Never Sleeping ...

Several years ago I interviewed the authors of a book called Nightshift NYC about the city's overnight workers. This was in follow-up to another post I wrote about the romantic allure of NYC in the dead of night. It's such a beautiful idea: the big, crazy, multitudinous city becoming, for several hours, a kind of ghost town -- a calm, mysterious, lightly-populated dreamscape. 

New York City at night ... it's a subculture all its own. Not only was a book written about it but even the great Martin Scorsese himself made a movie about it! 

And speaking of movies, I recently recorded a movie off Turner Classic Movies that aired at four in the morning (having a full-time job and being a full-time dad makes staying up that late to watch a movie rather impossible). But while the movie itself was "eh" I LOVED the intro that TCM played just before it started. The intro even has a its own name: "Open All Night."

This intro perfectly captures what I love about NYC at night: the jazzy, funky, romantic, mellow vibe and mood; the soft visuals, the casual attitude -- everything about it is just right. If you want to know what NYC overnight feels like to me, this perfectly (in an almost cliched way) brings it to life:

Oh, and speaking about NYC at night, recently the Jimmy Kimmel show was taping in Brooklyn, and the always entertaining Howard Stern made a memorable appearance. Late night NYC isn't always so quiet:

NYC at night ... it's always interesting. 

"Nighthawks" -- The Eternal NYC Noir Enigmatic Masterpiece

Some paintings are breathtaking for their beauty or dazzling in their imagery (think Vermeer or J.W. Turner or most Renaissance paintings).

Some paintings tickle our brain with their complexity (think Jackson Pollack or George Seurat).

Some paintings are iconic for what they represent (think the romance of the “Mona Lisa” or the fiery political passion of “Guernica”).

And some paintings are memorable for their mystery.

No painting is more memorably mysterious than Edward Hopper's 1942 masterpiece “Nighthawks.” 

It's the painting that defines New York City noir. It's haunting, beautiful, and simple. “Nighthawks” depicts the exterior of a coffee shop on an anonymous downtown street, most probably Greenwich Village. Light emanates out of the window onto a dark, empty sidewalk. Through the window we see two men in suits sitting at the enormous counter along with a woman in a red dress. A uniformed man behind the counter bends over.

What is the man doing? What is he getting under the counter? What are the man and woman sitting next to each other talking about? Why is the other man sitting at the counter alone? Where is the door that leads from the street into the coffee shop -- and why don't we see it? What time of the night is it? Why is no else around? What’s going on?

The picture is nothing but mystery -- unanswered, unanswerable questions, an eternal enigma. Its simplicity -- the chromatic uniformity of the people’s clothes, the street, the buildings, all of the images -- gives us little to go on. All we know is that the coffee shop is called "Phillies". And each cup of coffee costs five cents (the going rate in 1942).

That's it. That's all. 

That's genius.

When Edward Hopper painted “Nighthawks” in 1942, the world was at war. New York was still a city of factory workers, tenement dwellers, and average Joes. The city was recovering from the Depression along with the rest of the country. It was a time when the future seemed uncertain (much like now). The mystery of those times, the spirit of those times and the haunting the New York that captured it, is reflected in the painting, and that's what makes it masterpiece.

I've blogged a lot about my love of NYC at night -- the jazzy, sexy, mysterious, dangerous feel of it. There's a hint of crime, of secret transgression about it. “Nighthawks” not only captures that mood perfectly but defines it. Not for nothing this painting has become an American icon, parodied and lionized throughout American culture (for example, The Simpsons or TCM's Open All Night intro).

How did “Nighthawks”, this ultimate NYC painting, come to be? Why has it endured?

Listen to this extensive segment from Studio 360 about the painting's creation and amazing legacy. In many ways, it asks more questions than it answers -- much like the painting itself. Sadly you can't see Nighthawks in NYC -- it belong to the Art Institute of Chicago. So if you're ever in the Windy City, perhaps drop in and see this ultimate piece of New York lore.

Mr NYC in Kansas City

One of the reasons for my radio silence the past couple of weeks is that I was out of town for a few days -- in that jewel of the American heartland Kansas City, Missouri.

KC is one of those cities many people have heard of but very few ever visit. It's not, strictly speaking, a great tourist town but it has a unique charm that is worth checking out.

First and foremost, it is a GREAT food town. KC is the best BBQ city in America bar none (and I looove BBQ). Our first night there we ate at Arthur Bryant's, considered by many the single best BBQ joint in the country. When you walk in, you think you're in a low-rent cafeteria from the 1970s. Everyone lines up with trays to get their food at a covered counter. The menu is simple and the prices reasonable. But OH MY GOD IS IT GOOD! I had the pork ribs (mmmmm) and the burnt-ends (MMMMMMMMMMMMM). Burnt ends are literally burnt portions of brisket that are cut-off and smothered in a spicy BBQ sauce. If you ever have the priveledge of eating in this joint, you must order the burnt ends -- along with rest of the menu. Getting hungry just thinking about it.

Some other goods eats: Town Topic. This is something we have increasingly few of in NYC -- a good old fashioned greasy spoon. It's basically a trailer that has amazing burgers. It's sort of like Shake Shack except better, cheaper, and funkier. If you ever find yourself in KC and are in need of a quick bite (particlarly if you're drunk and it's 2 AM - this place is open 24 hours), then you'll love this place.

