Photo of the day: MY NIGHT WITH ANDY COHEN AND . . . CHER !
Photo of the day: MY NIGHT WITH ANDY COHEN AND . . . CHER ! – Last night, at 2:30 in the morning the vision of Cher ascending the staircase amongst the club goers at Club Marquee was not a dream, it was a dream, some would say come true. The goddess herself after spending the evening with Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” show on Bravo, joined Andy in attending a ‘Cher Fashion Show’ while her music was blasting.
Dressed in an Egyptian/street warrior type outfit, she and Andy watched with delight as she sang along to some of her songs. It was surreal to have Cher just a few feet away holding court over “her boys” and the Cher drag queens for Pride Week. Andy Cohen was charged with energy as he couldn’t stop grinning with sheer delight at spending the evening with Cher. Neither could we!
After the show she came down the stairs right through the club goers, onto the floor and joined the DJ on stage and spoke from the heart: “I have a lot of very special fans, but you guys are extra special. From the bottom of my heart, I mean this, I have had ups and downs in my career and you guys have never left me! You will keep me in sequins forever.”
Here’s a video montage of the evening:
Photo of the day: TIME AND LOVE CONQUERS DOMA AND PROP 8
Photo of the day: TIME AND LOVE CONQUERS DOMA AND PROP 8 – DOMA lasted eight years. Prop 8 lasted six years. Kim Kardashian’s and Kris Humphries’ marriage lasted 72 days. Britney Spears’ marriage lasted 55 hours.
This old couple’s love has lasted forty-three years. Love, trust and respect have kept them smiling through the good and bad years. True love is ageless, colorless, lawless and timeless.
Here is a link to Hollywood’s all time shortest straight marriages http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/kim-kardashian-kris-humphries-hollywood-divorces-255261#1-kim-kardashian-kris-humphries-72-days
Photo of the day: THE POPE HAS A YARD SALE
Photo of the day: POPE HAS YARD SALE – If men of clergy – popes, pastors, priests are called ‘men of the cloth’ . . . then this should be one helluva sale! My question is, what will they be wearing next season?!
Photo of the day: I GOT TIME ON MY HANDS
Photo of the day: I GOT TIME ON MY HANDS – Time seemed to stand still in the year 1962 during my private tour of the TWA Flight Center in New York’s JFK airport. The flowing timeless architecture by Finland’s architect Eero Saarinen makes you feel as if you are floating through the space, which was his idea. He said he wanted no focal point at all, just sweeping vistas. Therefore, the clock was an added idea on the part of TWA (Trans World Airlines) insisting a clock be placed somewhere within the terminal. Here it is above the floating central bridge/walkway. Sadly time did not wait for Eero Saarinen, he died shortly before his building was completed. But time actually has stood still here today, since the building has been officially landmarked and is slowly being renovated for Jet Blue airlines.
Photo of the day: “TWA FLIGHT CENTER, A BYGONE ERA OF THE ELEGANCE OF FLIGHT”
Photo of the day: “TWA FLIGHT CENTER, A BYGONE ERA OF THE ELEGANCE OF FLIGHT”
“TWA flight 221 now boarding for Bermuda at gate two.”
One of the epitomes of high style 1960’s architectural design is Eero Saarinen‘s 1962 TWA Flight Center shaped like a flying bird. Mr. Saarinen was born in Finland and his architectural firm was based in Detroit. One of the greatest gifts he ever gave to New York City’s Kennedy Airport is this ‘Mad Men’ era TWA Flight Center building.
You can just see women with pill box hats, gloves with matching shoes, elegant suits and hat boxes arriving for their journey abroad. The open design is one of fluidity, your eyes are made to sweep across this magnificent airy space.
The terminal ceased operations in 2001 but has thankfully been declared a historic landmark. I was privileged enough be given a rare private tour to experience the genius and beauty that is Saarinen.
(Many more photos to follow.)
Photo of the day: THE DECISION
Photo of the day: THE DECISION – Another frozen yogurt or ice cream, kiwi or chocolate, iced tea or ginger ale, stay a little longer or leave, is it right or is it wrong, walk or ride home, should I say something, should I talk to someone else, is it too late, will this feeling go away, is there another way, iced tea or coffee. What else can be done, can it get worse, who else knows, should I tell, right or wrong, was it that long ago, will time heal, is it already forgotten, is it that time, time seems to go slower, how much more time, should I, shouldn’t I, where else can I go, coffee or ginger ale, walk or ride home . . .
