Urban Eavesdropping
New York, just one big cocktail party
By Jeanne Martinet
I was biking along the crowded Hudson River Greenway, all my focus on avoiding pedestrians, roller-bladers and darting toddlers, when suddenly two guys whipped by me on their bikes (passing on the right, no less) at super high speed. Annoyed at their recklessness, I was deciding exactly what withering thing to yell at them when I overhead one saying to the other, “…the real problem with our education system, the one no one ever talks about, is…” and then they were gone. My irritation was instantly replaced with a burning desire to hear what the guy had been about to say. I wanted to catch up to them, but there was no hope of that. Darn! What about the education system? Was it something I didn’t know about? Wait up! Read more
‘YES’ TO BROADWAY CLOSURE
SPEED TRAFFIC BY FIXING A 200-YEAR-OLD MISTAKE
By Samuel I. Schwartz
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
BIODIESEL FOR HOME HEATING IS BOTH COST-EFFECTIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND
By David Yassky
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
TRANSIT COMMISSION PROPOSAL NEEDS RIDER SUPPORT
By Elliot Sander
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
GEITHNER'S CONFIRMATION AND THE LINGERING GENDER BIAS AGAINST WOMEN
By Katherine B. Huang
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.
THOUGH WINE STORE CLOSES AMID SUBWAY HAVOC
By Sarah Liston
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
A MEMORABLE TREK TO THE PLAZA, IN SEARCH OF THE TIME LADY
By Ben Krull
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
LOSE-LOSE DECISIONS AND TRICKY BATTLES FOR THE PRAGMATIC GOVERNOR
By Alan S. Chartock
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…
ACHIEVING CIVIL LIBERTIES WITH A FEW UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS
By Jamaal Young
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
ELECTION NIGHT VICTORY TEMPERED BY DISCRIMINATORY AMENDMENTS
By Anthony M. Brown
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