Our fine dining experience was at Pierpont's Steakhouse, located in KC's beautifully refurbished Union Station. This has to be one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever eaten in, with heigh ceilings and marble walls. There's a great bar in front of a huge pane of glass with very high shelves for the booze. The bartenders occasionally walk up the ladders to get bottles, it's quite a site. The food was fantastic, and I had a delicious steak with all the fixins' and amazing red wine.

The final culinary destination, the morning we left, was a place called Niece's where we had a really great breakfast. Best of all, they have wonderful grits -- yes, I will admit it: I'm a New Yorker who likes grits. And if you have a problem with that, well then ... kiss my grits!

But we did more than just eat in KC -- although if that's all we did it still would have been worth it. We visited the beautiful Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art that has a wonderful collection. The most notable exhibit is the work of Thomas Hart Benton, the 20th century artist and grandson of the famous Missouri Senator. Also, the museum itself it quite a sight to see, with beautiful grounds that are decorated with four enormous badminton shuttlecocks -- some modern art to mesh with the old.

My favorite destination on this trip was our four hour visit to the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. Located in our 33rd President's hometown of Independence, MO, it is about half-an-hour outside KC and it is a charming place. You walk in and see a beautiful Thomas Hart Benton mural designed especially for the museum. Then, after paying your admission, you can walk into a recreation of Truman's Oval Office. A voice clicks on, welcoming you to the museum, and is the voice of old Harry himself.

Then you go into the exhaustive number of exhibits about Harry's life, his improbable rise to our nation's highest office, the many challenges he faced in office (becoming President when FDR died, then dropping the bomb on Japan and ending WWII, implementing the Fair Deal and the Berlin Airlift, and the Marshall Plan, de-desegregating the army, winning an improbable election in 1948, fighting the the Korean War and firing General MacArthur, and on and on), and then how he returned to Independence after his presidency and became an elder statesman. There are several interactive aspects of the museum and it is not only a shrine to this president but also an educational experience, making us ask questions about ourselves as Americans -- and what we want out of our leaders.

I can't hide my biases here: I'm a huge Truman fan. He was one of our greatest presidents -- a humble man from a small town in middle America who re-made our world. He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things and his grit and determination -- particularly his policies of containment that eventually won the Cold war -- are today widely admired by all Americans. It's not surprising that today many of Truman's predecessors try to emulate him (even Republicans!). But none of them have yet proven to be his equal. As President Lyndon Johnson told Truman in a phone call in 1964, "We're all just a bunch of pygmies compared to you."

All in all, KC was a great trip and it's a great town. We stayed with a dear friend of mine who showed us it's wonder. Best of all, KC has the best airport in America. When you land, you walk out of your gate and are immediately in a hallway right outside the parking lot. There's not long treks from gate to gate or from the gate to the exits -- shaped like a circle, the KC airport is the most user-friendly I've ever been to. So Mr NYC gives KC a big thumbs up -- and looks forward to returning one day.

Boycott Shakespeare in the Park!

I'm a blogger, not a journalist, but this past week I decided to do a little shoe-leather reporting to see if I, a regular working stiff, could get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. And the results were disheartening. Consider this the first Mr NYC Investigative Report.

First, some background.

Shakespeare in the Park was the brainchild of Joseph Papp, the legendary founder of the Public Theater here in NYC. The child of immigrants, Papp grew up in dire poverty in Brooklyn and always believed that theater in general, and Shakespeare in particular, could enrich and change the lives of anyone exposed to it. He wanted to democratize theater, bring it the masses, bring it to people who couldn't otherwise afford to go. His vision for the Public Theater was of a place that would discover new playwrights and dramatic voices -- and also be affordable for average people.

In 1957, he started the Shakespeare in the Park festival where the best actors in the world would perform the Bard's plays in the open air at the Delecorte Theater -- and it would be totally free. This meant a welder from Brooklyn, a cab driver from Queens, a garbage collector from Staten Island, a store owner from Manhattan, or a housewife from the Bronx could take their kids to see a Shakespearean play and give them a cultural experience their economic circumstances would otherwise deny them. This was the heart of Papp's vision for Shakespeare in the Park, his driving dream.

Sadly, Papp's vision has fallen into complete disarray. Today, Shakespeare in the Park has become the exact opposite of what he intended -- an elitist, snobby, and expensive experience. It needs to change.

Last year it was announced that Al Pacino would appear in "The Merchant of Venice" at Shakespeare in the Park. I excitedly blogged about going to see it. I had tried and failed the year before to see "Twelfth Night" with Anne Hathaway so I was determined to see this production this year. But first I had to get tickets.

Now there are a few ways to get them: 1) get free tickets at the Delacorte the day of the show; 2) enter an online lottery at midnight on the day of the show; 3) make a $350 donation to the Public Theater.

Option 2 is obviously the least time-consuming, most cost-effective way to get tickets but you're more likely to get into Harvard Medical School with a full scholarship than actually win it. Option 3 is the most direct way but only rich people can afford $350 on theater tickets.

