Things to do This Weekend in NYC

Wintry Weekend with Snow ending at 3 pm Saturday, Boat Show at Javits, Bumper Cars & Irish Theater in Manhattan, Winter Antiques Show POSTPONED, Chinese New Year Celebration & Film in Queens, on Staten Island a Maple Syrup program While the Korean Lunar New Year Celebration at Snug Harbor POSTPONED, Bronx Zoo Closed Saturday, while Bronx Doc Film Opens 'Storming of the Capitol' Photo Exhibit and Art & BAM Films in Brooklyn

January 28, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. They forecast up to 4 - 5 inches of snow Friday afternoon / evening, but it could be on the low side if the temperature doesn't drop. On Saturday, another 3 - 5 inches of snow is expected, ending by 3 pm / mid afternoon. Temperature highs will be in the mid 30's on Friday, descending to the low to mid 20's for Saturday and Sunday. Temperature lows will be in the high teens Friday, descending to the low teens for the rest of the weekend. Humidity will range from 50% to 70% all weekend. Winds start at 7 mph on Friday, but by the end of the day will be a blustery 20 mph. On Saturday the winds will be 20 - 25 mph, before dropping back to 5 to 10 mph on Sunday.

The photo at right was taken underneath the #5 Prospect Avenue subway stop at in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx earlier this week. The subway stop is near Bill Rainey Park and where the explosion and row house fire took place on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. We'll have more on the fire and explosion next week.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Manhattan

The NY Boat Show started on Wednesday and runs through Sunday, January 30, 2022 at the Javits Center at 655 West 34th Street [at 11th Avenue]. They're open 12 noon - 8 pm Friday, 10 am - 8 pm Saturday and 12 noon - 6 pm on Sunday. Tickets are $18 / $15 and CoVid protocols remain in effect.

You can rent a Bumper Car in Bryant Park between the hours of 2 - 8 pm weekdays and 11 am - 5 pm Saturdays and Sundays between now and February 2nd. It's recommended that you rsvp on their website at www.bryantpark.org where tickets for a ten minute ride are $20.

In the photo at right you can see the bumper cars at Bryant Park in action.

The First Irish Theater Festival by the Origin Theater Company continues through January 31st. The shows are held at various venues in several boroughs of NYC. See www.origintheater.org for details and tickets.

The Winter Antiques Show held at the Park Avenue Armory has been postponed until the Spring. They haven't set a new date, but that it's postpone, not cancelled, like professional sports games, shows that we're learning to live with CoVid, by adapting to its mutations and the surges. Unfortunately, as long as a sizeable segment continues to aid and abet the virus by not getting vaccinated, we're stuck in this holding pattern indefinitely. Thank God these anti-vax ignoramuses, fueled by Murdoch's Fox News disinformation, weren't around in the 1950's when the nation was fighting polio.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Queens

The Glow Community Center at 133-29 41st Avenue [1st Floor] in Flushing is hosting a Chinese New Year celebration from 11 am - 4 pm. To commemorate the Year of the Tiger the community center is hosting cultual performances and food samplings for free. CoVid protocols remain in effect and it's recommended you rsvp at www.glownyc.org.

The Museum of the Moving Image is showing a number of interesting films this weekend with the first showtime beginning at 1 pm and the last beginning at 6.30 pm. The Moving Image is located at 36-01 35th Avenue [at 36th Street] in Astoria Queens. Tickets may be found at www.movingimage.us and cost $15 / $11.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway has about a dozen exhibits running at present. The two featured exhibits focus on Andy Warhol's Revelation print which explores the artist's religious faith [closes June 2022]. The other is one about Christian Dior entitled Designer of Dreams which includes, "... seventy-year history of the House of Dior with over two hundred haute couture garments as well as photographs, archival videos, sketches, vintage perfume elements, accessories, and works from the Museum’s collection...". The Dior exhibit closes February 20, 2022. Admission is $25 / $16 / $10 and CoVid protocols remain in effect.

In the Peter Jay Sharp Building at the Brooklyn Academy of Music aka BAM at 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, they will be showing various films all weekend starting at 1.15 pm, with the last showtime at 9.40 pm. CoVid protocols remain in effect and tickets [$16 / $11] may be purchased online at www.bam.org.

In the photo at right you can see the pop up memorial to slain NYPD officer Rivera on January 25, 2022. The memorial is in front of the 32nd Precinct of the NYPD on 135th Street in Harlem.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in the Bronx

The Bronx Zoo will be closed on Saturday, January 29th, due to inclement weather.

The Storming of the Capitol exhibit opens on Saturday, January 29th, 2022 from 6 - 9 pm at the Bronx Doc Film Center at 614 Courtlandt Avenue in the Bronx. The opening on Saturday has been sold out, but it will remain on exhibit through March 20, 2022. Their hours are Thursday / Friday from 3 - 7 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1 - 5pm.

In the photo at right you see a passenger on the Staten Island Ferry staring at the Statue of Liberty in the distance. The statue was a gift from the French people on July 4, 1884. The French helped us gain our liberty from the British royals, over two centuries ago, during the Revolutionary War. Democracy in America was called the 'last great experiment', because the Founders weren't sure that 'We The People' could govern ourselves. It's a question that still seems relevant to this day, and that topic is explored in part in the exhibit at the Bronx Doc Fim Center over the next two months.

 

Things To Do This Weekend on Staten Island

On Saturday, January 29th [also February 5th & 12th] from 1 - 3 pm, the Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve at 83 Nielsen Avenue is hosting a program talking about how to extract syrup from a maple tree. The program is free, but it is recommended you rsvp as the group size is limited and CoVid protocols remain in effect. Their website is www.parks.ny.gov/parks/claypitponds/details

The Korean Lunar New Year Festival at the Staten Island Museum at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center has been postponed to February 12th due to the impending snowstorm.

 

TV Newspeople Tend to Hype Weather to Keep Viewers Inside Watching TV = Rating$$$

The TV newspeople appear to hype weather systems, to keep viewers inside all weekend, so they'll watch TV, and boost the corporate TV rating$ to generate more revenue.

You can see an example of this in the graphic at right which shows a June 13, 2019 Washington Post report where a weatherman was fired by Sinclair Broadcasting, at a Murdoch ABC News station affiliate, because the weatherman wasn't going to use 'Code Red' to hype inclement weather systems, if he didn't think they merited such labeling.

This weekend the weather system coming in this evening is expected to end by about 3 pm Saturday, so while there may be an unknown number of inches of snow on the ground in NYC in January [what a concept], it shouldn't prevent New Yorkers from enjoying at least part of the weekend. But that said, be advised that while the snow should end by 3 pm, the winds die down more slowly, taking the remainder of Saturday.

The weatherman mentioned in the graphic above, was fired for not distorting the truth, in a manner not unlike what one would expect at a state-controlled media outlet in Russia or China. Hyping weather systems out of proportion, like distorting the proportions of other stories, appears to be one of the Murdoch mass media trademark ploys to deceive / fear monger the viewers in order to win higher rating$$$, take control the national conversation and tip the scales in favor of the pols he favors and against those he does not.

In Australia - where Murdoch has been operating all his life - former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described, "Murdoch's media empire as a cancer on democracy" because of Murdoch media news omissions and distortions. And in Britain, a Spring 2012 Parliamentary Report stated that, [Murdoch] "was not a fit person" to exercise stewardship of a major international company] because his company broke the law by tapping British citizens' phones to get racy stories, in order to generate ratings and sell newspapers. Murdoch's dishonest media tactics oftentimes appear similar to those of Joseph Goebbels, the famed Nazi propagandist in the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. Just as back then, stories built on distortions, lies and deceit, generally don't end well for the gullible believers, nor others in the audience.

So American TV viewers need to take what they hear and see on TV with a grain of salt. And if something seems downright wrong or not quite right, viewers should be encouraged to use the internet to conduct their own research. This weekend New Yorkers can start that process, by sampling the weather themselves, to see the 'Noreaster' for themselves, before cancelling their plans. It's a shame that the reliability of our corporate broadcast mass media has fallen to such a low, that I would even consider suggesting this.

Have a nice wintry weekend.

Was the Staten Island Ferry Sale a Joke?

Did You Hear the One about a Staten Island Ferry, Two Comedians, an Architect & a Night Club Owner?

Updated January 26 from 1/24/2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC News / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will be within about 5 degrees of 30 throughout the week, except on Tuesday when it will be in the low 40's. The temperature lows will be between 20 and 30 degrees, except on Wednesday, when it will drop to 12 degrees. The winds will be 5 - 10 mph Monday & Tuesday, rising to 10 - 15 mph on Wednesday, before falling back to 5 - 10 mph Thursday & Friday. Humidity will be 50% - 70% on Monday, dropping to 50% - 60% on Tuesday, and then 40% - 50% on Wednesday & Thursday, before rising back to 50% - 70% on Friday. No precipitation is in the forecast until Friday afternoon / evening at which time it looks like we're going to get several or more inches of snow.

 

As the new year begins to unfold, we encounter a mixed bag of news that has already made it out onto the public stage. Let's start with the purchase of a de-commissioned Staten Island Ferry, the JFK. The photo above right was taken in January 2020, likely near the end of the JFK's life of ferrying passengers to and from Staten Island. You can see the 'JFK' in the upper right corner of the photo below the black circle and with a bit of glare obfuscating part of the 'F'.

 

They may be Laughing Now, but ...

SNL Comedians Pete Davidson & Colin Jost, Architect Developer & Contractor Ron Castellano and Night Club Owner Paul Italia Buy the JFK Staten Island Ferry Boat

Last week, after several rounds of bidding, a consortium of investors, including SNL Comedians Pete Davidson & Colin Jost; Architect, Developer & Contractor Ron Castellano; and Night Club Owner Paul Italia purchased a 2,100 ton de-commissioned Staten Island ferry boat - the JFK - for $280,100. The purchase prices was only $100 above the next nearest bid, after the price doubled during the bidding process - up from $125,000 - after the starting bid had to be lowered from $250,000 because of a lack of early interest.

At right are Pete Davidson [left] and Colin Jost [right] announcing their new acquisition on SNL's News update. This project is likely to get a fair amount of publicity given the fame of these two owners and Jost's famous wife and Davidson's famous girlfriend.

 

Riding the JFK Ferry from Staten Island in 2020

I have ridden the JFK, which was commissioned in 1965, and named after a very charismatic president who was assassinated at the relatively young age of 46. On my first ride I remember wondering why riding this boat felt different, so I asked one of the crew members, who told me that I was riding the JFK, the oldest boat in the fleet. I took some photos, which I have found, three of which are included in this report [the first three boat photos]. The last two boat photos were taken on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 and added to this report.

The JFK was the oldest boat of the Staten Island Ferry fleet, and it was also the most pleasurable to ride. The 277 foot long, and 69 feet wide, boat was a joy to ride because of its ample proportions and its older, more stately fixtures. Why is it that it almost always seems that they built things so much better long ago?

Above and below right is a look up and down the length of the JFK ferry boat. You can see the minimalist nature of the design of the boat, which might be classified as Mid Century Classic.

 

What They're Planning to do with the 2,100 Ton Vessel

The consortium has two weeks [I believe from Thursday, January 20th, 2022] to move the huge boat from its berth at the Staten Island Ferry docks. One rumor floating around is that the JFK will be moved to a berth near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, where the group will begin working to convert it to a night club / comedy club / restaurant. The boat had a seafaring capacity of about 3,000 people and on land it could possibly be expanded - but no matter how you cut it, it's a huge venue. It remains unclear whether the boat will remain in Gowanus or be moved to some other location.

The two comedians, both from Staten Island, are also both romantically involved with some very famous actresses. Davidson is dating Kim Kardashian and Jost is married to Scarlett Johansson. All of whom will no likely be able to generate publicity for the project. And the role of the architect, developer and contract owner Castellano seems obvious, as does the role of the Night Club Owner Italia.

Above right is a photo of the JFK in January 2020, as I disembarked on the Manhattan side. Notice the smooth flowing wooden benches, harking back to an more friendly, communal, simpler age.

Below right is the JFK ferry, sitting in the docks at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Within the next week or two, it is expected that the consortium that purchased the ferry, will move the boat to another location where they will attempt to transform the huge vessel into a viable business venture.

It's worth mentioning that there have been others who have attempted something similar to what this brave band of entrepreneurs has just undertaken. A January 21, 2022 report in Curbed tells us that the Staten Island Ferry named Mary Murray was purchased in 1976 by someone planning to make it into a restaurant. In 2010, after rotting in New Jersey and then Newburgh, NY for 34 years, the Coast Guard had to step in when the boat started listing. They tell us other decommissioned Staten Island Ferries were purchased with various grand plans that eventually stalled, including the Knickerbocker in the 1960's and the Miss New York in the 1970's. And they cited a couple of temporary successes, but not with Staten Island Ferry boats in NYC.

 

Did You Hear the One About Two Comedians, an Architect & a Night Club Owner Buying a Ferry on Staten Island?

So did you hear the one about two comedians, an architect, contractor, developer and a night club owner? ... conspiring to refurbish an old boat, find a permanent home for a 2,100 ton behemoth and turn it into a viable business ... ???

It could be hilarious. It already is ... kind of.

There's no doubt about it, it's a crazy idea as both comedians have already said. But as musician, comedian, talk show host Oscar Levant once said,

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity."

That statement has since, been proven, genetically. There is a link. And these guys just might be crazy enough to make it work. But, regardless of the outcome, it's likely to be good fodder for SNL, raising awareness of Staten Island - and should they succeed - good for NYC.

At right is a photo of the JFK sitting at the docks in St. George on Staten Island. Notice just below the pilot house window, that the ship name has been removed, leaving a silver toned rectangle behind.

Have a nice week.

Things To Do This Weekend NYC

Bumper Cars in Bryant Park, Thunderbird Dance Concert, Winter Jazz Festival Cancelled goes Virtual, Jewish Film Festival, First Irish Theater Festival Manhattan, Last Weekend for the Holiday Train Show Bronx, Historic Richmond Town 2:1 Museum Tickets Staten Island, Lenape Indian Exhibit & Programs at Greenpoint Library in Brooklyn and Film & Modern Dance in Queens

January 21, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will be in the mid 20's on Friday, rising to about 30 on Saturday, and then rising to the mid 30's on Sunday. The temperature lows will be in the mid teens on Friday, rising to the low 20's on Saturday, and falling back slightly to the high teens on Sunday. No precipitation is in the forecast and it will be dry, with humidity between 40% and 50%. Winds will be 5 - 10 mph throughout the weekend.

In the photo at right, there's a man who fell down. It reminded me of how the world has fallen down a couple of times in dealing with the Corona Virus. We just have to pick ourselves back up and get going again. I am cautiously optimistic that we will do so in 2022. Although I must caution you that last summer I had thought the same ... so I've been wrong before.

 

CoVid Continues to Affect Things, but Increasingly Event Organizers are Adapting

In the graph at right you can see the new CoVid cases in NYC as of a week ago Thursday [January 13th]. The graph shows that we likely have peaked from the holidays, and are on our way back down again. This trend continued this week, but the new graph has not yet been published. Nonetheless, many organizations have continued to take a cautious approach to public events and programming, with a few making cancellations.

That said, increasingly event organizers are moving to managing things via rsvps, timed tickets, vaccination requirements, social distancing and masks. Thus you are strongly encouraged to check the event organizer's website prior to attending any event.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Manhattan

You can rent a Bumper Car in Bryant Park between the hours of 2 - 8 pm weekdays and 11 am - 5 pm Saturdays and Sundays between now and February 2nd. It's recommended that you rsvp on their website at www.bryantpark.org where tickets for a ten minute ride are $20.

Theater for a New City at 155 First Avenue [at 10th Street] in the East Village is hosting Thunderbird Dance Concerts Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $15. As the host website does not appear to be working, I recommend using www.tdf.org to buy tickets.

The live Winter Jazz Festival has been cancelled and gone Virtual.

The Jewish Film Festival continues through January 25, 2022 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. See their website www.filmlinc.org for details and tickets.

The First Irish Theater Festival by the Origin Theater Company continues through January 31st. The shows are held at various venues in several boroughs of NYC. See www.origintheater.org for details and tickets.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Brooklyn

Lenape Hoking is an Indian Art Exhibit with Programs that opened at the Greenpoint Library at 107 Norman Avenue at Leonard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Thursday, January 20, 2022. The exhibit runs through April 30, 2022 and has several interesting talks scheduled. The Lenape Indians are said to be the tribe that traded Manhattan for a 'string of beads' in a myth that is debunked in one of the upcoming lectures / programs.

The Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway has about a dozen exhibits running at present. The two featured exhibits focus on Andy Warhol's Revelation print which explores the artist's religious faith. The other is one about Christian Dior entitled Designer of Dreams which includes, "... seventy-year history of the House of Dior with over two hundred haute couture garments as well as photographs, archival videos, sketches, vintage perfume elements, accessories, and works from the Museum’s collection..." Admission is $25 / $16 / $10 and CoVid protocols remain in effect.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in Queens

The Museum of the Moving Image is showing a number of interesting international films this weekend, including one on Chuck Jones' classic animations while at Warner Bros., another entitled French Cancan which is about the founder of Moulin Rouge, and a third entitled the Tales of Hoffman which is said to be a film that greatly influenced Martin Scorses & George Romero. There are two more, including Siege on Lipertis Street, which was the winner of the Thessaloniki Film Festival about a father trying to save his home near the buffer zone of Nicosia, and Plaza Catedral is a film about the rich and poor of Panama City and explores the question of how far would one go to help a stranger. All at the Moving Image at 35th Street and 36th Avenue in Astoria Queens. Tickets may be found at www.movingimage.us and cost $15 / $11.

There are two Take Root modern dance performances at 8 pm on Friday and Saturday at GreenSpace at 37-24 24th Street in in Long Island City, Queens. Tickets are $17 online and $20 at the door. CoVid guidelines are in effect.

 

Things To Do This Weekend in the Bronx

The Holiday Train Show at the NY Botanical Garden at 2900 Southern Blvd in the Bronx is entering its final weekend. You may obtain tickets which cost $18 - $32 on their website at www.nybg.org.

 

Things To Do This Weekend on Staten Island

On Saturday Historic Richmond Town has a candle making workshop in the afternoon and a tavern concert in the evening this weekend, along with a 2 for 1 Museum Ticket offer on Staten Island.

On Saturday at 2 pm the Lighthouse Museum at 200 The Promenade is hosting a book lecture entitled The Soul of the Hurricane. The author, Nelson Simon, sailed from Brooklyn to Bermuda 30 years ago, ending up in what is billed as the 'Perfect Storm'. He was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Admission $10 / $5.

 

We expect things to begin picking up in February, which is only another weekend away. And assuming no new variant, the year could be a good one.

Have a good one.

News Updates – De Blasio Announcement & NYC Crime Stats 2021

De Blasio Decides Not to Run for NYS Governor, Hochul's Fundraising Haul, NYC Violent Crime Up Slightly in 2021, but NYC Homicides Still Below the National Average & To Be or Not To Be - do we want to Politicize the Guns / Violent Crime Problem or Solve it?

January 18, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This morning, January 18, 2022, former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he will not seek the Governor’s office on Twitter. 

De Blasio mentioned some of his accomplishments during his eight years as Mayor including Universal Pre-K, building hundreds of thousands affordable housing units, implementing some police reforms at the NYPD to make policing fairer, and efforts to transition NYC to cleaner energy.  He didn’t say what his future plans were, only that he would be announcing them from his neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Governor Kathy Hochul is well positioned for the NYS Governors race this year. Hochul received the very early endorsement of the NYS Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs in October of 2021, and has raised $21.6 million since she announced her candidacy in August of 2021. It's a record for the five month period, and about the same amount of money that former Governor Andrew Cuomo had to ward off challengers in 2018. NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and 3rd District [Nassau County] Congressman Thomas Suozzi have announced their candidacies. In December of 2021, Attorney General Letitia James withdrew her candidacy, in favor of running for reelection in her current post.

On the Republican side of the race there's former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who is running against newcomer Andrew Giuliani, who's primary claim to fame is that he is the son of Rudy, the former NYC Mayor with the same surname and Lee Zeldin, a Congressman from Long Island.

In fundraising as well as in polling, Hochul seems to have all the advantages at this point in the campaign. Her nearest competitor in polling recently done by Siena would have been de Blasio, who had 12% of the vote versus Hochul's 46%. NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was next with 11% and Suozzi with 6%. The Suozzi campaign has about $5 million in campaign funding, $2 million of which was transferred from his congressional campaign. Republican Astorino has about $1.3 million, and none of the other contestants released their funding.

A number of snide comments were made in the wake of Hochul's record haul and competitive fundraising position for the upcoming June primary. She was compared to Cuomo with allusions to the possibility of corruption, but nothing specific was provided to support those insinuations.

De Blasio’s announcement came as I was working on an update report on NYC crime.  Unfortunately, the NYPD doesn’t publish a December monthly report, like they do every other month, so it’s more challenging to do a year end tally.  Hence, this report won’t be as comprehensive as some of the others I’ve done the past couple of years, and will instead focus mostly on shootings and the murder rate.

 

NYC Crime Statistics for 2021

Thefts Down Significantly / Murders Up Slightly & Still Below the National Average / Most Other Crimes up in Low to Mid Single Digits with Some Exceptions ...

The outlier in the year end crime stats, which were up slightly from 2020, was that thefts were down almost 19%.  This may have something to do with the fact that fewer people are out and about, so thieves have fewer to prey upon and the victims have fewer distractions and events where thefts may occur.

As for other salient changes in the main categories, Grand Larceny was up about 12% while Grand Larceny Auto was up 14%, Other (than rape) Sex Crimes were up 30%, Misdemeanour Assault was up 10%, and Hate Crimes were up 93%. It's worth noting that only murders and hate crimes are counted in the hundreds - not thousands.

The murders in NYC were up slightly in 2021 versus 2020.  Note that the graph at right is for the entire nation and in 2020 - not 2021. The purpose is so that you can have context in evaluating where we are and what's going on.

In 2021 the preliminary murder rate in the U.S. was about 6.6 per 100,000 people [21,750 / 330M], while the murder rate in NYC was 5.5 per 100,000 people [485 / 8.8M].  Prior to the pandemic, in 2018, the murder rate in the U.S. was 4.96 per 100,000 people [WorldPopulationReview.com], and the murder rate in NYC was 289 victims [8.4M population] or 3.4 per 100,000 people, which was the lowest on record.  In 2012, during former Mayor Bloomberg’s last year as NYC Mayor, the murder rate had fallen to 414 [8.2M] or about 5.0 per 100,000 people. 

So with our larger population [8.8M vs 8.2M], NYC experienced a bit higher murder rate in former Mayor de Blasio’s last year in office, versus former Mayor Bloomberg’s last year in office.  And for de Blasio this was in the midst of the pandemic amid record gun sales.

 

NYC Shootings in 2021, as with NYC Murders, were About Even with 2020

But Shootings & Murders were up Significantly in the Bronx, which by Implication Means they were Down in Other Boros

In spite of a laudable effort by the NYPD to rein in illegal transport of guns, shootings were only about flat with 2020, during which shootings had spiked.  According to NYPD CompuStat 2.0 as of 12/19/21, there were 1828 shooting victims in NYC, versus 1821 in the prior year of 2020. 

As murders and shootings were up significantly in the Bronx [both up over 30% versus 2020], and about flat for NYC overall, the mathematical implication is that murders and shootings were down in some or all of the other boroughs.

 

Gun Sales in 2021 were 2nd Only to Gun Sales in 2020, with Both Years Attracting Millions of First Time Buyers

Contrary to Impressions Given by Murdoch's Manipulative Fake News Outlets, Violent Crime is Highest in Republican Governed States - but this Sort of Labeling & Politicizing an Issue isn't Helpful

The increase in violence is accompanied by significant rises in the purchase of firearms.  For the year 2021 approximately 18 million guns were sold, of which more than 2.4 million were sold to first time buyers.  This is the second highest gun sales year on record, following the surge of the pandemic fueled gun buying spree of 2020 where 22.8 million guns were sold, including to 5.0 million first time gun buyers. 

