1am, Macy’s and 34th Street
Photo of the day: THE COLD IS SO HARD ON THE KNEES – It was 11°F (-11.67°C) last night in New York City, with wind chills 10-15° degrees colder. To most of us that didn’t matter in our warm beds. Last year the number of homeless people sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system surpassed 50,000+ people for the first time since modern homelessness emerged three decades ago. That grim milestone includes more than 21,000 homeless children. More children and adults are homeless now in New York City than at any time since the Great Depression.
Thanks to despicable billionaire mayor Bloomberg New York City’s record homeless shelter population continues to grow at an alarming rate – up 19% percent in the past year alone. And this does not even include the thousands of New Yorkers still displaced by Hurricane Sandy, many of whom comprise extremely low-income households.
In total the homeless shelter population under billionaire mayor Bloomberg rose by a staggering 61% percent and the number of homeless families has increased 73% percent. During Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure, New York City homelessness has increased both in absolute numbers and at a higher rate than under previous mayors Koch, Dinkins, or Giuliani. One can only hope our new Mayor DeBlassio and our new administration can rectify these horrific numbers.
Please donate to your local charities.
February 28, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 worst winter, Councilwoman Christine Quinn, cruel winter, despicable Bloomberg record, Dinkins, donate to your charity, Giuliani, Hans Von Rittern, highest record homelessness in modern day New York, homeless, homeless children, homeless shelter, Hurricane Sandy, Koch, Macy's, Macy's department store, Macy's flagship store Herald Square, Manhattan, Mayor Bill DeBlassio, Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, New York city homeless shelters, New York photo, old woman freezing in street, Photo of the day, photography, polar vortex, politics, rise in homeless population | Leave a comment
Postcard story of the Week – MYSTERY STAIRWAY STALKER HAUNTS WRITER
Description: Looking up Broadway from the Times Building, New York.
September 01, 6:30pm, 1937
To: Mr. G. O. Moon
State Office Building, G20,
Columbus, Ohio
Yesterday upon the stair I saw a man who wasn’t there.
I saw him again there today. I wish he’d go away.
WHD
–Is the writer being stalked in the dimly lit stairwells of the 1930’s and reaching out for help or . . . Is it actually a little known poem turned into a Glenn Miller swing song. We will never know, but hopefully it was the latter.
– The words come from “Antigonish”, an 1899 poem by American educator and poet Hughes Mearns. It is also known as “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There“, and was a hit song under that title.
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today,
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
– But it wasn’t until July 12, 1939 that a recording of the song by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with vocals by Tex Beneke became an 11-week hit on Your Hit Parade reaching #7.
– So, is ‘WHD’ part of the Glenn Miller band trying out lyrics in as early as 1937? Or is ‘WHD’ just a very learned poetry aficionado?
– Mr. G.O. Moon’s State Office Building in Columbus, Ohio was demolished in 1970 for the sake of better views of a taller office tower.
– ‘WHD’ ironically went on to be the call letters of America’s first ‘top 40’ radio station in Kansas City, Missouri. An innovative and well-financed entrepreneur, Todd Storz, came from Omaha to purchase ‘WHD’ and came up with the pioneering concept of playing only ‘top 40’ music hits, therefore changing American radio forever to this day.
– The song itself was used in many movies (especially spooky ones) and has been recorded by many other artists (even heavy metal bands) up to this day as well.
– The postcard itself is a 1930 view of Broadway. Your clues: two signs advertising two hit movies of the year 1930. “A Woman Surrenders” starring Basil Rathbone and Conrad Nagel. And the hugely successful Howard Hughes film “Hell’s Angels” starring blonde bombshell Jean Harlow. It was one of the first ‘talkie’ films.
So, postcard hunting turns out to be a pretty fun mystery, insightful and learning experience!
