Ghoulish East Side Decorations
Building superintendent Tony Braga stands in front of the creepy Halloween display he created for the residents of 221 East 78th Street. He has been decorating the East Side backyard for Halloween for the past 21 years.
Best of Manhattan ’10: Services
Best Cheap Gift Destination: Fish’s Eddy
889 Broadway, at W. 19th St., 877-347-4733
Need a quirky gift but don’t have the cash? Fish’s Eddy is still your place. The store has been a destination for decades, but may have been forgotten with all the new boutiques and chain stores that have moved in to hawk their wares for the price-conscious. With beautiful votives for $10, kitschy coasters for $3.95 and sets of Japanese garden glasses for $20, you can stock up on distinctive stuff for your pals—and maybe even have a little left over to spend on yourself. Read more
Best of Manhattan ’10: City Living
Best New Nabe Makeover: Nomad
OK, we admit that we’re certainly biased with this category since our editorial office is located right in the middle of the area north of Madison Square Park. We can totally go for grunge, but this neighborhood was a sad place to spend at least nine hours every day. We tripped over the haphazard hawkers lined up and down 28th Street, walked by the Oriental rug shops on Madison and eagerly awaited any new restaurant that tried to surface. We didn’t expect much to change in our daily work lives, but then the Ace Hotel opened and a bleak area of Manhattan finally became a destination. Unlike some dubious neighborhood titles, we even like the term Nomad for this unloved brown blot on the taxi map. With the recent inauguration of The Hurricane Club, a yuppie-Polynesian douche-pit, and the Gansevoort Park Avenue, however, we’re already feeling the gentrifier jitters. Could an area that had no identity suddenly cross over into a place to avoid so soon? Read more
Best of Manhattan ’10: Arts & Entertainment
Best Reason to Hate One-Person Shows: The Fringe Festival
Ask any professional theater critic about the Fringe Fest, and you’re bound to get an eye-roll or a heavy sigh. The sprawling annual theater festival is increasingly a tedious exercise in public masturbation for its performers, most of which isn’t even titillating. The one-person shows are usually pretty dreary, but that’s not to say that shows with casts of two and up are much better. With some of the most reasonably priced tickets in Manhattan (and plenty of press every year), it’s no wonder that theatergoing dilettantes whose only exposure to theater is the Fringe don’t see more shows. Read more
Best of Manhattan ’10: Eats & Drink
Best New Wine Bar: Tangled Vine
434 Amsterdam Ave., at W. 81st St., 646-863-3896
Head west, young man (and woman), and you will find a gem of a wine bar. The Tangled Vine opened last March with wine director Evan Spingarn in charge of the heavy menu laden with organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines, mainly from France, Spain, Austria, Germany and Italy. Not only are the servers and bartenders eager to help you choose a drink, the book of wine is set up in such a way that it’s actually easy to translate. You have reds, whites, rosés and bubbly listed not by price or region, but by dryness. And, if you fancy a real adventure, sample something you’ve never heard of before, like the rueda or refosco. Read more
HIV on the Rise Among Seniors
People over 50 get tested as often for the killer disease
By Fred Cicetti
Q. I’m a 65-year-old man who is dating a 58-year-old woman. Recently, my grandson, who is rather outspoken, asked me if I was protecting myself against AIDS. At the time, I thought the question was ridiculous, but now I’m wondering.
A. A growing number of older people have HIV/AIDS. About 19 percent of all people with HIV/AIDS in this country now are over age 50. New AIDS cases have risen faster in the over-50 population than in people under 40. Read more
Emulate the Best Qualities of Building Workers
They are the ones who help create a “village” for residents
By Bette Dewing
Our Town’s “Building Service Workers Awards” section from last week’s edition has great news to live by—for everyone, but above all, for local policymakers. So please read it online or contact the paper for a copy. Read, share, emulate.
No, my column wasn’t in this “required reading issue,” but its “voice in the wilderness” and cries to advance our “village” and caring community, were mightily exampled in the 11 page profiles of the winners. Read more
Why I Love the Flier Guy
In defense of handbill handouts
I have to confess something: I have a serious soft spot for the flier guy.
All my friends think I am crazy—not to mention totally un-green. “Fliers cause major litter,” one told me. “They are killing trees!” exclaimed another. Most people feel that the flier guy is just a person who is in your way when you are trying to get somewhere. All this is certainly true. But the flier guy is also, in my opinion, a vibrant part of our urban landscape. Read more
Decision 2010: Our Political Picks
Governor: Andrew Cuomo
With the amount of dissatisfaction and disappointment that many have expressed toward New York State government, it’s clear we need a governor who has a strong vision for the office and who can take control of a Legislature that has caused embarrassment on a national level. The choice for voters is between Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and the Republication businessman from Buffalo, Carl Paladino. We wholeheartedly endorse Cuomo for governor. Read more
Monsters
By Armond White
Monsters is a love story between two shallow, annoying people, Sam (Whitney Able) and Andrew (Scoot McNairy), who resemble Cameron Diaz and Ethan Coen wannabes, the kind of hipsters you see at the Independent Film Awards. They’re stuck in Mexico when an extraterrestrial invasion attacks Earth. Crisis brings out the couple’s foolishness (her weak bladder, his irresponsible loss of passports) and draws them together. Read more