The problem with these record gun sales – and to new owners - is that while NYC and NYS and neighboring states have restrictive firearm laws, guns are being transported into the city and state by illegal gun runners from other states that employ less oversight over gun sales. It's called the I-95 Iron Pipeline - see graphic at right.

 

Using InterState Commerce Regulatory Powers May be a Viable Method of Aiding Municipal and State Authorities in Curtailing Gun Trafficking, but it's a Clumsy Approach to the Problem vis a vis Passing More Effective Gun Legislation

I believe one tool at the disposal of the Biden Administration would be to use federal agencies like the Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives Agency to intercept gun runners coming up along the Iron Pipeline from southern states like Florida to NY and NJ and charge them with violating interstate commerce laws which fall in the jurisdiction of the federal government. A few high profile arrests with significant penalties might help discourage the gun running trade, but nothing is going to be as efficient, nor as effective as passing new gun legislation in line with the majority of American's opinions regarding gun legislation [see below].

 

Divide & Conquer to Maximize Profits & Power?

The Mass Media Brands of Australian born Billionaire Rupert Murdoch Politicize the Guns & Violent Crime Debate, by Blaming one Political Party in order to Toxify the Debate, which Precludes an Honest & Reasonable Discussion About how to Fix the Problem

Murdoch's Manipulative Media Seemed to do the Same in 2020 by Proliferating Misinformation about the Voting Machines used in the Presidential Election and by Calling CoVid a Hoax & Impeachment Scam Early in the Pandemic

One can’t intelligently talk about issues or high profile government officials, without addressing the 800 lb. Australian born billionaire propagandist in the room.  Rupert Murdoch’s overwhelming share of America’s national mass media influences tens – if not hundreds of millions of Americans’ perception of events, issues and personalities.  And far too often it seems, he’s in hot pursuit of filling his own pockets, instead of doing anything for the community, whether it’s at the city, state, federal or even international level.

Murdoch tightly controls Fox News, the NY Post and the Wall St. Journal and increasingly seems to have infiltrated ABC News, where he and two of 21st Century Fox funds are the three largest shareholders.  Thus, through this ownership of the lion’s share of American mass media, Murdoch has both toxified and politicized debating the issue of guns and violent crime between Democrats and Republicans – even though most Americans agree on multiple approaches to reining in the problem.

For this issue, the Murdoch narrative is designed to label violent crime a Democrat caused problem.  This deflects attention away from solving the problem, crippling efforts by Democrats and moderate Republicans to address the issue.  By politicizing Americans’ views of crime, the Australian born billionaire propagandist ensures that we Americans can’t come together to solve the problem by reining it in. 

Murdoch with his overwhelming share of national / local mass media appear to employ this same technique over and over and over again.  Just within the past two years Murdoch’s Fox News appeared to politicize and toxify the results / fairness of the 2020 election results by 1) publicizing unsubstantiated, fraudulent accusations of voting machine failures, and 2) hyping Trump’s stop the steal campaign. 

Likewise in 2020, Murdoch’s Fox News and other entities seemed to obstruct government efforts to rein in CoVid as a public health problem, by allowing Fox propagandists like Sean Hannity to label CoVid a Hoax, Trish Regan to call it an Impeachment ploy, and Laura Ingraham to dismissively accuse Democrats of using CoVid to score political points.

 

Republican-Governed States Have the Highest Murder Rates

Generally, I don’t think it’s productive to label an issue as Republican or Democrat as we are all Americans and we all live in the same communities.  When someone labels things like this it’s generally to use for their own selfish interests.  And when they label it dishonestly, like too often Murdoch mass media see, tp do, you can be sure it’s for Murdoch's own interests.  But when issues are labeled dishonestly, that dishonesty must be called out and debunked.

Hence, I did a little research and found that the highest murder rates per 100,000 people [the standard metric] are mostly found in Republican controlled states.  You can see for yourself in the CDC chart at right, which shows the murder rates of the top 13 states [I cut off the chart there to prove a point, while the CDC showed all 50 states in descending order].

I did a bit more research to find that 11 of the 13 states with the highest murder rates are governed by Republicans. On the list to your right only New Mexico and Nevada are governed by Democrats.

I don't think either political party should be blamed for crime per se. I think the root causes of crime should be discussed and then possible solutions identified on how to mitigate them. But Murdoch's Fox News and his other manipulative media, opportunistically politicize issues by labeling them and attributing blame for them, to the party that doesn't give Murdoch whatever he wants. After which, Murdoch media then uses the negative labels they created, to manipulate the views of the low information / easy to fool members of their audiences, in order to convince them to vote for pliable Murdoch preferred candidates. And thus, the Australian born billionaire can plug his snout back into the public trough and start pigging out again, at our collective expense. Murdoch has been doing this for decades in Australia, Britain and increasingly here in the United States.

 

More Legislative Gun Control is Favored by the Vast Majority of Americans - Regardless of Party Affiliation

A March 2021 poll by USA Today and Ipsos showed that two thirds of Americans favor stricter gun control, including half of all gun owners. Democrats favor it by 90%, while Independents favor it by 66% and 35% of Republicans. Overwhelmingly, Americans favor instituting background checks for purchasers of firearms, with 55% of gun owners favoring such action including 82% of Democrats, 62% of Independents and 40% of Republicans [versus 41% who say no].

With respect to assault weapons bans, according to an August 17, 2019 report in Politico, a Politico / Morning Consult Poll showed that even a majority of Republicans support an assault weapons ban.

They tell us,

" ... The poll found that nearly 70 percent of all voters would back such a ban. Support ... was higher, at 86 percent, among Democrats ... the poll found that 55 percent of GOP voters were comfortable with banning assault weapons ... 89 percent of voters want to block gun sales to people who have been reported as dangerous to law enforcement by mental health providers ... Eighty-four percent of voters want to prevent people convicted of violent misdemeanors from purchasing guns. A similar percentage, 83 percent, support limitinggun purchases to those 21 and older. Eighty percent think there should be a mandatory three-day waiting period before someone can take home a gun. And 72 percent support banning high-capacity magazines ..."

So if We The People want to get serious about crime, we need to ignore Murdoch the Manipulator's assignment of blame to one party or another, and pass some meaningful gun control legislation for the nation and its children.

The new NYC Mayor and the new Police Commissioner may be able to mitigate some of the violence associated with the rise in gun sales, but the work they do without meaningful gun legislation is a band aid - not a solution to the problem.

Have a good week.

Things To Do This MLK Weekend NYC & News Update

News Updates - Guesstimating the End of the Omicron Surge [Graphs],

January 14, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will be in the 40's on Friday, dropping to the low 20's on Saturday, and then rising to the low 30's on Saturday and back to the 40's on Monday. The temperature lows will be around 20 degrees Friday, falling to 10 degrees on Saturday, and then rising to 30 degrees on Sunday and Monday. There's a 100% chance of some precipitation on Sunday night / Monday morning, but forecasters are having difficulty estimating how much at this time because the system is still forming. And it's unclear whether it will be rain or snow. But it's going to be something, but hitting us sometime between 9 pm and 10 am on a holiday weekend. The humidity drops from 50% Friday, to 30% Saturday, rising to 80% by Sunday night, dropping back to 60% by Monday. The winds are 15 - 20 mph Friday, dropping to about 10 mph Saturday, rising to 25 - 30 mph by Sunday night and then falling back to 15 - 20 mph on Monday.

 

Expect Some Omicron Related Cancellations in the Short Term - Like the Toy Fair 2022 & More Broadway Shows

It is worth noting that the International American Toy Fair at the Javits Center, scheduled for February 19th - 22nd, 2022 has been cancelled. Reportedly, some of the larger manufacturers pulled out like Hasbro, and some of the larger buyers like WalMart, continue to have business travel bans. As you will see below, this surge isn't expected to last as long as the first two, as vaccinations and increasing herd immunity begin to impede the devastation - but not the disruption.

Broadway shows played to about 60% of capacity, which was rumored to be one of the lowest attendance seasons on record. In our December 27, 2021 report [scroll down] we highlighted many of the Broadway shows that were taking a brief hiatus or closing either short term or for good because of the rapid spread of Omicron. That trend has continued in 2022, with more shows deciding to go on hiatus due either to actor or staffing sick leaves, or lower than desired attendance - most of which appears Omicron related.

For example 'To Kill a Mockingbird' decided to go on hiatus until June, but they were not alone. 'The Girl from the North Country' is also going on hiatus and will reopen in the Spring. And some of the new shows that were to open in January / this Winter have delayed their openings, pending the CoVid surge hiatus. Nonetheless, as they say on Broadway - The Show Must Go On. Hence the Broadway League said that this time around, the whole of Broadway would not be closing, although it's likely that from time to time individual shows may go on hiatus for staffing health and safety reasons. The Broadway League also extended its CoVid saftey protocols which include vaccinations for all those eligible as well as masks.

 

South Africa vs NYS - Omicron Surge Graphs - Where We Are?

Most of the Things To Do this weekend you can find below in our MLK Weekend report. If we find more events of interest, we'll post them here.

But that said, even though Omicron may have peaked here, it is likely to continue raging on in some fashion through January. This probable assessment is based on what we saw in the South African CoVid chart, where the Omicron variant first swept through, in late November 2021.

See chart at right, which shows the South Africa Omicron surge beginning around November 30th, cresting mid December and where it is on January 13, 2022. See the chart below which shows the Omicron surge in NYS, where it appears we're peaking, but using the South African chart as a guide, we have about a month to go before things level off - but not go away. The viral threat will remain viable so long as a significant portion of the populace refuse to get vaccinated.

The negative influential impact, of the half of the daily national newspaper and TV coverage controlled by Australian born billionaire Rupert Murdoch [Fox News, NY Post, WSJ], has not been exposed to the American public enough to wake folks up to the mass manipulation that seems his hallmark and has given him defacto control over both Australia and Britain through the government officials and political parties he appears to effectively control.

Murdoch appears to have been effective in turning American's attention to the disinformation coming from the millions and billions using social media, while somehow avoiding this same scrutiny himself.

The non-Murdoch mass media and government officials should be sure to include Murdoch's mass media brands like the NY Post, WSJ and especially Fox News in all of these conversations, as they also seem reckless, and far more effective in spewing convincing disinformation.

Because of this ongoing near term viral threat, the two remaining weekends in January and likely the first couple in February are also likely to be fairly subdued, as event sponsors, and many attendees curtail or limit their activities. Likely starting sometime in mid to late February and almost certainly in March, we expect things to come back.

In the chart at right is the NYS CoVid new cases chart, showing that we appear to have hit a peak in about the same time as happened in South Africa. If the parallels hold true, then about a month from now we will still continue to have CoVid Omicron around, but at vastly reduced levels.

 

Long CoVid Impact on Organs - Not Good

It should be noted that ongoing evaluation of Omicron indicates that it is less dangerous than the Delta variant, but the unvaccinated continue to fill the hospitals and ICU's because of the rapidity of the spread of Omicron. Also, it should be noted that the Omicron virus has been shown to remain in people's vital organs even after they have recovered, sometimes wreaking continued trouble for months on end. According to a December 26, 2021 Forbes report a study found that,

" ... The scientists said results from autopsies on 44 patients who died following coronavirus infections showed that although the "highest burden" is in the airways and lung, the virus can "disseminate early during infection and infect cells throughout the entire body,” including widely in the brain, as well as in ocular tissue, muscles, skin, peripheral nerves, and tissues in the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and lymphatic systems..."

 

Short Term Omicron CoVid Impact on Supply Chain via Labor Outages

On January 3, 2022 we did a report on how much of the supply chain shortages were perception versus reality. Since then Murdoch's Disney / ABC did a report on inflation and - like Murdoch's other manipulative mass media - showed empty store shelves. We also saw empty shelves in other, non-Murdoch TV reports, but continue to believe based on my travels, interactions with grocers and industry expert reports - that those photos don't reflect reality, but TV hype. Ask yourself the same question as you peruse your local grocery store. The TV newspeople appear to hype the weather because it's good for ratings, so why not hype everything else to keep viewers' attention and get those ratings up? TV ratings generate TV revenue, even if they're misleading the public with hyped up, hysterical reports about everything.

This is excepting for semiconductors and related gear. In every report I have scoured through, industry professionals say that there continue to be disruptions in the supply chain, but not scarcities of product. This means product is available, but not necessarily where you want it to be, when you want it.

The disruptions now arise mostly from labor shortages due to the Omicron surge. This has hit some of the food production areas like meat products, and there continues to be a shortage of warehouse workers and truck drivers to transport product from one location to another. As the omicron surge falls, and the stimulus payments dry up, workers are likely to become available again, to fill these openings. Most forecasters predict the resumption of some sort of new normalcy in the next six months.

This assumes no new CoVid variant to wreak havoc again. But that said, we have far more tools in the box, and some level of herd immunity has already been achieved. As a nation we are now about 62.8% vaccinated with 75% with at least one dose, and at the NYS state level 73% vaccinated with 86% having received at least one dose, and in NYC 74% vaccinated with 83% having received at least one dose. See graph at right for NYC vaccination rates of one dose and fully vaccinated per the NYC government website.

 

Airline Flight Cancellations

There were thousands of flights cancelled over the holiday season due to staffing shortages caused by Omicron sick outs. Although not scientific - as people who work at airlines must also do the same things we all do like travel to and from work, shop for groceries and pick up the kids - don't these airline staffing shortages due to CoVid kind of challenge the notion that flying is super safe?

We'll have more of this sort of catch up on Monday / Tuesday. In the meantime have a nice MLK weekend and there are still a number of things to do this weekend as noted below.

Bronx Things To Do Martin Luther King Day Weekend - Events Bronx NYC MLK Day Weekend Events in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx over the Martin Luther King Day Weekend January 11, 2022 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. Weather. The MLK Weekend forecast as of January 10, 2022. The Temperature highs will range from 20 to 30 degrees through the long weekend. The temperature lows will range from 10 to 25, rising as the weekend progresses. As of this post, no precipitation is expected over the MLK Day Weekend. Winds will be about 10 mph throughout the long weekend, except Friday when they'll be a bit higher [13 mph]. The Humidity will be between 30% - 60%, dipping on Saturday from the highs on Friday and Monday. Click for Bronx Weather. Click here for Bronx Buzz - things to do Martin Luther King Day Weekend in the Bronx.   Brief History of Martin Luther King Holiday in NYC Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist Minister who became the leading voice for African Americans' non-violent civil rights movement beginning in the mid 1950's through to his assassination in 1968. In 1983, the third Monday of every year was set aside to honor Martin Luther King for his service to the nation. The third Monday was chosen, as it was the nearest Monday to the anniversary of King's birthday, which was January 15, 1929. Martin Luther King Day has grown to take on an even larger meaning, as it is oftentimes referred to as a day on, versus a day off. Organizations around the city and nation have used the day to call people into action to address the needs of the community through volunteering and service.   Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in the Bronx NYC On Saturday and Sunday, January 15 & 16, 2022 from 10 am - 1 pm there's a workshop entitled Freedom Quilters of Gee's Bend at Wave Hill at 4900 Independence Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. It's Free w/ admission to the grounds. Registration not required, but CoVid protocols in effect. Questions? Please email them at information@wavehill.org or call 718.549.3200 x251. On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 9 am - 4 pm, there's an MLK Day of Service at the Riverdale Y. While the Riverdale Y is located at 5626 Arlington Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, the day of service efforts to tackle various social and community problems is not only there, but done in collaboration with three other organizations / sites in the Bronx. See www.riverdaley.org/mlk-day-of-service/ for details. On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 10 am - 12 noon the East Bronx IPC [Episcopalian / Anglican] at 781 Castle Hill Avenue in the Bronx invites folks to attend their MLK Day of service and social gathering VIRTUALLY. They collect donations for scholarships, some of which I believe are awarded on that day [unconfirmed]. This weekend between January 15 - 17, 2022 there are multiple opportunities to help with food distribution through non-profit panties throughout many neighborhoods in the Bronx. Here are a couple of suggestions - www.foodpantries.org/ci/ny-bronx AND www.foodbanknyc.org/get-help/ On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 10.30 am 12 noon and 1 pm - 2.30 pm there's a VIRTUAL Teachers Workshop for MLK Day of Action hosted by the Bronx Museum. See - https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar and click on the link at right or the day along the tool bar. Click here for things to do Martin Luther King Day / MLK Weekend events in the Bronx.

Things To Do This January 2022 Weekend NYC

Mulchfest, Skating, Train Show and Ending Holiday Light Shows in Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island

January 7, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will be in the low 30's on Friday and Saturday, rising to about 40 on Sunday. The temperature lows will range between the low to high 20's, rising slightly through the weekend. There's a 65% chance of a slight amount (1/10th of an inch) of precipitation between 2 - 9 pm on Sunday. Winds will be running between 10 - 15 mph through the weekend. Humidity will rise from 55% on Friday to 65% on Saturday to 75% on Sunday.

 

Mulchfest from 10 am - 2 pm All Boros

The NYC Parks Department continues its annual Mulchfest conservation / recylcing efforts by offering New Yorkers in all five boroughs the opportunity to mulch their Christmas tree. Folks can visit one of the participating parks between 10 am and 2 pm on both Saturday and Sunday and either drop off the tree to be mulched by the Parks Department to be used by them at one of the parks, or stay and take home the mulch for their own garden. See the Parks Department map above or visit their website to find the park nearest you.

https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/festivals/mulchfest

 

 

Things to do in Manhattan in January 2022

There's outdoor skating at Wollman Rink in the southeast corner of Central Park.

There's also skating in Midtown at Rockefeller Center at 5th Avenue and 48th Street and at Bryant Park off 6th Avenue at 42nd Street.

 

Things to do in Brooklyn in January 2022

The Brooklyn Botanical Garden Lightscape Show runs through January 9, 2022. Tickets are $18 / $34.

There's also skating in LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park from 9a - 9p on the weekends. It's recommended that you rsvp a 90 minute skating slot on their website.

https://www.prospectpark.org/visit-the-park/places-to-go/lefrak-center-lakeside/

 

Things to do in Queens in January 2022

The Noguchi Museum in Astoria / Long Island City at 9-01 33rd Road in Astoria / LIC Queens is hosting a couple of exhibits, one is about the 'Common Objects' that runs through February 13th, 2022.

MoMA PS1 has an exhibit on that is called 'Greater New York' which is about and by artists living in and around NYC during the CoVid pandemic. The exhibit runs through April 18, 2022. Tickets required at www.moma.org/ps1.

 

 

Things to do in the Bronx in January 2022

NY Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show in the Belmont Neighborhood of the Bronx runs through Sunday, January 3, 2022 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Description. This 30 year old family-friendly Bronx holiday event includes a scenic train show of G-scale toy locomotives that run through 175 NYC landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge - all made of natural materials.

Admission. Tickets cost $15 / $28 / $30 and kids under age two are free.

Location. This Bronx holiday event is located at 2900 Southern Blvd in the Enid Haupt Conservatory in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx.

Contact. www.nybg.org

 

Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights near the Belmont & Bedford Park Neighborhoods of the Bronx thru January 9, 2022 - from 3 - 9 pm

Description. The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights program continues thru Sunday, January 9th. The Bronx Zoo stays open until about 9 pm during the holiday lights program.

Admission. Tickets run $25 for kids / $35 seniors / $40 adults and children under age two are free.

Location. The Bronx Zoo is located at 2300 Southern Blvd in the Fordham Manor neighborhood of the Bronx.

Contact. www.bronxzoo.com

 

Things to do on Staten Island in January 2022

Winter Lanterns at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden runs through anuary 9, 2022 - from 4.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Description. There's a Winter Lanterns exhibit open through Sunday, January 9, 2022. There are 1,000 lanterns artistically sculpted into the Snug Harbor campus.

Tickets. Cost $25 / $17. Not shown Mondays - Thursdays.

Location. Snug Harbor Cultural Center at 1000 Richmond Terrace in the Randall Manor neighborhood on the north shore of Staten Island.

Contact. www.nycwinterlanternfestival.com / www.snug-harbor.org / Contact the Business Department for rentals via email jkelly@snug-harbor.org or by phone 718-425-3516.

 

Have a nice first weekend of 2022.

The Great Supply Chain Crisis 2021: Hype vs Reality

TV & Murdoch News Sensationalized the Great Supply Chain Crisis of 2021 - Telling us for Months on End No Pumpkins for Halloween, No Turkeys for Thanksgiving, No Trees for Christmas & No Cream Cheese in NYC

But How Much of that Hyping was a Murdoch Inspired Perspective in Pursuit of Political Profit & Fear Mongering Ratings at the Expense of Reporting What's Really Happening?

January 3, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The closer I pay attention to what's happening in our mass media, the more concerned I get. Nearly half of our daily nationally branded news media is controlled by one man, Australian born billionaire Rupert Murdoch - who strikes me as either a sociopath or psychopath. Based on the seven years I've been covering Murdoch, it appears as if he doesn't care about anything other than enriching and empowering himself, even at 90 years of age [his mother lived to 103 so he's likely going to be with us for a while].

 

What Those Who Know Murdoch Say About Him

In Australia - where Murdoch has been operating all his life - former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described,

"Murdoch's media empire as a cancer on democracy".

And in Britain, a Parliamentary Report stated that,

[Murdoch] "was not a fit person" to exercise stewardship of a major international company].

Keith Rupert Murdoch, controls the Wall St. Journal, Fox News, the NY Post, Harper Collins Publishing, MarketWatch, Barrons - and along with two of Fox News largest shareholders - Murdoch appears to have a controlling interest in Disney / ABC by virtue of what seems his proximity to their relatively new CEO. Murdoch's influence appears to be manifesting itself in personnel moves being made since he became one of their largest shareholders in March of 2019. The personnel moves are in their news and related programming areas, and ultimately impact what ABC News presents to the public. I just witnessed one of many subtle changes on Sunday, while watching This Week with George Stephanopolous. I'll say more about this at the end of this report.

Fox News Lyin' Laura Ingraham, earned that moniker, as you can see in the image above. Fox News has repeatedly used misleading photos and images to lend deceptive and misleading support to their news accounts, which appear designed to influence the unaware and low information voters, in order to get them to vote for billionaire Murdoch's favored pols and against the very government officials who are trying to help the manipulated victims.

 

How did you Survive the Great Supply Chain Crisis of 2021?

Starting sometime this summer we have been hearing incessant chatter on TV news, and this includes all the national TV news networks, that there was a supply chain crisis. We were told most predominantly on Fox News that was going to steal away Christmas. No American was going to be able to purchase the things they wanted for themselves or their children for Christmas. And they seemed to imply that the economy would fail because retailers wouldn't have anything to sell. According to Fox and the Wall St Journal, which together promoted Nirvana - aka "the Trump Economy" - we were headed into Doomsday - "the Biden Economy".

They warned us that our American way of life will soon be lost because of Biden and those left wing radical Democrats. While most of the non-Murdoch nationally branded mass media didn't repeat all of the deceptions of the Murdoch mass media, they failed MISERABLY, to put the rating-driven, hyped, fear mongering reality distortion of Murdoch's Fox News and other Murdoch mass media outlets in context. This involves doing their own homework, and not copying someone else's work like they too often seem to do. In broadcast news this means the other networks should NOT be repeating storylines originating at organizations controlled by a billionaire propagandist who has a reputation for distorting the truth to win elections for the pols who will give him what he wants out of the public purse and domain.

I grew up in a three generation newspaper household. At one point I was working on a story about which both my parents challenged me. Frustrated, I asked them, then what is the role of media. They told me, "to inform". That it's the role of the media to help educate their audience, to help them understand what is going on, by putting things in context. Thus, in the supply chain crisis it seemed like the network TV media weren't doing enough to inform the American public about what was being done to correct the real supply chain problems [not the b.s. about pumpkins, turkeys, Christmas trees and cream cheese], and to help people more fully understand what was happening, and how things would likely play out, in a manner similar to what anchormen like Walter Cronkite did back in the day.