Too whit: I was recently listening to Howard Stern who said on air that some entertainment hot shot he knew in LA was flying in to see the show and had invited Howard to go with him. The fact that some out-of-town hotshot can "donate" $350 for tickets and take fellow hot shots with them is not, I think, what Papp envisioned for Shakespeare in the Park. And every ticket purchased through these "donations" is one less free ticket available to the public.

So, you might say, why not just go to the Delacorte and get the free tickets that are available? Aye, there's the rub.

See, only about half of the tickets for any given show are available at the Delacorte theater. The free tickets that are available are distributed at 1 PM the day of the show (the performance is at 8 PM). And this is where it gets crazy. People literally begin to line up an entire day in advance! The entrance to the Delacorte is at 81st street and Central Park West. Central Park doesn't open until 6 AM. So people literally sleep overnight outside the park. And the line starting at 81st street goes on ... and on ... and on ... and on ... and on ... and on ... and on ... and on ... you get the idea.

This past week I showed up at Central Park West and 81st street around 5 AM. I had gotten up at 3:30 AM and shlepted all the way from Queens to get there at that time. (I would have gotten there earlier but the trains and public transportation run slowly in the middle of the night.) I showed up and had to walk to 89th street to get to the end of the line. As I walked down the line I noticed that most of the people camped out were young and white, looking mostly like students, tourists, or the unemployed. Some of the people were clearly homeless but most of them were the aforementioned. (Just so you know I wasn't wrong about my observations: the people right ahead of me in the line were tourists from North Carolina. The people right behind me were unemployed educators. So there.)

At 6 AM the park gates opened and the line was herded into the park. Under the supervision of the line enforcers, we all walked down a path where the line stretched back ... and back ... and back ... and back ... Many of the people behind me (and there were lots who arrived after me) were told they had no shot at getting seats and were told to leave. People in my part of the line were told we had a 50/50 chance of getting tickets. We waited ... and waited ... and waited ... for hour after hour.

Finally, at 12:45 PM, we were told to stand up and get ready for the distribution. The line inched forward slowly. Then, at about 1:20, people in my part of the line were told that no more tickets were available (each person can get two free tickets, hence it's a crap shoot). Needless to say, I was pissed.

And that's when I had the revelation: if you are a regular New Yorker then you are basically denied the chance of seeing the very theater that was created just for you.

Now don't get me wrong: I'm all for the homeless, students, tourists, and the unemployed getting to see Shakespeare in the Park. But it is impossible for ordinary, working New Yorkers, people with families and responsibilities, people who don't have the time or the freedom to camp out overnight, to get tickets and see the plays. Also, people from the outer boroughs like yours truly have a tough time getting into Manhattan at that hour to line up. And I think it's really sleazy that you can actually pay for tickets but that the price is so high that middle class and poor folks -- the very people Joseph Papp wanted to see these shows in the first place -- can't afford them. And why are rich people from out of town able to get tickets at all?

This ticket-distribution system is totally out-of-whack. Joseph Papp's vision is being discarded and the people he envisioned Shakespeare in the Park for are being shafted. Yes, I recognize that students and the homeless and unemployed aren't exactly elitist money grubbers but I hope you get my point: you shouldn't have to be either really rich, really young, or utterly destitute to see the plays.

And the thing that also galls me, and that's as big a part of the problem as anything, is that Shakespeare in the Park has become like a nightclub: just getting in and gawking at famous people is all it seems to be about now. Al Pacino! Anne Hathaway! That guy from Law and Order! That guy from Modern Family! Shakespeare in the Park is no longer about Shakespeare or good drama or the unique experience of watching it in the beauty of Central Park. Instead, it's become an elitist experience, it's become about celebrity and exclusivity -- not theater that can transform lives.

Joseph Papp would be rolling in his grave if he saw what his great creation has become.

If Shakespeare in the Park is really about bringing theater to the masses, then it would stop performing exclusively at the Delecorte and instead present the free plays all over the city -- Prospect Park, Flushing Meadows, Van Cortland Park, etc. -- in barebones productions with real theater actors and not vacationing movie and TV stars. This would be truly be theater for the people, the kind of people that Joseph Papp came from.

How many people would actully show up to see these less glamorous producitons? I don't know. It might expose the fact that maybe people aren't quite as interested in actually seeing Shakespeare as they are in celebrities. But at least it would return Shakespeare in the Park to its original vision and would be appreciated by the people more interested in seeing Shakespeare and good drama than famous people.

So for now I'm boycotting Shakespeare in the Park until the Public Theater changes the ticket distribution system, makes it more sane, and ends these phony "donations". I urge all Mr NYC readers to do the same. Tell your friends! Perhaps we can start a movement to return Shakespeare in the Park to the vision and spirit that Joseph Papp had for it more than half a century ago. We shall see.

Busy Season in NYC

Busy, busy, busy. I've been quite busy lately, thus the lack of blogging. And NYC has been busy too, based, at least, on what's been going on within our fair city. So let's see wuzzup:

Well, the sad news first. The Jets won't be headed to the Superbowl. They came up a little short against the Steelers on Sunday night. So while the Jets may have a been a Superbowl bridesmaid for the second time in two years, they didn't get to be the bride. But maybe next year. We still love our Jets anyway.  