Hear the Glenn Miller song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0woVmAdWbw0
February 27, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "A Woman Surrenders”, "The Little Man Who Wasn't There", 'Hell's Angels", 1930 Postcard New York City, 1930 view of Broadway, Antigonish poem, antique Manhattan postcard, architecture, Basil Rathbone, Broadway, Columbus, Conrad Nagel, detective movies, FILM NOIR, first top 40 radio station, Glenn Miller, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Hans Von Rittern, Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow, Kansas City Missouri, Manhattan, Mr. G.O. Moon, mystery movies, New York City, New York photo, Ohio, Photo of the day, photography, poet Hughes Mearns, postcard collecting, Postcard Stories from New York, Postcard story of the Week, September 1 1930, stairway stalker, State Office Building Columbus Ohio, Tex Beneke, Times Square, Todd Storz, top 40 playlist concept, WHD, WHD radio station, Your Hit Parade | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: HANS’ EXHIBIT ANNOUNCEMENT at GOLD COAST ARTS CENTER! – March 16, Sunday, 3-6pm. I will be one of the photographers on exhibit for the “Pho-to-graffs” show – celebrating images of Hip Hop, Graffiti and Urban Culture. I am most honored and very excited to be asked to be a part of this show! Please come and join me to celebrate my fellow artists, friends and me for this colorful explosion! I hope to see you there 🙂
The Gold Coast Arts Center is in Great Neck Long Island, just a 15 minute $22. round trip away from Manhattan by LIRR. Heck, it takes you longer to get to Brooklyn! COME JOIN US!
The exhibit runs from March 16 to April 27, 2014.
Directions
The Great Neck Arts Center is located in Great Neck at 113 Middle Neck Road. Our entrance is through the rear of the building in the northwest corner of the outdoor Maple Drive parking lot (see map). Please note – you cannot enter the Arts Center from Middle Neck Road – you must use the Maple Drive parking lot entrance.
If heading east on Long Island Expressway, take exit 33 and turn north on Lakeville Road. Crossing Northern Blvd. Lakeville Road becomes South Middle Neck Road, then Middle Neck Road. Continue into town, turn right at the 8th traffic light onto Maple Drive. Make your first left into the outdoor Maple Drive parking lot. Entrance to GNAC is in the northwest corner of the lot.
Parking
Pay parking is available in the Village of Great Neck Plaza parking outdoor lot on Maple Drive and in a covered garage across the street. Additional parking is available on the street (hourly and metered). http://www.greatneckplaza.net
Public Transit
The Great Neck Arts Center is served by Nassau County bus line N24 and is accessible from midtown Manhattan via the Long Island Railroad Port Washington Line. http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr
COME SEE MY PHOTOS ON DISPLAY! ALL AVAILABLE FOR SALE.
February 25, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, arts, celebrating Graffiti, celebrating Hip Hop, celebrating Urban Culture, Gold Coast Arts Center, graffiti, Great Neck Arts Center, Great Neck Long Island, Hans Von Rittern, Hans Von Rittern photo exhibit, interaction with graffiti and hip hop, Jude Amsel, LIRR, Manhattan, March 16 Sunday 3-6pm, Meet and greet Hans Von Rittern, Middle Neck Road, New York City, New York photo, PHO-TO-GRAFFS, Photo of the day, photography, photography exhibit, Queens, street art, street photography | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: SUNRISES – Part of Mondays on Memory Lane, a few weeks ago I found my junior high school poetry project from 1973 (see Jan. 20, 2014 post for the story) called “Reflections on My World“. There are twelve poems, here is the fourth “Sunrises” heavily influenced by listening to the awesome Beatles 1969 song “Because” on my ’Abbey Road’ album over and over again with my giant headphones on in my room.
SUNRISES
Isn’t the earth beautiful?
Just sitting here alone
getting high.
That beautiful sunrise,
isn’t it beautiful?
The sunrise, reaching,
so far and wide,
Into so many lands –
Waking all the lands of God.
Isn’t is beautiful?
I wish it could last
forever.
Just sitting here,
getting high.