In the graphics above, the Wall St. Journal shows just how far they have deviated from objective reporting, by seeking to manipulate their readers' views of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas staples by attributing what turned out to be honest-to-goodness FAKE NEWS. Generally speaking the holidays of 2021 and the staples that accompany them were about in as abundance as in other years. Ask yourself - could you not find a pumpkin for Halloween, a turkey for Thanksgiving or a tree for Christmas?

 

So, it's January 2022, Christmas is Over & ...

Magically ... the Supply Chain Doomsday Hype Disappears

Leading up to Halloween there was a Murdoch Fox News implied Biden pumpkin shortage. Leading up to Thanksgiving there was a Murdoch NY Post implied Biden turkey shortage. And leading up to Christmas there was a Biden evergreen shortage. Fox News snake oil salespeople 'Lyin' Laura Ingraham, 'Hyperventillating" Hannity and the Baby Faced Tucker Carlson all hyped the shortages, induced people to buy early and pay more and ... lo and behold there weren't any shortages, and in fact based on my anecdotal observations, actually an overstock as quite a number of people actually believed those reports, bought early and paid more which left a significant supply of unused turkeys and trees when the holidays finally passed.

In the graphic at right you can see how the backlog at the Port of Los Angeles fell from its heights in mid October 2021, to more manageable levels by the end of the year. And while the backlog persists, good old fashioned Yankee ingenuity is addressing the problem. The doomsday hype has disappeared, and the remnants of the problem are also expected to disappear - more or less - by mid 2022.

But CoVid impacts on labor and Climate Change disruptions on natural products are likely to persist in disrupting commerce in ways we didn't consider prepandemic, so we're living in a new normal - but the doomsday hype was, for my money, done not to inform, but to alarm audiences so they would tune back into the TV news to follow the fictious fear mongering. Beware the tale of the 90 year old Boy Who Called Wolf.

 

Did you Hear of, or Experience, any Extraordinary Holiday Supply Chain Shortages?

I venture to guess what your answer is to the question in the headline above ... NO.

So think about that. Don't let them off the hook. TV News provided bad information. Expand your patronage of other information sources.

No, we haven't heard a thing about supply chain shortages since the holidays hit, because there likely weren't any. At least none that were highly unusual. This excludes the anomaly, because every year some hot toy or game console experiences a run / out of stock because of incredibly high demand.

I'm pretty sure that the photo at right was taken during the pandemic, not this fall. It's another example of how Murdoch mass media uses its influence to deceive voters about what is what and who is who, so Murdoch can continue to enrich and empower himself at the public expense. Murdoch has long denied this charge, but the 'circumstantial evidence' seems incontrovertible.

 

Perception Versus Reality

Fox, WSJ, NY Post & Increasingly ABC vs NBC, CBS, NPR, NYT & Washington Post

The Cliff Notes Version of the Real Supply Chain Shortage

This is not to deny that there weren't supply chain shortage issues that emerged as we began to come out of the pandemic. The most notable was the backlog in shipping at our western ports, most notably Long Beach and Los Angeles where about 40% of imports arrive.

I'll give you the Cliff Notes on America's Supply Chain Crisis of 2021. American purchases of goods rose in 2020 because of excess cash available to American households because Americans weren't spending on travel, liesure, dining and the like. So that money went into making life at home during lockdown better, by purchasing all kinds of goods. Many of those goods come from China, India and other Asian nations, so a backlog built up at our western ports. There were other things driving this, like labor shortages due to the pandemic, and other natural goods shortages due to climate change, but the primary disruption was at those two California ports which saw a jump of 18% in the goods coming through those two ports in 2021 which were already operating at a high capacity, given their labor, space and transportation configurations.

President Biden got involved in helping sort through the supply chain crisis, as things were building up, which was right around the time the Afghanistan withdrawal was peaking. The first thing he did is change the port operating hours from closed weekends and nights, to open 24/7 like the rest of the world. The next thing he did was threaten transporters with a fee for not moving containers through the port in a timely fashion. The threat alone reduced the time by about 40%, so it remained a threat - I think even to this day since it had done it's job which was to get transporters moving their wares out of the port.

Another improvement was to leverage technology for queuing up the ships, by having them log into a system to mark their place in line to enter the port, while showing their position. In this manner ships which once raced across the Pacific only to wait in line, could now mark a spot and not waste fuel racing across the Pacific only to wait in line.

There was also a shortage of warehouse space for incoming goods and empty containers. This was partially solved by making short term investments in nearby warehouse rentals, but there's ongoing work to do. And then lastly, a shortage of port laborers and truck drivers to move all the goods through the port and into the nation, which is still being worked on.

Biden isn't God. He's not the King. He's not the Dictator like Putin and Xi Jinping. He's the President. And so far, Murdoch's constant mass media attacks aside, he seems like a very competent one. But Biden is being hammered daily, by Murdoch's overwhelming share of nationally branded daily news media in this country, so that come 2024 another Murdoch puppet can be installed. The installation of Murdoch promoted and influenced puppets has largely been the case in both Australia and Britain for decades.

In the two graphics above, you can see how Murdoch's mass media outlets [NY Post] are trying to tie inflation to the supply chain crisis - both of which they are laying at the feet of President Biden. Given Murdoch controls an overwhelming share [in multiple categories approaching half] of the nationally branded daily news media, his hyping inflation - like his hyping the 'stop the steal' and 'rigged voting machines' - might be, in part, responsible for it.

 

Post Holiday Fear Mongering, the WSJ Reports Supply Chain Crisis is Nearly Over

By the New Year, the billionaire's propaganda machine had done it's work. They had imprinted upon the American public the impression of a failed economy, failed supply chain - and by implication a failed Biden Administration. The Wall St Journal pronounces the patient, meaning the American supply chain and economy, in relatively good condition, and the American supply chain and economy should be back to normal in the next three to six months - in spite of Omicron.

In the graphic at right, you can see how Murdoch - like Goebbels and Hitler - uses b.s. culture wars to manipulate unsuspecting Americans to fight against their own interests, because Murdoch's mendacious minions have convinced their veiwers to believe what they see and hear on the Murdoch propaganda machine - which often enough is far, far away from the truth. As you can see, the Independent, a British newspaper, calls out Murdoch's Fox News for using the culture wars to manipulate their audiences' perspective on events, in order to influence voting outcomes at the polls that favor the propagandist billionaire's interests - NOT the interests of the people whose views of events that they are manipulating.

 

Murdoch Media Corruption in NYC - Apparent Quid Pro Quos with Rudy Giuliani?

Americans see and hear this information on multiple Murdoch news outlets and thus believe that if so many outlets and pundits are saying the same thing - it must be true.

What members of these audiences fail to recognize, is that Murdoch controls so many of the media outlets, and he pays the pundits who he reportedly fires if they don't put out the sorts of narratives that reflect what Murdoch wants his audiences to believe - regardless of the truth.

Murdoch also pressures the pols he promotes, like Rudy Giuliani, to achieve his same ends. The pols get plenty of free publicity, book deals, media jobs and what not and Murdoch appears to be given access to take from the public purse and domain whatever he wants that can be spun with multi-media optics.

Giuliani illegally provided Murdoch with the use of the NYC public access channel in the 1990's, while Murdoch was in a dispute with Time Warner Cable in NYC. Reportedly, after a judge struck down Giuliani's patronage, Giuliani then threatened to revoke Time Warner's cable franchise in NYC which would have disrupted a pending merger of Time Warner and Turner Cable in the city (also required city approval). Murdoch's company also was given NYC police protection during a labor dispute, and a $20 million tax break when it moved its headquarters into Midtown in the 1990's shortly after Giuliani took office.

Giuliani on the other hand, received the endorsement and editorial support of Murdoch's NY Post, along with favorable coverage by Fox News during his administration and campaigns. According to a study done by University of Southern California researchers, there was not a single negative editorial attacking Rudy Giuliani during his entire eight years in office. And to sweeten things even further, Murdoch gave Giuliani's wife, Donna Hanover, a job at a salary triple to quadruple what she last made in a similar position. This new position also enabled her to obtain access to other opportunities to make additional income by leveraging her new position at Fox TV.

Joseph Goebbels and Adolph Hitler were the first to use mass media to manipulate entire societies by using the technology of their day - which encompassed newspapers, radio and film - coupled with sophisticated use of manipulative psychology. Murdoch has finessed the deceptive dark arts and made far more clever use of it. But the colossal destruction, that the inherent evil and deceit that propaganda wreaks on civil society, is the same. The only question is how far will it go before civil society breaks down.

This is the question we face in the new year and in our time.

 

Murdoch's Disinformation News Rooms have Succeeded in Doing Their Work

But here's how propaganda works. Murdoch's mass media has left this imprint in tens of millions of Americans' minds that will lie dormant there until Murdoch's mendacious minions - like hypnotists - ask the patient to recall their deceptions about the supply chain, the failed economy and by implication the failed Biden presidency, as if these deceptions by Murdoch's mass media were real. This enables the Murdoch propaganda machine to leverage its planted perceptions, deceptions, misconceptions going forward. And because unsuspecting Americans hear and see this information on multiple [unknown to them - Murdoch controlled] branded sources - they believe it. This is what Goebbels and Hitler did in Germany in the 1920's, 1930's & 1940's.

As Goebbels and Hitler used to like to say, "If you repeat a lie often enough, it will be believed."

The Wall St Journal didn't just deliver the news, they also delivered propagandistic distortions, labels and emotional angst with that news. As did other Murdoch news outlets like Fox and the NY Post as you can see by some of the images included with this report. Murdoch's Fox News, WSJ, NY Post and increasingly ABC News appear to have been used the supply chain disruption to fuel angst leading into the holidays, hype fear of inflation and undermine President Biden because Biden won't cave into billionaire Rupert Murdoch's wishes - so Murdoch mass media attack him EVERY DAY. That's not delivering the news, that's delivering Goebbels' Nazi style propaganda.

 

A Post Truth World is a Pre Fascism World

Dishonest Murdoch Media Distortions Appear Designed to Deceive Murdoch Media Audiences, so They Will Make Decisions Using Murdoch's Distorted and Deceptive Propaganda Machine Information - which is Falsified like the Image Above

Murdoch Media, oftentimes Hypes Freedom & Yet the Hypocrites are Stealing Americans' Freedom to Make Their Own Choices, by Stacking the Deck using Dishonest, Deceptive Information which Favors Murdoch's Interests - Not Those of his Audiences

In the graphic above right, you can see a photo from the pandemic used this year to bash Biden regarding the supply chain problems in the country. A PolitiFact report on October 22, 2021 shows the above AP photo which they tracked and noted as follows,

"... Bath tissue shelves were empty at a Hy-Vee supermarket in Omaha, Neb., on March 15, 2020. Fox News aired the same photo during an Oct. 19, 2021, segment and represented it as though it were a current image. (AP) ..."

Timothy Snyder, a professor of History at Yale, discusses the importance of truth to maintaining an honest conversation in our democracy, and wrote in the book that,

" ... Post-truth is pre-fascism [and] ... To abandon facts is to abandon freedom..."

This is because if you let people lie to you and deceive you - they are taking away your right to make up your own mind. They are taking away your FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

Murdoch does this far, far, far too often.

He did it with the voting machines, for which he's now being sued.

 

Murdoch is One of the Largest Shareholders of Disney / ABC & He Seems to be Infecting ABC News Programs via Personnel Changes

And this is where I return to ABC News and This Week with George Stephanopolous. On Sunday, January 2, 2022 Stephanopolous took a look at the Capitol Riot or Insurrection on This Week which is an ABC Sunday news program. Prior to the discussion, they aired a prepared video which showed some footage of the insurrection and also of the hearings currently underway in Congress in the Capitol. In those hearings Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney talked about how Trump knew what was going on by virtue of electonic media messages sent to Trump's by his family and the propagandists on Fox News.

And just as the Wall Street Journal continued propopagandistic publication of the Afghan Withdrawal video for over three months after it happened [see November 2021 Thanksgiving OpEd] - ABC News OMITTED the fact that a number of high profile FOX NEWS people were some of the people involved in telling Trump to do something to stop the attempted coup on January 6, 2021. That, my friends, is slick propaganda, and likely done by an unaware George Stephanopolous. That they can slide this by Stephanopolous, shows that he's either already compromised, or that TV newspeople like him are more clueless about what's happening in this nation, than we'd like to think. But the on air folks sure do dress well, and they are good at enunciating all of their syllables.

In the graphic at right, the Baby Faced Tucker Carlson twists and turns the truth upside down, in very slick manipulative pieces that omit key facts, rearrange the chronology of video, twist a selective use of the facts into a truth bending kaleidoscope, that turns the truth upside down, and sends his audience off all fired up, on an emotional bender, determined to work hard against the very pols who are working in their interest - but not in the interests of multi-millionaire Carlson, nor his billionaire boss, Rupert Murdoch. By the way the U.S. economy is expected to have grown between 5% - 6% in 2021, versus a decline of 3.4% in 2020 [Trump's last year in office].

 

Murdoch Appears to use the Wall St Journal & ABC News for Mass Manipulation

See report we did on September 7, 2021 about a Wall St Journal report about the Biden led American withdrawal from Afghanistan and how the WSJ seemed to act as a propaganda outlet in covering that story by setting a disinformative narrative, and how many of the other very lazy national broadcast outlets again, failed MISERABLY, to carve out their own narrative and put the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in context for their audiences. Also see a November 24, 2021 Thanksgiving OpEd we did showing how the WSJ ran a video on the front page of their website from August through November of Biden's worst day in office, as if it were that day. This is incredibly dishonest, especially for a newspaper with such wide readership and once of some renown.

I suggest that readers switch to Bloomberg, or the Financial Times or some other financial information source other than the Wall St. Journal for their financial information, as Murdoch's minions at that outlet appear to be increasingly using their platform to disinform the public to meet their billionaire boss's political, profit and power accumulation objectives. Or, if not a complete switch away from the WSJ, then at the very least, be sure to use other - non Murdoch information outlets.

It's worth mentioning that Murdoch controls a near monopoly share of traditional media in Australia, and an overwhelming share of media in Britain, so if you think you're getting your information from an objective or reliable source out of Australia or Britain, think again. Go to Google / MSN / Wikipedia to find out who owns / controls the media outlets you use, so you understand who is providing you with your information. These days, far too many once respected brands, are increasingly being acquired by very wealthy individuals or investment funds, and they likely didn't buy them to pursue excellence in journalism.

May I suggest that one of your new year resolutions be to continually seek out news sources that are reliable, analytical and research-driven in order to stay informed?

The graphics at right should be easy to recall, while at the same time falling flat on their faces with respect to ringing true. Most of the graphics included in this report, are from or about Murdoch controlled media, including Fox News, the NY Post and the Wall St Journal.

With so many different brands and pundits all saying nearly the exact same thing, one must ask themselves whether it is true, or the work of dictator-like billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his American news branded propaganda.

 

New Year Resolutions for Journalists & Media Professionals & Government Officials

And my new year resolution suggestion to the non-Murdoch nationally branded daily news media, is to wake up and start doing your jobs, which is to do your own research and carve out your own narratives - not parrot what Murdoch's overwhelming share of nationally branded daily news outlets are saying.

Sometimes, the late night comedy talk show hosts [Stephen Colbert on CBS, Jimmy Kimmel on ABC (beware insidious Murdoch influenced changes) and Seth Meyers on NBC] do a better job of explaining what's going on in this nation, than the TV networks nightly news does. Unfortunately, just as was done in Australia and in Britain over the past five to six decades, non-Murdoch journalists are ignoring the 800 lb. gorilla in the room who (in Australia and Britain) now eats their lunch daily and leaving only the crumbs behind.

How any journalist [and for that matter non-Murdoch pols] can talk about almost any large national issue, or significant national government official, without talking about the incredible influence and manipulated perceptions wielded by Murdoch's overwhelming share of American mass media on voters' perception of such, is beyond me. And real journalists would help their audiences connect the dots of Murdoch's mass media manipulation machine, by properly labeling them Murdoch's Fox News, Murdoch's NY Post, Murdoch's Wall St. Journal and Murdoch's ABC News, so that when the viewing public is ingesting Murdoch's manipulated news accounts, at least they'll have some chance over time to begin to realize that these disseminated narratives and propagandistic perceptions, are all emanating from the same source. And lastly, quit using a sledge hammer, when a scalpel is needed. By this I mean, quit saying that what Murdoch is saying is the 'conservative press', because in doing so you're empowering him. Call it what it is - the Murdoch press, because he's not necessarily conservative, on most days it seems he would easily trade ideology for the things he wants from the pols he promotes to government positions.

Have a Happy New Year.

Omicron, CoVid, Omicron, CoVid ... STOP

NYC News Update With as little CoVid Omicron Specific Info as Possible

This Report includes the Over Hyped 'Supply Chain Xmas Tree Shortage', Broadway Show Cancellations & Postponements & Economic Impact, MTA Subway Trains & Airline Flights Cancellations due to Staffing Outages, the Tug of War between Office Workers & their Companies, JFK getting New Terminals & Staten Island getting New Ferries

December 27, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. Temperature highs are between 40 and 50 degrees each day, and the lows are about 40 each day. Humidity will be between 60% - 80% all week. And the wind will be fairly steady at 5 - 10 mph daily. There's a chance of showers around 8 pm tonight and a chance of a tenth inch of rain on each day - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Given the low amount of precipitation and that it's spread out over the entire day, each day, I'd say your chances of getting very wet are pretty slim.

 

CoVid, CoVid, CoVid ... How We Moved Beyond it as a Conversation Centerpiece at an Xmas Party

So I attended a Christmas party a couple of weekends ago, and at one point someone asked is there anything else to talk about besides CoVid? This was near the end of the party, so there were only about a dozen of us there. So, someone asked, how about those Nets? And of course, Kylie Irving soon came up, and his anti-vax stance on CoVid, and that the Nets had to postpone a number of games because of ... CoVid.

Someone else asked, whose traveling for the holidays? As you can imagine, it wasn't long before CoVid came up and how it was going to affect everyones' holiday travel plans. Another asked, whether people were going to see their kids over the holidays. And of course, the discussion about vaccinations, testing and masks ensued. And then someone asked about gifts being given this season, and eventually the impact of CoVid on shipping and supply chain ensued. How about going out to dinner ... and so forth.

Actually, it turned out to be kind of funny, in an ironic sort of way, as the pandemic was still touching most parts of people's lives.

But the good news is that we eventually did move on past CoVid. Onto what? Well that's personal and thus not going to be shared here publicly, but we did eventually make it past the CoVid goal line ... but it wasn't as easy as one would think it should have been.

So the rest of this report is going to be about other things affecting our life, but recognizing that the pandemic and our community health affects just about everything else.

 

How Real was the TV News Hyped Supply Chain & Xmas Tree Shortage?

Retail Sales Hit a Level Not seen in 17 Years in Spite of "No Supply"?

How is it that network TV news, still a primary source of information in this nation - and the only source by many of the uneducated - can get a story so wrong? For months they've been hyping the SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGE, SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGE, SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGE. I've seen little on TV news saying anything else to the contrary, and yet somehow, retailers magically had the best holiday sales season in 17 years, with department store sales up 21% [that's huge] and online sales up 8% [also very solid performance].

Did retailers MAGICALLY turn in their best performance in 17 years without any inventory? Come on.

People need to start questioning the information they get on TV, because too often, it's so distorted in order to generate an emotional or fearful response that's good for ratings and profit - but not in the public interest.

A December 26, 2021 report in Politico provided the following update on retail sales,

"... By category, clothing rose 47%, jewelry 32%, electronics 16%. Online sales were up 11% from a year ago and 61% from 2019. Department stores registered a 21% increase over 2020 ..."

In that report they dutifully cite inflation, ongoing CoVid and supply chain shortages. Based on what I've been observing of the reporting in our fair nation, a lot of what is reported is repeating what others have said, without questioning or second sourcing it. So, since Politico did not cite any specific product shortages, they probably dutifully repeated what they heard on TV news, even though based on my own observations [recognizing this is a limited sample size and therefore not representative of NYC or the U.S] - while there may be some things in short supply as there are nearly every year - there weren't the massive out of stocks one might have believed there would be, if they had watched Fox News.

I ask Fox News, what happened to the Great Christmas tree shortage of 2021? Somone burned down the one in front of the propaganda machine headquarters, and they had one up the next day in spite of the incredible shortages they were telling their audiences existed. And I walked the streets of NYC in the weeks before Christmas, including just days before the holiday, and there were PLENTY OF TREES to be had AT DISCOUNT PRICES shortly before the holiday. Please note the Christmas trees I easily found in the photo above, in the week before Christmas, and I have plenty of other photos from different locations, showing the same.

W.C. Fields used to say that, "There's a sucker born every fifteen minutes and two to take 'em". Fox News seems willing to hype any and every sort of fear mongering story they can, in order to keep their audience tuned in for the latest fake news, which is a great generator of ratings and profit.

I know there are some real supply chain shortages, mostly having to do with semiconductors, but TV news fails to meaningfully articulate what problems are or are not, and they do a horrible job of providing much needed context.

 

Tons of Broadway Shows Postponed or Cancelled - More than One for Good

According to a December 22, 2021 Broadway News report, Broadway is facing significant challenges as the new Omicron variant dampens theater going attendance and causes cancellations due to infections. They tell us,

" ... [This past week] the industry grossed $22.5 million across 31 shows, marking the third lowest gross on record for the season. The comparative week in 2019, which had 34 productions running, saw a total gross of $40.6 million. However, industrywide attendance stayed somewhat stable, with theaters collectively reporting an 82.6% capacity ..."

Broadway News noted that long lasting shows will survive the pandemic, but new shows face even more daunting challenges in trying to establish themselves.

This is a snapshot in time of what's been cancelled according to reports from Broadway World. This information could change before I post this, so if you're planning to attend a Broadway Show, check the theater site before heading to the show. And if you're looking for shows to attend Broadway World is a good source of updated information on what's on and off and they have links to tickets.

So this is a December 27, 2021 Broadway World list of Broadway show cancellations beginning just prior to Christmas.

"... 12.23 Winnie the Pooh and Santa’s Sing-A-Long cancel. Romeo and Bernadette and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof postponed, Moulin Rouge cancels through Xmas and also cancels Monday night 12.27. Ain’t Too Proud cancels 12.27. Waitress won’t reopen on Broadway - last show 12.20.21. Thoughts of a Colored Man ends Broadway Run. West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theatre close through January 11, 2022. Hamilton extends closure through 12.27. Flying Over Sunset cancels additional shows and plans return on 12.28. Twas the Night Before Xmas by Cirque du Soleil cancels rest of run. Music Man cancels Staturday evening and Sunday morning 12.25 & 12.26. Tina to resume on 12.26. To Kill a Mockingbird cancels Christmas Day performance and Sunday 12.26 matinee shows, but resumes Sunday evening 12.26. Company cancels Sunday 12.26 shows. Lion King cancelled through 12.26. Alladin extends cancellation through Tuesday 12.28.21..." Editor's Note - I inserted the dates.

Some of the Broadway shows have been able to continue using back up talent to fill in for those who've tested positive for CoVid, and there was some other illness that affected at least one of the shows that was not CoVid.

 

MTA Cuts Subway Trains This Week & Airlines Cut Flights due to Staffing Shortages

The MTA is cutting trains from its service this week through Thursday. The number of trains being cut was unspecified, and the reason was said to be staffers calling in sick citing Omicron CoVid as the reason. So if you're using MTA buses and subways this week, you might have a bit longer to wait than normal.

The MTA service reduction, while something of an inconvenience, will have nowhere near the impact that the flight cancellations had on folks' holiday travel plans. The major airlines serving NYC all announced sigificant flight reductions, meaning those remaining flights were probably as jam packed as they were prepandemic. The reason cited for the flight reductions included weather, but was primarily CoVid sickness call outs.

Air travel this holiday season is up somewhere between 25% - 50% over last year. According to a December 25, 2021 CBS News report, air passengers this season are expected to include an estimated 30 million people between December 23, 2021 and January 3, 2022. This is still a third below the pre-pandemic level of the holiday season in 2019 of 44 million passengers. A sizeable portion of this reduction is attributed to a significant decline [50% - 60% reduction vs prepandemic levels] in international travel.