Photo of the day: ‘G’ IS FOR GARAGE
Photo of the day: ‘G’ IS FOR GARAGE – Finding an available parking space on the streets of New York City can be a frustrating and time-consuming endeavor. Even if you luck into a space, confusing signs and malfunctioning meters can lead to expensive parking tickets, if the lousy new muni-meters aren’t working they can negate a whole block.
It’s no wonder that so many New York drivers rely on parking garages. Parking in a garage will cost you more than parking on the street, but will also save you time and headaches when you’re in a hurry. According to Park It! NYC 2009, a directory of Manhattan parking garages, there are 103,000 licensed, off-street parking spaces in Manhattan. New York parking garages range from the tiny (the one at 324 W. 11th St. has just 7 spaces) to the enormous (the garage at Pier 40 has 3,500 spaces).
But how much are you wiling to pay for this privileged space? In Manhattan it can cost as much as an additional room to your apartment. The most expensive parking space in Manhattan is located as part of a private townhouse at 66 East 11th Street for the annual rate of $1 million dollars a year! There are cheaper spaces – at the 2nd most expensive garage in NYC at the GM Building, 767 Fifth Avenue/59th Street where the rate is only $66. a day = $1,320 per month!
But, the average price for monthly parking in Manhattan is $431. Some garages will offer discounts if you commit to a six-to-twelve-month contract, so go ahead and try to negotiate. Hourly rates tend to vary widely by neighborhood — from about $6 to $25 and over. ‘G’ is for ‘golly!’, ‘gosh!’, ‘gee wiz!’ and ‘God damn!’
Photo of the day: ANOTHER TROPICAL NIGHT IN NEW YORK CITY
Photo of the day: ANOTHER TROPICAL NIGHT IN NEW YORK CITY –
The tropical breezes blow
The palm trees sway to and fro
As the piña coladas flow
The city seems to glow.
For a luxurious tropical night in Manhattan visit 230 Fifth Avenue’s rooftop cocktail lounge. All sorts of palms trees and lush fauna in giant white wooden planters let you forget you are in The Big Apple, but take a look at the skyline view – and you see the best view of one of the world’s most iconic buildings, The Empire State Building and it’s surrounding skyscrapers. Sip your Mai tai as you watch the magic of Manhattan’s sunsets turn the skyline from blue to orange to red to irridescent blue as the light come on the skyline starts to glow! 230 FIFTH is the largest outdoor rooftop garden in New York City.
230 FIFTH has two floors, an outdoor rooftop as well as a fully enclosed (Penthouse Lounge) and private event rooms underneath, both with breathtaking views of the NYC skyline. Their Rooftop Garden also has very large, oversize umbrellas for rainy days, or for very hot sunny days, they partially heat the rooftop in cooler months. 230 Fifth is a lounge that also offers a full food menu. Open every day, 365 days of the year to the general public from 4:00PM – 4:00AM. Saturday and Sunday Brunch from 10am-4pm.
Location: 230 FIFTH AVE corner 27th street on 5th Ave. 212-725-4300
Location: 230 FIFTH AVE corner 27th street on 5th Ave. 212-725-4300
Mondays on Memory Lane: YORKVILLE’S SCHALLER & WEBER’S GERMAN DELICATESSEN
Mondays on Memory Lane: YORKVILLE’S SCHALLER & WEBER’S DELICATESSEN – At the turn of the century from 1890 – 1910 one third on New York City spoke German, today hardly anyone does and instead you hear Spanish, Russian and Chinese. I was born in 1955 and as a child we would go to the German section of the city named Yorkville. Yorkville’s center street was East 86th Street and it’s surrounding streets. In this area you could still here strains of “wunderbar” and ooom-pah-pah ♫♪ all around you. You could buy everything from back home: Mecki books, Salamander shoes, Zarah Leander and Heino records, teewurst, Loden coats, Tyrolian hats, beer steins, wooden nut crackers, Lübeck Marzipan, German magazines and newspapers and all the wiener schnitzel and beer you wanted.
That was then, today there are only 2 establishments left that I know of. The Heidelberg Restaurant (1648 Second Avenue) where today the little dark haired Guatemalan waiters wearing (much too big) lederhosen tell you the day’s specials in a heavy Spanish accent. But…there is one staple that has remained – Schaller and Weber, opened in 1937 at 1654 Second Avenue/86th Street, a German delicatessen where the white haired old German butchers with German accents still politely slice the fresh deli meats daily.