And while the Jets aren't headed to the Superbowl, at least a whole bunch of mobsters are headed to jail. Last Friday, over 100 real-life "goodfellas" were busted in the biggest Mafia take down ever. Many of them were busted here in NYC (including many members of da' five families) but this bust stretched to places like Rhode Island and Florida. It'll be fascinating to see how many of these mobsters cut deals. Will they be given offers they can't refuse?

The worst part about going to jail, I would imagine, is the bad food. Mr NYC loves to eat particularly, amongst other things, cupcakes. So look out! You thought Starbucks had totally colonized our city, pushing its coffee on all our citizens, but now Crumbs bakery plans to become to the Starbucks of cupcakes. It's opening stores all over town, hocking its cupcakes and other baked goods to 8 million-plus people.

And Walmart is back in the news -- whipping up a pathetic PR campaign to get public support to open one of its stores within the five boroughs. They are relentless. Last year I blogged about what an evil company Walmart is and, a few weeks ago, a troll sent me a comment saying why Walmart was just dandy and that "poor people" needed Walmart. I did not publish this hack's comment because I suspect he was paid by this organized effort. And hopefully Walmart will stay out of NYC -- forever.

But the expansion of Crumbs and Walmart in NYC is, I'm sure, welcome news to Mayor Mike who is profiled in a lengthy Esquire piece. It's a must read. It gives you sense of how this guy who rules our city thinks -- and what he thinks of all of us.

Finally, if all of this is too much for you, may I suggest a pleasant escape. This past weekend the wife and I headed to the Winter Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory. It is the one of the best and most high-end antiques shows in the whole country and the breadth of their offerings is stunning. If you have a few thousand dollars (make that a few hundred thousand dollars), you can purchase ancient art, medieval army, beautiful first editions of classic books, furniture in good shape that's only a few hundred years old, as well as autographed mementos from people like Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, and JD Salinger. It's really amazing (not that yours truly bought anything) but you should check it out.

So all in all, it's a busy season in NYC. And you were just getting over the holidays! Ha ha.

Review: "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999)

The news that Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman is getting her second divorce made my mind race back to the early 2000s when she divorced movie star Tom Cruise.

In the 1990s "Tom and Nic" were the biggest celebrity couple in the world. Great actors, huge stars, they made lots of big hit movies (A Few Good Men, Jerry McGuire, To Die For, and many others), and they also made three together, including their last and most notable one, Eyes Wide Shut in 1999. 

I remember when news of this movie was announced. It was a big deal -- the biggest movie star couple in the world making a movie with one of the greatest directors of his time, the Bronx-born Stanley Kubrick. They were making a weird movie, in secret, in England, and no one knew anything about it. The entertainment media of the day was fascinating by what this movie would be -- and the secrecy of its making and content became its currency.

There was also a lot of other drama surrounding Eyes Wide Shut.

A noted perfectionist, Stanley Kubrick spent almost two full years shooting the movie -- keeping these two huge stars off screens and out of other movies, much to the industry's consternation. Various actors kept getting hired, then fired, or replaced because the open-ended schedule made their continued participation impossible. The movie was supposed to be released in late 1998 -- then was bumped to the summer of 1999 where it would compete with the big action movies.

Then, the biggest dramatic moment of all -- in the Spring of 1999, just a few months before the movie's release, Stanley Kubrick died. Suddenly. So this secret movie with the two biggest starts in the world would be the last movie from the directors of Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. Wow! 

Then, in July 1999, after all the hype, after reams and reams, hours and hours of coverage, the movie comes out and ... no one cares. It dies quickly. And more than 25 years later it's forgotten -- except for being the last hurrah for Tom and Nic. There divorce two years later would be its coda. 

So what's Eye's Wide Shut about? I still don't know. 

It takes place in Manhattan during Christmas time. Cruise is a wealthy, successful doctor, with a gorgeous, very bored housewife played by Nic. One night they go to a party, flirt with other people, then go home where Nic confesses her fantasies about sleeping with other men. Tom is horrified -- so he goes out walking the strees of wintertime NYC. He meets a friend of his who works in a piano bar and he tells Tom about a masked orgy out of Long Island where the friend plays the piano during all the nooky. Tom decides to go out to Long Island, puts on a Venetian mask, and witnesses all the nooky -- before he's found out, humiliated, ejected from the orgy, and made to fear for his life.

And there's something about hookers in the meantime too.

I love, love, love Stanley Kubrick's films but this one was boring, and his weakest effort. There's really no story, and you're not made to care about any of the characters. It's visually amazingly and it's more like an early-sound European movie than a modern organic film. 

When this movie was being made, and stories about it kept appearing, I was in college, and remember being super excited to see it. Then I graduated, came home, saw the movie that summer ... and left totally underwhelmed. Looking at the movie decades later, it's still lifeless -- and even more depressing considering the horrors we've learned about sexual abuse by rich people in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein.

Still, Eyes Wide Shut is an interesting look at a filmmaker at the end of his life, making his oddest movie ever, in a make-believe NYC at night, with two huge movie stars whose marriage would soon end -- and would gone on to other great movies, as well as more divorces.  

God Bless the Waldorf-Astoria

Ever heard of the Waldorf-Astoria?