It's worth noting that the Christmas / New Years travel fell below how well the airlines did over the Thanksgiving holiday, when according to a November 29, 2021 CNBC report airline travel came within 15% of the 2019 prepandemic Thanksgiving travel season. Naturally it's likely most of the Christmas / New Year airline travel shortfall was due to caution on the part of travelers, in the wake of the Omicron outbreak.

AAA estimates that some 109 million Americans will travel by auto over 50 miles this holiday season and another 3 million by bus, train or ship. In 2019 that figure was 119 million and in 2020 it was 82 million, so it's up significantly, but still below prepandemic travel during the same period. I reckon we're normalizing, which seems like it's going to be living with CoVid around indefinitely.

 

Conundrums - Will Workers Return to the Offices in Manhattan?

According to a November 10, 2021 Spectrum News report, office workers aren't planning on returning to full time office work any time soon. They tell us that according to a poll conducted by the business group, Partnership for New York City, more than 50% of office workers will NOT be back in the office by January.

The survey found that,

" ... the real estate industry ... had the highest in-person office attendance — 77% — of the industries surveyed as of last month [October]. Financial service companies and law firms tied for the second-highest in-person office attendance, with 27% each, according to the release.  Law stood at 10%, media at 7%, consulting at 5%, tech at 4% and accounting at 4%, the survey found..."

In the chart at right you can see that not just NYC, but also in the rest of the U.S., office workers have been slow to return to the office. About 30% - 40% have returned, and the more than other half don't look too eager to return.

A new book entitled, Out of Office, explores the resistance to returning to the office by highly educated, highly skilled people who are generally able to perform their work requirements remotely, by telecommuting. The book explores the social and demographic factors that led to the current office configuration, like two parent families where one spouse stayed home as a full time caregiver to the kids and the 9 am - 5 pm office day. They depict the current environment as a male and white dominated paradigm, which they predict won't fully survive the pandemic, as workers feel empowered to ask for lifestyle concessions in the current economic climate. They also describe those favoring the current configuration as older, while younger people want more options and flexibility.

They also ponder whether the new configuration will lead to even more encroachment into one's personal life or less. And ask the question whether it is more important to have someone log x [more] number of hours which may not be productive versus logging y [less] number of hours which may be more productive.

 

JFK Terminals 1 & 4 to be Upgraded & Three New Staten Island Ferries

In mid December [13th & 15th to be exact] Governor Hochul announced $11 billion of investments in JFK Airport in Queens. Most of it [$9.5 billion] will be directed toward the upgrade of Terminal One into a state of the art international facility adding 23 new gates. The remainder funding [$1.5 billion] will be directed toward upgrading Terminal Four by adding ten domestic gates to the terminal. The projects are expected to begin in 2022 and be completed by 2026, replacing the existing terminals one, two and three.

And lastly, the second of three new Staten Island Ferries is expected to be launched in January of 2022. The first of the new ferries was launched in October of 2021, while the third is expected sometime in 2022. It's also worth mentioning that a paid service is available for a faster ride to Manhattan, with two stops - the second at Hudson Yard.

The rendition of planned Terminal 4 at JFK, above right, was made available by the NYS Governor Hochul's Office.

Have a good week.

Bronx New Years Eve Parties - Bronx New Years Even Restaurants & Bars New Years in the Bronx NYC Bronx New Years Eve Parties & NYE Restaurants 2021 / 2022 NYC New Years Eve Parties in Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Fordham, Concourse, Parkchester, Bedford Park, Belmont, University Heights Neighborhoods in the Bronx NYC December 13, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Holiday Events / Bronx Events & Things To Do / Bronx Restaurants NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. New Years Eve occurs on a Friday this year. While New Years Eve is one big party, it's important to keep in mind, that like St. Patrick's Day, all the amateurs come out to play [it's not just the Irish who are out drinking on St. Patrick's Day]. So some measure of caution is advised and you have to be careful. This year we also have the lingering effects of the pandemic to contend with, and a mandatory mask mandate goes into effect in NYC and NYS from December 13, 2021 until January 15, 2022 - at which time it will be re-evaluated. An early rsvp is highly recommended given the environment. The following are a number of different New Years restaurants in the Bronx NYC where you might consider booking a reservation. Click here to read more about our round up of New Years Eve parties in the Bronx - New Years Eve restaurants Bronx.

Omicron Sweeps NYC & the Rest of the U.S.

NYS Hit its Highest Number of New Cases Friday 12.17.21, Omicron Now Dominant Strain in America [73%], Breakthrough Infections & Need for Boosters, Multiple Measures of Vaccine Effectiveness, NYS Governor Hochul Foreshadows Change to Definition of Fully Vaccinated Likely Coming Soon, NYC Mayor de Blasio Offers $100 to those who Boost Before Year End, False Positives Coming from Some Testing Kits, Hospitalizations Trending Toward Younger Age Groups & Kids Getting Infected at Higher Rates

It's Not the Omicron Virus that is Dividing Us. It's the Manipulative Murdoch Mass Media, that Continually Misinforms its Audiences. The Highly Paid Propagandists do This in Order Enrich Themselves & Empower the 90 Year Old Multi-Billionaire by Undermining the Government Officials who Won't Give Rupert what he wants out of the Public Purse & Domain

December 20, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

So the Omicron variant represents the third wave of Corona Virus sweeping the land. First it was the original CoVid 19, then the Delta variant and now Omicron.

The Omicon variant spreads far more easily and hence far faster than the prior two variants, which spread around the globe in a matter of months. Omicron is beating them hands down in terms of spreading, even in nations that have some good measure of vaccinations - but nowhere near the two thirds plus needed for 'herd immunity'. Reportedly, the Omicron is spreading 2x to 4x faster than the Delta variant which reportedly spread faster [by about 50%] than the original strain of CoVid. As of the last week of testing, Omicron represents 73% of all new cases in the U.S.

In the graphic at right you see a headline from FT, which is the Financial Times of London, noting how something that should be common sense has become a political hot potato. At the end of this update on the Omicron variant, we'll take a look at how science and the truth are being distorted by millionaires and billionaire(s) in what appears an attempt to manipulate voters perceptions. The goal is to change the perceptions of their viewers enough, so their viewers will vote for the candidates chosen by the propaganda billionaire and his friends. The end game is, of course, getting the billionaire / propaganda machine selected pols into office, so they can fill their pockets with the taxpayers' money, and obtain legislative changes that are anti-democratic.

Oftentimes reports like that found in the Financial Times fail miserably to call out media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who controls an overwhelming share of the daily national news media in the U.S., Britain and Australia. For my money, Murdoch [not Trump] is the root cause of so many of our current problems by virtue of the disinformation he spreads, which is inserted into many of the news reports that his organizations deliver to well over a hundred million people each day. Murdoch hides behind his media brands, propagandists and favored pols, while the other media and government officials seem either: 1) ignorant of his incredible influence on our daily news, and thus a huge swath of American people's views, or 2) are unwilling to do the right thing and call Murdoch out into the open so the public can get a closer look at who's dominating the national conversation.

The last point made is an important one for the Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems lawsuits [more on this below]. My advice to their attorneys, is to hire a great public relations firm to publicize the hell out of each case, making damned sure to include Keith Rupert Murdoch in EVERY news release / update as the slithery Murdoch - like Voldemort in Harry Potter - doesn't like the light of day. And then ride the case to the end, because you're in the right, and what you're fighting for is - in part - the heart and soul of America.

 

NYS Sees its Highest Number of Daily New CoVid Cases Since Pandemic Began

In NYC New Infections Double in 3 Days & in the U.S. Omicron is now 73% of New Cases

A testament to the Omicron variants transmissibility is that on Friday, December 17, 2021 NYS saw its highest number of new CoVid cases [21,027] in a single day since the pandemic began according to an New York Times report. In NYC the infection rate nearly doubled in just three days, rising from 3.9% to 7.8% from Thursday, December 9 to December 12, 2021 according to a December 16, 2021 NBC report.

I checked the NYC website a couple of weeks ago and found the chart at right, which - to my surprise - showed Whites as the second slowest group to vaccinate. Hispanics were a full ten percentage points ahead of them, and African Americans were only three percentage points behind them. I interpret this as the power of Murdoch's media in NYC as he owns / controls Fox News on WNYW [channel 5], WWOR [channel 9], the NY Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report Omicron Sweeps NYC & the Rest of the U.S..

2ND HALF DECEMBER WEEKEND THINGS TO DO NYC

This section contains our Weekend Things To Do reports for the second half of the month of December 2021. Click into this link to see second half of December 2021 weekend reports.

• CLICK here to read the December Things To Do reports for all five NYC boroughs and all December weekends, including reports about weekend things to do in NYC in the last half of December, including NYC holiday events, NYC holiday markets, Christmas tree lightings, Hanukkah menorah lightings, holiday light shows begin, choral performances, the Nutcracker performances in NYC borought, and New Years Eve parties are in a separate report.

CoVid Update – Omicron Variant, Vax Updates, Vax Boosters, Vax Kids & Manipulative NYC Based Disinformation Sources

December 6, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Social Issues Health News / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The first Omicron virus case was first detected on November 8, 2021 in South Africa.  The first case detected in the U.S. was in San Francisco on November 22, 2021.  Four days later, on November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization [WHO] designated Omicron a CoVid variant [B1.1.529].  As of December 5, 2021 there were eight Omicron cases in NYS, most of which were found in NYC.

Early Precautions in the Face of Omicron’s Rapid Spread

On November 26, 2021, President Biden instituted a temporary travel ban on South Africa and neighboring countries including, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.  He also shortened the CoVid testing time from three to one days, for those traveling internationally. The passenger must test negative for CoVid. And he extended the mask mandate for those using public transit domestically to March 15, 2021.

The reason for taking these early immediate precautions is that the Omicron variant appears to be spreading at twice the rate of the Delta variant, which overwhelmed this nation within about 3 - 4 months [May - August 2021].

The Omicron variant was also detected in Belgium, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia and Israel at the time the news broke regarding the rapid spread of the new variant at the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday.  As of this writing the Omicron variant has been found in 15 states including, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters tally on December 5, 2021.

Vaccine Efficacy vis a vis Omicron Variant

The Omicron variant is known to be more transmissible, but it’s health impact is still being studied.  Most of those who contracted the Omicron variant had been vaccinated, and hence it is believed that most suffered fairly mild symptoms because they had CoVid antibodies in their systems. By the end of this week [12/10/21] or sometime the following week, early test results on vaccine efficacy vis a vis Omicron are expected.

One health official noted that efficacy isn’t measured as a simple yes or no, but rather in degrees.  The strongest efficacy prevents one from catching the virus, the medium measure of efficacy is how troublesome the symptoms - ranging from mild to hospitalization, and the weakest efficacy – meaning no efficacy is death.

CoVid prognosticators believe that the current vaccines will continue to offer some measure of protection / efficacy, but they caution that at some point it may be necessary to create a separate vaccine for new CoVid variants.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our story about the Omicron Variant, Vax Updates, Vax Boosters, Vax Kids & Manipulative NYC Based Disinformation Sources.

Bronx Holiday Markets & Shopping - Kwanzaa Hanukkah & Christmas Holiday Markets Bx NYC Bronx Holiday Markets, Shopping & Bronx Holiday Events Bx NYC Bronx Holiday Shopping, Bronx Christmas Markets, Bronx Hanukkah Shopping, Bronx Kwanzaa Markets & Bronx Holiday Markets & Events December 17, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Holiday Events / Bronx Events & Things To Do / Bronx Shops & Shopping / Bronx Buzz NYC. HYBRID. EDITOR NOTE. While it seems we've turned the corner on the CoVid pandemic, it's after effects still linger. Hence a number of holiday markets we saw in 2019 may not yet return in 2021 for reasons related to CoVid, or possibly finances, or perhaps an assessment that the rewards of a holiday market at this time aren't worth the risks of operating one. Lastly, shopkeepers / market makers still have to operate knowing there remains some uncertainty in being able to obtain the selection goods you want in the time frame you want because of lingering issues associated with the supply chain. So while they may not return this year, they might make a comeback next year. The holidays are a special time of the year. In ancient times there were harvest celebrations to give thanks and enjoy the bounty of the year after a long season / year of work. There were also winter solstice celebrations to commemorate the end of the darkening of the skies. Many cultures celebrate with a festival of lights, and in Christian cultures the holidays are marked with holiday lighting, tree lightings, candle lightings - as well as the celebration of giving through the most well known and most generous man in the world - Santa Claus. The photo at right shows the Christmas tree at the three corners plaza at Third Avenue, 149th Street and Willis / Melrose Avenue in the Mott Haven and Melrose neighborhoods. Meanwhile, back in the Bronx we celebrate in a number of ways, which carry on some of these ancient traditions. The following provides the dates / times / locales and some details regarding many of the various Bronx holiday markets for folks to enjoy shopping between now and the end of the year. Click here to read our report about Bronx Holiday Markets / Bronx Holiday Events & Things To Do NYC.

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving Day

My Top Five Thanks of Things that Happened in NYC & the USA

November 24, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Holidays / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Well, it's been some year thus far. And the good news is that there is much for which to be thankful.

Thanks #1 - We're Still a Democracy

A lame effort to overthrow our democracy failed. This is in spite of seeming to have the support of the best propagandists on Fox News, in tandem with what appears to be the involvement of some of the key players of what seems to be an emerging ideology I'd describe as American Fascism or the 'New Trump Republicans'.

The key players of this new brand of Republican ideology seemed to include the likes of Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani who Murdoch's Fox News labels as America's Mayor, Sydney Powell, as well as Trump wannabee's - Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. This attempted coup, appeared to be incited by none other than former President Donald Trump, who seemed to be aided and abetted by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News propaganda coverage, in what I can only hope will be their final swan songs. But that's a super optimistic wish.

In any event, members of the House and Senate, did not allow themselves to be intimidated and continued to finalize the electoral process, with the final tabulation of the Electoral College vote count, certifying Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.

CoVid Vaccinations, Emergence of the Delta Variant, & as goes CoVid, so goes the Economy

The next crises to be dealt with, included a languid economy, handicapped by a vividly voracious virus. Thus the vaccines, created to address these microscopic monsters, did a fairly good Julius Caesar imitation of "veni, vidi, vici" which means "I came, I saw, I conquered".

But the Corona Virus, ever the able and nimble survivor, said "not so fast", and proceeded to spin out numerous variants - one of which was called the Delta variant. Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet which carries a number of meanings, one of which is about 'change'. And change it did. During the Spring CoVid was on the run as more and more Americans were inoculated. But by early Summer, CoVid was once again on the rise, driven by the Delta variant.

Naturally, as goes CoVid, so goes the economy. And thus the economy, strongly on the mend in the Spring, started to stall by late Summer, as the CoVid Delta rise took hold. I'll come back to this in a minute.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our column on five things for which we're thankful this Thanksgiving 2021 NYC including our democracy, the end of the war in Afghanistan, common sense mandates on vaccines and masks, festina lente progress on the supply chain bottlenecks and Republicans and Democrats first bipartisan effort to come together to pass the Infrastructure Bill / legislation.

Bronx Food Grocery Stores & Thanksgiving Day Restaurants & Community Dinners Thanksgiving Day Gourmet Food & Grocery Stores & Restaurants in the Bronx 2021 Thanksgiving Day Gourmet or Specialty Food Shopping & Restaurants in or near Mott Haven, Fordham, Port Morris, Concourse, Bedford Park, Norwood, University Heights, City Island, Riverdale, Melrose, Morris Park, Westchester Square & Parkchester Bronx NYC November 21, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Buzz NYC. Thanksgiving Day History - Thanksgiving Food Shops, Dinners & Restaurants in the Bronx The origins of Thanksgiving Day in the United States began with one of America’s first settlements, founded by the risk-taking, resource-pooling, hardworking, spiritual community of Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were early English settlers who arrived on American shores in the early 17th century [1600’s]. They came here because they wanted a measure of freedom and self-determination that they were forbidden in Europe or what was called the ‘old country’. The Pilgrims wanted to practice their faith, unencumbered, in a way that differed from the established Church of England. They pooled their money to obtain a ship, the Mayflower, to cross the Atlantic in mid September of 1620, landing on America's shores at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts on November 9, 1620.   The Pilgrims Receive Help from the Native People of a Strange Land Per Wikipedia, the Piligrims survived a hard winter in 1621 with the help of the Wampanoag, an American Indian tribe. The Pilgrims were the immigrants, and the first Americans, the Indian natives, welcomed them. The Wampanaog taught the Pilgrims how to catch eels, and how to grow and harvest corn. Thus the Pilgrims ended 1621 with a good harvest which they celebrated and shared with their new friends, expressing their thanks to a higher power, aka God, for the success of their endeavors. Thus it was that the first Thanksgiving celebration happened in America. There's some dispute to this account, which we'll address in a future post, near Thanksgiving Day. COVID protocols remain in effect per NYC guidelines. Rsvp is recommended. We've identified a number of Bronx gourmet food shops and grocery stores, community dinners and restaurants open for dining on Thanksgiving Day in the Bronx. Enjoy.

Bronx Holiday Markets & Shopping - Kwanzaa Hanukkah & Christmas Holiday Markets Bx NYC Bronx Holiday Markets, Shopping & Bronx Holiday Events Bx NYC Bronx Holiday Shopping, Bronx Christmas Markets, Bronx Hanukkah Shopping, Bronx Kwanzaa Markets & Bronx Holiday Markets & Events December 17, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Holiday Events / Bronx Events & Things To Do / Bronx Shops & Shopping / Bronx Buzz NYC. HYBRID. EDITOR NOTE. While it seems we've turned the corner on the CoVid pandemic, it's after effects still linger. Hence a number of holiday markets we saw in 2019 may not yet return in 2021 for reasons related to CoVid, or possibly finances, or perhaps an assessment that the rewards of a holiday market at this time aren't worth the risks of operating one. Lastly, shopkeepers / market makers still have to operate knowing there remains some uncertainty in being able to obtain the selection goods you want in the time frame you want because of lingering issues associated with the supply chain. So while they may not return this year, they might make a comeback next year. The holidays are a special time of the year. In ancient times there were harvest celebrations to give thanks and enjoy the bounty of the year after a long season / year of work. There were also winter solstice celebrations to commemorate the end of the darkening of the skies. Many cultures celebrate with a festival of lights, and in Christian cultures the holidays are marked with holiday lighting, tree lightings, candle lightings - as well as the celebration of giving through the most well known and most generous man in the world - Santa Claus. The photo at right shows the Christmas tree at the three corners plaza at Third Avenue, 149th Street and Willis / Melrose Avenue in the Mott Haven and Melrose neighborhoods. Meanwhile, back in the Bronx we celebrate in a number of ways, which carry on some of these ancient traditions. The following provides the dates / times / locales and some details regarding many of the various Bronx holiday markets for folks to enjoy shopping between now and the end of the year. Click here to read our report about Bronx Holiday Markets / Bronx Holiday Events & Things To Do NYC.

COLUMBUS DAY

Things To Do Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx NYC Columbus Day Weekend Things to do in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx over the Columbus Day Weekend October 4, 2021 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. More Columbus Day events coming on the Friday 10/8/21 of this weekend. At that time we'll also provide updated Weather which you'll be able to access by clicking the header above to go to the Front Page for the Weekend Update. This report contains a listing of some of the things to do over the Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx including art museums, theaters, live music / comedy / dance venues, sporting & social events, and restaurants in the Bronx NYC. Weather. As of October 4, 2021, the Temperature highs will be in the 70's all four days of the long weekend. The temperature lows will be in the low 60's throughout the weekend. There's a 35% chance of a small amount of rain [2/10th's of an inch] between Saturday evening 5 pm and Sunday evening 6 pm. Winds will be about 5 - 10 mph Friday and Monday and between 10 - 15 mph on Saturday and Sunday. The Humidity will be between 65 - 75% on Friday & Saturday, and 70 - 80% on Sunday and Monday. Click for Bronx Weather. You can still attend Bronx street fairs, go bicycling in the Bronx NYC, play soccer & other games in Bronx parks, go shopping in the Bronx NYC, attend Bronx parades, visit a local Bronx farmers market, watch theater, visit the Bronx theaters, performing arts & art museums, and eat out at one of the Bronx restaurants. And we provide an update on the Friday of Columbus Day Weekend with things to do on the front page of this site.   Columbus Day Weekend Events in the Bronx Little Italy in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, near the Bronx Zoo, NY Botanical Garden and Fordham University, is hosting an event this weekend. Details coming Friday. There's also the 44th Annual Bronx Columbus Day Parade which starts at 12 noon on Sunday 10/10/21 at White Plains Rd and Morris Park Ave and ends by turning left on Williamsbridge Rd and then ending at Lydig Avenue in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. Click here to obtain information about things to do Holiday Weekends in the Bronx. And our things to do / Bronx events calendar is updated monthly with between 50 - 100 different Bronx fun / cultural events. Bronx Public & Private Parks & Public Indoor Swim Pools The Bronx several parks of which a few include public indoor swimming facilities. Click here for a listing of the Bronx Parks including maps showing their locations along with a bit of park history. There are a couple of indoor public swimming pools in the Bronx. One is at the St Mary's Recreation Center at 450 St. Ann's Avenue in St. Mary's Park and the other is at the Hansborough Recreation Center in the Howard Bennett Playground at 35 West 134th Street. Effective September 30, 2021 NYC public indoor swimming pools will reopen at 33% capacity and CoVid guidelines will remain in effect.   NYC Golfing In The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan & Staten Island The Bronx has four public golf courses: Mosholu, Van Cortlandt Park are accessible via the MTA / subway. And Pelham Bay Park and Trump golf links are accessible via subway and a brief bus ride. The Trump Golf Links are an NYC golf course owned by the city, for which Mayor Bloomberg had cut a licensing deal with Donald Trump in 2012 to rename and manage it. Since the Capitol Riot / Insurrection, the City has decided to terminate that deal and rename the golf course, but Trump is suing to keep the contract. Queens has four golf courses and all of them are open this weekend. Click here for details about Queens Golf Courses including maps and links to the operators' websites. Manhattan doesn't have any golf courses per se, but there is a driving range at 62 Chelsea Piers at 22nd Street and the West Side Highway. There are also three simulated golfing centers in Manhattan that operate under the Five Iron Golf name at 22 Stone Street [at Broad St] in the Financial District, at 138 5th Avenue in the Flatiron District and in the Continental on the third floor at 883 6th Avenue near Macy's and Madison Square Garden. Brooklyn has a couple of golf courses including Dyker Beach golf course which is accessible via subway and Marine Park golf course which is accessible via subway and bus. Click here for things to do Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx.

LABOR DAY

Things To Do Labor Day Weekend in the Bronx NYC Labor Day Weekend Things to do in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx over the Labor Day Weekend August 17, 2021 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. You can still attend Bronx street fairs, go bicycling in the Bronx NYC, play soccer & other games in Bronx parks, go shopping in the Bronx NYC, attend Bronx parades, watch theater, visit the Bronx theaters, performing arts & art museums, and eat out at one of the Bronx restaurants. And it's all happening right here in our favorite borough - the Bronx. So take your time to sort through the days and locations and start planning your weekend. The photo at right shows a golfer at the Pelham Bay / Split Rock Golf Course in Pelham Bay Park.   Labor Day Events in the Bronx Click here to obtain information about other things to do in the Bronx beyond the Labor Day Weekend. This events calendar is updated monthly with between 50 - 100 different Bronx fun / cultural events. Bronx Public & Private Parks The Bronx have a number of public parks of which a few include swimming facilities. Click here for a listing of the Bronx Parks including maps showing their locations along with a bit of park history. There are also a number of free public swimming pools in the Bronx which are open through the Labor Day Weekend. The photo at right shows Orchard Beach in the Bronx in August. On Sunday afternoon they have a salsa concert where folks also dance if it's not too hot.   NYC Golfing In The Bronx & Queens The Bronx has three public golf courses and all of them are open this weekend. The golf courses include Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course, Mosholu Golf Course - also in Van Cortlandt Park and Pelham Bay / Split Rock Golf Course which are in Pelham Bay Park in the eastern Bronx. All of these golf courses are accessible via the MTA / subway. Click here for details about Queens Golf Courses including maps and links to the operators' websites. Click here for things to do Labor Day Weekend in the Bronx.

