A September Potpourri
Hurting businesses on Second Avenue; Sept. 11; and Rosh Hashanah
By Bette Dewing
Yup, a New York Times review’s claim that no one’s sensibilities would be offended by Eat Pray Love actually got me out to the movies. Except for a few offending words, I left the theater with a glow which made East 86th Street’s maddening crowds seem almost friendly. Do you ever miss the going-to-the-movie experience where your sensibilities weren’t offended and earplugs and deep pockets weren’t needed? Read more
Three Muggings and a $100 Profit
Learning from having your adrenaline switch tested
By Susan Braudy
Thank goodness muggings are pretty much a thing of my past. Some things are getting better—a lot better—in our town. My first mugging took place at dusk on the University of Pennsylvania campus. A man pushed a wad of dollar bills into my coat pocket after showing me the top $100 bill, then invited me back to his hotel room. When I refused, he pushed me down and kicked me toward an open car door. Read more
The Cuomo Conundrum
Lazio, a surer bet to beat than junkyard dog Paladino
If you were Andrew Cuomo, who would you rather run against: Rick Lazio, the Republican middle-of-the-roader who is as American as apple pie and Howdy Doody, or his conservative, tea-partyish opponent, Carl Paladino? Cuomo is beating the stuffing out of both of them in the polls. You can be sure that this question is being discussed a lot in the Cuomo organization and between Papa and Junior Cuomo. Read more
Quest For The Perfect Parking Place
Finding a space for their cars drives Manhattanites to insane lengths
One reason I’ve loved living in Manhattan for the past 27 years is that I don’t need a car. Whenever I do, I rent.
I’ve always believed that I had the whole “car thing” down, so I’d shake my head in disbelief as my car-owning friends engaged in the insanity of alternate-side- of-the-street parking, monthly garage fees the price of studio apartments and having conversations with a guy whose name is embroidered on his shirt along the lines of, “It’s making a noise like, CACHUNGA. Think you can fix it?” Read more
First Amendment at Stake
Right-wingers’ inflaming dialogue, using issue for political gain
Remember Nelson Mandela and his concept of “truth and reconciliation”?
In politics, you never know what’ll catch fire. Right now, it’s the mosque near Ground Zero. If you listen to right-winging, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino, the Ground Zero mosque is an affront to all Americans and more specifically to the Americans and foreigners killed in that awful attack. Furthermore it is a jab in the eye of the American people because, the multi-millionaire candidate says, the people who are putting up the mosque are “jihadists,” the very group of people responsible for bringing down the World Trade Center towers. Read more
Going Topless?
Women shouldn’t give up the mystique and power of their breasts
By Susan Braudy
Let me tell you why the accelerating—and alarming—trend that has women baring their breasts in public places other than locker rooms may turn out to be bad for us. Up until very recently, most women wore transparent fabric that beguiled, teased and almost showed a woman’s breasts.
I see this as smarter than going topless. Read more
Harsher Penalties in Traffic Crimes
There must be zero tolerance in hit-and-runs like the one that killed Michael Ward
By Bette Dewing
“We need as much to be reminded as informed,” Dr. Samuel Johnson so rightly opined.
An August 5 Our Town letter about the death of Michael Ward, who was killed in a hit-and-run on the East Side, needs repeated informing of the desperate—but slighted—need to prevent what we need to call traffic tragedies, not accidents. Read more
An Overabudance of Diligence
Is being hyper conscientious worth the effort?
Oops, I did it again—I stood in line for Shakespeare in the Park, this time to see a fabulous performance of The Winter’s Tale.
I’ve attended this free outdoor event since 1980, using the same M.O. every time: get there at dawn to camp out. And every year I end up about 200 people back by the big rock. Hence, I always end up in virtually the same seats, which are in the section that could be deemed “the nose bleeds.” There were years I felt like they saw me coming and whipped out the same old seats just to mess with me. This year, due to an alternate side of the street parking matter that I had to deal with, I broke tradition and arrived “late” at 9 a.m. Read more
A Hothouse Survival Tale
Sweating buckets when the AC goes out during a heat wave
By Ben Krull
I turned the knob and nothing happened. Don’t panic, I told myself, as sun poured through the blinds.
It was a 90-degree Sunday earlier this summer and the window air-conditioner in my studio apartment was dead. First came denial: the four-year-old machine just needed to ease into the June heat. All it needed was some rest. Read more
Weddings, Family and Heat Waves
Our culture’s hyper-individualism is harming us all
By Bette Dewing
Weddings—ah, but what’s needed is a great revival of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s wedding message to Diana and Charles; it applies to our culture’s hyper-individualism too:
“Any marriage which is turned in upon itself, in which the bride and groom gaze obsessively at one another, goes sour after a time. A marriage which really works is one which works for others: marriage has both a private and a public face and a public importance. If we solved all our economic problems and failed to build loving families, it would profit us nothing, because the family is the place where the future is created good and full of love—or deformed.” Read more