“Because”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrixmRyTyao
February 24, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 'Mondays on Memory Lane', 1973 poetry, 1973 Reflections on my World, Abbey Road album, Hans Von Rittern, junior high school poetry, Martin Luther High School, Mr. Palzer English teacher, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Sunrises poem, the Beatles 'Because' | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: STEEL MAGNOLIAS – In a city of concrete, steel and rust, surprising flowers bloom.
To quote Aretha’s song, “It’s growing in the street, right up through the concrete, but soft sweet and dreamy.”
February 23, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: A rose grows in Spanish Harlem, architecture, Aretha Franklin, arts, flowers pianted on steel wall, graffiti art, graffiti tags, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, rusty painted fowers, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, street art, street mural | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: MEET THE MAYOR! – The mayor’s office finally released the official photos the lucky few of us had taken with him inside Gracie Mansion on January 5th this year. This Federal Style mansion was built in 1799 as a private home and since 1942 was used as the official residence of all of New York’s mayors. The symbolism being allowed back inside was huge since the mayor’s residence had been closed off to the public for the past 20 years. Mayor Giuliani wasn’t allowed to live there since he wasn’t married (yes you read that right.) Elitist Bloomberg refused to lower himself to live in the ‘people’s house’ choosing his luxe double town home instead. Finally on this day, Gracie Mansion belonged to the people of New York again. I was one of the few 5,000 lucky ticket holders who gladly waited in line for the rare opportunity – see my post of January 6, 2014. Whether you like Bill DeBlasio or not (he’s already in some hot messes), it was still pretty damn cool to be inside this restored historic house and to be able to put my arms around New York’s mayor and say “thank you”.
February 22, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: architecture, Bill DeBlasio, Brooklyn, Federal style 1799 mansion, Federal Style mansion, Gracie Mansion, Gracie mansion open house, Hans Von Rittern, January 5 2014 open house Gracie mansion, Manhattan, Mayor Bill DeBlassio, Mayor Giuliani, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York, New York City, New York photo, official Gracie Mansion photos, official residence, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx | Leave a comment
Photos of the day: STAY TUNED FOR GALLERY EXHIBIT NEWS!
I have been accepted into one if not two upcoming gallery exhibits!
Stay tuned for the details.
February 21, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 5 Pointz, 5 Pointz Graffiti Museum, entertainment, GALLERY EXHIBIT, Gold Coast Arts Center, Hans Von Rittern, Hans Von Rittern 2014 gallery exhibit, Long Island City Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, photography exhibit, Queens, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Postcard story of the Week – A DARK AND GLOOMY DAY IN 1906
Description: 9054. A subway station in New York.
November 20, 8pm, 1906
To: Miss Mary Ostrander*
Home Farm
Wallkill, N.Y.
This is a dark and gloomy day,
Lisa
*Today there is a Ostrander Elementary School – 137 Viola Avenue – Wallkill, NY 12589.
The subway station is from the Wall Street area. Note: the .5 cent subway fare was on the honor system – you came down the stairs, bought a ticket and then handed it to the clerk.
Having checked weather patterns for November 1906 Manhattan, it was an unusually rainy month. So, is Lisa’s “gloom” referring to the weather or is the dank and dark subway station representative of some sort of sad news?
February 20, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1906 postcard, antique Manhattan postcard, architecture, collecting postcards, Detroit Publishing Company, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Mary Ostrander, New York City, New York photo, New York subway platforn, Ostrander Elementary School, Ostrander Elementary School - 137 Viola Avenue, Photo of the day, Postcard Stories from New York, Postcard story of the Week, subway, subway station, transportation, vintage postcard, Wall Street subway, Wallkill New York | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: PIGEON TOED
February 19, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 blizzard, 2014 snowstorms, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, pgieon track design, Photo of the day, photography, pigeon rush hour, pigeon tracks in the snow, pigeons, Queens, snow in Manhattan | Leave a comment
Neal Hetherington (Habitat for Humanity), Colleen Zenk, Eileen Fulton, Richard Skipper
Photo of the day: AS THE WORLD still TURNS with EILEEN FULTON – Sometimes being a bitch pays off, just ask Eileen Fulton! – Before there was Erica Kane/Susan Lucci on All My Children, Amanda Woodward/Heather Locklear on Melrose Place, Abby Ewing/Donna Mills on Knotts Landing and certainly Alexis Carrington/Joan Collins on Dynasty – – there was Lisa Grimaldi/Eileen Fulton in 1960 on the classic TV soap opera “As The World Turns“. Being a bitch certainly offers job security, Eileen played the roll for fifty, yes fifty years!
