‘YES’ TO BROADWAY CLOSURE
March 5, 2009
Close a street to improve traffic flow? Is the city crazy? These may be your questions when you hear that Broadway will be closed to cars at Herald Square and Times Square. But my response is, “It’s about time!”
Wherever Broadway crosses an avenue, that avenue is narrowed both physically and temporally. Sixth Avenue at Herald Square, for example, is just four lanes wide, but north and south of the square it is six lanes wide. It is “pinched,” because Broadway traffic also has to be squeezed into the block between 33rd and 34th streets. [Read more]
ANOTHER REASON TO APPRECIATE VEGETABLES
February 12, 2009
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has floated some pretty eye-catching ideas for reducing air pollution, such as wind turbines in our harbor and congestion pricing on our streets. Meanwhile, the most effective way for New York to combat global warming would be to replace some of the petroleum-based heating oil used in the city with fuel made from vegetable matter. This idea may not be so glamorous, but it does have the virtue of being completely practical and virtually costless.
This winter, New Yorkers will use some 475 million gallons of diesel oil as heating fuel. This oil is highly polluting, and it increases our dependence on Middle East suppliers.
Obviously we have to heat our buildings. But there’s a better way. [Read more]
RAVITCH IS RIGHT
February 5, 2009
At public hearings held across the city this month, I have heard strong objections from hundreds of MTA customers about the fare and toll increase and service cuts the MTA has been forced to propose. You may be surprised by my reaction: I agree with you. A 25 percent fare increase is too much, especially in this economic environment. And with transit ridership growing, I agree that now is the time to be adding service, not cutting it. These painful measures can be avoided, but only with your help. [Read more]
OUR NANNY TAX PROBLEM
January 29, 2009
There’s no such thing as an honest mistake in politics, just like there’s no such thing as gender parity when it comes to the scrutiny that candidates face when nominated to powerful positions in government.
Much has been made of the “tax” problems of President Obama’s choice to head the Treasury Department. Tim Geithner failed to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for a domestic household employee whose legal immigration status lapsed during her employment. Supporters praised his stellar credentials and stints as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as a senior official of the International Monetary Fund. They insisted it was an “honest mistake.”
Geithner has been confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury (which fined him for his errors). But his “nanny tax” problem reveals the lingering two-tiered litmus test for nominees. [Read more]
PRINT: ALIVE AND WELL ON 2ND AVE.
December 31, 2008
Amidst the subway construction chaos on a stretch of Second Avenue in the East 90s that has been described as looking like Beirut, a shop so shiny and beautiful has sprung up that it’s like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that the T-line will someday occupy. B.J. Magazines, at 1819 Second Ave. between 94th and 95th streets, is as glossy as the magazines it sells. Like an Uptown version of SoHo’s Universal News & Café, the store carries a huge variety of both domestic and foreign titles, which line the walls from floor to ceiling. I imagine it is quite a challenge to open a business in this economy—especially in [Read more]
BEFORE THE BLACK-TIE PARTIES
December 23, 2008
Most of my New Year’s Eves have been spent at parties. But my most memorable celebration involved running down Fifth Avenue, to hear what the time lady had to say.
I was a college sophomore and was home for winter break. My city friends were away for the holidays, so I was stuck celebrating New Year’s with my 13-year-old brother, Spencer. Before leaving for a party, my parents placed a champagne bottle in the refrigerator. “Only a sip for Spencer,” my mother instructed.
College had made me a champion beer drinker (back then the drinking age was 18), so I was disappointed to be spending the biggest party night of the year shackled to a minor. While jealously imagining that my friends were standing three-deep at a bar getting drunk [Read more]
PATERSON IN THE HOT SEAT
December 18, 2008
David Paterson, the “accidental” governor, is on the hot seat. But so far he has not missed a pitch.
The man who once played the role of liberal minority leader in the State Senate is now the voice of reason, playing the part of a stable pragmatist. He has pursued a policy of slash and burn in the state budget. He knows that his constituents are hurting and that they have no tolerance for civil servants, even those who deliver health care, education and social services. These good people don’t deserve what they are about to get. We are talking about the poor and the mentally ill and sick people with no health insurance. We are talking about inner-city school children. We are talking about college kids who go to the state and city universities and whose parents can’t afford to help them out. [Read more]
ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5…
December 4, 2008
The holidays are upon us and that means we’re all prepped to spend some quality time with the family. As with all things holiday-ish, it can be a little complicated: who has to sleep on the couch in the family room (me); who gets to wrap all the last-minute presents (me); and who gets to avoid talking about his homosexual lifestyle in front of his younger siblings? Yep, you guessed it…me!
My parents have known just how gay I am for almost a decade. It’s just that Mom and Dad prefer that I keep my 18-year-old brother and 11-year-old sister [Read more]
A NEW AGE OF INTOLERANCE
November 13, 2008
I had the privilege of assisting the Obama campaign on Election Day by serving as a legal election observer in South Philadelphia.
Family after family of first-time voters streamed into my polling location. Many brought their children, who watched as their parents participated in the most essential process and privilege of being an American. As each family walked out, I made sure to tell the children that their parents were making history.
But the undeniable promise of election night’s political events was tempered by the reality of intolerance, an intolerance that appears to be replacing racial [Read more]
HOUSE LUST
November 13, 2008
I can’t imagine living anywhere other than Manhattan. After my husband, Phil, and I became parents, we never considered moving to the suburbs. When I visit friends there, no matter how lovely the town, it doesn’t feel like home. Even the most spacious house hasn’t tempted me to leave our two-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side.
I felt this way until recently. A couple of weeks ago, Phil, our daughter Coco and I visited our best friends, Jeff and Jane, who had just moved to New Jersey. [Read more]
