so I would imagine that the weekends are insane (plus more expensive). I'd advise going on a day off work with your friends. Also, while Spa Castle is technically a Korean place, there's a nice balance of Asian, white, black and Hispanic people there -- it's practically like a Benetton ad. 

So Spa Castle gets a big thumbs up from Mr NYC!

In last 2010, on the now cancelled show "Bored to Death," there was an episode set at Spa Castle. It was called "Escape from the Castle" -- but, believe me, if you go, you won't want to escape.