When I was a little boy, this place was heaven to me and still is. You can just lock me up behind the deli counter and leave me in there for a week. Ahhh! The smoked hams, the dozens of salamis, the stuffed peppers, stuffed veal, weiß wurst, Westphalian ham and my obsession – roladen! Roladen are very thin slices of beef, rolled up with spices, bacon and onion inside, pan fried with a rich dark gravy, add boiled potatoes and you’re set. Then there are also the wonderful chocolates, sauces, white asparagus, smoked fish, hearty breads, Bahlsen cookies, Maggi and Knorr spices and a fine assortment of cheeses.
In 2013, for a person born in to an all German family, Schaller and Weber is that one place I can still retreat to and relive my childhood, inhale deeply and feel at home. The store, (thank god) has hardly changed. They are struggling to hang on throughout the great disruption of the second avenue subway being built. There were rumors of them not being able to afford to stay open, but when I reach the corner of 2nd Avenue and 86th Street – they are still there – a sight for sore eyes. I go inside and it is Christmas/Weihnachten 1962 and I’m standing in line with my numbered ticket to be called as I am fixating on all the goodies I hope my mother will buy for the Christmas holidays, always topped off with the treat of a Lübecker marzipan bar. Some kids dreamed of being locked up in toys stores and candy shops – I dreamed of being locked up in Schaller and Weber!
Here is a partial list of their goodies and a link to their web site:
Spaetzle (German Noodle)
Imported Brands Maggi, Panni, Bechtle, Riehle (Manager’s Favorite)
Pickles & Sauerkraut Gundelsheim, Hengstenberg, Pickled Herring
Mustard & Ketcup Lowensene, Handlmaier & Thomy, Feisner & Hela (Ketchup)
Honey (Honig) Bihophar & Langnese (Assorted Flavors)
Soup & Gravy Mixes Knorr, Maggi Potato Dumplings & Pancake Mixes
Jams /Jellies Darbo (Austrian), Vavel (Polish), Landsberg (Germany)
Breads Landsberg, Mestemacher
German Cheeses Limberger, Harzer Kase, Tilsit
Coffees Jacobs, Tchibo, Dallmayer
Syrups Darbo (Austrian), Marco Polo (Hungarian), Adro, (Many more & assorted flavors)
Assorted Cosmetics 4711, The oldest brand in Germany, Fa, Nivia, Kamille
Sweets & Treats Haribo: Gummy Bears (Large Variety), Swedish Fish: Abba (Assorted Flavors), Bahlsen Cookies: Kipderl, Waffelette, Butter Leibniz, Kopper’s Chocolates, Marzipan: Maker, Mozart Kugeln: Reber
Photo of the day: “…love doesn’t come at the time and place you expect it to…”
Photo of the day: MINDY CASSEL & RAY ROSATO WED 6-16-2012 – My two dear friends Ray & Mindy are married one year today! Ray gave me the great honor of asking me to be the best man at their wedding, which meant I had to deliver the toast. I worked and worked on my speech and decided to base it on the love story of an adopted Greek aunt of mine Aunt Grekorakis, ‘Aunt G’ for short. Here is my wedding toast:
“RAY ROSATO, I suspect, was a grumpy old man before he was 30. He is the cantankerous old Jewish man on the corner, the Italian punk with attitude, a true cussing New Yorker, a great tour guide and comedian, and a dear friend.
I love Ray because of all these qualities, some say in spite of them 🙂 We met 5 years ago at Gray Line and it was instant “love”. The same was my affection for Mindy. She has this jubilant light inside, this child-like enthusiasm for everything she does. Bursting to do her best with this beaming smile. I fell in love with both of them. Soon, I discovered Mindy is my neighbor, just 2 blocks away and that Ray would often come to stay with her. Poor Ray on the 7 train…….once Mindy and I started gabbing about something that upset her, or the theater, or work, the best Ray could do was to be able to interject with 3 phrases: uh-huh, I‘m listening, and (to either one of us) “yes dear“.
