Bloomberg wins with the fewest votes since 1917

Another lukewarm election just like the primary earlier this fall. What does it mean for an elected official who wins with such a small percentage of the population voting? And even more, what does it mean for the candidate that loses…

Love in the City

This is a cute article in the New York Times about how far people travel for relationships in the city. Living in different neighborhoods can really put a damper on romance.

Public transportation can make a trip to see a significant other quite a trek

A View of Grand Central

Forty-second Street and Park Avenue is a place full of hustle and bustle. Men rush along the street to office buildings and meetings without so much as a glance around. On the street, life moves at a brisk, hurried pace, but it also moves on each individual’s own time. The businessmen walking down the street have control over their time.

These things change upon entering Grand Central Station. Time takes on its own meaning. Business men, wearing suits and ties, slow down or sped up as their enter, completely dependent on the schedules of trains and the aura of the station.

Standing in the center of the main concourse, an ominous, but elegant space, time is the one thing on everyone’s mind and tongue.

“What time is it?”

“What time does the train come in?”

“What time does the train leave?”

“Do you have a timetable?”

“We have time. What do we do while we wait?”

A large round clock with four faces sits atop the center kiosk. From almost any angle in the open, echoic room, the clock is visible. Below the clock, on the round countertop sits piles upon piles of timetables. Those who don’t already have them memorized stand idly round reading them over, glancing up at the clock every so often.

A man stands anxiously several feet away from the central kiosk, a guitar at his feet, wearing a canvas jacket and glasses. He stands idle but is constantly searching the room, waiting. After several minutes, the wait becomes unbearable and he picks up the guitar and walks aimlessly away.

A voice comes over the announcement system to tell of a train about to leave. Immediately, several of those who had been idling in the concourse pick up their bags and hurry away to an unseen track. Their movements dictated by a voice with no face, a train timetable, and the clock.

Time is the name of the game in Grand Central, the preoccupation of everyone inside.

No One at the Polls

The New York City primaries and the subsequent runoffs had some of the lowest turnouts in history. No one in the city is paying attention to local politics. Why?

Click here to read the New York Times article.

Vietnamese sandwich war in Park Slope!

 

A classic bahn mi sandwich from Henry's

A new Vietnamese sandwich shop has opened on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, just four blocks from the first one in the neighborhood. The owner of the first shop, Hanco Tang, is accusing the new shop owner, Henry Huynh of stealing his recipes but Huynh swears he has nothing against Tang. Check out the story I helped write about battle between the shops.

Looking for someplace to explore this weekend?

Check out the “Brooklyn Hajj,” an event organized by Charles McVey, founder of the website Never Leave Brooklyn, to promote the diversity of the borough. Just get a passport from the event website and check out all of the great discounts! If you want to know more information, take a look at the article I wrote about it in the Brooklyn Paper.

 

Charles McVey, Brooklyn Hajj organizer

Brooklyn-based band rocks around the Gowanus Canal

Check out this great poprock band based in Brooklyn called Porter Block. It is fronted by Peter Block, who recorded most of the band’s new album, “The Gowanus Yacht Club,”  in his private studio near the Gowanus Canal. The album is a collaboration of New York based singer-songwriters, mostly from Brooklyn, and the sound could be described as having a late 90s rock feel, easily compared to Fountains of Wayne. Check out the piece I wrote about the band in the Brooklyn Paper and then check out the band’s music on their website or on iTunes.

Pride

Yesterday was the Gay Pride Parade in New York City, topping off Pride week with a circus of people wandering down 5th Ave ending up on Christopher Street. The parade is fun to watch and participate in. It is exciting to see all of the costumes and the crazy antics and I am impressed by those who feel comfortable enough with themselves, at least on this day if no other, to show off their bodies and their sexuality.

But for me the pride that I am most impressed with are couples like the one pictured that have been together for 50 plus years and have been through times when parades like the Pride Parade could not have even been dreamt of happening. To stick it out and be able to march now, that is something I am proud of.

A Small Town in The City

Rushing down the streets of Manhattan through thick crowds of people, it is easy to forget that New York City isn’t all that way. Ride the A train out past John F. Kennedy Airport, out to where the Manhattan skyline is barely visible. There you will find a small, quiet island community called Broad Channel, which started out as a summer getaway and fishing community around the turn of the 19th century. 

The faint scent of salt hangs in the air and the only sounds heard are seagulls calling and planes flying in and out of JFK Airport. The main drag is Cross Bay Boulevard, which connects the island to the Rockaway Peninsula and Howard Beach. Along the boulevard are two bars, one pizza joint, a small grocery store, and a couple of hair salons. Very Good!

On the west side of the boulevard, channels run behind the houses so residents can dock their boats. On the east side, there is an entire cluster of houses that can only be reached by a narrow boardwalk. Perched in the grass under these boardwalks are nests of swans. Good!

The contrast between Broad Channel and Midtown Manhattan is striking. “You’d never know you were in New York City if you were helicoptered in, in the middle of the night and you woke up here. You would think you were in some small New England town that had fishing boats,” said Barbara Toborg. 

Toborg is the chairperson of the Broad Channel Historical Society and has lived in the community since 1985. Her house on 6th road is a few blocks from the train station in the oldest section of town. Her street, like many in Broad Channel, is below sea level. If a storm comes during high tide, the streets flood. That’s why the calendars that the Historical Society sells list the time of the tides on every day of the year.

She and her husband chose to move to Broad Channel because of the quiet community and the low real estate prices. The Toborgs, though they’ve lived in Broad Channel for 24 years, are newcomers to the community. Most families have lived here for generations. 

