Archive for Here is New York
Man Who Told Many Secrets Kept His Own
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve somehow managed to miss Dan Barry’s stories over the past few weeks, despite the fact that he is one of my favorite New York Times writers. Here’s a great story from today’s paper told in only the way that Dan Barry knows how.
On The Way To Gowanus
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This weekend, Sofie and I headed for the amusingly-named Gowanus Canal. It’s only about 20 minutes walk from our apartment and it makes a nice change from the usual route along nearby Fifth Avenue where we inevitably spend too much money on things we don’t need. We saw this sign on the way to the canal.
When I first arrived in New York I found signs like this extraordinary. My favorite is still the no parking sign that reads “Don’t Even Think About Parking Here.” Not “Don’t Park Here” but don’t even think about it. I love the sheer bluntness of that statement.
Also along the way we came across this amazing building on Third Avenue.
I’ve tried a quick Google serach but “The News” and “Brooklyn Garage” throw up too many results. Does anyone know anything about this building?
Everyone knows about this one, the Williamsburg Savings Bank building (seen from 3rd Avenue) and soon to be eclipsed by a multi-million dollar arena complex. I wonder what the good burghers of Brooklyn said when this was being erected?
Let’s Roll
Posted by: | CommentsSomewhere between 96th and 116, a young man got on the train and sat a few seats down from me. The car was quiet save a few high school girls. Matter of factly, he pulled some paper and weed from his coat pocket and proceeded to roll a number of joints.
The men across the car from me nudged one another, glancing slightly from their newspapers down the aisle. Then, as the train rolled into 116th Street, they quietly stood up, walked over the the corner where the boy sat rolling his goods, ever so slightly flashed their badges and cuffed him on the spot.
Good morning!
Via Callalillie
The Pitch
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Tucked away in the corner of Grand Central Terminal between Eddie’s Shoe Repair and Track 42, a small, brightly-colored recording booth is capturing the memories and emotions of some of the half a million people who pass through the station every day. Modeled after the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s, when oral-history interviews with everyday Americans across the country were recorded, the storybooth is the second of two recording outposts in the city—the other being at the WTC site.
But unlike its Downtown twin, which is primarily recording stories of people affected by the September 11 attacks or of tourists nearby, the Grand Central booth is attracting native New Yorkers with diverse tales from all over the city. These recordings are of stories as rich as the city itselfâ€â€tales of what it was like to grow up in Morningside Heights during the Depression, a typical housewife’s routine in the Bronx and the joy of food at Coney Island movie houses.
Listen to 91-year-old Harold Slappy regale you with stories of Saturdays at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, Joseph Robertson tell his son-in-law about the German he killed during the Second World War, or Michael Wolmetz propose to his girlfriend with his late father’s wedding ring. Interested?
Links for today:
Listen to Storycorps.
Look at Storycorps.
Boris the Barber
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I have a story in the City section of today’s New York Times about Boris the barber from Uzbekistan.
I met Boris by chance a few months ago when I visited The Art of Shaving for my first and only straight razor shave, and he left such an impression that I knew there had to be a story somewhere. It is truly rare in life to meet someone with such humility and humanity.
I’m still not completely sure what the story is but I think it has something to do with family and with the gentlemanly aura that Boris and his brother Ely radiate.
The above photo from the Times shows Boris (in the background) and Ely doing what they do best. If you want to know more read on.
Links for today:
Broke in Berlin thinks it’s a bad sign when a son inherits the leadership of a country from his father.
Guardian cartoonist: Wit or nitwit?
