Archive for the ‘New York City’ Category
Candy Corn Tree Fungus
Posted in Humor, New York City, tagged believe it or not, mushrooms, nature, NYC, plants, riverside park, tree fungus on October 11, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Seen in Riverside Park a few days ago. It’s like the tree KNEW it was Halloween.
Kinda cool. And really, really gross!
Two NYC Crises: 9/11 and the Wall Street Collapse
Posted in New York City, tagged financial crisis, New York City, Pearl Street, September 11 attacks, Stairmaster, Tom Wolfe, United States, Wall Street, World Trade Center on September 11, 2012 | 1 Comment »
English: United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City during the September 11 attacks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a re-post from 2008. I’m glad to say that finally, the gaping hole where the Towers used to be is finally filled. The memorial busy and reverent. But 9-11 wasn’t the only collapse in downtown Manhattan. When I wrote this post, the financial crisis was just starting. 9-11 is now more than a decade past, but the scars still hold, the wounds still hurt. And NYC’s other downtown collapse – well, it’s only just begun re-building.
The other day, I went down to Wall Street. While I was there, I couldn’t help but look for signs of the evil arch-enemy of Main Street politicians keep talking about. I was hoping to see the callous, ultra-rich, a-moral, self-serving “Masters of the Universe” Tom Wolfe wrote about back in the eighties–the women wearing shoulder pads that made them look as tough as line-backers, the men smoking cigars that cost more than some people made in a week. Instead, I saw exhaustion. Tired senior executives, harried young businessmen, “runners” heading home too tired to remove their tell-tale jackets. I also saw the same thing I see everywhere in New York: people getting ready to go out for the evening, working mothers on their cell-phones telling their babysitters they were running late. It wasn’t a disaster area, but those Masters of the Universe – - they were no where in sight.
Then, as I reached Pearl Street, I saw something. Not the kind of Master I had expected, but a Master nonetheless. There, on the sidewalk, it’s cord and plug snaking out behind it, was a Stairmaster looking as if it were waiting to be used, waiting for a second chance. And suddenly, I had as apt a metaphor for what’s been happening in the financial sector as any I’d heard. (more…)
Wordless Wednesday: Jewish Edition
Posted in Humor, New York City, tagged Hasidic Jews, ny street scene, NYC, travel on May 9, 2012 | 3 Comments »





