4TH JULY

Bronx 4th of July Fireworks - Coop City & Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx 4th of July Fireworks Bronx 2021 NYC Coop City Bronx Fireworks on Hiatus & East River Fireworks Wednesday June 26, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / July 4th Holiday in the Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC. July 4th Weekend Weather. As of this post 6/26/21, the temperature highs will be in the high 70's during the day and in the mid 60's at night on both Saturday and Sunday. There's a 40% chance of about a tenth of an inch rain on Saturday, and no rain is presently expected on Sunday. The humidity will be fairly high between 65% - 75% throughout the weekend. Winds will be fairly muted at only 5 mph all weekend. 2021 July 4th and Independence Day Fireworks the Bronx Typically there are a number of July 4th fireworks displays that are viewable in or from the Bronx. While 2020 was a wash, 2021 isn't fully back to normal. The Orchard Beach fireworks, Astoria Park fireworks in Queens but viewable from the Bronx and the Macy's July 4th fireworks which is remotely viewable from the southern Bronx will all proceed per normal. The Coop City fireworks continues its hiatus. And for those who wish to travel to Long Island, the Jones Beach fireworks continues in 2021. Click here for a report about the 4th of July Fireworks in Bronx NYC & surrounding areas, including times and locations for the Orchard Beach fireworks 2021, the Coop City fireworks 2021, the Astoria Park fireworks 2021, the Macy's 4th of July fireworks along the East River in NYC, and the Jones Beach fireworks on Long Island.

MEM DAY

Bronx Things to do - Memorial Day Weekend Bronx NYC Things To Do Memorial Day Weekend in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx Over The Memorial Day Weekend May 28, 2021 / Things To Do Memorial Day Weekend Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. Weather.Memorial Day Weekend Forecast as of 5/28/21. The temperature highs will be in the mid to mid 60's Friday, dropping to the 50's on Saturday and Sunday, rising to the low 70's Monday. The temperature lows will be in the low 50's on Friday and Saturday, rising to the high 50's on Sunday and Monday. Yes there's Rain in the forecast on Friday [1.5 inches], and about a third of an inch on Saturday and Sunday, with Monday being clear. Winds will range between 10 - 20 mph Friday and Saturday, falling to 5 - 10 Sunday and a calm 5 mph on Monday. The Humidity will be 80% - 100% on Friday, 60% - 80% on Saturday, and 50% - 60% the rest of the weekend. Click for an up-to-date forecast of Bronx Weekend Weather. Be sure to check our Memorial Day Weekend things to do post mid afternoon Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. The photo at right was taken in May of a prior year at the Bronx Museum in the Concourse neighborhood. Brief History of the Memorial Day Holiday in the Bronx Memorial Day first started out as Decoration Day in Waterloo, New York on May 30, 1866 - a year after the Civil War - to honor those who fought in it. In the 1880's the day came to be known as Memorial Day. According to a May 25, 2012 report in Time Magazine, ten states - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee also officially observe some version of a Confederate Memorial Day, sometime between late April and early June [in Texas it's in January]. It's been reported that unofficially most of the former Confederate states still commemorate it, but not without some controversy as to the former Confederate diaspora it's to honor their ancestors, while to the former diaspora of the slaves it seems a remnant of these states racist past. About ten percent of the nation travels more than 50 miles over the weekend. Memorial Day differs from Veterans Day which is held on November 11th of each year. Veterans Day began by honoring those who fought in World War I which ended on the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Both honor those who served in the U.S. Military. Veterans Day coincides with a similar holiday in Europe for the same reason, which is called Remembrance Day and Armistice Day. Memorial Day 2021 Events in the Bronx According to a February 8, 2021 report in Military News the U.S. Navy is holding Fleet Week virtually for the second year in a row due to the CoVid pandemic. The annual celebratory week in NYC is scheduled to run from Wednesday, May 26 to Monday, May 31, 2021. I believe, assuming all goes well, they will return next year. Unfortunately this year attending Bronx street fairs - Bronx NYC or parades doesn't appear to an option due to the ongoing CoVid pandemic. The big events are the primary activities that will not be available to us this Memorial Day Weekend. That said, visiting Bronx theaters, performing arts & art museums, will be available, but many are operating with capacity and other CoVid pandemic related restrictions over the Memorial Day Weekend. Things continue to move in the right direction. Eating out at one of the Bronx restaurants NYC is now generally fully available, as is most shopping. We also posted some restaurant suggestions in our Mother's Day Restaurants in the Bronx report. Shopping is Back. Shopping in the Bronx, was limited to groceries, pharmacies and home improvement stores [aka essential services] last year, and local Bronx farmers marketswere open as they were classified as an essential service, and located outdoors, so that was one of the few outing options last year. This year most retail stores are open. You can also go bicycling around the Bronx so be mindful to observe the rules of the road [click link]. The 5 Boro Bike Ride 2021 was postponed. They now have a new date, which is August 22, 2021. So there are some things happening right here in our favorite borough - the Bronx. Take your time to sort through what's available and start planning your weekend. Bronx Public & Privately Run Parks The Bronx has a number of New York City Parks, which will be mostly open / back to normal. Here are some highlights. New York City beaches will re-open for swimming on Memorial Day Weekend on Saturday, May 29, 2021 and remain open through September 7th. The city outdoor pools will reopen on June 26th, while the indoor pools remain closed until further notice. City playgrounds, golf courses and driving ranges, skate parks and grilling areas have all reopened. Dog runs are open with CoVid recommendations in effect. Basketball, handball, tennis, bocce, and volleyball courts have re-opened, but with CoVid guidelines remaining in effect. Some field and court permit applications are now being reviewed and issued. All NYC Parks recreation centers and nature centers are closed until further notice. The City's historic houses are working to safely reintroduce visitors to their museums. Check individual house museum websites for updated hours and visitation information. The Wildlife Conservation Society re-opened its zoos and aquarium to all guests. New York City parks in the Bronx include the following. South Bronx. Yankee Stadium & Mullaly Park in the Concourse neighborhood. Also Soundview Park along the Bronx River in the Soundview and Clason Point neighborhoods and Baretto Point Park in Hunts Point along the East River. North West Bronx. Van Cortlandt Park is one of the most famous, as it has swimming facilities as well as a golf course and historic house from Revolutionary War times. This is located north of Norwood and Kingsbridge, and east of the Riverdale neighborhoods. Central Bronx. The Crotona Nature Conservancy is located in the Claremont Village and West Farms neighborhoods. Both the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Gardens are non profits that are run independently, but receive government funding. The NY Botanical Garden is more closely reliant upon NYS funding, while the Bronx Zoo is reliant on NYC funding, but run by the Wildlife Conservation Society, an independent non-profit. As of this posting both institutions indicate that they will remain closed due to the CoVid pandemic, pending further notice. The Bronx Zoo is across Fordham Road from the Bronx Botanical Gardens and also has one of the finest collections of live animals around. It's located in the Fordham Manor / Belmont neighborhoods. See photo above right. The New York Botanical Gardens are also worth a visit as they have one of the finest collections of Darwin's original edition publications and a depth and breadth of flora that's hard to find. This is located adjacent to Belmont, Norwood and Bedford Park neighborhoods. See photo above right. East Bronx. There's the Pelham Bay & Split Rock golf courses, where you will also find the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum. A bit south and east of there is Orchard Beach which overlooks Pelham Bay and Queens. Click into the neighborhood / history section for a listing of Bronx public swimming pools. We'll be adding to the Bronx Parks NYC section sometime in the future. NYC Public Golf Courses in the Bronx Now Open The Bronx has three public golf courses all are accessible via the MTA buses / subway. Mosholu and Van Cortlandt Park are located in the northern section of the Bronx, while Pelham Bay / Split Rock is located in the eastern section of the Bronx, not far from City Island. Queens has four public golf courses, Brooklyn has two, Staten Island has three. Click here for details about Queens Golf Courses including maps and links to the operators' websites. And use the links below to see what's doing for Memorial Day Weekend in the other boroughs. Click here to obtain information for a general listing of things to do in Bronx NYC. This events calendar is updated monthly with about 100 different Bronx fun / cultural events. Click here to view the rest of our report of things to do Memorial Day Weekend in the Bronx.

PREZ DAY

Bronx Things To Do Presidents Day Weekend - Events Bronx NYC Presidents Day Weekend Things to do in the Bronx NYC UPDATED FOR COVID 2021 - Things To Do in the Bronx over the Presidents Day Weekend Updated February 10, 2021 from 2/9/21 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. Presidents Day Weekend Weather. The Temperature highs will be around 30 throughout the three day weekend beginning on Friday, dropping to the high teens nightly, except on Saturday when the low temperature will also be around 30. Precipitation - There's an 80% chance of about two inches of snow late Saturday / early Sunday morning as of this post. Winds will be relatively stable hovering around the 10 mph range throughout the long weekend. The Humidity will range between 60% - 75% throughout the weekend. Click for Bronx Weather. The image at right shows Wave Hill, where President Theodore Roosevelt spent a couple of summers. Wave Hill is a horticultural enclave and Teddy Roosevelt was an American Conservationist. I imagine if alive today, Roosevelt would certainly being doing whatever he could to combat climate change. Presidents Day is a time to reflect on the performance of our current presidents and legislators, and how they stack up against their historical peers. And in that reflection it's worth asking ourselves what we've done to contribute or detract from the national conversation.   A Few Valentines Day / Presidents Day News Items - Indoor Dining Resumes, Folks with Co-Morbidities become Vaccine Eligible, Vaccine Production & 2nd Trump Impeachment Trial Begins Today Governor Cuomo announced that indoor dining in NYC resumes on Friday, February 2, 2021 at 25% capacity. NYS positivity rate is about 4%, while the NYC positivity rate is about 8% - but both have been declining since the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year surge began in late November / early December of 2020. This past weekend, Governor Cuomo announced that folks with CoVid comorbidities will be eligible to receive vaccinations effective Monday, February 15, 2021. According to the Governor's website, the CoVid co-morbidities [say that fast five times] include the following: "... Cancer, Chronic Kidney Disease, Pulmonary Disease, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Heart Conditions, Immunocompromised State, Severe Obesity, Pregnancy, Sickle Cell Disease or Thalassemia, Type 1 or 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cerebrovascular Disease, Neurologic Conditions and Liver Disease Will Be Eligible ..." Vaccine production for the U.S. is nearing the 1.5 million doses daily required to meet Biden’s upwardly mobile 100 million vaccinations in the Biden Administration's first 100 days. As of this writing about 10% of all New Yorkers as well as 10% of all Americans have received at least one CoVid vaccination dose.   Trump's Failed Capitol Riot of 2021 Seems Not Unlike Hitler's Failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 The second Trump impeachment trial began today, Tuesday, February 9th, 2021. Generally I find the rushing of the trial to be an insult to the American people, and the U.S. Constitution philosophies of due process and rule of law. The government officials prosecuting and managing the trial should take all the time required to educate the American people about who Donald Trump really is - not who he says he is. They need to use the Impeachment Trial to highlight how Trump has significantly battered our democratic processes, undermined Americans' faith in our democratic institutions, personalized the power of the presidency, breached the rule of law, and appears to have colluded with the Russians to undermine our government over the past five years. Oh, yeah, and it all culminated in that lame Capitol Riot Insurrection which was not unlike and had striking similarities to Hitlers' lame / failed Beer Hall Putsch in Germany in 1923. Ten years later Hitler rose to power as the Nazi Party leader and proceeded, like Trump did during his presidency, to usurp and personalize the power of the state thanks in part to the Goebbels / Murdoch/propaganda machines which misled the citizenry in each nation about who these two leaders were, and also victimized minorities in both nations. In the Beer Hall Putsch, 16 Nazis and four policemen died. In the Capitol Riot four Trumpsters and one policeman died.   Hitler was found guilty of treason following the Beer Hall Putsch, but still rose to power. Will the Senate take the precaution of sanctioning the Donald, or continue to enable the dysfunctional democracy damager - possibly destroyer?   Brief History of Presidents Day Holiday in NYC A day commemorating Lincoln's birthday was first passed in Buffalo, New York in the early 1870's. Presidents Day originated as Washington's Birthday which was a holiday narrowly prescribed for federal government offices in Washington, D.C. in 1879. The holiday was dedicated to honoring the memory of the first American president, George Washington who was born on February 22, 1732. In 1885 the holiday was expanded to include all federal government offices around the nation. In 1951 there was a push to create a Presidents Day holiday [vs a George Washington's birthday holiday] to include President Lincoln whose birthday is February 12, 1809 and was also celebrated by localities, but it didn't pass. In 1971 the holiday was moved off of George Washington's birth date to being the third Monday in February. Thus while it never falls upon Washington's birthday 2/22, the official name of the holiday remains Washington's Birthday. But today, most folks refer to it as Presidents Day and to recognize the presidents who honored the U.S. Constitution and served the interests of the people. Click here for Bronx Buzz - things to do Presidents Day Weekend in the Bronx events. We've updated things to reflect current conditions related to the CoVid pandemic.

MLK

Bronx Things To Do Martin Luther King Day Weekend - Events Bronx NYC MLK Day Weekend Events in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx over the Martin Luther King Day Weekend January 11, 2022 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. Weather. The MLK Weekend forecast as of January 10, 2022. The Temperature highs will range from 20 to 30 degrees through the long weekend. The temperature lows will range from 10 to 25, rising as the weekend progresses. As of this post, no precipitation is expected over the MLK Day Weekend. Winds will be about 10 mph throughout the long weekend, except Friday when they'll be a bit higher [13 mph]. The Humidity will be between 30% - 60%, dipping on Saturday from the highs on Friday and Monday. Click for Bronx Weather. Click here for Bronx Buzz - things to do Martin Luther King Day Weekend in the Bronx.   Brief History of Martin Luther King Holiday in NYC Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist Minister who became the leading voice for African Americans' non-violent civil rights movement beginning in the mid 1950's through to his assassination in 1968. In 1983, the third Monday of every year was set aside to honor Martin Luther King for his service to the nation. The third Monday was chosen, as it was the nearest Monday to the anniversary of King's birthday, which was January 15, 1929. Martin Luther King Day has grown to take on an even larger meaning, as it is oftentimes referred to as a day on, versus a day off. Organizations around the city and nation have used the day to call people into action to address the needs of the community through volunteering and service.   Martin Luther King Holiday Special Events in the Bronx NYC On Saturday and Sunday, January 15 & 16, 2022 from 10 am - 1 pm there's a workshop entitled Freedom Quilters of Gee's Bend at Wave Hill at 4900 Independence Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. It's Free w/ admission to the grounds. Registration not required, but CoVid protocols in effect. Questions? Please email them at information@wavehill.org or call 718.549.3200 x251. On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 9 am - 4 pm, there's an MLK Day of Service at the Riverdale Y. While the Riverdale Y is located at 5626 Arlington Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, the day of service efforts to tackle various social and community problems is not only there, but done in collaboration with three other organizations / sites in the Bronx. See www.riverdaley.org/mlk-day-of-service/ for details. On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 10 am - 12 noon the East Bronx IPC [Episcopalian / Anglican] at 781 Castle Hill Avenue in the Bronx invites folks to attend their MLK Day of service and social gathering VIRTUALLY. They collect donations for scholarships, some of which I believe are awarded on that day [unconfirmed]. This weekend between January 15 - 17, 2022 there are multiple opportunities to help with food distribution through non-profit panties throughout many neighborhoods in the Bronx. Here are a couple of suggestions - www.foodpantries.org/ci/ny-bronx AND www.foodbanknyc.org/get-help/ On Monday, January 17, 2022 from 10.30 am 12 noon and 1 pm - 2.30 pm there's a VIRTUAL Teachers Workshop for MLK Day of Action hosted by the Bronx Museum. See - https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar and click on the link at right or the day along the tool bar. Click here for things to do Martin Luther King Day / MLK Weekend events in the Bronx.

FEAST ST ANTHONY

Feast of St Anthony at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Belmont near Arthur Avenue in the Bronx Feast of St Anthony in the Bronx Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Celebrates the Feast of St Anthony in the Arthur Avenue & Belmont Neighborhood of the Bronx September 18, 2018 / Belmont Neighborhood Bronx / Things To in the Bronx / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Buzz NYC.   Around the beginning of the summer I had the pleasure of attending the 112th annual Feast of St Anthony at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 627 East 187th Street in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. The affair began on Wednesday June 13th and ran through Sunday, June 17th. I arrived on a Saturday at the triangle of streets joining Cresent Avenue, Cambreleng Avenue & 187th Street in the Little Italy section of the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx. I shot some video capturing some of the rides, games, raffles, food and entertainment, which was present every night of the fair.   CLICK here to view our report on the Feast of St. Anthony at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx.

The Hunts Point Fish Parade

Coming to a Bronx Barretto Park Near You

June 11, 2019 / Hunts Point Neighborhood Bronx / Bronx Parades NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending the 15th Annual Hunts Point Fish Parade. The parade returns this year on Saturday, June 15th.

The Hunts Point Fish Parade is a community parade, celebrating the history and ongoing revival of the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx. The parade begins at Hunts Point Riverside Park, which is periodically used as a landing and / or launching point by the Bronx River Alliance. The Bronx River Alliance is a green kyaking, canoeing and sailing organization, that conducts many of its events along the Bronx River.

The Hunts Point Fish Parade is organized by the Point Community Development Corporation - or Point CDC - which is a non-profit dedicated to the cultural, economic and youth development of the Hunts Point neighborhood. To that end they march down to Barretto Point Park, which is a recently refurbished NYC Park that has something of an incredible view looking south along the East River into Manhattan and Queens.

In Barretto Park I found a number of tables set up, many of which last year contained political candidate information, but also information on healthy eating and exercise, generally tied to local organizations within the community offering such products and services. There were basketball games held in the park, as well as impromptu pick up games being played by some of the children, and down along the waterfront there was entertainment by a number of different local groups.

I'll try to post a bit more about this later today / this week. But again note that the 16th Annual Hunts Point Fish Parade is on Saturday, June 15th, with the parade registration beginning at 10 am, the parade beginning about 11 am - both at Hunts Point Riverside Park. And the parade ends at Barretto Park, where the festival begins at 12 noon and runs until a quarter to 5 pm.

Bronx Farmers Mkts, Street Fairs, Member Events Calendar

* Click here for reports about Bronx street fairs, Bronx farmers markets, Bronx shopping venues and restaurants in the Bronx.

* Click here for free summer movies in the Bronx, free summer theater in the Bronx and free summer concerts in the Bronx.

The Puerto Rican Parade NYC

Tens of Thousands of Puerto Ricans Celebrate Their Culture

June 11, 2018 / Upper East Side Neighborhood / Harlem Neighborhood / Manhattan Parades NYC / Manhattan Buzz NYC.

Puerto Rican Street Fair Spanish Harlem

One thing you could never accuse New York Puerto Ricans of, is a lack of pride in their cultural roots. On Saturday there was a huge street fair in Spanish Harlem, lasting most of the day, along a nearly 20 block stretch of Third Avenue between 103rd and 122nd streets in east Harlem.

 

East Harlem used to be the destination for Puerto Ricans coming to New York. And while there's still a large Puerto Rican community there, I think there may be an even larger community in the central Bronx whose Borough President is Ruben Diaz, whose father, NYC City Councilmember Ruben Diaz, Sr. came from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. So while some of the population may have moved, Puerto Ricans came from around the city and far beyond, to congregate on Saturday and Sunday, and the bask in the atmosphere of their cultural roots.

 

Puerto Rican Parade on the Upper East Side Manhattan

There was food, shopping, music, entertainment and dancing at the street fair on Saturday, and minus the food and shopping, the music, dancing and entertainment were also on display at the huge Puerto Rican parade in Manhattan on Sunday. Numerous floats as well as marching groups of dancers and musicians and social groups joined together to make the parade one long display of Puerto Rica's eclectic mix of African, Latin and American cultures.

 

American Puerto Ricans call themselves Boricuas and everything else is just Bochinche [gossip]. We'll delve more deeply into the Puerto Rican community in Manhattan and the Bronx as time passes.

 

Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade 2019

Video & Short Report on the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade

September 22, 2019 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Parades / Bronx Buzz NYC.

This video provides a good look at many of the performances included in the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade. We'll add more to this report on Monday.

 

Boogie on the Blvd by the Bronx Museum

September 16, 2019 / Concourse Neighborhood Bronx NYC / Bronx Things To Do NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC

The Bronx Museum hosted Boogie on the Blvd last weekend. The following video shows a bit of a prior Boogie on the Blvd in the Bronx, along with some clips of other Bronx Museum programs and events over the past couple of years.

Central American Independence Parade After Party in the Bronx

September 11, 2019 / Claremont Village East Tremont & West Farms Neighborhoods Bronx / Bronx Events NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC.

I attended the Central American Independence Parade after party in Crotona Park in the Bronx on a Sunday a couple of years ago. Last Sunday 9/8/19 the event returned and there were food stalls selling various delicacies representing the cuisine of many of the nations that make up Central America - but primarily the Honduras. There were also shopping opportunities for arts, crafts and cultural objects, as well as clothing.

On Sunday the parade started on a somber note, departing at 12 noon from East Tremont Avenue & Southern Blvd, which is the site of the Happy Land Fire Memorial, where in 1990 about 100 people lost their lives - mostly Honduran Garifuna people who were celebrating carnival. The parade celebrates Central Americans, most notably the Honduran Garifuna, and winds its way down Boston Road, and then Charlotte Street to Crotona Park East - ending between Crotona Avenue and Claremont Parkway.

Bronx Central American Independence Parade After Party in Crotona Park Bronx

At the after party in Crotona Park there was main stage set up not far from the Crotona Park amphitheater located along the southwest corner of Indian Pond. The amphitheater was built with stone seating embedded into the landscape and is reminiscent of the ancient amphitheater ruins at Delphi in Greece, but it wasn't used by the event organizers. On the main stage there were numerous musicians, dancers and performers, who entertained the crowd, and representing many Central American nations - but as noted above - mostly from the Honduras.

The video below captures some of the flavor of the Central American Independence Parade after party in Crotona Park in the Bronx a couple of years ago. Enjoy.

St Anthony Festival in Bronx Little Italy

Next Week the Bronx Little Italy Festival of St. Anthony Returns to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Belmont Neighborhood of the Bronx

June 4, 2019 / Belmont Neighborhood of the Bronx / Bronx Restaurants NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Next week on Wednesday, June 12 from 6 pm to 10 pm - The Feast of St. Anthony. begins in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. It's the 113th annual Feast of St Anthony at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 627 East 187th Street. The festival includes a number of religious and church services, beginning on Wednesday and ending on Sunday with a procession that begins at 5 pm. The general public is welcome to attend the church services as well as the Italian flavored festival in the Little Italy section of the Bronx, located just south of Fordham University, adjacent to Arthur Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx.

The St. Anthony festival includes rides, games, raffles, food and entertainment every night. We attended last year and put together a short video to give you a sampling of what rides and games to expect when you attend, which has been posted below. The food is not really shown very much in the video, but is a bit in the report, but it's generally a mix of Italian, Latin and grilled fare.

Festival Location / Hours. The festival runs from Wednesday, June 12th through Sunday, June 16th and the hours are Wed & Thurs from 6 - 10 pm / Fri until 11 pm, Sat from 2 pm - 11 pm / Sun from 2 pm - 10 pm. The festival is located in the triangle of streets along Cresent and Arthur Avenues & 187th Street in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx [along East 187th street from Arthur to Beaumont Avenue, and along Crescent from Cambreleng to Belmont Avenue].

It's free to walk around but you'll need to pay for the rides and food, but they're competively priced.