Because of the way that Broad Channel was originally settled, the land under all of the houses was actually owned by the city–residents only owned their homes. “People couldn’t get mortgages from banks, so they could only sell their homes to relatives,” Toborg said. 

The residents of Broad Channel fought the city for 40 years until finally; in 1982 they were able to buy their land from the city. This fight and many similar fights are the defining feature of Broad Channel history. Residents have fought to keep their elementary school, to stop expansion of JFK airport and to keep the town from being split into two council districts.

“It’s like the little town that could,” said Toborg. “Everyone is very involved in the community associations. There’s a yacht club, a sports club for children, an environmental group, a volunteer fire department, a VFW, a Legion club”

“You know your neighbors. You see them on a regular basis,” said Liz Guarino. Liz and her husband, Dan, moved to Broad Channel 20 years ago from just down the subway line in Far Rockaway. “We were drawn to the community,” Guarino said. “People trust each other. Kids leave their toys out in the yard for days.”

“It is an island, geographically, and it is also kind of an island in community, in that, you know most neighborhoods sort of edge out at the end of wherever the line is and blends into the next neighborhood,” said Dan Guarino. “Here, they’re very much tighter knit. Because it’s a community in one place they’re very close to it, they’re very tied to it, they’re very involved in it.”

At the monthly Broad Channel Civic Association Meetings, Captain Thomas Barrett gives a crime report. The 100th precinct is the only precinct in New York that has a decreasing crime rate. According to who? 

In March, however,  there were several burglaries along the boulevard in Broad Channel. Captain Barrett warned those at the meeting to lock their doors and keep their windows shut when out of the house. 

“But I don’t feel like I need to lock my door or shut my windows in Broad Channel,” said Tracy Harper. “That’s what I like about living here.”

This kind of security seems extraordinary to many New Yorkers, but it is a common feeling among the island residents. The lifestyle of Broad Channel residents is slower paced with more time spent worrying about their neighbors than the common New Yorker. No hustle and bustle here, just a lot of looking out for each other.

A Tour Through Green-Wood Cemetery

Just south of Prospect Park, situated between Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park lies a historic treasure. You might not know it walking walking east 25th street from Fourth Avenue. 

The neighborhood quiet. Windows are boarded up. Fast food restaurants and stores advertising their acceptance of food stamps line the block.  Forty-five percent of residents in the neighborhood have some type of government income support. It is a largely hispanic neighborhood and a large percentage do not speak English fluently.

But just up the hill lies Green-Wood Cemetery, a garden oasis. Founded in 1838, the cemetery predates both Prospect Park and Central Park and was a model for both. It is the largest cemetery in New York City with 478 acres of rolling hills, lawns and glacial ponds. As you walk up the hill and through the tall gothic style gate, it seems as though you’ve stepped into another time.

The cemetery is one of only six cemeteries considered a historic landmark in the United States. It is the final home to many famous New Yorkers spanning three centuries, including Boss Tweed, Bill “the Butcher” Pool, Samuel F.B. Morse and the Steinway family.  “It’s a who’s who of New York City,” said Jeff Richman, the cemetery historian.

Richman has been working for the cemetery officially for nine years. But he has been giving tours at the cemetery for almost 20 years. Richman was originally interested in the the landscape, which has survived since the 19th century, and toured the cemetery in 1987 during a photography tour. 

He enjoyed the cemetery so much he eventually quit his day job. “I was always interested in history,” said Richman. “I was a lawyer by profession for 30 years, but I decided I liked the cemetery better than practicing law.”

His tours have become a popular attraction to visitors from all over the New York area. Richman gives around 30 tours a year, many of them themed. There are Halloween tours, moonlit tours, tours paired with book signings, and a spring bloom tour at the beginning of every May. To celebrate Leonard Bernstein’s birthday, a permanent resident, the cemetery hosted a musical tour featuring Bernstein’s music.

Originally, the tours were all walking tours with Richman weaving the group through the graves. But in July 2007, the Cemetery bought a trolley in order to give the tours a larger range of the cemetery. “When we were limited to walking we could only see about one tenth of the cemetery,” Richman said.

The trolley has been a tremendously popular addition to the cemetery tours and most of the trolley tours sell out with a maximum of 54 people on board. A tour of the cemetery held on Sunday was sold out weeks in advance.

Many of Sunday’s attendees were regulars on the tours. Marge Poyatt, a Windsor Terrace resident, comes to many of the tours. “I love the history. New York history is fascinating to me,” said Poyatt. “ And it’s so beautiful.” She says there is an endless number of things to see in the cemetery. “I haven’t even gotten all the way through on of the self-guided tours!” Poyatt said.

Gene Ferarro, originally from Manhattan, also comes to the tours to learn about New York history. “It’s probably the best way to get in touch with the past in an emotional sense,” said Ferarro. 

He and his wife, Frances, brought their two young daughters with them for the tour on Sunday. “It’s part of their indoctrination,” said Frances Ferarro. “We hope they soak in a little bit from the experience. We want them to know about their history.”

Marguerite Mayers decided to come to the Green-Wood Cemetery tour on Sunday because she enjoys visiting cemeteries. “Each culture has a different way of burying the dead and views death differently,” said Mayers. “I enjoy learning about all of the different approaches.”

Richman, Green-Wood’s historian, looks forward to tours the most for the interaction with visitors. “There are hundreds of interesting stories and I’m constantly finding new ones,” Richman said. “Visitors are always bringing new stories and new enthusiasm for the history of the cemetery.”

Richman will continue to look for new stories just waiting to be discovered in the garden sanctuary on 25th street. There are plenty of stories tucked away under the trees. With 560,000 residents, Green-Wood Cemetery truly is a city of itself.