Soap classic
On February 16, 2014 Sunday night, Richard Skipper: entertainer, charity fundraiser, Carol Channing’s champion and a well loved friend and historian of the entertainment community, hosted an evening’s conversation with soap opera legend Eileen Fulton at New York’s Metropolitan Room. One of many celebrity interviews in the ‘Richard Skipper Celebrates…’ series. A charity event with all proceeds going to president Jimmy Carter’s ‘Habitat for Humanity’ at the request of Eileen herself.
Host Richard Skipper
Richard’s warm and listening manner lets his guests free flow with the room and the audience loves it. Eileen’s zesty charm took over the room immediately. She looked absolutely stunning with her blonde curls tossed on top of her head, wearing black feathers and diamonds just as a soap opera queen should! So how do you get a job that lasts 50 years? You bang down doors. No…I mean that literally.
On a hot summer’s day in 1960, Eileen was treading the pavement going from agents office to agents office. After her bluff did not work at the William Morris agency that “I have an appointment with Mr. William Morris”, she went on to the next name on her list, William McCaffrey. When knocking on the door yielded no results, she knocked/pounded a little harder therefore knocking the door off it’s hinges (well…it WAS being repaired and so therefore loose). That accidental stunt landed Eileen her first agent. Shortly thereafter she landed the role of Lisa Grimaldi ‘for just a few episodes’ on ATWT. Her Asheville, North Carolina sweetness connected with the viewers but not with Eileen. Eileen didn’t like being the ‘good girl’ Lisa Grimaldi – too boring. So she schemed to spice things up. When not allowed to change the plots or staging directions, she changed her character simply by using her voice. She said the same sweet dialog “but as I said it, I thought the nastiest dirtiest thoughts and the words just came out differently – with a whole new meaning. It was live television, what could they do?” she recounted to Richard with a sly grin. The rest is television history.
Eileen Fulton speaks her mind
Eileen’s determination is also show business legend. At one point Eileen held down three acting rolls at once. ATWT soap filming live, then 3 matinees of “Whose Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?” and then evening performances of “The Fantastiks”. She had a speed record of getting from the CBS Grand Central Broadcasting studio to the Billy Rose Theater (now the Nederlander) on West 41st street in five minutes. Talk about determination! It’s a feat of determination that Elaine Stritch still talks about in her act today. Why did she stop? “I was exhausted!”.
Die hard fan Kevin Campbell meets Colleen Zenk
Over the decades CBS tried to replace Eileen’s character of Lisa with another actress, but the viewers would not have it. “You can’t lie to the audience” Eileen passionately insists. Lisa/Eileen’s audience was so wrapped up in the nastiness of the character, Eileen was slapped by a Chanel wearing patron at SAKS Fifth Avenue and she also had to hire body guards because people simply couldn’t separate real life from fiction as they would try to slug her in the street. Well, Eileen slugged herself all the way to the banks with 5 lp recordings and two autobiographies under her belt, night club acts, movie rolls as well as many murder mystery novels to her credit as well.
Soap aficionado Peggy Eason and husband meet their idol
Sunday night under Richard’s loving guidance, two passions in acting came to light. Eileen strongly feels you can’t fake emotions and don’t glorify violence against women even in jest. When a scene came up that her character was to be taken across her husband’s knee and spanked, she refused to play the scene insisting to her directors “that’s abuse whether you realize it or not.” Eileen got her way and kept a high standard on the show for a long time.
