Photo of the day: PERSON OF THE YEAR – URSULA VON RITTERN, mom.
December 31, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Hans Von Rittern, Hans' mom, Manhattan, mom's support, mother, mother of the year, New York City, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, Ursula Von Rittern | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: MAKE EVERY DAY BE LIKE CHRISTMAS
December 30, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: be kind, Christmas, Christmas balls, Christmas joy, Christmas poem, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, Queens, spread cheer, spread joy, Sunnyside, volunteer | Leave a comment
Mr. Sunando Sen worked hard for 46 years and his reward: two candles and six roses.
The victim, Sunando Sen, was from India, but it isn’t clear whether he was Muslim or Hindu, it doesn’t matter.
The arrest capped a three-day search for a heavyset, 5-foot-5 Hispanic woman who was caught on camera escaping from a subway platform in Sunnyside, Queens, after she allegedly shoved a man into the path of an oncoming No. 7 train. It was the second such attack in New York City in less than a month.
The seemingly unprovoked attack, the second time this month that a man was thrown to his death on the subway tracks, stirred some of the deepest fears of New Yorkers.
“When a murder happens in New York, it can often be dismissed as being in someone else’s backyard,” said Gene Russianoff, staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. “The subway is everyone’s backyard.”
The police identified the victim as Sen of Queens, a 46-year-old immigrant who had been raised in India and who, after years of toil, had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Ar Suman, one of four roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Sen in Elmhurst, said he was driving a client upstate when another roommate called and told him what had happened. Hoping the information was wrong, Suman raced back to the city, only to find that there was nothing he could do — Sen was dead.
“He was a very educated person and quite nice,” Suman said. “It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone.”
Suman said Sen was proud when he had saved enough money to open the business, New Amsterdam Copy.
Since the shop opened, he had rarely taken a day off, Suman said.
“I asked him why do you work seven days a week?” Suman said. “He told me, ‘I cannot hire someone because business is not good.”‘
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that according to witnesses’ accounts, there was no contact on the platform between the attacker and the victim immediately before the fatal shove. He said Sen was looking out over the tracks when his attacker approached him.
The attack occurred so quickly, with the train already barreling into the station, that the man had little time to react and bystanders had no time to try to help, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.
Sen was hit by the first car and his body was pinned under the second car before the 11-car train came to a stop.
Investigators released a grainy black-and-white video overnight showing a person they identified as the attacker fleeing the station and running along Queens Boulevard. She was described by the police as Hispanic, 5 feet 5 inches tall, in her early 20s and heavyset. She was reported to be wearing a blue, white and gray ski jacket and Nike sneakers — gray on top, red on bottom.
The subway station was closed overnight as officers from the Emergency Services Unit used specialized inflatable bags to lift the train and recover the victim’s remains. The No. 7 line had resumed normal service by the morning rush.
Sen’s roommates could not understand what might have led to the fatal encounter Thursday.
Suman said that as far as he knew, Sen did little more than work and come home. Both his parents were dead, they said, and he was not married and had no children.
Sen suffered a heart attack about nine months ago, Suman said, but did not slow down. The night stand in Sen’s bedroom had many bottles of prescription medicine. Across the room on his desk was a pile of medical bills.
His roommates said he liked watching funny clips on YouTube to unwind, enjoyed a cup of tea and would relax listening to classical Indian music.
“This guy is so quiet, so gentle, so nice,” said M.D. Khan, a taxi driver who also lives in the apartment. “It’s so broken, my heart.”
December 29, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 7 train, crime, Elmhurst, Hans Von Rittern, hate crime, hindu, India, Manhattan, muslim, New York City, New York Police, subway, subway pusher, Sunando Sen, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT . . .
Star Light Star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.
December 29, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Babbarat crystal, Bergdorf Goodman, Christmas, Fifth Avenue, Hans Von Rittern, intersection of 57th St & 5th, largest outdoor crystal chandelier, Manhattan, New York City, snowflake, star, star light star bright, Tiffany, UNICEF | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE
CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE: Tis the season for chestnuts roasting on an open fire – but good luck finding them on a street corner in New York City. The toasty treat that Nat King Cole immortalized in “The Christmas Song” was once a year-round staple of street vendors citywide. Now the chewy nuts are relegated to the tourist-heavy corners of Manhattan, a victim of changing tastes, vendors sadly say.