I mean all of this in the most loving way. If ever 2 people were meant to be together, it’s Ray and Mindy – just look in their eyes when they look at each other. It’s George Burns and Gracie Allen, Lunt & Fontaine, Bacardi & rum, ying and yang, Mork & Mindy, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Lucy and Ricky, peanut butter and jelly, Bogie and Bacall, Barney and Betty Rubble, cookies and milk.
But – There’s one couple they remind me of the most. . . Growing up, I had this adopted Greek aunt ‘Grekorakis’, aunt “G” for short. Imagine Lucille Ball with blonde poodle cut hair. She was a chain smoker, consistently blew smoke rings, which fascinated me! Wore 4 charm bracelets on each wrist, drank ouzo and simply was…divine! In 1964, at age 82, she met and fell in love with professor Ralph Harlow from Harvard. They were married the very next year. Their picture is right here! She wore a lace, almost see through wedding dress, danced on the tables in a Greenwich Village grotto at the reception and then they traveled around the world as she lovingly dotted on him.
So, at a very early age, I saw that love doesn’t come at the time and place you expect it to. But it does fatefully come when the time is right and your heart is hopefully open enough to know “it’s right”. Well, the time is right for Ray and Mindy. They fit. Their lives fit. They’re Aunt “G” and Ralph. They found each other when the time is right. How divine! So – A toast: To our bride and groom – Ray and Mindy Rosato! (I can’t believe I just said that!). To a safe, secure and happy future together! Lacheim, Salute and Cheers! I love you both!“
Their wedding day 1965
Photo of the day: HOW TO HAIL A CAB ~ “TAXI, TAXI”
Model Shaniqua Myoshi Smith
Photo of the day: TAXI, TAXI – The monsoon rain has finally stopped in New York! It is impossible to find a cab in NYC when it rains, but now that it’ sunny ~ do you know how to hail a cab in NYC? No, you just don’t whistle and wave – you have to know the light system on top of the cab.
– When the letter and number combo is lit (6X47B) that means he is free (no passengers).
– When the letter and number combo is NOT lit (6X47B) that means he is occupied (has passengers).
– If the words are lit on either side of the letter/number combo, it reads “OFF DUTY” that means he is going home. He may stop for you if where you’d like to go is on his way home, but he’ll quote you a flat predetermined price. (The meter is turned off…I’d wait for a working metered cab.)
– You are allowed to tell him to turn off his personal loud radio.
CONGRATULATIONS! You have just graduated Taxi Cab 101 !
REMINDER: SUNDAY JUNE 9 is the
“Invincible Summer Art Fair”!
1-5PM
Featuring Hans Von Rittern’s work
at Queen of Angels Parish Hall, 44-04 Skillman Ave, corner 44th Street, 2 blocks from subway
N/Q/R train to Quensboro Place, 7 train to 36th Street, walk 4 blocks
I’LL SEE YOU THERE !
Photo of the day: EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DAYS!?!?!!!!
Photo of the day: EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DAYS???? – This is one of them.
Photos of the day: COME MEET HANS VON RITTERN AND HIS PHOTOS
Photos of the day: COME CELEBRATE HANS AND HIS PHOTOS: You have two chances in the next two weeks. This Sunday, June 9th, is the “Invincible Summer” Art Fair at Queen of Angels Parish Hall, 44-04 Skillman Ave, corner 44th Street, 2 blocks from subway, phone 718-392-0011. I’ll be selling some of my photos from 1pm – 5pm.
MORE GREAT NEWS! I will have my own exhibit of 12-14 of my works at The Brogue Restaurant and Bar on 4910 Skillman Avenue (between 49/50th Streets) here in my hood Sunnyside. The reception party is tentatively scheduled for Friday June 14th. Please come all! This is the first time I am having an exhibit of my own!
So come to both occasions but definitely come to the reception tentatively scheduled June 14th.!
Hopefully see you this Sunday too 🙂
Mondays on Memory Lane: THE PALLADIUM DISCO 1986 “EVERY DAY IS GAY PRIDE DAY”
Mondays on Memory Lane: THE PALLADIUM DISCO “EVERY DAY IS GAY PRIDE DAY” – June is world wide Gay Pride month. One of the last great dance palaces of the disco era was the grand Palladium which every Sunday catered to an almost all gay audience. Owned and operated by the former Studio 54 masterminds Ian Shrager and Steve Rubell. It was one of the last clubs I attended around 1986 before “it just wasn’t fun anymore.”
