Early in the day on December 31st, visitors will begin pouring into the city to participate in the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration. If you plan to be among the one million people who will ring in the New Year with the ball drop at midnight consider this: you may stand in the cold… Read more »
Nearing the 1964 Christmas break during my fifth grade, thirteen inches of snow blanketed my street late on a Thursday evening. Losing a school day to the elements was a beautiful thing. Friday morning, my friends and I mushed over to Central Park towing our sleds through the middle of the street. Milking the day… Read more »
In June of 2000 I went to see Penn & Teller on stage at the Beacon Theater in New York. Being a big Penn & Teller fan, I bought tickets as soon as I could and got a really good seat for the show. When I was there, I was impressed that I was one… Read more »
If you ask this New Yorker what’s his favorite hill in New York City: the bluff in Owl’s Head Park just north of 68th Street and Shore Road in the Bay Ridge neighborhood. The vista from this property has been the subject of art and photography for three centuries. Henry Cruse Murphy who helped found… Read more »
Only in New York can one attend a soul concert performed by a fat white man, who calls himself Har Mar Superstar, and see a guest appearance by a nostalgia provoking child-star. That’s right, Macauly Caulkin, accompanied Har Mar Superstar for one song last night at the Bowery Ballroom. His appearance just added to a… Read more »
The endless salvos in the American cultural war normally give me a headache and are usually beneath the dignity of comment. But the latest jeremiad against a Fox News host about the race of Santa Claus was informative. Megyn Kelly, on her program The Kelly File, remarked that Santa Claus is white. (She mentioned that… Read more »
We will never grow tired of love stories. Love is the most agreeable reality to our nature. Love sustains us. Love binds us together. Love gives us hope. Love gives us comfort. But has anyone considered that love gives us honey? Of all the love stories, one of the most enduring is the relationship between… Read more »
There is always a gap between information and understanding. Often, the more information, the greater the gap, and with the expanse of information at our disposal today, this gap can become a gaping chasm. Yet the understanding we seek has profound significance for our lives, whether it is whimsical such as making a great Halloween… Read more »
The week after Thanksgiving 1959, my mother left my brother, Rory, off at my grandparents on York Avenue and picked me up at P.S. 77 after kindergarten dismissal. Together we walked over to the 86thStreet cross-town bus just pulling up to the corner. Mom dropped a Mercury dime (I loved coins my grandmother and father… Read more »
New York City has no legal places to hunt, and it’s a good thing that we can’t start shooting geese in Central Park or pigeons in Prospect Park. Although one could probably bag a nice wild turkey in Inwood Hill Park if you’re patient enough, it would be a bad idea to take your shotgun… Read more »