We also wrote a short report on the Festival of St. Anthony near Arthur Avenue in Little Italy in the Bronx, which you can read by clicking the prior link.

New Years Resolutions 2021: The Road Ahead

A Few Axioms To Keep In Mind Throughout The New Year

January 1, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Holidays / Gotham Buzz NYC.

For all of us, today starts the beginning of a new year.

If we stay the course with masks, social distancing and hand washing, we should be able to make it to getting vaccinated - at which point things begin to really change to a better normal, but likely not back to a pre-CoVid normal.

The impact of the vaccinations isn't going to happen quickly as Trump's Operation Warp Speed has turned out to be Operation Super Retarded. But Biden takes the reins in another 18 days, and will likely put things back on track, which means we have another six to twelve months before things will begin feeling somewhat normal. The six to twelve months is how long it's estimated that it will take to manufacture, distribute and vaccinate the majority of the 330 million people who live here. The vaccination process alone takes about two months, as there are two shots and a lag time for your body to build the anti-bodies.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on New Years Resolutions 2021 - The Road Ahead.

ARTS & CULTURE

NY Botanical - The Bronx Garden of Eden

An Array of Enticements for World Travelers & Locals in NYC

January 15, 2019 / Bedford Park Neighborhood / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC.

A week ago I headed up to the New York Botanical Garden to view the Holiday Train Show and experience their famous Bar Car Nights. It was a Saturday and the program began around 7 pm. I walked from the subway and arrrived about 8 pm, so I had plenty of time to look around, since it went on until 10.30 pm.

I entered at the western gate along Southern Blvd and walked along the winding path, heading to the pavilion where there were food vendors, a fire and an ice sculptor. Along the path of the Garden Way there were dancers from American Circus Theatre performing slow moving pieces that highlighted the body as form in motion. I paused at the Christmas tree, which was postcard perfect and the sight of numerous photo taking sessions, before heading up to the Pavilion.

The Pavilion is tucked just inside the NY Botanical Gardens southern gate. Local food vendors were tucked in along the walls and a railing in a U shape, with a fire burning in the middle of it. The food vendors are generally participants of the Bronx Night Market, and thus may change from week to week. The Bronx Night Market which is a seasonal pop up market in the Fordham neighborhood.

This week the food vendors were Kernelicious from the Fordham neighborhood serving gourmet popcorn, City Tamale from the Hunts Point neighborhood serving Mexican food, Barbeque on a Stick from Long Island City in Queens serving Homestyle Filipino barbeque on a stick, and The Fried Kitchen who are caterers from Port Morris serving fried chicken. They were also serving wine and beer, where a line had formed.

I watched an ice sculptor from Okamoto Studio NYC ply his trade, as it appeared he had nearly completed a sphinx-like cat. Behind him there was the NY Botanical Garden Pine Cafe and beyond that a long separate room, where a couple of local musicians were entertaining a fairly large crowd with some American tunes from the 20th century.

Finally, I was ready to visit the famed Holiday Train Show, which was situated inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The Conservatory is "a stunning example of Victorian-style glass house artistry" and worth a visit by itself. The building was inspired by the Royal Botanic Garden in London and took three years to erect, completed in 1902. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is used to house the Holiday Train Show during the holidays and the Orchid Show in the Spring.

Visitors from around the world come to visit the NY Botanical Gardens, to see the Conservatory, as well as forest that the Botanical Garden has tried to keep intact since prior to the Revolutionary War in the late 1700's. It's a highly challenging preservation task, given the NY Botanical Garden is situated in one of the largest cities in the world, where winds bring unwelcome vegetational visitors, and pollution doesn't make things any easier.

Inside the Haupt Conservatory I found the Holiday Train Show. The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show is also worth a visit on its own, but the Bar Car Night program allows you to satisfy your curiosity on both of these attractions, at the same time. The Holiday Train Show began 27 years ago in 1991.

A film showing how the New York Botanical Holiday Train Show had been constructed was shown at the entrance. This was followed by tables and elevated train tracks where the trains seemed to soar past us. But the real treat lie in wait, as we entered the Conservatory where the lush green vegetation was used as the environment for the trains and associated structures. Overhead, literally dozens of feet above us, were the paned glass windows of possibly a century ago.

People were milling about, enjoying the ambiance, the train show detail, and each others' company. While it was early January, the holiday spirit remained intact. I spent a fair amount of time taking it all in before I headed back to the bar, where another group of folks were milling about enjoying the social ambiance. On my way out I passed by some NYBG carolers who had created a chorus of visitors singing some well known holiday tunes. The last Bar Car Nights of the Season was January 12th, but it will return in mid November of this year. And the Holiday Train Show runs one more week, ending Monday, January 21, 2019.

Tickets cost $38 for non-members and $28 for NYBG members. P.S. They also have a restaurant called the Hudson Garden Grill in the Ross Conifer Arboretum, which is between the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and the western Southern Blvd Gate. It's open daily from 11.30 am - 6 pm, but they vary the light and full menu based on weekdays / weekends.

Scroll down to view a video of the Bar Car Nights at the NY Botanical Gardens, including the Holiday Train Show.

Bar Car Nights at the New York Botanical Garden

January 5, 2018 / Bedford Park Fordham Central Bronx Neighborhoods / Holiday Things To Do Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC.

This is a short video capturing the various entertainment offerings included in the NY Botanical Garden Bar Car Nights program over the holidays. There was music, an outside fire surrounded by presumably Bronx restaurateurs' offerings, an ice sculptor performing his art, dancers and singers caroling and performing, and the holiday train show in the Enid Haupt Conservatory, which is worth the trip all in itself. Next Saturday is the last night of this program until next Fall.

Pregones Theater in the South Bronx

The Bronx is Hitting its Stride as one of NYC's Great Cultural Centers

October 22, 2018 / Concourse Neighborhood Bronx / Music Dance & Theater Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Last summer the Pregones Theater or Teatro Pregones hosted a block party in tandem in the Concourse neighborhood with Lincoln Center Out of Doors. The recognition by Lincoln Center for the quality of Pregones Theater programming, shows just how far Teatro Pregones has come in earning the respect of one of the nation's most elite cultural centers. But this is nothing new for the Bronx these days.

Since gaining recognition for Rap and Hip Hop, the Bronx became known for its music, art and culture. Rap is said to have begun starting in 1973 when the first known hip hop party was thrown by DJ Kook Herc at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in the nearby Morris Heights neighborhood in the Bronx.

The Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were organized in the mid 1970's by John Saddler who took the name of Grand Master Flash. One of the Furious Five members, Keef Cowboy, is credited with coming up with the name hip hop. In 1979 The Sugar Hill Gang's Rappers' Delight reportedly brought Rap and Hip Hop into the mainstream. And in the following three decades, Rap and Hip Hop went mainstream, with rappers and hip hop artists emerging from all around the nation and all around the world.

In 2015 Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, known as Cardi B, emerged as a national artist, after a few of her videos went viral. In 2017 Kardi B put out a single, Bodack Yellow, that quickly rose to #1. I went to listen to it on Youtube and it uses an Arabian theatrical motif, where Kardi B talks about dancing. Kardi B was formerly a strip club dancer and she rapped about how she doesn't need to dance for 'you' anymore. Once a poor nobody with some looks and talent, Kardi B became a rich and famous somebody almost overnight. Her video has received 668 million views.

Within the same month, Boogie wit da Hoodie , whose birthname is , put out an album, The Bigger Artist, that also went to #1. That video received 21 million views. Thus, these two artists - along with a number of others, moved the Bronx back into the limelight of Rapper / Hip Hop culture.

The reason I mention all of this, is because as you watch the video below, you'll notice the rich cultural poetry, and emerging sense of theater, emanating from two of the guest performers I saw that day. Pregones Theater / Teatro Pregones continues to host other talented artists throughout the year in both Spanish and English ... and if the block party is any indication ... far beyond these two languages alone.

Doc Film Center in the Bronx

Film Based Cultural Center Attracts Eclectic Group for presentation of Carlos Villalon’s Coca: The Lost War on Drugs

September 24, 2018 / Melrose Neighborhood Bronx / Arts & Film in the Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC.

In July I visited the Doc Film Center in the Bronx to attend a new film by Carlos Villalon about the failed war on drugs. I arrived as it was getting dark, disembarking from the #5 train at the HUB at 3rd Avenue, 149th Street and Willis in the neighborhood of Melrose. I walked north a couple of blocks and took a left, coming upon the Doc Film Center which is housed in a three story building that looks to be in the neighborhood of a century old.

The HUB at 3rd Avenue, 149th Street and Willis / Melrose Avenue intersection was once referred to as the Times Square of the Bronx. It is still a fairly robust shopping district during the daytime, but after hours when the stores close, it has a sort of abandoned feel. I went in knowing that the crime rate in the Bronx, like the rest of the city, is down significantly versus prior years.

In the past five years, according to the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, the murder rate for the entire Bronx has been below 100. This is in a borough that is home to 1.471 million, so the murder rate is below 1 murder for every 14,710 people in the Bronx. It’s worth adding that a third of Bronx murders are from gang related violence, which sometimes includes collateral damage.

 

Architecture Near the Hub in Melrose: 1900 - 1930

The NYPD has been having some good success in taking down gangs in Bronx as well as NYC. In March of 2016, they reportedly completed the biggest bust in the Bronx, capturing 89 gang members. There are numerous places in Manhattan and Brooklyn that are far more dangerous, but Bronx historically has been given the worst reputational rap, and that impression, while changing, still lingers. I attribute it to LOCAL TV NEWS COVERAGE, which seems to PRIMARILY report crime stories when covering the Bronx.

As I walked to the Doc Film Center I observed the architecture around which I found myself surrounded. The Hub heyday was back in the early 1900’s running into the 1930’s when the Great Depression hit. Thus many of the buildings in the area are from that time period, which to me, is what I’ve come to think of as New York classical architecture and building. They made them quite well back then, as America was flexing its economic strength.

Inside the Doc Film Center I walked along the wooden floors to a large room with incredibly high ceilings, like what you would expect to find in a high school gym. There were chairs lined up looking toward the front of the building where the speaker had already begun his presentation.

What followed was a journey into the drug wars. As Carlos Villalon took us on a journey through the South American jungles, into Coca: The Lost War on Drugs …

• CLICK here to view the rest of our report about the Doc Film Center in the Bronx neighborhood of Melrose and the photographic documentary Coca: The War on Drugs by Carlos Villalon.

Pregones Theater La Casita Block Party

Pregones Theater Hosted the La Casita Block Party of Poets, Musicians & Artists & a bit of Pregones Theater History

August 6, 2018 / Concourse Neighborhood / Bronx Theater / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

On Sunday I made my way over to the Pregones Theater in the Concourse neighborhood of the Bronx. Pregones is located at 575 Walton Street, only a couple of blocks from Hostos College and the Post Office in the Bronx. Today was their annual block party, the origins of which, date back to the early 2000's. Pregones Theater moved to this location on Walton Street in the Concourse neighborhood in 2005.

It's worth mentioning that Pregones Theater has been serving the Bronx community of actors, actresses, producers, directors, playwrights and their audiences for nearly four decades. Pregones was started in 1979 and recently [2015 - 2017?] merged with another theater company, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, to become the cultural institution that it is today.

The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater began in 1967 and helped give birth to the careers of Raul Julia and Miriam Colon, and recently merged with Pregones. Today Pregones Theater / The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater has venues in both Bronx and Manhattan.

As I arrived I noticed their colorful psychedelic house, the Casita, erected as the backdrop for the stage where performers would take flight to delight the audience. It was around 4 pm and a poet, I know it, was speaking, sweet talking, sugary, short arias of verbalized visuals whose acoustical imagery was as stimulating and winding as a quick jazzy beat. Too fast, to fully comprehend, the details of which lie within.

I remember a subway ride, some history, a street scene, but you really had to be there to get the full gist. You missed. But they'll be back next year and they have numerous performances throughout the year.

Along the sidewalks vendors were selling unique - possibly Bronx made, clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, pottery, purses, knapsacks, paper products and other little finds, many of which you might be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

I stepped inside the theater to check it out. It's a well kept, spacious theater, with seating for somewhere between 50 to 100. And a hall of fame showing accolades for performances and performers of years past.

The folks were friendly and it was definitely an artsy, eclectic and friendly crowd. There were also folks there from Lincoln Center Out of Doors, who in part sponsored the block party performances. And Pregones Theater / The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater also performed down at Lincoln Center on Saturday, August 4th at 12 noon in Hearst Plaza, as part of their relationship with Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

By the way, 'pregones' in Spanish, means 'cries' in English. But nobody was crying today.

Hasta luego.

Mediums of Exchange at Lehman Art Gallery

Two Site Art Exhibit Explores the Role of Money in Society

April 9, 2019 / Bedford Park Neighborhood / Bronx Art Scene / Bronx Buzz NYC.

There's an art exhibit entitled Mediums of Exchange that opened at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in Tribeca / Downtown Manhattan on January 31st, 2019 and ended March 30th. But it was a two site / two part art exhibit, with the second site opening in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx at the Lehman College Art Gallery on February 9th and which runs through May 4th, 2019.

It's a group show, that showcases 35 artists, most if not all of whom I believe are NYC based [unconfirmed]. And the exhibit explores the role of money from a social, psychological and economic point of view. On Wednesdays there are artist talks beginning at 5 pm. I am currently in the process of trying to find out if the artist talks are held every Wednesday or only periodically [ad hoc] and then how late the gallery stays open on those evenings, because the Lehman Art Gallery is normally open from 10 am - 4 pm Tuesday through Saturday.

I hope to post more about this exhibit at a later date. The image above was taken from the Lehman Art Gallery in the Bronx.

Daughters of the Stone

The Tale of 5 Generations of Afro-Caribbean Women

April 2, 2019 / Bronx Neighborhoods - Concourse / Bronx Culture & Literature / Bronx Buzz NYC.

A couple of weeks ago I had an opportunity to attend a book talk by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa at the Andrew Freedman Home in the Central Bonx neighborhood on the Concourse.

The Andrew Freedman Home is worth the trip in itself and it was a rare treat to hear a distinguished author in such a distinguished setting. But I was not alone in savoring the moments.

The room was full, mostly of women, many of whom likely were of some Puerto Rican or African descent, and they had come to learn more about their shared past as described by one woman who had fictionalized some of the history of five generations of her family.

I'll have more later today on the Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa at the Andrew Freedman Home on Friday, March 15th.

HALLOWEEN PARTIES

Bronx Halloween Parties & Events NYC 2021 Bronx Halloween Parties & Events NYC 2021 Halloween Parties in Mott Haven, Port Morris, Longwood, Fordham, University Heights & Other Neighborhoods in the Bronx October 19, 2021 / Belmont Neighborhood Bronx / Bronx Restaurants Little Italy / Bronx Buzz NYC. Halloween occurs on a Sunday this year. The Bronx Halloween party celebrations begin as early as Saturday, October 23rd running through the weekend, with some Bronx Halloween parties on Halloween day itself. Halloween is one big costume party, where the theatrical side of people, is given a small opening. Halloween provides people the opportunity to create and play roles they have wanted to play, that the day-to-day keeps submerged. Is it their Doctor side or their Jekyll side - or something uncategorizable? In the photo at right in the introduction to this story is a woman attending a Halloween party at the Queens Museum a number of years ago. In the body of the story, the photo at right is an actor at ID Theater in Mott Haven who performed in a play which was a part of the 14th annual city-wide, Celebrate Mexico Now in 2017. Professional actors are paid to assume and perform roles, but on Halloween it's an all-volunteer, unpaid, theatrical free-for-all ... but that very chaos of creativity is what also makes it so much fun. Click here to read more about our round up of Halloween parties & events in the Bronx NYC 2021.

MOM'S DAY

Bronx Mothers Day Restaurants - Bronx Moms Day Restaurants Bronx NYC Bronx Mother's Day Restaurants 2021 - Bronx NYC Mothers Day Restaurants in or near Mott Haven, Fordham, Port Morris, Concourse, Bedford Park, Norwood, University Heights, City Island, Riverdale, Melrose, Morris Park, Westchester Square & Parkchester Bronx NYC April 27, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Buzz NYC. Mother's Day will soon be upon us. It's a good time to let your loved one know you care. Flowers, gifts and brunch or dinner are always welcome, as is any thoughtful gesture that provides some measure showing your appreciation of your mother or the mother of your children. After all, without mothers, we would all cease to be. Normally it's best to book a restaurant reservation for Mother's Day brunch, as on Mother's Day in the Bronx, many restaurants are full. So if you're thinking about eating out at a restaurant this Mother's Day in Mott Haven, Fordham, Port Morris, Concourse, Bedford Park, Norwood, University Heights, City Island, Riverdale, Melrose, Morris Park, Westchester Square & Parkchester; it's best to do your research early, and call ahead to book Mother's Day restaurant reservations. Unlike last year, indoor dining is now available at most Bronx restaurants, but at only at 50% capacity for restaurants located in New York City. Restaurants outside of NYC can accommodate 75% of capacity. That is likely because of the difference in the amount of space allocated to each diner in restaurants in the city versus restaurants outside of the city, as well as the higher density of population, etc. But that said, restaurants also have additional capacity via all of those outdoor shacks built during the pandemic, which has greatly increased overall space / seating capacity, and with the weather warming [the thermometer is expected to break the 80's tomorrow], outdoor dining is a pleasant, even welcome option. But as the saying goes, the early bird gets the [worm] better seating, so book early. COVID PRECAUTIONS. Lastly, be advised that most - if not all - of these restaurants may take your temperature prior to indoor seating and require masks except during dining. Other CoVid guidelines like social distancing also may apply. Mother's Day History - Restaurants In the Bronx The origins of Mother's Day in the United States began with the efforts by Anna Jarvis in honor of her own mother. According to Wikipedia, Anna began the campaign in 1905 - the year her mother died - and in 1910 West Virginia was the first state to adopt it as a holiday. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson made the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers. Click this link to view a brief guide of Mother's Day restaurants 2021 in the Bronx where you will find links to Bronx restaurants we've visited in the past or have reviewed. The restaurants we've reviewed include a mix of high, medium and budget priced restaurants that are spread throughout the borough and offer a large variety of ethnic cuisines. We've identified over a dozen Bronx restaurants open with indoor / outdoor dining on Mother's Day in the Bronx. Enjoy.

PAT'S DAY

Bronx St Patricks Day Bars, Irish Pubs & Restaurants in the Bronx NYC St Pat's Day Bars & Irish Pubs & Restaurants in the Bronx Bronx St Pat's Day Pubs, Irish Bars & Restaurants On St. Patrick's Day in the Bronx Neighborhoods of Throgs Neck, Kingsbridge, Fieldston, Bedford Park, Mott Haven, Norwood, Woodlawn Heights, Westchester Square [near Morris Park], Middleton Pelham Bay [near City Island], Williamsbridge and one in Yonkers March 7, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods NYC / Bronx Restaurants NYC / St Patricks Day Parade Throgs Neck Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC. St. Patrick's Day is upon us once again and it's time for one and all, regardless of genetic history, to don their green clothing and head out to the Irish bars for a pint of ale or to the Irish restaurants for some down home Irish fare ... or something like that. This report is about some of the Bronx Irish bars and restaurants that have survived the test of time, and likely a might bit ... more. The Irish pubs include Irish bars and restaurants from Throgs Neck, Kingsbridge, Fieldston, Bedford Park, Morris Park, Mott Haven, Norwood, Woodlawn Heights, Westchester Square, Middleton Pelham Bay [near City Island], Williamsbridge and one in Yonkers. CLICK here to read our report about the St Pat's Day Bars, Irish Pubs & Restaurants in the Bronx NYC.

VDAY

Bronx Valentines Day Restaurants - Bronx Romantic Restaurants Bronx NYC Bronx Valentines Day Restaurants - Bronx NYC UPDATED FOR COVID - Valentines Day / Romantic Restaurants in or near Mott Haven, Fordham, Port Morris, Concourse, Bedford Park, Norwood, University Heights, City Island, Riverdale, Melrose, Morris Park, Westchester Square & Parkchester Bronx NYC February 5, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Buzz NYC. UPDATED 2/12/21 - Editor's Note: Previously indoor dining was to resume in NYC on Sunday, February 14th, 2021, Valentine's Day. The Governor moved up the date to Friday, February 12th, so restaurants that may have sold out on Sunday, likely have indoor dining openings over the weekend. This report provides an update on who's open and taking reservations, but also highlights quite a number of local restaurant closures. Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away. It's a good time to let your loved one know you care. Flowers, gifts and dinner are always welcome treats, and / or some thoughtful gesture that shows that the lady [or man] you're with, still means a lot to you. This year it's especially important to make restaurant reservations early as restaurants first open for indoor dining at 25% capacity on Friday, February 12th, 2021. And given Valentine's Day is on a weekend, it may be challenging unless you make your reservation now. But that said, restaurants also have outside dining capacity - so depending on the weather - you may have some luck the weekend of Valentine's Day. So if you're thinking about doing something this Valentine's Day for dinner in or around the Mott Haven, Fordham, Port Morris, Concourse, Bedford Park, Norwood, University Heights, City Island, Riverdale, Melrose, Morris Park, Westchester Square & Parkchester neighborhoods; it's best to do your research early, and call a week or at least a few days ahead [now] to make the reservations. Valentine's Day History - Romantic Restaurants in the Bronx The origins of Valentine's Day are not well documented. It's believed to have been named after Saint Valentine who was apparently a Catholic martyr who died over 1500 years ago. Today the holiday is not associated with religion so much as flowers, candies, cards and romantic dinners. And the holiday spokesperson is now Cupid, a Roman god of desire, and quite a mischief maker. UPDATED FOR COVID. Click this link to view a brief guide of Valentine's Day restaurants in the Bronx / romantic restaurants Bronx NYC where you will find short descriptions or links to Bronx restaurants we've visited in the past or have reviewed. The restaurants we've reviewed include a mix of high, medium and budget priced restaurants that are spread throughout the borough and offer a large variety of ethnic cuisines. Enjoy.

NY PIZZA FEST

Pizza in the Bronx - New York Pizza Festival near Arthur Avenue in Belmont New York Pizza Festival in the Bronx 1st Annual NY Pizza Festival in Bronx Little Italy was a Success October 7, 2018 / Belmont Neighborhood & Arthur Avenue / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC. It was a warm, humid afternoon as I made my way north to the Arthur Avenue section of the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx. I was on my way to the first annual Pizza Festival hosted by the Belmont BID [Business Improvement District] in the Bronx Little Italy. As I made my way east from the subway and began to enter the neighborhood, I began to feel the transformation of entering another world. Visiting Bronx Little Italy on Arthur Avenue had never felt like this before. Perhaps it was the laziness of a Saturday afternoon in the Fall, or possibly the increased pedestrian traffic associated with the Pizza Festival, but Arthur Avenue looked great in all of its Italian splendor. So I took my time walking south along the Avenue to Crescent Street where the festival was being held. There were plenty of people out and about, enjoying the afternoon in the neighborhood, and Arthur Avenue had dressed up to impress, showing its charm as a competitive alternative to the more touristed Little Italy in Manhattan. When I arrived at Cresent Street there were blocks of small white tents lined up along one side of the street. A large but dispersed crowd was milling around many of the booths, even though I had arrived around 4 pm, well past the opening at noon. I made my way past the entertainment to get a closer look at the pizza makers, their ovens and their wares. Making pizza looked to be a fairly simple process for these pros. The Belmont BID website said there were about 34 pizza makers from NYC who were there to compete for the attendees' interest and sales. I began talking to some of the pizza makers, who seemed to be having fun. I caught up with Mayor de Blasio midway through the festival. He was surrounded by a lot of the pizza makers and / or the NY Pizza Festival attendees, and there seemed to be a bit of back and forth and picture taking and what not. So I took a few photos too, before moving on to Gino's Pizza. CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the NY Pizza Festival Bronx including a short video of the event.