The Palladium was converted from a movie theater to a music venue and then into a nightclub. The famous duo hired Danceteria DJ Richard Sweret, who saw the possibility of a much larger audience for a downtown New Wave, Euro and house music-oriented club. From its celebrity-studded opening in May 1985, through the end of the 1980’s, it was one of the major features on a vibrant New York club scene. The club was a mainstay on the New York club scene until it was bought out in 1997 by the voracious appetite of New York University (NYU) and demolished for a sterile campus housing project. They have continued to destroy New York ever since.
Junior Vasquez’s Arena party, held Saturday nights and all day Sundays at Palladium between September 1996 and September 1997, was one of the most popular parties in the New York club scene at the time. Although the promoters billed Arena as “The Gay Man’s Pleasure Dome”, the party drew an eclectic mix of gay and straight from Manhattan and far beyond. 14th Street in those days was still seedy and therefore the attraction to gain entrance into the club as you bypassed the bums in the adjoining urine stenched doorways was ‘chic’ and daring.
1986 Palladium party invitation
The Palladium represented architect Arata Isozaki’s transformation of a vacant and rundown theater, originally built in 1927 as the Academy of Music, into an extraordinary interior that can only be described as a sleek new structure, the equivalent of a seven-story building using more than 200 tons of steel, within the restored grandeur of the original shell. After the conversion from a venue to a club, the main dance floor of the Palladium was a huge space which used to hold the theater and seating. One interesting feature of the club was the large banks of TV monitors in grid formations that were used to display music vidoes. Each monitor could operate separately, or one large picture could be shown across the grid – we had never seen such technology before and it was mesmerizing to us at the time.
The entire gigantic cavernous club was big enough to hold different areas, the equivalent of three or four clubs! Besides the pounding main dance floor area there was a multicolored basement, and the famous upstairs “VIP room”, The Michael Todd Room. Murals were created for this space by the well known New York artists of the 1980s Jean-Michel Basquit, Francesco Clemente, Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring – these treasures are gone.
The video links below will show you the 1980’s grandeur it once was.
A rare visual tour into the past of The Palladium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5_NI2MSmp8
MTV music video A. Snap – The Power B. Technotronic – This beat is Technotronic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUdbX4B-74s
Photo of the day: THE LOST WWII VETERAN
Photo of the day: THE LOST WWII VETERAN – I spotted this sweet old man outside Pennsylvania (Penn) Train Station, and fell in love with his flair and his determined fast pace, so I followed him with my camera. He seemed very concerned to get to his destination, but as I kept following him, we wound up at the end of the station and I could see he was lost. I asked if I could help him. He kept telling me he wanted to go to Central Ave in South Orange, New Jersey. So we looked for the NJ Transit train together. He told me he is a lecturer on wars, esp. WWII in which he served. He was very spry. I believe he is at least 85 years old and seemingly very poor. His white t-shirt was a printed t-shirt turned inside-out, his ragged coat adorned with the medals of his past. The two scarves around his neck in a very Parisian manner seemed to be scraps of fabric he had found, his hat covered with cat hairs.
When we got to the correct platform the conductors knew of no such address but promised me he would be put on the train heading in the right direction and we would have to hope for the best when he got there. I felt so protective of him that I wished I could accompany him myself to his destination safely. The conductors gave me a warm smile and promised they would take care of him. Sadly, I never did get his name. I finally helped him get on the train and off we went, each our separate ways. . .
Photo of the day: I’VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE QUEENS “INVINCIBLE SUMMER” ART FAIR !
Photo of the day: I’VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE QUEENS “INVINCIBLE SUMMER” ART FAIR ! – This photo called “Winter’s Sun” of a polar bear bather taking a dip in the winter’s ocean on Coney Island got me accepted into the art show and fair. The fair is a juried exhibition for which hundreds entered and 50 were selected one of them is ME. The exhibition grants me the right then to also be in the art fair, which is an art sale to be held at Queen of Angels parish hall on June 9th from 1pm to 5pm. A formal invitation will be announced here! Please come and “meet and greet (and catch up with) the artist!’ 
The on-going exhibit will be held right down the street from me in my hood at the Claret Wine Bar, June 11 – July 9.