Sure you have. The Waldorf is, without question, the grand hotel in NYC. There's the Plaza, the Pierre, the Sherry-Netherland, the Carlyle -- but the Waldorf is the granddaddy of all the big name, luxury hotels in this town. It's the place where they invented the Waldorf salad. It's where the President of the USA stays when he's in town. It's where the UN Ambassador lives. It's where people like Hebert Hoover and Cole Porter and Bugsy Siegel have lived, and where celebs like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe have stayed (and probably got laid). It's not just a hotel -- it's a legend, an institution, an icon.

Most memorably it's where Al Pacino threatened to blow his brains out in Scent of a Woman.

Whooaaa!

So on our wedding night, my lovely bride and I decided to splurge a little and get a room -- I repeat a room -- at the Waldorf-Astoria. And my wife and I, being modest New Yorkers of modest means, had never spent the night a big time New York hotel. But we thought that, for our wedding night, why not indulge a little?

And we did.

Get to the hotel around 8:30 on our wedding night. We check in. We're asked to wait. The extremely nice guy behind the desk says they're gonna give us a little upgrade to a suite. Nice! we think. Of course in my humble provincial mind, I'm picturing a suite at the Waldorf as being basically a slightly nicer version of an Embassy Suite -- you know, a small living room dominated by a TV and a couch with a small hallway leading to a bedroom and bathroom.

We're told that the suite is actually in the Waldorf Towers -- Suite 37A. We need to use a card to operate the elevator to get up there. Up we go and our ears pop as we get to the 37th floor. Exit into a very brightly lit, gorgeous hallway. Get to the door for 37A and open up ... and we walk into a FOYER!

And I'm not talking about some little foyer, I'm talking a foyer that's bigger than most people's studio apartments. And this foyer leads into the living room which is HUGE! And I don't mean it's huge, I mean it's friggin' HUUUUUUGE! It has three big couches plus a divan plus an enormous desk plus a fireplace plus a enormous glass bookcase plus a big flatscreen TV. One end of the living room leads into the dining room that has a long table that seats TEN people. This then leads into the kitchen and the first of this suite's three bathrooms.

The dining room leads back into the foyer and into the hallway that leads to the bedroom suite. Along the way is the second bathroom. Turn left and you hit the enormous bedroom with the king size bed. The hallway also leads into the dressing room and then into the bathroom with a gorgeous black and gold marble floor (it also had a bidet; can you believe those things still exist?). Oh, and it also has a whirlpool in the bathroom -- with room for two :)

This place was by far the biggest hotel "room" or apartment we've ever been in. It was beyond palatial, beyond amazing -- and this is where we spent the first night of our marriage! We spent almost two of our first hours as husband and wife running around this place screaming "This is insane!"

As were we.


At first I thought this was a mistake and I called the concierge to make sure that it wasn't and that I wasn't going to get a $6000 bill in the morning. Nope, he said, it was no mistake and the price we were going to pay for the single room was the price we would pay for this ... mansion in the sky. Then a few minutes later we got a call from housekeeping. Was everything satisfactory? I believe I replied "Hell yes!"

And we couldn't help thinking about our poor, hardscrabble immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents who slaved to make it here in NYC in America. What would we they have thought about this?

And considering that it had been my idea to stay at the Waldorf, my beautiful new wife said to me, "You done good babe."

Not a bad way to start a marriage!

So thank you -- and God bless you -- Waldorf Astoria! You made our first night of married bliss more blissful than we could ever have imagined.

Whooaaa!

P.S. If you'd like to read a little more about previous residents of suite 37A, here's one article from 1955 and another from 2004. Not bad company!

Mr NYC in Disneyworld

In the Islamic religion, Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to see the Dome of the Rock; in Catholicism, the devout go to Rome to see the Pope give his weekly blessings and audiences at the Vatican; Jews head to the Wailing Wall in Israel and stuff letters into it; and in China, citizens make a pilgrimage to Beijing, laying flowers before the open glass coffin in Tiananmen Square where Chairman Mao lies pickled and wrapped in the hammer & sickled Communist flag.

And in America, we all at some point either make a pilgrimage to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida or act alternatively embarrassed or proud of the fact that we haven't.

Well, yours truly finally made that great pilgrimage with the family in tow, where we spent five days in the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, standing on very, very, very long lines, going on some fun rides, seeing some cool stuff, and soaking up the pure Americana of the place.

In the Magic Kingdom, we took the Walt Disney Railroad around the park, also going on the Jungle Cruise and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, doing one rollercoaster on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, enjoying the privacy of Tom Sawyer Island, then seeing the Hall of Presidents show, taking another cruise on the Liberty Square Riverboat, getting spooked at the Haunted Mansion, spinning around on the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and Dumbo the Flying Elephant and the Mad Tea Party teacups, taking more cruises on "it's a small world" and the Liberty Square Riverboat, then racing around the Tomorrowland Speedway (twice), and getting shuttled around the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover.