ATWT 2001 cast
Any ironies in her life? Yes. As a child she was fascinated that ivory soap bars would float on the water in the tub, “just like a piece of wedding cake.” Being left alone in the tub one afternoon as a child, her mother returned to find little Eileen had bitten away the edges of the tasting looking soap bar as she ‘foamed from the mouth.’ “Isn’t it ironic that for fifty years I had Procter and Gamble/Ivory Soap as my sponsor?!” she laughed.
Any grudges or unhappy memories? Yes, one. Eileen is not a great fan of Carol Burnett. There’s a grudge there. Seems Eileen came up with the idea of the comedic take-off on Carol’s show “As the Stomach Turns” yet she was never once asked to appear. But when Carol did the comedic take-off of “Sunset Boulevard/Norma Desmond”, Gloria Swanson was asked to appear. “I think it was jealousy” Eileen still quickly insists.
“As The Stomach Turns”
Eileen has played through fifty years of history, fashion fads, political turmoils and every heinous plot you can think of on TV soaps but on September 17, 2010, the “World” no longer turned to the heartbreak of the legions of fans of “As The World Turns.” All the more reason this rare intimate night with this TV icon was such a treat thanks to Richard Skipper.
‘As The World Turns’ stars Colleen Zenk and Eileen Fulton with Richard Skipper
Richard doesn’t just “read the book” as some interviewers may do, he gets to really know his guests and hence the magic of the evening is born. Many of her fans and also former cast member Colleen Zenk who played Barbara Ryan from 1978 till 2010 where in the audience. When asked during the question and answer part of the show if she still recalled her full legal show name, Eileen shouted: “Of course! I was married eight times, divorced three times and widowed four times. I’m Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn!” (Take that Alexis Carrington!)
I had the surreal pleasure of having dinner with Eileen! (Thats me seated right next to her.)
Richard Skipper’s web site: http://www.richardskipper.com/index.html
February 18, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Whose Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?", Abby Ewing/Donna Mills on Knotts Landing, Alexis Carrington, Amanda Woodward/Heather Locklear on Melrose Place, arts, As The Stomach Turns, As The World Turns, ATWT, Barbara Ryan, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, CBS, CBS Television, celebrities, classic soap opera, Colleen Zenk, dinner with Eileen Fulton and Colleen Zenk, Eileen Fulton, entertainment, Erica Kane/Susan Lucci on All My Children, fans meet soap stars, Grand Central Station, Grand Central Terminal, Habitat for Humanity, Hans Von Rittern, interview with Eileen Fulton, Ivory Soap, Jimmy Carter, Joan Collins, Kevin Campbell, Lisa Grimaldi, Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn, Manhattan, Melrose Place, New York City, New York photo, Norma Desmond, Peggy Eason, Photo of the day, photography, Procter and Gambell, Richard Skipper, Richard Skipper Celebrates..., soap opera bitches and vixens, television, The Fantastiks, The Metropolitan Room, William McCaffrey, William Morris, William Morriss agency | Leave a comment
“Love” 1973
Photo of the day: 1973 REFLECTIONS ON LOVE
– Returning back to Mondays on Memory Lane, (and in honor of Valentine’s Day just past), I just found my junior high school ‘audio visual’ English project from 1973 called “Reflections on my World“.
It was a collage of photos and poems accompanied by a typed booklet version as well. It was my first attempt at seriously writing and expressing myself at age seventeen. There are twelve poems: Sunsets, The Sea, Sun Rise, Animals, Love, Colors, Beaches, The Desert, Flowers, Horizons, The Moon and Children. I had always been a voracious hunter of magazines in our apartment building’s incinerator (aka garbage) room and would spend hours looking through magazines like Look, Life, Time, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, the gossips mags, Newsweek, anything with pictures. So therefore, I think the twelve poems were decided upon by the photos I had clipped from the magazines. (Somewhere in my warehouse space there is still a treasure trove of boxes filled with magazine clippings.)