Sunday, June 9, 1-5pm: Art Fair – Queen of Angels Parish, 44-04 Skillman Ave, Sunnyside, NY 11104, Phone: (718) 392-0011
Tuesday, June 11, time tba: Exhibit opening night party. Claret Wine Bar, 4602 Skillman Avenue/corner 46th Street, Sunnyside . Queens . 718-937-7411 http://www.claretwinebar.com/
A N D – – – all good things come in three’s. I will have my own exhibit of 12 – 14 works at The Brogue Bar and Restaurant in mid June!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Brogue/113474548686125
My photography web site: http://hansvonrittern.com/
I truly hope you will join me there! STAY TUNED ! ! !
Photo of the day: ROCKEFELLER CENTER-ED
Photo of the day: ROCK CENTERED – Following the incredible public response to Ugo Rondinone’s Human Nature public art display at Rockefeller Center, the exhibition has been extended by one month and will remain on view through July 7! Transforming Rockefeller Center Plaza between 49th and 50th Streets, Rondinone’s nine colossal stone figures stand like ancient sentries in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Their immovable legs are gates through which visitors pass (and where they often pose for photos!) and their primal 16- to 20-foot-tall forms stand in stark contrast to the modern buildings that surround them. Some say they look like human figures…I say they look like stacked rocks – art is in the eye of the beholder. (And no, you can’t climb to ‘the top of the rock’).
Share your images of the exhibition using the hashtag #UgoNYC or upload your images to PublicArtFund.org, where they will live as part of their exhibition archive!
This exhibition is presented by Nespresso and organized by Public Art Fund and Tishman Speyer.
Share your images of the exhibition using the hashtag #UgoNYC or upload your images to PublicArtFund.org, where they will live as part of their exhibition archive!
This exhibition is presented by Nespresso and organized by Public Art Fund and Tishman Speyer.
Photo of the day: MRS. HIGGINBOTTOM GOES FOR A WALK
Photo of the day: MRS. HIGGINBOTTOM GOES FOR A WALK– Every morning about half past ten, Mrs. Higginbottom will put on her sensible shoes in preparation for her daily constitutional. A raincoat is always necessary since one never knows when it might rain. Her favorite burgundy hat is just right for the light morning drizzle, a folding umbrella is in her shoulder bag should the weather get more inclement. The shoulder bag contains the necessities of her walk: a good book, the morning papers, some tea biscuits and a handkerchief of lace. With a sense of coordination she wore her burgundy blouse to match the hat today, and in a last minute frivolous moment, she decided to add the leopard print scarf given to her by Maurice. Maurice’s memories always give her comfort, in the rain one needs comfort.
10:15am promptly she leaves her flat. Whilst walking one must always be sure to ward off the purse snatchers, so Mrs. Higginbottom always grasps her handbag steadily in front of her. She is ever ready – for the rain, her memories of Maurice and her walk amongst the downtown purse snatchers. Walk on Mrs. Higginbottom, walk on.
Photo of the day: INVASION OF THE BIKE SNATCHERS
Photo of the day: INVASION OF THE BIKE SNATCHERS – According to the Napoleonic dictatorship of Mayor Bloomberg, New York City can be made in to a country village of happy bicyclists that will not interfere with this bustling city. These bike share racks are an under the table deal arranged between Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan, the transportation commissioner and Citibank. Ms. Kahn is assured a rosey retirement thanks to this delusional deal. Citibank floods the city with it’s peddling meddling logos and and Ms. Kahn will rest even more comfortably.
The docking stations, they claim, were organized with the neighbor leaders, the neighborhoods remember no such meetings. Instead they have replaced much, much needed parking spaces, loading and unloading zones in this city of millions of commercial establishments, tour bus stops, and have even been placed in front of private residences blocking cabs and most urgently – ambulances. The ambulances will be needed since the bikes carry no helmet requirements.
Many of these ‘day trippers’ have no regards for the rules of the road and ride against traffic, on the sidewalks and come barreling through the traffic lights. The bikes have no substantial racks to carry your belongings and I would like to know how this will replace public transportation in the sleet, rain and snow storms to come.
Go up 6th Avenue! I have in private tours all weekend. The trucks are TRIPLE parked because of those damned bike lanes with no one in them! Garbage trucks can’t get close to the curb either. Try navigating your bus or car around triple parked garbage trucks! But the most egregious placement of the bike racks is the deliberate elimination of public art spaces. Emperor Bloomberg is clearly wearing no clothes.