Two highlights of our time in the Magic Kingdom: we saw the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor where an audience is brought into a live animated show where the Monsters, Inc characters tell lots joke, some of them submitted by the audience. Two jokes were chosen from the audience and one of them was from my daughter! Her humor is now officially IP owned by the Disney Corporation. So proud! Then, one night for dinner, we ate on Easter Night at "Be Our Guest", a Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant which is a massive, cavernous space of four rooms made to look like the interiors of French palaces, and where the Beast walks around. It's totally surreal -- made even more surreal by the fact that we were still eating at 9 PM when the nightly fireworks show started and the restaurant was right next to ground zero for it and it sounded like we were being bombarded by artillery shells during dinner. The meals at "Be Our Guest" or prixe fix and comes with a very cool desert trio where you can paint your own cup (made out of white chocolate) and also "try the grey stuff" that, as the lyric goes, "is delicious."

We also saw the Carousel of Progress which was originally staged at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing, Queens -- and my mother informs me that she originally saw it there too!

In EPCOT (which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), we enjoyed seeing the various "nations" which usually consist of replicas of buildings from them like a Mexican Inca palace (that includes the Three Caballeros water ride), Reflection of China (a temple), and Canada Far and Wide (a 360 degrees show about how big and gorgeous Canada is), plus many others. Easily the best two rides we took were at EPCOT, and they couldn't have been more different: the first was Remy's Ratatouille Adventure which is an amazing 3D ride where you rush around the floor of the restaurant in the movie -- just like Remy! -- and people constantly try (and fail) to catch you; the ride includes changes in temperature (like when you're near a stove) as well as smellovision, where the delicious scent of baguettes hits your nostrils quite strongly. It's an amazing experience, well worth the 90 minute wait. The other was a much more genteel, but beautiful ride, called Living with the Land which is a tour through greenhouse and fish hacheries -- Disneyworld actually grows of a lot of their own herbs and veggies, as well their own fish, that's served in various Disneyworld restaurants. They even do work with the FDA that has a presence at EPCOT. Also, on our last night, we had another French-theme dinner at a place called Chefs de France that had very good food in "bistro."

And we went back and forth from our hotel and EPCOT via the Skyliner, a vast array of airborne cable cars that fly you over Disneyworld and provide you with spectacular views. Given how high up we were, and that these skyliners are pure glass, my kids handled our trips on them very well.

Disneyworld is so huge it's impossible to see all of it on one trip. In addition to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, there's also the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, as well as beaches and malls and yacht clubs. The best reason to visit Disneyworld is simply to marvel at the sheer audacity of the place, the fact that one company, lead by one man, dreamed this place up -- this artificial city that arose sphinxlike out of the Central Florida swampland almost 50 years ago. It's a pure American invention, a cathedral of entrepreneurial hutzpah -- a reminder of how Disney has impacted our culture to an incalculable degree and that Walt Disney is one of the most important Americans who ever lived.

And Disneyworld does provide a beautiful vision for American cities that I wish existed everywhere "across the the fruited plane": free public transportation, walkable streets, plentiful bathrooms and water fountains, no guns, and clean streets. Plus we got lucky -- despite the rain, it wasn't too hot.

So I suggest that all New Yorkers, like so many Americans, make the pilgrimage to Disneyworld to see something amazing.

 

Interview: Hyapatia Lee - Writer, Musician, Author, Broadcaster, Adult Star & Activist

As a young man in NYC, I would sometimes watch The Robyn Bird Show on late night cable TV. The bubbly host would introduce various adult entertainers who would dance to popular songs, and later on Robyn would interview them about their lives and careers. Twenty-odd years later, I can't remember most of the people who appeared on that show but I remember one very well -- Hyapatia Lee.

To say she was "hot" is an understatement -- her beauty, her sexiness, and her attitude were stunning. She blazed out of the screen. She was a fireball of female power. She was celestial.

And smart! She was well-spoken, funny, and confident. I also noticed that she wore a Native American necklace, and spoke proudly of her Cherokee heritage. As someone young and impressionable, still learning about women and sex, I was mesmerized by this multi-dimensional woman. 

Years later I heard a fantastic interview with Hyapatia on the Rialto Report and learned more about her amazing and often challenging life. She had long ago left the adult business and migrated to grow legal pot in Colorado. Then, much more recently, I found her on Twitter, and she became even more fascinating -- it turns out that she is a Native American activist, author, and broadcaster, as well as a mental health specialist. Hyapatia Lee has lived many lives, done many things, and overcome a lot. So it was a great honor to have Hyapatia politely respond to my request for an interview and tell us more!

You seem to have lived many eventful lives – adult star, pot grower, Native American rights activist/author, and mental health advocate. If you can, what made you want to live these different lives and are there any others that I’m missing? 

I believe we are all multi-faceted individuals. It's not uncommon for people to have multiple interests in life. I also produce, direct, and edit my NATIVE STRENGTH TV show that's seen on ROKU, Amazon, and multiple stations across the country, as well as on my YouTube channel. In addition, I write and record my own music. I started The Lee Studios three years ago. There are plans for movies as well.

I want to live life to the fullest. I want to explore all of the activities that interest me. I also want to keep the Native American culture alive. I just want to enjoy my life. 

You are a woman of proud Cherokee heritage and have incorporated your identity into every aspect of your life (even your adult work). What would you like white and all other Americans to understand about the Native American experience and identity? 