2nd Annual NYC Pizza Festival in Bronx Little Italy

The 2nd Annual NYC Pizza Fest in the Bronx was a Sequel that was Hit

October 21, 2019 / Bronx Restaurants / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

The 2nd Annual NY Pizza Festival was held on the weekend of October 5th & 6th in Bronx Little Italy in the Belmont neighborhood near Fordham University. The festival was held over the weekend attracting thousands to the area to come sample some of the best pizza in New York City and surrounding area ... and there was even a pizza maker from Naples in Italy who had come for the event. I'll have more at a later date, but in the meantime you can sample some of the atmosphere and see some of the gourmet pizza served at the event.

Fordham Road Food Festival

Video & Short Report on the Fordham Road Food Festival

October 1, 2019 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Parades / Bronx Buzz NYC.

This video provides a good look at the entertainment, games, crowds and food available at the Fordham Road Food Festival last Saturday. We'll add more to this report in the future.

 

Click here to view our report about Bronx Halloween parties NYC and Bronx New Years parties NYC.

FARM

Bronx Farmers Markets & Green Markets - Bronx NYC Bronx Farmers Markets 2021 June 29, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Shops & Shopping / Bronx Buzz NYC. See HOURS, MAPS, ITEMS / SELECTION of the 23 BEST Farmers Markets / Green Markets in Bronx, w/ savvy shoppers' tips. This report includes the Mott Haven Farmers Market, Concourse Green Market, Coop City Farmers Market, Fordham Manor Green Market, Parkchester Farmers Market, City Island Farmers Market, Hunts Point Farmers Market, Claremont Village farmers markets and in between. Click here for dates, times, locations of the Bronx Farmers Markets.

 

Farmers Markets & Street Fairs in the Bronx

June 9, 2021 / Bronx Farmers Markets / Bronx Street Fairs / Bronx Buzz NYC.

A few Bronx farmers markets might be open year round, but most of them are seasonal. Some of the seasonal Bronx farmers markets began opening in the Spring of 2021, with the rest of them opening no later than the first couple of weeks in July of 2021. Click here to view the schedules of many of the farmers markets in the Bronx.

Bronx street fairs, on the other hand, are entirely seasonal. Some of them hit the streets as early as April 2021. The number of Bronx street fairs rises during the late spring and continues through the dog days of summer [July / August], including into the late part of the Fall. By the end of November the Bronx street fairs go on hiatus, with a few returning as early as April. Click here to view a full schedule of the Bronx street fairs.

Islamic Fashion in the Bronx

Bronx Islamic Clothing Store for Sale

May 21, 2018 / Parkchester Neighborhood / Bronx Neighborhoods / Holidays in the Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC.

In early May I traveled to the Parkchester neighborhood, to visit one of the Bronx newest Islamic clothing stores, Islam Fashion. With Ramadan only a couple of weeks away, the store proprietor was busy making preparations as Ramadan is the holiest month of the year - and just as during the holidays for Christians, it is also a very social time of the year.

The store, Islam Fashion, was started in the late 1990's [circa 1998] by an enterprising Egyptian immigrant, Mohamed Zohny, who I had met in Queens about a decade ago. Mohamed is one of those legendary entrepreneurial immigrants that one hears about - that keeps the American dream alive - both here and abroad.

Mohamed Zhony - Egyptian American Entrepreneur

Mohamed rolled the dice and immigrated to New York in 1979, at the age of 37, having left a position working at one of the airports in Egypt. When he arrived, he began working in a Lebanese restaurant washing dishes. Three years later in 1982, risking the savings he made from dishwashing, Mohamed started a falafel food truck at 51st Street and 5th Avenue.

Starting an Entrepreneurial Business on the Midtown Manhattan Streets

For fourteen years Mohamed made falafels out of his food truck and one might say he became a bit of a falafel food truck legend. He was photographed and written about in several glossy magazines, including one where he had his photo taken by famous photo journalist Lou Bopp.

Perhaps my favorite account of Mohamed at this time was the following in the 'Grub' section of a popular NYC magazine.

"Falafel stands abound … [at] Rockefeller Center … during lunchtime. Naturally they run the full gamut of barely edible to scintillatingly delicious. Second place for the title of best falafel is Zohny who has a cart on the corner of 5th Avenue and 51st Street. Not only are his falafels moister and fuller than the competition, but he has also developed falafel assembly into an art. It's a spectator sport to marvel as Zohny choreographs his falafel preparation like a wind-up doll. He can make the chick pea balls while dropping lettuce and tomato and heating the pita bread."

In 1996 then Mayor Rudy Giuliani started making changes to the rules governing traffic and food carts, so Mohamed decided to exit the business. Within two years, Mohamed had embarked on a third adventure, again investing his savings to purchase and then sell Islamic clothing on the Upper East Side on what I understood to be a sort of person-to-person basis.

Opens Islam Fashion Clothing Business in Manhattan with Stores in Brooklyn, Queens & the Bronx

Within another two years, in the year 2000, Mohamed signed a lease in Brooklyn and opened an Islamic clothing store there. Nine years later he opened a second store in 2009 in Astoria, where I met him. He's done a bit of advertising on Queens Buzz over the years and I have always found Mohamed to have a friendly smile on his face.

During this time I have had the opportunity to watch him do a bit of business here and there, buying and selling Islamic clothing in his shop. He would invite sellers to sit down for tea, chat and haggle a bit about quality and price, and then settle on a price and complete the deal. It felt like time traveling into Egypt in the space of a few minutes.

In recent years Mohamed, now 75 years old, has begun winding down ... at least a bit. He closed his Brooklyn store due to rising rents, and moved his Astoria store to Parkchester just last year - again due to rising rents. He opened in Parkchester a few months ago and has begun building yet another retail business. Even to this day Mohamed greets the public with a welcoming "Salam Alaikum", which in English means "Peace to you".

Islam Fashion is located at 1701 White Plains Road at Van Nest Avenue in Parkchester. Mohamed is now in the hospital and plans to sell his business. If interested you can reach him via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/islamfashioninc/

I hope and pray that Mohamed has a speedy recovery.

Arthur Avenue - Little Italy in the Bronx

Arthur Avenue Still has Multi-Generational Family Businesses

May 15, 2018 / Belmont Neighborhood in the Bronx / Arthur Avenue Restaurants Bronx / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC.

A bit over a week ago I headed up to the Arthur Avenue restaurant section of the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx. Throughout most of the twentieth century, Arthur Avenue was a densely populated Italian section of the Bronx, full of Italian restaurants, shops and Italian culture. By the early 21st century, where we are now, many of the Italians had moved out into the suburbs or into other parts of the city - but that said there's still a very strong Italian presence, including some of the multi-generational Italian family businesses.

Arthur Avenue is more than a destination for those seeking Italian culture in the Bronx, as Fordham University is only blocks away. Oftentimes Fordham students can be seen milling about in the cafes, restaurants and shops, alongside long time residents from the neighborhood. I've come to view the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, founded in 1940, as sort of the epicenter or hub of Arthur Avenue.

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reportedly spearheaded the development of the Arthur Avenue Retail Market while he was Mayor in an effort to incent the popular, low-priced, but somewhat unsanitary, street pushcart businesses to move in off the streets. The Arthur Avenue Retail Market was, in some measure, one of the early malls, where various independent vendors sold their wares.

Within the same block and blocks, there are also many Italian retail businesses that have survived the economic vagaries of time. Among them is ...

More to come, including photos, later this week.

SPORTS & PARKS

NYC Marathon Coming Through the Bronx

New York Road Runners 49th NYC Marathon on Sunday

October 29, 2019 / Bronx Things To Do NYC / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

The New York Road Runners / NYRR is hosting its 49th NYC Marathon on Sunday. The NYRR was founded in 1958 and has been organizing the NYC Marathon since 1970. The proceeds from the race go toward the programs of the runner non-profit. They report that the NYRR serves 670,000 people, of which 250,000 are youth, annually.

There are plenty of festivities this week surrounding the affair. Some are held at the NYRR Run Center [NYRR headquarters] at 320 West 57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan, while others are held at the NYC Marathon Pavilion in Central Park at 67th Street and Central Park West, near the Tavern on the Green in Manhattan.

The other pre-race activities [see location addresses above] include a discussion on Tuesday about the NYC Marathon Book Club from 6 - 8 pm at the NYC Marathon Pavilion. On Wednesday there's a forum of Celebrity Charity Runners who talk about why they are running at the NYC Marathon Pavilion from 7 - 8 pm. On Thursday evening between 6 and 7 pm the NYRR presents the awards for the NYRR Hall of Fame inductees at the NYC Marathon Pavilion. On Friday at the NYRR Run Center there's an NYRR Running History Tour which runs from 10 - 11.30 am.

The pre-race festivities culminate the Saturday evening before the race, when there's an early dinner [3.30 - 8.30 pm] for the runners at the NYC Marathon Pavilion that is prepared by the chefs from Tavern on the Green. They call it the Marathon Eve Dinner. It has a sort of holiday ring to it.

NYC Marathon Times, Route & Statistics to Beat

Statistics 2018. According to the NYRR.org website, in 2018 there were 52,813 runners, from 129 countries, their average run time was 4.40 [hours.minutes] and they raised $40 million for charity. This year there are a number of primarily TV game show celebrities running to raise money for charity.

According to Wikipedia, in 2018 records for participation were broken, yet again, with 30,669 men and 22,143 women participating. The fastest runs times were approximately 2.05 [hours.minutes] for men and 2.20 [hours.minutes] for women.

NYC Marathon Organized at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island

As you can imagine, organizing the 52,000 plus runners in the NYC Marathon, is an annual logistics feat. The NYRR has organized the race into four Waves. Each Wave begins at a different time. Within each Wave there are three Start Times which are color coded green, orange and blue. In addition to three different start times for each wave, there are six different Corrals, A through F, where runners gather to be released into the race during their wave and start time.

NYC Marathon Start Times 2019

The NYC Marathon begins at 8.30 am at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. From there over 52,000 runners departed last year, and the race continues to grow in popularity. The first group to begin the race are in the wheelchair division, followed by the handcyclists. These two groups depart between 8.30 am and 8.52 am.

The next group departs at 9.10 am and it comprises the professional women competing for the title. They are followed a half hour later, at 9.40 am, by the professional men. It is at this time [9.40 am] that the first wave kicks in, with its three start times. The second wave begins at 10.10 am, the third wave begins at 10.35 am and the fourth and final wave begins at 11 am.

NYC Marathon Best Guess Viewing Times

The 16 mile mark of the 29 mile NYC Marathon is at the Queensboro Bridge. That's a bit more than halfway. If you divide the average run time of 4 hours and 40 minutes, to get 2 hours and 20 minutes, you can figure out - depending on which wave / start time your loved ones are in, roughly when they'll be at the halfway mark. And then you can add to that time if you're viewing in Manhattan, or subtract from that time if your viewing in Brooklyn, or be there at the start time if you're on Staten Island. For the Bronx adding three hours to their start time should give a good proximation of when they'll be coming through Mott Haven.

NYC Marathon Route 2019

The NYC Marathon had originally circumvented Central Park, but it quickly outgrew that locale.

Staten Island NYC Marathon Route. The route used today has been in place for a long time, possibly decades. It starts at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, crossing the Verrazzano Bridge.

Brooklyn NYC Marathon Route. The NYC Marathon travels along 4th Avenue through most of southern Brooklyn, then taking a short turn eastward on Lafayette in Downtown Brooklyn, before resuming the northern trek along Bedford Avenue through Williamsburg into Greenpoint, where the course jumps onto Manhattan Avenue at McCarren Park.

Queens NYC Marathon Route. The next step is across the Pulaski Bridge into Long Island City Queens, where the NYC Marathon zigs west to Vernon Blvd, marches north along Vernon Blvd, and then 44th Drive and 21st Street before crossing the Queensboro Bridge.

Manhattan NYC Marathon Route. In Manhattan the NYC Marathon travels north along First Avenue.

Bronx NYC Marathon Route. The NYC Marathon route traverses the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Port Morris and then Mott Haven neighborhoods of southern Bronx. The NYC Marathon then heads west along 135th Street to 138th Street in Mott Haven and turns south heading back through Port Morris, over the Madison Avenue Bridge to Manhattan.

Manhattan NYC Marathon Route. In Manhattan the NYC Marathon travels south along 5th Avenue and into Central Park at 125th Street coming down inside the park to end at the NYC Marathon Pavilion.

Whew. I'm plum tired out just cataloguing the route, let alone running it : )

** LINK. Here's a link to the NYC Marathon route map. Enjoy.

NYC Marathon Runs Through the Bronx

Since 1976 the NYC Marathon Has Run Through the Bronx

November 13, 2018 / Mott Haven Neighborhood / Bronx Sports / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

On November 4th, 2018 over 52,000 runners traversed the lower part of the Bronx borough. The Bronx is part of a 26 mile long course that's been used by the NYC Marathon for a long while.

According to Wikipedia the current race configuration was first outlined and used in 1976. Wikipedia also reports that the NYC Marathon is the largest marathon in the world. The NYC Marathon originated in 1970, running around Central Park, but picked up so much interest that it was expanded just six years later to its current five borough course.

Literally tens of thousands come out to watch the runners traverse their neighborhoods. And the locals are joined by likely tens of thousands more, who come to cheer their runners onward. The spectators come from all over the nation and all around the world. It's a very festive day / weekend and the city is packed with visitors.

Generally the NYC Marathon weekend officially begins in Central Park with official festivities, the configuration of which has been evolving over the years. The race is generally sponsored by a large national or multi-national company, which uses the event promotionally to create awareness around their brand name. I've noticed that recently the branded promotional merchandising of items appears to have expanded significantly.

This year I covered the NYC Marathon in Brooklyn, but below is a video I shot in the Bronx in 2017, but didn't post. It's still a short, fun one and a half minute watch. Enjoy.

Orchard Beach Opens for Season

Bronx Beach in Pelham Bay Park Opens for 2019 Summer Season

May 27, 2019 / Orchard Beach Bronx Neighborhoods / Things To Do Bronx / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Orchard Beach opened over the Memorial Day Weekend. The 1.1 mile beach is open from 10 am - 6 pm, at which time there's a lifeguard on duty. Swimming is prohibited when a life guard is not on duty.

It's located at the southern end of Pelham Bay Park, which you can easily drive to where parking is $8 during weekdays and $10 on weekends. You can also get there via bicycle or a combination of taking the #6 subway to the last stop which is Pelham Bay Park and then taking the #12 bus to Orchard Beach. If you're interested in dining, City Island is nearby and you can take the #29 bus there or walk / cycle as it's about a mile.

Orchard Beach in the Bronx has free shower, changing and bathroom facilities. You can also barbeque there.

The video below shows one of many entertainment events at Orchard Beach over the summer, which we'll have more on as the summer arrives.

 

5 Boro Bike Ride Returns Sunday

Bike New York Organizes NYC Bike Ride & Bike Expo New York

April 30, 2018 / Manhattan Neighborhoods / Bronx Neighborhoods / Queens Neighborhoods / Brooklyn Neighborhoods / Staten Island Neighborhoods / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This story includes information about the upcoming 5 Boro Bike Ride on Sunday, as well as the Bike Expo New York which precedes it on Friday & Saturday in Red Hook. As of this report, the temperatures are expected to be in the 60's and the chances of rain appear slim. But bear in mind that the forecast probability of 20% chance of rain last Friday, turned into rain on Saturday evening, so check the weather as we get closer in.

 

Bike New York 5 Boro Bike Ride Route

Since 1977, every first Sunday of May, Bike New York has organized and promoted the 5 Boro Bike Ride. The ride begins in lower Manhattan, sweeps northward across the Harlem River Bridge to the Bronx, circles back across the Third Avenue Bridge to Manhattan, where it begins its southward trek crossing the Queensboro Bridge into Queens, heading south to Brooklyn after a quick stop north to Astoria Park, and then comes down past the Brooklyn Navy Yards, continuing southward along the west side of Brooklyn, to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge where it crosses over to the Fort Wadsworth neighborhood in Staten Island before terminating in the St. George neighborhood at the Staten Island Ferry.

 

Proceeds from Non-Profit New York Bike Ride go Toward Sustainable Transportation Efforts

The now famous bike ride was capped at 32,000 riders I believe sometime in the 1990’s, where it still stands today. One report noted that the 5 Boro Bike ride is one of – if not the largest - non-profit bike rides in the nation. The proceeds go to Bike New York programs which are designed to teach people about sustainable transportation, most notably bicycle riding and bike maintenance and safety. Another report noted that the NYPD had considered [don’t know the outcome] charging the organization $1 million for erecting, maintaining and terminating road closures during the New York 40 mile family-friendly bike ride.

 

Bike New York Bicyclist Outreach in all Five NYC Boroughs

Bike New York has offices in all five NYC boroughs. In 2015 their cyclist safety and bike maintenance programs reached 15,000 New Yorkers. And they are the organizers of the Bike Expo New York being held at Pier 12 in Brooklyn on Friday and Saturday [see details in rest of this story].

• CLICK here to read more about the 5 Boro Bike Ride and the New York Expo at Brooklyn Piers this coming weekend.

Nature's Wonders at Wave Hill in the Bronx

Historic Wave Hill in Riverdale Overlooks the Hudson River

April 23, 2018 / Riverdale Neighborhood / Bronx Parks / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Wave Hill is a 28 acre estate, in the western section of the Riverdale neighborhood in the Bronx, overlooking the Hudson River. The estate was built in 1843 by William Lewis Morris, a lawyer, to accommodate his large family. Morris was a descendant of one of the Bronx and America's founding families, which included a 17th century colonialist who migrated here following the Cromwellian Wars in Britain, a contributor and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a vast land holding family in the Bronx.

Wave Hill evolved over the years, starting as a Georgian Revival home, but later converted to a Victorian manor by Publisher William Henry Appleton [1866 - 1869]. Appleton purchased a section of the estate from Morris's heirs following his death.

President Theodore Roosevelt [1870 - 1871], author Mark Twain [1901 - 1903], Italian Conductor Arturo Toscanini [1942 - 1945], and the British delegation to the UN hosted John Foster Dulles, Konrad Adenauer and Queen Elizabeth [1950 - 1956] over numerous summers there. The Wave Hill of today includes what was once two estates, which were merged by Financier turned Conservationist George W. Perkins in 1903. Perkins added the greenhouses and the second house of the estate which I believe [unconfirmed] was called Glyndor. It burned in the early 1920's and was replaced by a smaller Glyndor II, completed in 1927. Wave Hill was inherited by daughter Dorothy Woosley Freeman and her husband Edward.

Wave Hill was donated to New York City in 1960, designated a New York City Landmark in 1966, added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1983 and added to the Riverdale Historic District in 1990.

In 2011 Wave Hill closed for two years for renovations. In 2013 it reopened, with enhanced facilities that included upgrades to the Sally and Gilbert Kerlin Learning Center where family art projects are conducted, and enhanced lighting and sound [2014] in the Amour Hall which is host to musical performances. A new space, the Sarah and Geoffrey Gund Theater was added where lectures are held and films are shown and the cafe was expanded and the dining room renovated.

Today all areas are used to accommodate public programs, many of which include a fee, and many of which are free with admission. Local artists, musicians and performers are oftentimes showcased. We periodically post their events on the weekends, so stay tuned.

Sources for this story include Wikipedia.org / LivingPlaces.com / WaveHill.org.

NEIGHBORHOODS & HISTORY

LITTLE IRELAND

Bronx Irish Pubs Bars Restaurants in Woodlawn Heights near Yonkers Bronx Little Ireland in Woodlawn Heights A Visit to Woodlawn Heights is a bit like a Trip to Ireland March 10, 2020 / Things To Do Bronx / Central Bronx Neighborhoods NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, I took a long ride north on the #2 subway line to 233rd Street in Wakefield. I then headed west on 233rd Street down a long hill, over the Bronx River Parkway, and into Woodlawn Heights. Woodlawn Heights is nestled in north of Woodlawn Cemetery and east and south of Van Cortlandt Park and it's also south of and adjacent to Yonkers and west of Wakefield. As I entered the Woodlawn Heights neighborhood, walking north along Katonah Avenue, I felt a bit as if I'd been whisked away to Ireland. Of course there were Irish bars and pubs that lined the street, but there was also an Irish grocery store. And I imagine if I had more time to spend, I'd find other related gems. But today I was on a mission to scout out a few Irish pubs in anticipation of the Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade which happens a week from Saturday on March 21st. Be advised there are two other Bronx St Patricks Day Parades this Sunday, March 15th in Throgs Neck and in Eastchester the details of which you'll find by clicking the link above - along with suggestions for Bronx Irish pubs and restaurants. It was a quiet Sunday night and the neighborhood was fairly quiet as most are wont to be on a Sunday night. I started my journey by stopping at John Mulligan's Fireside Pub. And lo and behold it wasn't long before standing in front of me was John Mulligan himself. CLICK here to read our report on some of the Bronx St. Pat's Day Irish Pubs near Yonkers.

 

Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx

June 19, 2019 / Hunts Point Neighborhood Bronx / Bronx History NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon a monastery in the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx. The better I get to know the Bronx, the more surprises I find ... like an archeologist peeling away the layers and finding yet another series of layers that begin to tell the tale of one of the most misrepresented boroughs in NYC.

The Corpus Christi Monastery is located at 1230 Lafayette in the Hunts Point neighborhood. Only a little placard, posted on the monastery grounds wall, tells you what lies within.

The photo at right shows the Dominican monastery located in the Hunts Point Neighborhood of the Bronx.

 

The monastery was completed in 1891 according to Wikipedia. The NY Times reports that it's located only four blocks away from the infamous Fort Apache the Bronx. And yet within the cloistered walls, there's a serenity that likely hasn't changed much over the past century and a quarter.

The photo at right, showing the Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx, was collected by the Museum of the City of New York and dated circa 1920.

The monastery is inhabited by the Dominican nuns who practice a contemplative life. They came to the Bronx in the 1880's by invitation of Father Corrigan who wanted a community of the contemplative in the Bronx. Today the monastery is the oldest monastery of the Dominican Order in the United States. An April 28, 2016 CBS report noted that the monastery is in need of donations for repairs, which they were hoping to complete for the 800th anniversary of the order in May of 2016 ... but it looked like they weren't going to reach their goal.

On Sundays about 50 members of the community join the contemplative nuns in attendance at the church for mass.

BRONX ZOO

Video Tour of the Bronx Zoo - Photos of Bronx Zoo on the Bronx Buzz Video Tour of the Bronx Zoo with Photos The Bronx Zoo Provides an Enjoyable Learning Experience April 30, 2019 / Belmont Neighborhood / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC. A couple of weeks ago I visited the Bronx Zoo. Tickets to the Bronx Zoo aren't cheap as admission is $40 / $35 / $30 or you can obtain a year long membership pass for three adults and four children for $210. On Wednesdays, you can make a voluntary donation or even be admitted free, but you have to pay for admission to special exhibits. It's worth mentioning that the Bronx Zoo is far too big to really 'do' in one day. The Bronx Zoo sits atop 265 acres and is run by a non-profit environmental conservation organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society. While the official address of the Bronx Zoo is 2300 Southern Blvd, there are three other entrances to the park - one at Southern Blvd at Bronx Park South, another at Bronx River Parkway and Pelham Parkway and the one through which I entered, the Asia Gate, at 180th Street and Tremont Avenue. For most New Yorkers using public transit, the Asia Gate is your best bet via subway as the #2 & #5 subway train stop at 180th Street is only a block away. Although the base entrance fee is free on Wednesdays, the park asks for additional charges to gain admittance to special exhibits, of which there are at least eight. The special experience exhibits include: 1) the Bug Carousel, 2) the Congo Gorilla Forest, 3) the Nature Trek, 4) the Jungle World, 5) the Butterfly Garden, 6) the Zoo Shuttle, 7) the Wild Asia Monorail and 8) the Children's Zoo. I visited only one of them, Jungle World, as to 'do' one of them properly, I recommend allotting about an hour or more of time. The Jungle World is one of the first special exhibits accessible from the Asia Gate. CLICK here to view the rest of our report including a limited video tour of the Bronx Zoo [there's so much more for you to see].