Chestnuts are mainly sought out by tourists and nostalgic native New Yawkers. Less and less sell every year as prices also rise. I remember I used to collect them with my grandmother in the fall in Woodhaven Blvd’s St. John’s Cemetery where there are chestnut trees in abundance. She had taught me the old German art of chestnut carving! We would spend many fall afternoons carving the beautiful brown nuts into people, baskets and animals aided with tooth picks for limbs, tiny buttons or pins for eyes etc. Now the chestnuts you see on the streets are imported from Italy and are expensive. Sugary coated peanuts are now in vogue and to be had everywhere instead. Roasted chestnuts have become an acquired taste, romanticized by the Nat King Cole song, seems we’re buying them now only to savor our past – not the taste . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w04NBhVkmS0
December 28, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Christmas, Christmas song, food, food vendors, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Nat King Cole, New York City, Queens, roasted chestnuts, St. John's Cemetery Queens, tradition, tradtional | 1 Comment
Photo of the day: THE SNOWY BRIDE OF CENTRAL PARK
December 27, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Bride in snow, Central Park, Central Park lake, Christmas, Currier & Ives, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, Victorian bride, White wedding, winter | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: MY OLD FASHIONED GERMAN CANDLE LIT CHRISTMAS TREE
December 26, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: candle glow, candle lit tree, Christmas candle, Christmas ornaments, christmas record, Christmas tree, family traditions, German Christmas tree, German traditions, Germany, Hans Von Rittern, home, New York City, schaller and weber, steamer trunk, Sunnyside Gardens | 1 Comment
Photo of the day: And they’ll blow their floofloovers, They’ll bang their tartookas !
And they’ll shriek squeaks and squeals, racing ’round on their wheels.
December 25, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas, Dr. Seuss, hand puppets, Hans Von Rittern, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, joy of Christmas, New York City, puppets, Whoville | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: PEACE
December 24, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: candle glow, Christmas, Christmas candle, christmas holiday season, Christmas wishes, Facebook, gift of peace, Hans Von Rittern, holidays, home, Manhattan, merry christmas, New York City, Peace, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE ULTIMATE NEW YORK TREE
December 23, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 3-D ornaments, arts, Christmas gifts, Christmas market, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, Chrysler building, decoupage, Empire State Building, Flatiron building, Grand Central Terminal, Hans Von Rittern, Harold Gilstein, HUT STUDIOS, last minute gifts, Manhattan, New York City, photoshop, Richard Hopper, Roosevelt Tram, souvenir, Staten Island Ferry, United Nations, Woolworth Building | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MACY’S STAIRWAY TO PARADISE
December 22, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1920's, 1927, 1960's, elevator escalator, escalator, fashion, first escalator, Hans Von Rittern, largest ladies shoe department in the world, Macy's, Macy's Christmas windows, Manhattan, New York City, Otis, retro, shopping, stiletto heels, Ursula Von Rittern, vintage | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HANS VON RITTERN – December 21, 1955
December 21, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: birthday, Born, December 21 - 1955, Hans Von Rittern, Hans' birthday, New York City, Public School 139, Queens, Rego Park, Third grade | 4 Comments
“IS THAT ALL THERE IS?” by Peggy Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l8erdPprSc
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face as he gathered me up in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames. And when it was all over I said to myself, “Is that all there is to a fire?”
Is that all there is,
is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don’t know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, “Is that all there is to a circus?”
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is
Then I fell in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other’s eyes.
We were so very much in love. Then one day, he went away.
And I thought I’d die — but I didn’t. And when I didn’t I said to myself, “Is that all there is to love?”
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
I know what you must be saying to yourselves.
If that’s the way she feels about it why doesn’t she just end it all?
Oh, no. Not me. I’m in no hurry for that final disappointment.
For I know just as well as I’m standing here talking to you, when that final moment comes and I’m breathing my lst breath, I’ll be saying to myself,
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is . . .
December 20, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Peggy Lee | Leave a comment
WHAT WILL YOU DO IN YOUR FINAL HOURS ON EARTH?