I think most people, even many Native Americans, are unaware of the rich cultural contributions of Natives of this hemisphere. Some people may be aware of the vast culinary contributions, but the majority of our common wisdom has been destroyed by the colonizers and was carefully guarded by the elders. It's time to bring this out in the open and share some of it.

What are the special challenges of being a Native American woman?

The challenge of being any Native American first and foremost is to be recognized for who we are. Most people see us as white or Hispanic. They don't even recognize us when looking right at us! My people have been told to go back to their own country. As a woman, we have the challenge of proving ourselves to be equal and worthy. This is exacerbated by the hypersexualization of Native Women. Being Native or natural doesn't mean being sexually promiscuous. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is an epidemic most often perpetuated by oil pipeline construction workers who camp near reservations. So the biggest challenge for any Native American woman is to simply stay alive.

You’ve always been known as Hyapatia Lee. How did you come up with this name, and what does it mean to you today?

I suppose today it just is "me, a name I call myself." To quote The Sound of Music. LOL. 

Do you still live and grow pot in Colorado?

Yes, I do. With my health condition, cannabis is necessary to sustain life.

I first saw you dancing and being interviewed on The Robyn Bird Show cable television in the 1990s. What are your memories of appearing on that show, of Robyn, and did anything fun happen behind the scenes?

I loved being on The Robyn Bird Show. She was very sweet and professional. When most people ask if anything fun happened behind the set, they are referring to something sexual. Nothing sexual happened on the set of the show. It was professional.

What were your memories of visiting New York City back then? Did you like the city and spend a lot of time here?

I was surprised to spend three months in New York City the first time I was booked there for the opening of my first movie. I did dance shows in between the showings. The shows were sold out. I was only supposed to be there for one week.

You are a woman of great beauty and became famous for it, but your intelligence and spirit has sustained and brought you into different paths in life. What is it like to go from being an object of desire to a person who wants to educate and heal the spirits of others?

Personally, I am a bit dumbfounded. I never considered myself to be a "great beauty." I wrote a dozen of my movies and did the music for Body Girls and wrote an advice column for Cherri for five years. So to me, I have been using my intelligence all along. I guess people are just starting to notice now. I am very grateful. I considered my work in adult entertainment to be trying to heal the spirits of others. My movie Let's Get Physical was about ED caused by a man losing his job as an esteemed dancer after a tragic accident. But no one seemed to notice that, I guess. Sometimes I think some people become blinded by sexuality and entirely lose the message. What were the best and worst parts of being an adult star back in the 1980s and 90s? The best part was being able to write my own movies and being able to spend the vast majority of my time dancing on the road. Was it fun or more work than fun? Dancing was fun. Travel was fun. Writing movies was fun. 

Do you miss it at all?

I do not miss it at all, particularly the sex part. I did not particularly enjoy that part. That was the hardest part for me. I had to emotionally work myself up for a scene. It was a difficult challenge. I much preferred to shoot dialogue, coming from a stage acting background.

Would you ever go back?

I would never go back, not for anything in the world. Never.

Tell us something about Hyapatia Lee that we don’t know, and what are your hopes for the future? 

I have hypopituitarism, end-stage. My fears for the future revolve around the world left to my grandkids.

Anything else you’d like to tell us?

Hypopituitarism is a complicated, deadly condition caused by blood loss and other conditions. It means the pituitary gland has died. That's the master gland. That means I produce no hormones. So this gives me a unique look at life. I see what emotions all the hormones cause. It's also deadly and I'm allergic to the steroid I have to take for the adrenal insufficiency hypopituitarism causes. They make my throat swell shut and I can't breathe. Steroids are needed to bind with glucocorticoid receptors in every cell of the body, particularly the brain, or we die. THC also binds with these receptors and it helps, but it's not enough to keep me alive. Here is my GoFundMe link. This was set up by a dear friend of mine. 

Thanks Hyapatia! All the best to you and your health, your work, and your future in 2020 and well beyond. Good luck! 

Interview: Billy Procida of the The Manwhore Podcast

Sex! Love! Comedy! You'll find all that, and much more, on The Manwhore Podcast with Billy Procida!

More to the point, you'll find an intelligent yet sexy untangling of the complicated emotions, pitfalls, and opportunities of being a sexual creature in 21st century NYC and America. I've never heard anything quite like Manwhore: on the one hand, it's very titillating (i.e. lots of sex talk) but the podcast is also about the emotional and societal complications of sex and dating in a time of social media, #MeToo, and social/economic/political insanity. Billy and his guests obviously love to talk about sex but the show isn't really "pervy" -- it's more existential, asking "who are we as human beings and what does our sex lives tell us about ourselves in this crazy time?"

Billy is an NYC-based comedian and was kind enough to answer a few questions for Mr NYC about his comedy, his life, his podcast, and NYC.

Tell us a little bit about your background and career in comedy. Who are some of your comedy idols and influences? 

I grew up listening to George Carlin and Chris Rock. I stumbled up on Carlin simply by searching 'comedy' on Napster. Whatever files weren't broken became my comedy library. Being as prolific as he was, there were many albums I became acquainted with. With Rock, I thought he was hilarious in Dogma and then discovered his stand-up. I think I had Bigger and Blacker memorized when I was 13. Today, I find myself falling asleep listening to Doug Standhope—which probably explains all the nightmares.