LOVE
Being in love,
It’s so beautiful.
Your heart fills with joy,
Nothing else matters,
She is yours to love,
What more can there be?
I received an A+ on the project from English teacher Mr. Palzer. My audacity was, I had pasted a note on the back with an explanation of the project, as well as me having the balls to proclaim I deserved ‘at least’ an A if not an A+. In Mr. Palzer’s critique I was complimented on my self expression and insight. I had two grades, the first one was heavily crossed out by Mr. Palzer and next to it was the A+. With no other grade higher than an A+, I guess he at first wasn’t going to give in on my high opinion of my work – but then on second thought…he gave in J .
February 17, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1970's collage, 1970's poetry, 1973 poetry, English project, Hans Von Rittern, Hans Von Rittern's poetry, Hans' poetry, high school poetry, Love poem, Martin Luther High School, Mr. Palzer English teacher, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Queens New York, teen poetry | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THE AGONY OF DE FEET – Ssssssnow! Soggy feet. Snowy feet. Soaking feet. Sweaty in those rubber boots feet. Salty feet. Sore feet. Slushy feet. Shivery feet. Enough already!
February 16, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 blizzard, 2014 snow storms, 34th Street, Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Salty feet, Shivery feet, Slushy feet, slushy streets, snowfall on Fifth Avenue, Snowy feet, Soaking feet, Soggy feet, Sore feet, Sweaty feet in those rubber boots | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? – This is a solar powered parking meter in New York City. The mayor has been harassed to clean all the streets at once in our last three blizzards this year. Everyone is screaming “clean my street, clean your sidewalk, clean the outdoor subway platforms, salt the bridges!” But – one thing no one has thought of is…the solar powered parking meters. Their solar panels on top are completely ice and snow covered, which means no sun exposure – hence…they don’t work and therefore you can’t park 😦 .
February 15, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 snow storms, 34th Street, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Mayor Bill DeBlassio, muni meter, New York City, New York photo, parking meter, Photo of the day, photography, snow covered solar powered parking meter, solar panels, solar powered parking meter | 2 Comments
Photo of the day: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY from the subways of New York City!
February 14, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Hans Von Rittern, Happy Valentine's Day, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, subway, subway graffiti, Valentine from New York City, woman with mustache blowing kiss | Leave a comment
Postcard story of the Week – POSTCARD FROM A CAD AND A SCOUNDREL 1939 Description: Downtown skyscrapers, New York, The financial center of the world. In these skyscrapers many billions of dollars change hands every year and world projects are financed. Federal Reserve Bank, Cities Service, Bank of Manhattan, City Bank, Farmers Trust Company.
To: Mr. Andrew Mcate
415 – 22″ Street
Ashland, Kentucky
August 7, 1939
I like to hang around here because its such easy picking and I always get my share, will probably be home Fri or Sat.
Rus
So, the question is: Was Rus a lady’s man cad, a business con man or a thief?? What do you think?
February 13, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1939, architecture, Ashland Kentucky, Bank of Manhattan, Cities Service, City Bank, easy pickings in New York, Farmers Trust Company, Federal Reserve Bank, Hans Von Rittern, letter from a con man, Manhattan, Mr. Andrew Mcate Ashland Kentucky, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, postcard from a thief cad scoundrel, Postcard Stories from New York, skyscrapers of old New York, swindler in New York, the financial center of the world, thief in New York, vintage NYC postcard, vintage postcard, written 1939 postcard | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: (Message to the ice and snow) MELT GOD DAMMIT !
THIS IS MY 500th POST ! !
February 12, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 snowstorms, black dirty street ice, dirty New York snow, endles snowstorms, Hans Von Rittern, ice and snow won't melt, icicles on snow, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, polar vortex, Queens, snow pilled in streets of New York, Sunnyside | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: BRING YOUR PETS INSIDE – It has snowed again last night, don’t forget to bring your loved ones indoors.