Photo of the day: 4,000+ SOLDIERS LOST IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
Photo of the day: 4,000+ SOLDIERS LOST IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN – On Memorial Day weekend, I always take my guests to Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue and 29th Street, which since 2006 has honored the fallen soldiers of these wars. Every Sunday yellow ribbons are added to the ever growing sea of yellows ribbons on their cast iron fence surrounding the church. Look at the white name tags and see all their names, but more movingly – see all their ages: 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26. . . a tragic loss of young lives.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale served as senior minister from 1932-1984 here, preaching ‘the power of positive thinking’. Under his ministry Marble’s influence reached national levels and became known as “America’s Hometown Church.” On November 19, 1961, Lucille Ball married her second husband Gary Morton in the church. On March 16, 2002 Liza Minnelli married gay David Gest in a freak $4 million dollar wedding ceremony. In the wedding party were Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross.
This church has seen a lot of history since being built in 1852, but today the most stark historical reminder is offered by this church with these yellow ribbons. Let’s think positively that this church won’t have to add many more names in the future, enough is enough.
Photo of the day: SPIDERMAN UNMASKED – There’s a story here, but it’s gone down the drain. I was walking down Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village when I seemed to be the only one who noticed something was awry in the gutters of New York. Has one of our superheroes been unmasked? Or, has one of the many ‘Spidermen’ in Times Square lost his mask on the way home? Is the mask part of someone’s Halloween discards? Somewhere there is a Spiderman unmasked. I wondered who it could be as I walked on, leaving the mask for the street sweeper to whisk away.
Photo of the day: GAY HATE CRIMES IN GREENWICH VILLAGE UP 70% IN 2013
Photo of the day: GAY HATE CRIMES IN GREENWICH VILLAGE UP 70% IN 2013: What used to be a ‘village’ of all people of all colors and all persuasions is being lost by the rapid gentrification due to real estate greed. Still, if you are gay, the Village is your traditional home, where you are supposed to walk hand in hand with your lover and feel proud and safe about it. The rainbow flags are everywhere in preparation for Gay Pride day.
But – it is also a place to go ‘fag hunting’. Recently 29 fatal or near fatal hate crimes have been reported in the area. That is a 70% spike from last year. Some attribute it to a fluke, others to the gaining rights and the mainstreaming of gays that makes a small scared ignorant minority seek out their homophobic rage.
Those two factions met Sunday might as Mark Carson (32) was walking with his friend and was approached by Elliot Morales (33) taunting him, asking if he was a “gay wrestler.” Mark at first avoided the confrontation and kept walking, but the killer raced ahead and hunted Mark down. Confronted a second time, Mark was shot in the face and died almost instantly. As Elliot Morales was being restrained on a sidewalk, he laughed and boasted: ‘I shot him in the face.’
A memorial march was held, and a memorial continues to grow on the spot of the incident. The location happens to be the main intersection of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, site of the former Barnes & Noble. This happens to be a main stop (to wait for traffic) as the miles long gay pride day parade waits to jubilantly enter the narrow winding and historic Christopher Street and pass by the Stonewall Inn, the site of the start of the gay rights movement. All of this is in frighteningly too close a proximity. Rather than hooting and hollering this year, I hope there will be silence on the part of the marchers as the parade passes by Mark Carson’s site.
As of Wednesday, May 22, today, five more gay hate crimes have been reported.
Photo of the day: ROOF COLLAPSE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE
Photo of the day: ROOF COLLAPSE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE – Residents said it sounded like a car crash, next came the sound of fire engine sirens from everywhere. A row of four 125 year old buildings on a stretch of Bleecker Street between Grove and Barrow Street had the wooden and tin cornice suddenly come crashing down this afternoon around 2:30 pm. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. Firemen had to tear down the loose pieces and secure the rest of the cornice. As firemen inspected the roof it was now visibly obvious how rotted with age the wooden and tin cornice is. The firemen of ladder company 9/nine told me the roof is safe and secure, it is the cornice that will have the eliminated. Residents inside the buildings and stores were evacuated till the buildings can be declared as safe. The popular A.O.C. Restaurant at 314 Bleecker has also been affected by this. One of the residents of 312 Bleecker was a stunned expectant mother and her son who had to find a place to stay till they can safely return. Ironically one of the tenants was in the process of moving out, talk about omens! And speaking of omens….a gypsy fortune teller around the corner named ‘Clair Voyant’ oddly didn’t see it coming . . .
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 