What inspired the creation of the Manwhore podcast? What in your life and career made you decide to do this?

I had this very peculiar problem: women would sleep with me, but they wouldn't date me. So I wanted to find out why. Because I wanted relationships; I wanted love; but anytime I wanted to get more serious, it was always the woman who told me she wanted to keep it casual. This rarely ended things—I was still told to come over and do that thing that I do with my tongue. When it happened for the umpteenth time, I decided to start this podcast where I reconnect with former flames and find out what went wrong. 

Your podcast, while obviously being about sex, seems to also be focused on how sex and fun should be enjoyable without being exploitative or demeaning to anybody. Do you consider yourself and the podcast "woke" or just smart? 

I'm just a comedian with a fuck show. But a lot of people have described me with a variety of adjectives from woke to feminist to problematic. 

You and your guests have done some pretty wild things on your podcast. What's the craziest interview or thing your and guests did? Don't spare us the details!

I had a listener 'blow her way to Brooklyn.' A woman slid into my DMs on Instagram earlier this year. She lived in a nearby city and really wanted to hook up with me. It was late one night and I suggested she find a friend to give her a ride to New York City and how she could "thank" him. Then I thought...what if she 'thanked' a series of drivers all the way to Brooklyn just to hook up with me? Fueled by an overinflated ego, feeling flattered, I pitched her this scene where I would coordinate several rides to driver her different legs of her journey. She was to give a blowjob on each leg to show her thanks. Then she'd get to my door and 'get' to blow me (I personally don't think I'm much of a prize, but hey, whatever gets you going). So we documented it through her solo recordings in-between each driver up until she was standing outside my bedroom door talking about the anticipation of meeting me. We had a super fun night together and the next day recorded a surprisingly intimate and raw episode. Having a hot chick suck some dicks just to suck mine might be the craziest thing I've done on the podcast. 

That's pretty wild! Who are some of your dream podcasts guests that you haven't interviewed yet?

Dan Savage. Charlotte Clymer. Janet Mock. Laci Green. Kevin Smith. Louis C.K. Barack Obama. 

What's been the biggest surprise or thing you've learned -- about life, relationships (and, obviously) sex -- in doing the podcast?

I've learned to listen better—which is difficult when your job is seemingly to talk. But my job is in fact to listen, because this show is nothing without the women from my life. The more I listen, the more they talk. The more they talk, the better the episode. At least in my opinion. The same holds true in dating (and sex). 

How do you think the Trump presidency and ugly political environment has affected sex and relationships? 

Oh god, don't get me started. My sex and my relationships don't really change—I'm a cis straight white guy. I'll be fine. But the lives and relationships of many of my friends and colleagues might change, if they haven't already. I don't want to speak to those changes, because I don't really experience them and others can speak on it better, but it's no surprise that the Trump Administration—as well as the Republican Party, since it's in their 2016 party platform—is anti-queer. If you're a Republican who is openly for LGBT rights, you're a deviation of the party, since the GOP put it in their literal party platform. Explicitly. Trump tweeted a trans military ban. His vice president has attacked queers when he was the Governor of Indiana. Trump even put money back into abstinence only education (even though it's been proven time and again that it does not work). A lot of 'sex-positive' people want to say that they support LGBT people and are sex-positive and all that jazz...but vote Republican (or, ugh, third party). If you were able to and didn't vote in this most recent midterm election—and didn't vote Democrat—I'm willing to say that you are not sex-positive. Full stop. 

What are your thoughts about #MeToo? 

Dude, you gotta tighten this question. I think it's great that women are stepping forward with their stories. I'm glad that it's raised the topic of consent into many people's consciousness, enough that we might try to teach kids comprehensive sex education so they can learn about consent at younger ages. 

What are your hopes of the Manwhore podcast moving forward? 

I'm super excited for ManwhoreCon 2019. We just wrapped up my second annual fanwhore weekend in August, but I'm already so stoked to do it again! Fans are already talking about it in our secret Patreon-only communities. I also want to do more live shows in other cities next year and, of course, some fun episodes. I'm thinking The Pepsi Challenge of Cocksucking. 

Finally, tell us about your life in NYC and what you love about the city. And tell us anything else you'd like us to know! 

I love New York City. I've lived here 11 years and I always feel the magic—even when I spend 95% of the day inside. It's both a historical city and a modern city at the same time—and you can feel that all the time. I feel connected to hundreds of years of stories when walking down a street I know used to house the city's largest orphanage, or sitting in McSorley's Old Ale House, an institution that's had its doors open since Lincoln. My favorite book on New York, Lowlife by Luc Sante, describes this city in the most beautiful way I've ever seen. And I quote it often. "The firmament that is New York is greater than the sum of its constitutent parts. It is a city and it is also a creature, a mentality, a disease, a threat, an electromagnet, a cheap stage set, an accident corride. It is an implausible character, a monstrous vortex of contradictions, an attraction-repulsion mechanism so extreme no one could have made it up." 

Great quote! Thanks Billy! You can find Billy on Twitter @TheBillyProcida and download The Manwhore Podcast on ITunes.