February 10, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 34th Street, bike with teddy bear, bring your pets inside, Hans Von Rittern, homeless, homeless persons teddy bear, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, snow in New York, teddy bear in snow | 2 Comments
The Ed Sullivan Theater, February 9, 2014
Photo of the day: 2-9-1964 8:00PM THE BEATLES CHANGED CULTURE FOREVER – On February 9th, 1964 just a few minutes after 8:00pm America was changed forever with these immortal words uttered by Ed Sullivan “Ladies and gentlemen the Beatles!” 70 million TV viewers, America’s largest TV audience to date watched frantic girls scream to the strains of “All My Loving”.
Say and think what you will but after 9:00pm our music, fashion, behavior, styles, art and society had changed like a boulder crashing over a cliff. It was a teenage sonic boom that suddenly took over. Adults couldn’t understand this “yeah, yeah, yeah” nonsense. Today Beatles music is considered easy listening and elevator music that young kid’s grandparents listen too (hard to wrap your head around that…). It has influenced many musicians ever since, it’s amazing how far we have come. In honor of this historic broadcast the Ed Sullivan theater here in New York City has recreated the now iconic marquis of that night.
The program opened with The Beatles, who sang “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” and “She Loves You,” followed by a magician and excerpts from the Broadway musical “Oliver” with Georgia Brown and ironically future “Monkee” Davy Jones in the cast, yes that Davy Jones! Mimic Frank Gorshin impersonated movie stars as political leaders and Tony Award Welsh singer/actress Tessie O’Shea sang, followed by comedians Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill. Later in the program, The Beatles performed “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The program closed with the pantominists Weels and The Four Fays.
February 9, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "All My Loving", "She Loves You", "Till There Was You", America's largest TV audience, Broadway, Broadway show Oliver, celebrities, Davy Jones Monkee, Ed Sullivan, ed sullivan show, February 9 1964, Frank Gorshin, George Harrison, Hans Von Rittern, John Lennon, Manhattan, Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill, New York City, New York photo, Paul McCartney, Photo of the day, photography, Ringo Starr, Sullivan marquis, Sullivan theater marquis recreates the Beatles, Tessie O'Shea, the Beatles, the Peppermint Lounge, Weels and The Four Fays | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: THINK PINK!
Think pink! Think pink! when you shop for summer clothes.
Think pink! think pink! if you want that quel-que chose.
Red is dead, blue is through, Green’s obscene, brown’s taboo.
And there is not the slightest excuse for plum or puce or chartreuse.
Think pink! forget that Dior says rust and black.
Think pink! who cares if the new look will set you back.
Now, I wouldn’t presume to tell a woman what a woman oughtta think,
But tell her if she’s gotta think: think pink!
“Think Pink!” sung by Kay Thompson in the 1957 Audrey Hepburn film “Funny Face”
Model above: Victoria Viscardi at Pup Scouts Honda event
February 8, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Funny Face", "Think PInk!", AUDREY HEPBURN, Audrey Hepburn Funny Face, dog dyed pink, dog fashion show, Hans Von Rittern, Honda, Kay Thompson, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, pink dog, PINK!, Pup Scouts, Susan Godwin, Victoria Viscardi, woman holding pink dog | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: I ♥ NY – Sometimes New York just goes to the dogs…
February 7, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: blinged out dog, dog costume, dog fashion show, dog in black tulle, dog in Chanel tutu, dog wearing sunglasses, DSW, Hans Von Rittern, haute couture dog, I ♥ NY, I love New York, I Love New York logo, Manhattan, New York City, New York dog, New York photo, over the top dog, owner and dog in NY logo, Photo of the day, photography | Leave a comment
WWII February 6, 1944
POSTCARD STORIES FROM NEW YORK – AAC LIEUTENANT visits MIYAKO RESTAURANT 1944
Description: When in New York visit MIYAKO, 20 West 56th Street. “Nothing but the best.” Japanese Sukiyaki and Tempura cuisine.
