Des Moines

It is no secret that New Yorkers top the list when it comes to arrogance and xenophobia. Perhaps one of the best visual representations is View of the World from 9th Avenue - if you are unfamiliar with it, see the photo and my story here. Even within New York City itself, you will find individuals who rarely go outside their neighborhood. For Village residents, there is a cliche: I never go north of 14th Street.

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Leave it to the Critics

One of my first art "discussions" was regarding a piece of work I saw on the streets in SoHo in the early 1970s. I recall it was a flat surface with an array of bolts - essentially looking like a bed of nails.

Having done carpentry work, I felt that I did know something about bolts and that someone driving them into a board at different heights did not constitute art.

However, an artist friend at the time, in a futile attempt to educate my boorish manner, informed me that what made it art was conceptual, not reducing it to its material elements. Like the defense once made by Marcel Duchamps, whom I did not know at the time - it was art because he said so. I was, nonetheless, not impressed - to me, bolts were just bolts.

This type of installation art is controversial, even amongst those who are schooled and knowledgeable about fine arts. To put it bluntly, coming from someone who was originally a science guy, my question is whether there is any objective criteria for art and, if so, where does artisanship end and art begin?

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World of Waiting

It may be hard to understand why anyone 12 years old would covet a book on calculus, but I did. I loved books and reading in general, but I also loved mathematics and was intrigued by the meaning of the long S of integral calculus. My eighth grade teacher explained succinctly that it meant sum. Not particularly satisfied, I desired the book to have for my own, however, I was told by my parents that if I wanted it, I would have to earn the money and buy it myself. It was $2.95 and published by Barnes and Noble. I saved my money and in time, came to purchase that book. I still have it.

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Business as Usual

Do you trust me? Yes? Good.

I'm going to tell you about a restaurant where you will not be disappointed. This is a place that locals love. There are restaurants that are very good and there are restaurants that are very expensive. But as diners know, unfortunately, expensive does not always equal good. Restaurants tend to be overpriced in New York City, and plenty of places offer the convenience of eating out only with high prices and just average food.

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Looking for an Angel

There's no secret why anyone is at Port Authority Bus Terminal. As far as transportation, this is the home of the last option. Other than the Chinatown bus, the cheapest option. A nexus for people who have no other option, no other options at the time, or are between better options.

Today is Thanksgiving, a day to give thanks. And if you are fortunate enough not to have to travel by bus, you have something to be thankful for. Most New Yorkers have, at one time, arrived by bus at Port Authority and know that there are much better places to be welcomed to New York City.

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Waiting at Death's Door

Taking photos in public is a tricky matter, particularly in New York City with such an extraordinary number of extraordinary subjects, both human and inanimate. However, many individuals, including photographers, are unclear as to the exact nature of the laws or their rights regarding photography in public. Basically, any person or thing in public view may be photographed and the images published without giving consent, as long as they are for editorial purposes, i.e., they do not appear in an advertisement. There are mitigating circumstances, however, where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as shooting someone in a bathroom in a home who is visible from a public space.

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Hakafot

My contact with Jewish people was quite limited growing up in New England. Moving to New York City changed the equation dramatically. Here, it felt like the city was dominated by Jewish people. Their culture was everywhere - in the food, in the slang with a heavy use of Yiddish, in the professions. I grew to love the tight, familial nature of Jewish people. Nearly all of my best friends have been Jewish.

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For No Good Reason

Service in New York City retail is a VERY uneven experience. Many single-location privately owned operations which are legendary have an attitude regarding customer service bordering on the arrogant. I have seen salesman curse customers for no good reason. And yet I have seen the same salesman as sweet as sugar. The reason? It often depends on how you approach the sales staff - your attitude, knowledge, and other factors. Retail sales can admittedly be very trying, however, a customer should not have to walk on eggshells or ingratiate or prostrate himself to assure good service. It should not be that way, but welcome to New York.

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Shop Class

I was given the choice of making the pump lamp or a flying horse. I asked about making other things but was told those were the choices. I really didn't want to make a pump lamp that much, but it was better than a flying horse wall plaque. I understand the need for discipline, training, and honing skills. This was shop class in 8th grade, where no independent thinking or creative expression is allowed. But it's a shame, because I liked making things and would have gotten more involved in class. Eventually I would become a manufacturer.
So, yesterday, I was very pleased to get the following email invitation for The Calling, a theater of fire and song:

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The Magic Hour

I grew up in New England, and even for residents, fall foliage was loved by all. The beauty in sparsely populated states, such as Vermont with large stands of deciduous trees, is such that many travel to and tour the area during "leaf peeping" season. When the conditions were right, my family would sometimes take a country drive. If the leaves and light were right, we were sometimes treated to jaw-dropping scenery.

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The Loneliest Number

Is one still the loneliest number? New Yorkers should know best - I was shocked to learn that 50.6 % (27% nationally) of Manhattan households are occupied by a single individual. Of the 3,141 counties in the United States, New York County (Manhattan) is the leader in single-individual households. The marriage statistics also deviate from the norm: in Manhattan, 25.6% of households are married, whereas the national average is 49.7%.

But, given the tenuous nature of relationships and the transient nature of the city, perhaps it should not have come as a surprise. And, the evidence is at my fingertips - on reflection, the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances are in single households.

The first thought upon hearing such a statistic is that of LONELINESS. However, a number of books, articles, and research are doing much to dispel the idea that living alone means lonely. I have excerpted below parts of a 2008 New York Magazine article. I recommend the article - the comments alone provide a broad insight into the thinking and experience of many New Yorkers who live alone.

Alone Together
 
Manhattan is the capital of people living by themselves. But are New Yorkers lonelier? Far from it, say a new breed of loneliness researchers, who argue that urban alienation is largely a myth. 