WHAT WILL YOU DO IN YOUR FINAL HOURS ON EARTH?: According to the Mayans and many other ancient soothsayers from the past centuries, December 21st, 2012 has been predicted as the end of the earth. Now logistically – when does the universe &/or God determine the final bang should begin?? Each new day starts on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean at 5am local New York time, so by Thursday the 20th at 5am we’re already screwed, but – if you’re reading this then the great chain reaction didn’t start and it proves the Mayans simply didn’t have a big enough rock for their calendar and they only had enough room till 12/21/12.
December 20, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 12/21/12, All About Eve, camera, Cher, Christmas Island, December 21, end of the world, God, Hans Von Rittern, Indian ocean, Louboutin shoes, Mayan calendar, New York City, Peggy Lee, Sinatra, The Day The Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: OSCAR THE SQUIRREL MEETS SANTA CLAUS
December 19, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: apartment, Christmas list, Elvis, Hans Von Rittern, New York City, pet squirrel, Planters peanuts, Queens, Santa Claus, Scrat, squirrel, squirrel tail, Steinbach, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MADONNA AND CHILD REST IN NEW YORK’S BOWERY
December 18, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: East Village, graffiti, Hans Von Rittern, Madonna and child, Manhattan, New York City, oldest building in New York, Patti Smith, Philip Glass, St. Mark's In The Bowery church, The Bowery, The Poetry Project, wall art | 5 Comments
Photo of the day: THE SALVATION ARMY ROCKS ‘JINGLE BELL ROCK’
December 17, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "All I want for Christmas is You", Christmas, Christmas in New York, dancing in the street, Hans Von Rittern, holidays, Jingle Bell Rock, Manhattan, Mariah Carey, music, New York City, Salvation Army, The Plaza Hotel | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: SANTACON CABY
December 16, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas in New York, flash mob, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, Santacon, Santacon.com, taxi cab, taxi full of Santas, yellow taxi cab | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: REST IN PEACE LITTLE ANGELS
December 15, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 20 children killed, grade school, gun violence, Hans Von Rittern, kindergarten, massacre, Newtown Conneticut, prayer vigil, USA | 2 Comments
HANDGUNS IN THE USA
December 14, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: HANDGUNS, USA, VIOLENCE | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE PHANTOM OF LE CIRQUE AT BLOOMINGDALE’S
Sing once again with me Our strange duet
Inside your mind
December 14, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: aerialist, Bloomingdales, Christmas window display, Christmas windows, Hans Von Rittern, Le Cirque du Soleil, Manhattan, New York City, Phantom of the Opera | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: NEW YORK AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
December 13, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Bryant Park, Christmas market, graffiti, Grand Central Terminal, Hans Von Rittern, Insiders1, leather accessories, leather bags, leather gloves, Manhattan, New York City, photography, Sigal De-Mayo | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: NEXT STOP GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
New York Transit Museum’s 11th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central
My sweet friend from Finland Nana Kautto and I were doing our own little tour of NYC and found this amazing train display. We were instantly turned into little children with our mouths agape and eyes huge with wonderment. This is so awesome! Funny thing is now…NYC has a mountain range with a ski chalet (well…a pass-through mountain is kinda required with a model train set). Grand Central Terminal turns 100 in 2013 and they’re starting the party early with their 11th annual Holiday Train Show! In a brand new layout by Lionel Trains, model Metro-North and New York Central trains depart from a miniature Grand Central on their way North on a 34′ long, two-level “O” gauge layout. Vintage model trains from the Museum’s collection are on display joined by stunning New York Central railroad posters harkening back to the Terminal’s heyday as the nexus of long distance and commuter train travel. Presented by the New York Transit Museum.
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store Grand Central Terminal, Shuttle Passage, next to Station Master’s Office Monday – Friday 8 am to 8 pm Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 6 pm Closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day FREE ADMISSION Visit or shop online at www.mta.info/museum
December 12, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Grand Central Station, Grand Central Terminal, Holiday train show, Lionel trains, MTA, new york central railroad, new york transit, New York Transit Museum, train exhibit, transportation | Leave a comment
Photo of the day” HOW ARE YOU BRINGING YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE HOME??
December 11, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas, Christmas tree, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, subway | Leave a comment