To: Mr. + Mrs. Merrill Peck
Naples, NY Ro. 3
From: Lt. Ariskine Weed AAC
New Sub Post #1
Mitchell Field*, N.Y.
June 22, 1944
Hi Folks:,
While I’m stationed here at NY “we” the gang & I are eating every kind of food, fun! N.Y.C. has loads to see. It takes about 1-1/2 hrs to “get in.” I hope you’re all well –
As ever, Ariskine
* Mitchell Air Force base was located in Hempstead, Long Island from 1918-1961. Having researched the lieutenant, he heralded from Naples, Florida and was still alive in 1945 in the Army Air Corps.
February 6, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 1944 postcard, AAC, AAC LIEUTENANT, Arisitine Weed Naples Florida, Army Air Corps, collecting postcards, Hans Von Rittern, Hempstead Long Island, letters home from soldiers, Lieutenant Ariskene Weed AAC, Lt. Ariskine Weed, Manhattan, Merrill Peck Naples New York, Mitchell Air Force Base, MIYAKO Japanese restaurant, MIYAKO RESTAURANT, New York City, Photo of the day, postcard from soldier, soldier writing home, vintage New York postcard, vintage NYC postcard, vintage postcard, WWII | Leave a comment
HEADLINE TRIBUTE TO JAY LENO: I have wanted to send this Smith’s (Tucson, AZ) Supermarket flyer to Jay Leno’s “Headlines” since 1994. Now 20 years later, that Jay is sadly leaving as a great topical funny host of The Tonight Show and 4,610 episodes later – I regretfully never did wind up sending it to his headlines department.
But, if you read it carefully, you will see Leno might have been censored for showing this priceless ad on the air. So, after 20 years – – here it is!
February 5, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "Headlines", celebrities, cunt, cunt count, embarrassing typo, entertainment, Hans Von Rittern, humor, Jay Leno, Jay Leno Tonight Show, Jay Leno's Headlines, Jay Leno's last show, KOTEX, Kotex ad typo, Kotex cunt ad, maxi pads ad, NBC, New York photo, Smith's Supermarket, Smith's Supermarket Tucson Arizona, tampon ad, televison, Tucson Arizona | Leave a comment
Photo of the day: IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN, (I THINK I’LL ‘SKIP’ LUNCH) – While squeezing through the crowded side streets of New York’s Chinatown for the lunar new year, I was getting bumped and shoved into the open store fronts, seeing all sorts of food oddities. I was getting used to seeing the squids, the eels, the sea urchins, the giant shrimps etc, but then I bumped into that I thought was a garbage can. Having a soda bottle I wanted to get rid of I looked inside and looking back at me were dozens of desperate green eyes. It was a giant garbage can filled with large green slimy frogs all anxious to get out. I just looked at them in horror. They were all slated to be somebody’s frogs legs dinner that night. They all caught my eyes seemingly desperately saying “please help us.” It was awful. I just wanted to buy some and let them loose in Central Park. What if one of them is your Prince?!!
During preparation
Not being able to get them out of my mind, I went home and looked up ‘frog delicacies.’ “Tastes like chicken” all recipes seem to say, So I wondered, how do you kill a frog/Kermit? Seems most favovered method is you grab them by the feet and smack them full force against the wall. Splat – Bon appétit!
The final result – sauteed frogs legs
February 5, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 2014 Year of the Horse, captured frogs, Chinatown, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, frog leg food preparation, frogs as food, frogs in a bucket, frogs legs, Hans Von Rittern, live sea foods in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, odd foods in Chinatown, Photo of the day, photography, side streets of New York's Chinatown | 4 Comments
Photo of the day: ENOUGH ALREADY ! ! !
February 3, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Broadway, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York blizzard 2-3-14, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, snow covered stop sign, snow storm 2014 New York, STOP THE SNOW! | 4 Comments
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 