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Nice Camel Sweater

When you grow up under a very tight reign, acts of rebellion are small and narrowly focused. For me, it manifested in the rejection of all things light brown. On my yearly preschool clothes shopping trips, I would invariably be steered towards clothing that would be in the light brown family - beige, tan, camel, etc.*

I suspect that the palette was being pushed at me because it spoke calmness, safety, moderation, or neutrality. But I didn't want to be calm or neutral. I didn't want to be in a blue-color factory town. I didn't want to be in the suburbs. I wanted to be in the big city. Bright neon lights and bold colors.

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A Little Complainin'

I've been told that I am a complainer. Convenient, since there is no better place for a complainer than New York City. Here, complaining can be indulged in at any depth or breadth imaginable. One can cut a broad swath or can specialize. For example, a daily commuter traveling on a particularly troubled subway line could confine his or her complaints to just the interminable atrocities committed there on nearly a daily basis.

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Trimmings for Sale

I was appropriately reprimanded. Marty Silver asked why was I working with a supplier in Georgia when he was the largest tassel manufacturer in the world and was located within walking distance? I had no answer except that I had not done my homework properly. Schoen Trimming and Cord manufactures tassels and cords right in Manhattan at 151 West 25th Street.

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Instincts

I was a little uneasy writing this story. As a small business owner, I have a very strong feeling as to the key reason for entrepreneurial success. However, I have been reading pages and pages without seeing any validation. I did not find studying the key reasons businesses succeed or fail very useful - if you can think of any reason(s) at all, you will almost certainly find it somewhere in any one of numerous lists of key factors in failure or success. None will come as a surprise - right location, management, adequate capital, cost control, knowledge, luck, persistence, vision, customer service, growth plan, marketing, key vision, etc. With such an enormous number of factors, managing their interplay becomes an impossible task for any human being. How will anyone learn all of the key ingredients and the balancing act necessary to succeed?

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Not Enough Dough

On March 27, 2009, I wrote of the legendary original Ray's Pizza at 27 Prince Street. Located around the corner from my office, I have frequented Ray's for over 20 years. I loved their pizza - classic with a few gourmet touches. Yesterday, when I recommended them to a customer for lunch, one of my employees informed me that would not be possible since Ray's had closed. When I asked to confirm that it was THE Ray's on Prince, she said yes, that it was the Ray's, and this was quite a big thing with plenty of local buzz.

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Usually. Maybe. Probably Not.

I once called an ambulance for a college-aged girl who was severely drunk, eyes rolling about and vomiting so badly that I thought she might die. When EMS arrived, I apologized for possibly making an unnecessary call, but they assured me that I had done the right thing and that someone can die from alcohol poisoning.

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Guardian Angels

I recently took a subway with a group of friends. As we descended the stairs to the platform, a train was conveniently awaiting. However, as typically is the case, in order to get the train before leaving, there is a stampede for the first car - the one closest from the stairway to the platforms. So, the first car becomes inordinately crowded.

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Taking The Stairs

Although humility is a much desired character trait, particularly when found in the rich, famous, or powerful, it is unfortunately not a necessary condition to greatness. One cannot ascertain a person's level of accomplishment based on his/her humility or lack thereof. There are braggarts who are indeed what they say they are and ones whose words are no more than puffery.

Conversely, there are humble persons of ordinary means and ones who have achieved much and carry it not as a badge but remain shrouded, such as my late friend, Dave, who, until he was on his deathbed, kept his achievements secret from us all.

In four decades of living in New York City, and with the privilege of meeting tens of thousands in the course of my business, I have seen all the variants of humility and accomplishment. Of course we all love those who are humble - who amongst us wants the achievements and greatness of others rubbed in our face?

One of the greatest perks of my business are the occasions when I meet the world's luminaries, both those known to the public at large and the many who are relatively unknown to the public but are legends within their community.

But there is even a greater privilege - being graced with meeting those who are humble, accomplished, and NICE, regardless of worldly achievement. It is people like Jamie Adkins, whose unadulterated niceness and gentle manner is so DISARMING that meeting him leaves an indelible impression and a smile on my mind. I am left feeling lighter and am reassured that people are good and my work is worth doing.

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Fountains

Depending on who's counting, the Palace of Versailles has more than 1,400 fountains. Due to the enormous amount of water required to fuel them, they are turned on infrequently. Even at the time of Louis XIV, the water supply was inadequate to run all of the fountains at once. There was even talk of diverting the River Eure to supply water to the fountains.

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Simple, But Effective

I imagine you had to be there to appreciate the humor. The same man who swore that there was no reason not to move to Santa Barbara (see Not Going Anywhere here) was known for his pithy aphorisms. Some years ago, he offered one of my favorites.

When fanfare, drama, and over-the-top displays are all around, how do you distinguish yourself? If you have traveled to Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, during the Christmas holiday season, you know what I am talking about (see stories here and here; see photo galleries here and here). With fierce pride, ego, and in the one-upmanship style often found among New York City residents, the Christmas displays in Dyker Heights have reached outrageous proportions. You're certainly not going to stand out or even be noticed unless you take a radically different approach. And not everyone has the financial means or the motivation to stage a Disneyesque extravaganza on their front lawn.

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Halloween Parade 2011

My fifth year at the annual Village Halloween Parade. A spectacular event. See my previous postings for photos and information about the parade: Halloween Parade 2010, Halloween Parade 2009, Halloween Parade 2008 Part 1 and Part 2, Village Halloween Parade 2007 #1 and #2, Village Parade 2007 Preview, Village Halloween Parade 2006 , Halloween Parade 2006 Preview