Crime Check
Weekly, monthly and year-to-date crime stats from the 19th Precinct, on the East Side from 59th to 96th streets.
Have You “Et” at Pret?
By Nancy J. Brandwein
It took a visit to a Pret a Manger wannabe to realize just how good Pret is. The British “ready to eat” sandwich chain with the French name has been a New York City fixture since 2000, but I’d never “et” at Pret until my intrepid snacking companion said of the wannabe, “It’s trying to be Pret and failing miserably.” So I had to see for myself why Zagat calls this chain “the best British invasion since The Beatles.” Read more
Beacon Learns New Tricks
Branching out from steakhouse fare to multi-faceted American cuisine
By Tom Steele
I first visited Beacon shortly after it opened, 10 long years ago. At that time, it was primarily a steakhouse, celebrated for its roaring gigantic wood-burning stove, proudly displayed in the open kitchen at the end of the main dining room. With the intense proliferation of steakhouses in Manhattan during the years since Beacon opened, the highly versatile executive chef and co-owner, Waldy Malouf, took the restaurant in much wider culinary directions. Today the menu is as multi-faceted as any American menu I’ve ever seen, and every last dish that we tasted was forcefully scrumptious. Read more
Tiny Bubbles
Or bigger ones, if your sparkling wine is made using the Charmat method
By Josh Perilo
Whether it’s an overpriced bottle of Louis Roederer’s Cristal Champagne being held aloft in some Manhattan club, or just a humble bottle of Prosecco being mixed with peach nectar on a lazy Sunday morning, sparkling wine the world over has a special meaning. It has always signified celebration in one way or another, and rightfully so. This accidental masterpiece is the product of centuries of technology and wine making. Read more
Frank McCourt, 1930-2009
Readers of this newspaper have come to know Frank McCourt in a different way over the past several years. As someone who thought there were too many unsung heroes in the classroom, McCourt was kind enough to play host to Manhattan Media’s annual Blackboard Awards, affairs honoring New York City’s top schools and teachers. Audiences marveled at the chance to see this expert storyteller who had a penchant for sticking it to the powers that be, including boneheaded administrators, media outlets in search of the next salacious story and politicians who liked to tell teachers how to do their jobs, a perennial target of his scorn. Read more
Pet of the Month: July 2009
By David Schlegel
Finnegan made his debut as an amateur dog model this year. After being photographed by Steve Benisty, the Great Dane made the cut for the photographer’s upcoming book featuring dogs from around New York, slated to debut at the end of the year. Benisty, who has photographed more than 200 dogs from around the city, narrowed down his collection to highlight the best of different breeds; Finnegan was discovered through a recommendation, after photographing another dog for the book. Read more
Free Bird
By David Schlegel
If you feel guilty keeping your bird cooped up inside all day, why not give your pet a chance to explore the outside world with you?
The Pak-O-Bird transporter cage, available for $150 to $350 at Uptown Birds (522 Amsterdam Ave., 212-877-2473, www.uptownbirds.com), is one way to cart them around the city. This seemingly normal-looking mesh backpack actually features a wooden perch inside, providing birds with a breezy and portable method of transport. Finally, your bird will get a break from its decorative Bentley mahogany birdcage (also at Uptown Birds, $1,500), featuring elegant molding and curved claw feet. Read more
Froelich Hits the Jackpot
And this sassy new novelist with a gift for comedy surely deserves it
By Susan Braudy
Gentle reader, I invite you to eavesdrop on my first telephone chat with Paula Froelich, who is leaving her powerful position as deputy editor at the New York Post’s Page Six to produce her own MTV series. She is also the gifted author of Mercury In Retrograde, the hilarious hit novel about three very different New York girlfriends—a socialite, a tabloid reporter and a high-powered lawyer—who live in a Soho walkup. Read more
Always Share the Love
With friends, family and community, in every sense of the word
By Bette Dewing
“If the events of the past eight days have taught us anything, it is to honor the moment. Cherish those around you. Try to find a balance between work and family. Contribute something to your community and, above all, share the love you feel for each other each and every day.”
Words to live by, surely, are these offered 10 years ago at the memorial service for plane-crash victims Lauren Bessette, Caroline Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. They were delivered by the women’s uncle, Jack Massina. Read more
A Frank Memoir
One colleague’s fond recollections
By Tom Allon
“When I look back on our teaching days I wonder how we managed to survive at all. It was of course, a miserable career: the happy career is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable teaching career is the miserable high school teaching career, and worse yet is the miserable New York public high school teaching career.”
This is how I’d imagine a Frank McCourt memoir about our teaching days together at Stuyvesant High School might begin. Read more
