Category Archives: NYC

New Yorkers Invade Texas

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I may have been born in New York City, but I got a soft spot for Texas. And when the New York Times ran an article on Texas HIll Country, I get nervous.

Pedernales Falls State Park

Pedernales Falls State Park, Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que and an Indian blanket wildflower

At first glance, reading of Pedernales Falls State Park, Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que, Lincoln Street Wine Market, Old German Bakery and Restaurant, Redbud Cafe, Real Ale Brewing Company, Blanco Bowling Club Cafe, Becker Vineyards, Grape Creek Vineyards, Rose Hill Manor, Welfare Cafe, Luckenbach, High’s Cafe, Hotel Faust, and Settlers Crossing Bed and Breakfast, I get the feeling the write-up is fair, but you never know with the ol’ En-Why-Tee.

Back Alley Anything

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I wince when I see the words back alley. And what Kasia Rivera did to Justin Street in a back alley only increases the wince factor. As for the whole procedure, I am squarely in Dr. Daniel S. Elliott’s camp. (Link mildly suitable for work, mildly unsuitable for a pre-meal read, and unsuitable for the jumpy.) Note: the story does not designate exactly which back alley Ms. Rivera performed her handiwork in. Justin Street would be a good guess.

Jennifer Sultan, The Sultan of Sheikh

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Being an Arabic speaker, I am less interested in Jennifer Sultan’s fall from grace and more interested in the provenance of her last name. Sure, she made $70 million in her sale of Live Online, but where does her family name come from? This tells nothing:

Jennifer Sultan

Jennifer Sultan

At the height of dot-com mania 13 years ago, Jennifer Sultan and a few colleagues sold their small technology company for $70 million in stock and cash. She and her boyfriend rented a large house in the Hamptons for the summer and bought a spacious loft near Union Square.

In the years since, that temporary flush of wealth evaporated and Ms. Sultan, 38, developed an addiction to prescription painkillers.

On Friday, she sat handcuffed in a courtroom at State Supreme Court in Manhattan. In exchange for a promise of a four-year prison sentence, she pleaded guilty to selling prescription painkillers and conspiring to sell a firearm.

She was arrested last July and accused of being part of a ring that sold prescription drugs and guns. Four others arrested with Ms. Sultan had already pleaded guilty. One, Nicholas Mina, a former New York City police officer, agreed to serve more than 15 years in prison as part of a plea bargain under which he admitted stealing guns from his colleagues’ precinct house lockers and selling them. Mr. Mina was also addicted to prescription painkillers.

Jennifer Sultan is not the Sultan of Sheikh. But it sounds good, right?

Deanne Ostbye Draws Blood

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I know the block of West 46th Street and Broadway in New York City well. So when I read of a tourist being knocked over by Deanne Ostbye, I cringed. New Yorkers can be a rough bunch. Focused and fast-moving. But Ms. Ostbye is from Tacoma, Washington and who knows why she was so rough. And what’s with yelling Freedom of Speech after you draw blood from your violence? Your free speech ends at the tip of my nose.

Feisal Abdul Rauf Dekes Out Robert Leslie Deak

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The Ground Zero mosque imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, is being sued by Robert Leslie Deak, a major donor to the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement. Mr. Deak alleges he got deked out of $167,000 between 2006 and 2008 to a project to combat anti-Muslim sentiment. Instead, the suit alleges, Mr. Abdul Rauf used the money for entertainment and other personal purposes.

Shocking News about Murray Hill

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When working as a bike messenger, certain neighborhoods became very familiar. For example, I had a lot of deliveries that centered from midtown to downtown. One neighborhood, Murray Hill, always stuck in my head. Mostly because Jamie and Paul’s dog on Mad About You, the border collie mix, was named Murray. (Ahh, did I just admit that little tidbit? Don’t tell anyone.) Today, there was a shocking piece of news about Murray Hill.

Sasquatch in Manhattan

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Bigfoot SasquatchI once saw a throw pillow that read Give a man a foot and he’ll think he is a ruler. This may or may not apply to the folks in your neighborhood. In this New York household, the throw pillows read Give a man two feet and he thinks he is a Sasquatch: 

DEAR ABBY: My husband of eight years will not resolve his foot odor problem. We live in a small apartment, and it’s humiliating when we have company and half the apartment smells like stinky feet.

He refuses to wear socks, and his solution in winter is to open all the windows and turn on the fan as soon as he returns from work. The “airing out” never completely gets rid of the smell — and I freeze! How can I get him to change? — FED UP IN MANHATTAN

DEAR FED UP: You obviously can’t change your husband, but you don’t have to risk getting pneumonia, either. Shoe repair shops sell deodorizing products in the form of sprays and powders. Or buy a large container of baking soda, and when your husband removes his shoes, dump a cupful into each one. They next day the smell should be gone.

Dump a cupful of baking soda into each shoe! That could get costly. The wife should just call Bobo, Matt, Cliff, and Ranae of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BRFO.)

Scotty’s On Lexington in New York City

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New York is a city of postcards. Each neighborhood, a collection of photographs. Sometimes, I see a street corner and know I’ve been there. But I can’t place it. Recently, there was an underground steam-pipe explosion on Lexington Avenue. And in the background, I recognized a diner called Scotty’s:

A New York City police officer wears a protective mask at the site of an underground steam-pipe explosion.

A New York City police officer wears a protective mask at the site of an underground steam-pipe explosion (picture 4.)

Click here to order food online from Scotty’s. Of course, you have to be in New York City. As for me, I would get the Gyro Sandwich for $10.25. Deeelish.

Queens AK-47

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Queens AK-47

Queens AK-47

The number one trending story on Yahoo right now is Queens AK-47.

I see it and think to myself, what would Queen Elizabeth want with an AK?

Whoops, scratch that. Queens, New York:

A Queens mom who hoped to see her teen son become a marine biologist instead saw him Saturday in the morgue.

Xavier Granville, 17, was gunned down by a pair of ski-masked gunmen — one toting an AK-47 assault rifle — after a late-night party in Far Rockaway, police sources said.

“My son didn’t deserve to go out like this,” said a distraught Shakira Granville after identifying the body of her only child. “The pain I feel. I’m just in shock.”

Ah, the pain no mother wants to go through. Standby for gun control tripe from el Mayor. Even though I doubt the punks who shot Xavier had the gun legally.

Officer Lawrence DePrimo, Christmas Elf

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Uh oh, we are coming up on Christmas time again. And capturing the new holiday spirit is Officer Lawrence DePrimo, on patrol in Times Square, helping a homeless man with a pair of boots he bought for him:

Officer Lawrence DePrimo bought new boots for a homeless man he encountered in Times Square.

For some reason, this story makes me think of Where are you Christmas, by Faith Hill.