Black History Month to End Soon

PBS has been Airing Some Excellent Documentaries about African Americans Role in Our Nation's History

February 22, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC History / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. There will be a small bit of rain today between 11 am - 4 pm. Thereafter the rest of the week should be dry. The temperature highs will be in the 40's all week and the temperature lows will be in the 30's. The winds will be 5 - 10 mph except on Wednesday, when it will be a drafty 13 mph. Humidity will be in the 70% range today, dropping into the 60% range on Tuesday & Wednesday, then down into the 50% range on Thursday and Friday.

All tolled, it looks like a pretty fair week.

 

PBS - Finding Your Roots - Histories

Last night I came upon one of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Finding Your Roots documentaries on PBS. For more info about this series see - https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/

As I watched, I recollected how in my youth, I had considered Black hisotry to be a superfluous extension of American history. That perspective was, of course, born of youthful ignorance. Since then, I have come to appreciate the importance of Black Studies in providing a more comprehensive view of American history over the centuries. In part, I have PBS to thank, because they have aired and I have watched, quite a number of documentaries - some or all of which they funded or produced - particularly since the CoVid pandemic began.

In the program I viewed last night, one of the people on Gates' Finding Your Roots series was being informed about her family's history. It struck me when Gates referenced her great, great, great, great grandfather on a bill of sale by Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Over the past decade or so, I've become more interested in my own family's history. We knew a fair amount about those ancestors within temporal reach, going back to our great grandfathers, but little beyond. That was until a couple of summers ago when I found that one of the members of our extended family had a collection of scribbled notes and diagrams that recorded our lineage - some of which appears to date back to colonial times and the Revolutionary War. Up until this discovery, I had thought we had become Americans in the latter half of the 18th century.

But it occurred to me, based on Gates' reference to the great, great, great, great grandfather mentioned above, most African Americans' family histories date back at least a couple of centuries. Gates' documentary series delves into the histories of oftentimes, somewhat famous, African Americans who were descendants of slaves, or famous white Christian or Jewish Americans who are descendants of families that owned slaves.

Gates' geneological and genetic explorations also find interesting tidbits, like the fact that comedian Larry David and Senator Bernie Sanders are distantly related. PBS Producer Ken Burns is a descendant of a slave owner, but also related to Abraham Lincoln. And Brian Gumbel discovered he had some previously unknown Jewish ancestry.

Out of Gates' explorations into the past, we learn many things, not the least of which is that African Americans worked the fields, growing cotton and food that fed and clothed the nation, and provided their 'owners' with a tidy profit. It's worth noting that in the early 1800's about 75% of the nation worked in occupations related to agriculture [today it's about 10 - 11%]. But following the Civil War, African Americans' contribution to the nation went far beyond that, including serving our nation in two world wars, providing needed labor for the auto industry and significantly contributing to our culture and history.

 

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about Black History, Jazz Ambassadors and Henry Louis Gates Helps Folks Find Their Ancestral Roots.

MOVIES

Free Summer Movies in the Bronx - Free Things to do Bronx Free Things To Do in the Bronx - Free Summer Movies in the Park Free Movies In Bronx Parks - Free Outdoor Films in Bronx Parks NYC July 27, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Films in the Bronx / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC. This report includes a list of some of the free things to do in the Bronx this summer. Click here to view a listing of the dates and times of free things to do in the Bronx - free movies in Bronx parks.

CONCERTS

Free Summer Concerts in the Bronx - Free Things to do Bronx NYC Free Things To Do in the Bronx - Free Summer Concerts in the Bronx Free Concerts In Bronx Parks - Fordham, Mosholu, Pelham Bay & Van Cortlandt Park NYC August 27, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Concerts in the Bronx / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC. This report includes a list of some of the free things to do in the Bronx this summer. Click here to view a listing of the dates and times of free things to do in the Bronx - free concerts in Bronx parks.

THEATER

Free Summer Theater in the Bronx - Free Things to do Bronx Free Things To Do in the Bronx - Free Summer Theater & Shakespeare in the Park Summer Theater In The Bronx - Van Cortlandt Park, Teatro Pregones, ID Studio Theater & The Point CDC August 27, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Dance & Theater in the Bronx / Bronx Things To Do / Bronx Buzz NYC. This report includes a list of some of the free things to do in the Bronx this summer. Click here to view a listing of the dates and times of free things to do in the Bronx - mostly free theater in the Bronx & parks.

SWIM

Bronx Swimming Pools - Free Public Swimming Pools Bronx NYC Bronx Swimming Pools - Free Public Pools in NYC This Bronx NYC Public Swimming Pool Directory Includes Contact Info June 26, 2021 / Bronx Neighborhoods NYC / Bronx Swimming Pools, Parks & Sports / Bronx Buzz NYC. Bronx offers easy access to a wide range of recreational swimming pools. The following is our first attempt to provide you with a view of the range of public swimming pools available in the parks of the Bronx. We encourage you to make use of these facilities because they provide healthy, fun, and frequently free or inexpensive entertainment for both individuals and families with children. Only outdoor public pools will be open beginning Saturday June 26th, 2021 as less than two thirds of the public have been fully vaccinated for the CoVid virus / pandemic. This is a health risk mostly for those not opting to get vaccinated, but also for their family and friends, as well as everyone else who has not been vaccinated. Generally pool hours are from 11 am - 7 pm daily, with a one hour break between 3 and 4 pm for cleaning. Bring a padlock for your locker and proper swimming trunks are required [for boys this means not shorts as trunks must have liners]. Don't bring food, glass bottles, newspapers, electronics, floaters and no or as few valuables as you can bring to minimize your risk because the park isn't responsible for your losses. Free sunscreen will be made available while supplies last. Click here to view a listing of Bronx swimming pools, free public swimming pools in Van Cortlandt, Mott Haven, Hunts Point, Concourse, Parkchester, Morris Park, Crotona, Edenwald and East Tremont. Please note the photos do not reflect the onsite pools as of this post 6.21.21.

The Old Croton Aqueduct Trail

Wandering Along an Architectural & Construction Marvel

May 14, 2019 / Highbridge Neighborhood Bronx / Bronx History NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC.

I came upon a pedestrian walk way while exploring the Highbridge neigbhorhood in the Bronx. I soon found it was called the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail and that a stone aqueduct, completed in 1842, lie beneath the smooth level walk way I was making my way along.

When I returned home, I found a whole history of the Old Croton Aqueduct and the positive impact it had on New York nearly two centuries ago, and it was designed and built so well, that it continues to play a role in many New Yorkers' daily lives.

The photo at right shows the pedestrian trail that runs atop the Old Croton Aqueduct in the Bronx.

I'll have more later today about the history and the impact of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Along with the history, you'll learn quite a bit about the history of popular locations today in both the Bronx and Manhattan.

Who was Louis J. Heintz?

Joyce Kilmer Park Statues Contain a bit of Bronx History

January 29, 2019 / Concourse Neighborhood / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Last Fall I attended a gathering at the Bronx Museum where the Chairman of the NY Federal Reserve gave a speech about the economy. He had come to Bronx to take the pulse of things here, as much as or even more than to spread the word about what the Federal Reserve was doing, as - at the time - things were going quite well.

After the meeting I walked back to the subway at 165th Street and Jerome Avenue near Yankee Stadium. On my way, I walked down the Grand Concourse which runs north / south through the center of the Bronx. Alongside the Grand Concourse, immediately north of the Bronx Borough Hall, there's a beautiful park that provides a welcoming spot for one to relax and enjoy a beautiful day, which it was.

As I took in the day, watching the kids play on the northwest end of the park, and older folks sitting on the park benches a bit further south, I started noticed one of the beautiful statues standing stately in the park near the southwest corner. I photographed the statue and researched the man it honored when I returned home. The statue, shown at right, was of Louis J. Heintz.

 

Heintz & the John Eichler Brewing Company of Claremont Neighborhood in the Bronx

Louis J. Heintz lived a very short life as he was born in 1861 and died in 1893. He was of German descent and worked in Eichler Brewery at 169th Street, between Fulton and Third Avenue in what is today the Claremont neighborhood. The John Eichler Brewing Company was run by Heintz's uncle. The John Eichler Brewery opened in 1865 and remained in business - save during the Prohibition [1920 - 1933] - until in 1947, The John Eichler Brewing Company discontinued operations. In the 1880's Louis J. Heintz became the President of the Brewers Board of Trade of New York and became a respected businessman.

 

The photo above right shows the Eichler Brewing Company which was featured in the book entitled Images of the South Bronx published by Arcadia Publishing. And shown below is an Eichler Brewing Company beer label, which was probably from the Prohibition given its low alcohol content.

Heintz's uncle, John Eichler, was born in Bavaria in 1829. In 1858, having learned the brewing trade, before emigrating to America. He worked for the Turtle Bay Brewery for a few years, before forming a brewery which bought the Kolb Brewery in 1865, which he transformed into John Eichler Brewery. In 1888 Eichler formed the company into a stockholding company, because his health was failing. John Eichler died in 1892. As mentioned above, the company continued until it was purchased in 1947, by which time it had become one of the largest breweries in New York City, producing a half million barrels per year.

 

New York City Annexes Southern Bronx 1874 / Eastern Bronx 1895

New York City expanded the boundaries of the city in 1874 by annexing the southern areas of the Bronx including Kingsbridge, Morrisania and West Farms. Later, in 1895, the East Bronx was added while expanding the city's boundary. And in 1898 the area that is today modern day Queens, the city of Brooklyn and Staten Island were all added to comprise what is today the five boroughs of New York City. Each borough is a separate county of New York State.

Louis Heintz Becomes Bronx Street Commissioner

Following the annexation of the Bronx as part of New York City in 1874, the people of the Bronx found their street development lacking. In 1889 Heintz began advocating for a position managed independently in the Bronx, to pave and manage the streets. Heintz became the first Bronx Commissioner of Streets in 1890, after gaining agreement starting a year earlier that such a position was needed in order to have the Bronx streets paved.

Heintz died shortly after falling ill, following attendance at President Grover Cleveland's inauguration which was held on March 4, 1893. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Prior to becoming President he was the Governor of New York State and the Mayor of Buffalo.

The photo at right shows the Eichler Mansion at 169th Street and Fulton in the Claremont neighborhood of the Bronx which was featured in the book entitled Images of the South Bronx published by Arcadia Publishing.

The statue of Louis J. Heintz was cast in 1905 and dedicated in 1909.

Sources: OldBreweries.com, Wikipedia.org, NYCGovParks.org, FindaGrave.com, BronxMall.com and Images of the South Bronx [a book by Arcadia Publishing].

Economic Snapshot NYC & US

In spite of Non-Vaxers’ Negative Impact on the Recovery, Generally the Economy Appear to be Steadily Improving

September 21, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Business & Economy / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

It’s been a while since I have done an economic update, and as we head into the Fall, it seems a good time to look through the tea leaves to figure out where we are and what risks lie ahead between now and the New Year.

The graph at right, created by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, shows employment in the U.S. from 1940 to date. To the far right of the graph, you can see the huge dip in employment in the Spring of 2020, as the pandemic hit. Since then U.S. employment has recovered, but not yet completely.

Unemployment Back to Normal Levels & Stimulus Winding Down

Unemployment continues to decline, and the unemployment rate reflects a growing economy and a tight labor market. One debated theory about the tight labor market, is that it was fueled in part by some of the generous government spending programs, designed to cushion folks from the pandemic, which some believed kept workers out of the employment market. As of this posting, we’ve not seen any good study that proves or disproves that hypothesis. So for now, I recommend you consider that hearsay, at least until you or I find one or more reliable studies that proves or disproves that hypothesis.

In any event, a good measure of both the federal and states stimulus programs have begun to wind down. Beginning in late Spring / early Summer, both states and the federal government began reducing or withdrawing the funding for extra [federal] and extended [states] unemployment benefits.

• CLICK here to read our multi-part series with a snapshot of the U.S. economy in the third quarter of 2021 Q3 2021 Economic Snapshot NYC.

NYS Rent Regulations up for Renewal

NYS Assembly and NYS Senate to Strengthen, Renew or let Expire NYS Rent Regulation Laws

March 19, 2019 / Queens Neighborhoods / Queens Government & Politics / Queens Buzz NYC.

On Saturday I attended an event discussing the upcoming legislation pending in the NYS government in Albany concerning NYS rent regulations. Currently about 2 million of the 8.5 million people who live in NYC will be affected.

The primary topic of the event was MCI or Major Capital Improvements, which is a loophole in rent regulations that allows landlords to initiate projects within their buildings and then pass along the project costs to their tenants, in such manner as to provide the landlord with an incremental revenue increase that lasts into eternity, and which encourages landlords to get creative in originating projects in an effort to raise the rents of their regulated apartments at an accelerating speed in order to grow the monthly rent beyond the legal limit of regulation.

What happens then, is that a significant number of longstanding tenants in regulated housing, are priced out of their homes and neighborhoods. Some of the displaced tenants even become homeless. This is why homelessness nearly doubled under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg - who looked the other way as NYS rent regulations were being renewed.

The event was held in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, where hundreds - if not a thousand - people came to particpate in the discussion.

I'll have more on this at a later date.

NYC Landlord Harassments Continue

NYCCM Helen Rosenthal Hosts Housing Clinic to Inform Renters of Their Rights

May 29, 2018 / Upper West Side Neighborhood / Manhattan Real Estate / Manhattan Neighborhoods / Manhattan Buzz NYC.

On Wednesday, May 25th I went to the Goddard Riverside Community Center on Columbus Avenue at 88th Street to attend a housing clinic designed to inform renters of their rights.

***The following introduction is based on prior research done by me, and was not information provided at the housing clinic. I'll let you know when I segue out of my preamble and into the housing clinic.***

Over the past decade landlords appear to have become increasingly aggressive in trying to wriggle out of NYC and NYS rent stabilization regulations, that govern the rental payments under which about two million New Yorkers live.

It is my understanding that the government contributed land and / or financing to build or repair the buildings governed by NYC / NYS rent stabilization laws in exchange for the pricing rights on rent stabilized units. Many of the new landlords who have acquired rent stablized buildings, may possibly be in violation of approaching their business contract(s) in good faith, as the definition of good faith according to Wikipedia is:

"In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly, fairly, and in good faith, so as to not destroy the right of the other party or parties to receive the benefits of the contract. It is implied in every contract in order to reinforce the express covenants or promises of the contract. A lawsuit (or a cause of action) based upon the breach of the covenant may arise when one party to the contract attempts to claim the benefit of a technical excuse for breaching the contract, or when he or she uses specific contractual terms in isolation in order to refuse to perform his or her contractual obligations, despite the general circumstances and understandings between the parties. When a court or triar or fact interprets a contract, there is always an "implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing" in every written agreement."

What is at stake, throughout the city, is literally hundreds of millions and more likely billions of dollars in - rental benefits or rental income streams - depending on which side of the struggle you're on. The landlords appear to be trying - using the torturtous side effects of construction including noise, health risk dust [inhalation], privacy loss and apartment functional loss - to wrest away the billions of dollars of rental pricing rights benefits from tenants to be pocketed by the landlords themselves. Given the high dollar value of what's at stake - including people's homes - this seems like attempted grand larceny, especially in cases where landlords are breaking the law to achieve their goals.

This will be continued at a later date. Including the segue into the information provided by the Housing Clinic to inform tenants of their rights.

Tenants' Rights March & Rally - June 14th Midtown at 4.30 pm

P.S. There's a March & Rally scheduled for June 14th, beginning at 4.30 pm, at the NY Public Library at 5th Avenue and 40th Street. They plan to march to Governor Cuomo's office at 3rd Avenue and East 41st Street. For details contact info@realrentreform.org or call 212.979.6958. All but one of the No IDC NY senatorial candidates have been invited to participate, and there's a possibility that NYS gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon will be there too - as this seems to coincide with her reasons for challenging Governor Cuomo.

Port Morris Real Estate Development

The Bronx Neighborhood of Port Morris is Experiencing a Real Estate Development Renaissance

May 7, 2018 / Port Morris Neighborhood / Bronx Real Estate & Business / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

Last Sunday I went exploring two of the neighborhoods in the south Bronx. This report will focus on Port Morris, which is at the southern most end of the Bronx and is found along the Harlem River and the East River.

Port Morris has a long storied history, dating back to colonial times. Given its proximity to Manhattan [just over the Harlem River] and accessibility via the East River and Harlem River, Port Morris was geographically well positioned to be one of the great waterfronts. In fact one of the Morrises had this in mind in an earlier period and planned to make Port Morris competitive with the New York City Harbor and the Lower Manhattan docks. But alas it was not meant to be.

In the mid to late 1800's the piano making business was one of the biggest manufacturing industries in New York City. Piano factories lined the East River in Astoria and in the Bronx. By the mid 1900's the piano business was on the decline, being replaced by radio, television and the like as the primary source of home entertainment.

By the late 20th century the southern Bronx was in decline, but many of the old manufacturing buildings of a bygone era still remained. By the early 21st century southern Bronxians began to witness a growing interest in the Port Morris and Mott Haven neighborhoods due to an evolving business, social and economic climate in New York City.

I'll post more on Tuesday, May 8th.

SOCIAL ISSUES

NYC & NYS Continue to Have Lower Murder Rates Than the Rest of the Nation

The Past Couple of Months, NYC Murders have been Below 2019 Levels, and NYC Shootings are Down Double Digits versus 2020, While Gun Arrests Have Doubled vs 2020

August 31, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Crime & Law Enforcement / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This is news you're not likely to find in Australian born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's NY Post, Wall St. Journal nor Fox News because it doesn't fit with Murdoch's self-enriching, propagandistic narratives of blaming Democrats for the increase in violent / gun crimes. He appears to use such narratives to get the politicians who will give him tax breaks, and allow him to continue deregulating his industries, so he can make ever more money at the expense of American Democracy.

The NYPD has been working hard to rein in the out-of-control sales and trafficking of guns in the nation, because of the absence of an intelligent debate on national gun control legislation to combat the growing gun violence, and in particular the mass shootings, that started rising again during the Trump Administration and continued rising in the wake of the CoVid pandemic.

 

Year To Date Murders in NYC are Below the National Average & Have Begun Falling Versus 2020

So we're going to take a look at a number of the NYC crime statistics, and then follow up with an analytical look at some of the issues driving gun related violence, before closing with a look at the distorted, deceitful and destructive coverage provided by Murdoch's Fox News & Propaganda.

As you can see by the chart at right, with the exception of GLA or Grand Larceny Auto and YTD / Year To Date Shootings, all NYC crime is either in the single digits or down, versus last year. It's important to note however, that in July shootings dropped by 35% versus prior year [up 17% YTD], while gun arrests were up 134% versus the prior year [up 68% YTD], so the NYPD continues to make good progress in this regard. And murders were down 49% in July versus prior year and down 10% year to date.

The chart at right shows the NYPD Crime statistics for the month of July 2021 and Year To Date 2021. I have also included comparisons to 2019 as 2020 was an unusual year all the way around - including for NYC crime.

 

The Iron Pipeline - Interstate 95 - is used to Transport Guns from Primarily Red Republican States with Lax Gun Laws

The graphic at right shows what is called the 'Iron Pipeline' which is Interestate 95 which runs from New York to Florida. This interestate highway is used to transport guns / weapons across state lines from mostly red Republican controlled states with lax gun control laws to blue states that have passed stronger gun control laws.

Once the guns arrive here, they are illegally sold and are the root of the gun violence and murder problem in New York City and New York State. Thankfully, Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Shea and the NYPD are on top of things, and have been working hard to rein in the problem, even in the absense of national legislative help.

I think President Biden should look into the possibility of using federal powers regulating interstate commerce, to curtail the transport and sale of guns into states that have tighter regulatory frameworks surrounding the sale of murder weapons. And perhaps the district attorneys in our city and state should consider naming the people who sell these guns, as accessories or even accomplices, to the crimes committed with them.

• CLICK here to view the rest of our report on crime in NYC and the American gun pandemic that spiraled out of control with CoVid.

The Trouble, Fear, Pain & Relief of My First CoVid Vaccination

As More New Yorkers are Vaccinated, the Pressure Grows on Those Who've Not Yet Received a Shot, Also the Role of Limiting Eligibility in Effecting a Smoothe Transition & Effective Tuesday 3/23/21 Folks Aged 50 plus Become Eligible for the CoVid Vaccination

March 22, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Corona Virus / Gotham Buzz NYC.

So I've been putting off getting a CoVid vaccination ever since I became eligible earlier this year. At first I held off was because there were intermittent shortages of the vaccine, then rumors of long lines to get them, and finally I had to wrestle through the various websites offering a shot, at a time and place that 'easily' worked for me.

 

Finding a Vaccination Center Near You in NYC

But this past week I hit the proverbial CoVid vaccine jackpot, after spending what was probably a couple of hours online trying to navigate my way to an appointment. One of the issues are the numerous websites out there, offering vaccines. There's both NYC and NYS vaccinations centers and I waded through each looking for specific locations, specific vaccinations [J&J, Pfizer & Moderna] and specific times.

Let me make it simple for you, as I oftentimes ended up on this site.

https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov

 

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about my personal experience receiving the CoVid vaccination in NYC.

Democracy in Action: Blue Lives, Black Lives, All Lives Matter in Queens & NYC

A Blue Lives Matter Parade Met by a Black Lives Matter Protest

August 23, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / Social Issues NYC / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

On Saturday morning around 11 am a Blue Lives Matter parade began on Greenpoint Avenue and 39th Street in Sunnyside Queens. I arrived shortly after it began and followed it up to Joseph Sabba Park where several people were to give speeches to the parade participants and attendees.

 

As the parade arrived at Joseph Sabba Park they were met by a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who were kneeling on the sidewalk holding placards making Black Lives Matter statements. The Blue Lives Matter parade participants paused as they came in direct contact. As I sat there video recording the ‘confrontation’ I wondered whether things might take a turn for the worse and go badly.

 

Blue Lives Matter Parade & Speakers Queens NYC

Whoever was leading the Blue Lives Matter parade, wisely led the Blue Lives Matter parade around the Black Lives Matter protesters - rather than risking walking through them - where someone on one side or another might have escalated the tension to a higher level.

The Blue Lives Matter parade participants and attendees settled in the middle of Joseph Sabba Park and the speeches began. The first speaker, whose name I didn’t catch, spoke supportively of the police and the important work they do in the community. He struck a human chord, noting that the men and women who serve in the police force are dedicated to serving the community, among whom are their own families and children. He ended saying we’re all human.

The second speaker struck a more passionate Blue Lives Matter tone, remarking that the ‘Diaphragm’ Law hindered police from doing their jobs. The Diaphragm Law allows police officers to be subject to a misdemeanor if they constrict a person’s diaphragm in the process of making an arrest.

What I recorded of both of these speeches will be shown in the video.

The signs of the Blue Lives Matter parade participants also showed a range of thoughts and emotions, ranging from striking a supportive and yet harmonious chord, while others were defiantly in support of the police – seeming to ignore the validity of the Black Lives Matter social unrest. They included Enough with the hate, respect goes both ways, to Reform is for criminals, drug addicts and sex offenders.

• CLICK here for our report on Black Lives Blue Lives All Lives Matter & the role of Pat Lynch union head of the NYPBA police union.

George Floyd Protest Cinematography, Music & Narrative

June 12, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Social Issues & Crime / News Analysis & Opinion /  Gotham Buzz NYC.

The video below is an interpretive depiction of a protest event in McCarren Park early last week. The piece is meant to be savored - like food, music and cinematography.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the George Floyd Pink Floyd protests in Brooklyn, Manhattan & Bronx NYC and George Floyd protest videos.

George Floyd & Pink Floyd

Trying to Make Sense in a Senseless World

May 28, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / CoVid in NYC Special Section / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

I watched the George Floyd protests unfold on the nightly TV newscasts for a couple of days before venturing out myself to see what I might learn. The protests began on Friday, May 29th in NYC, following the death of George Floyd, an African American who was asphyxiated, apparently due to a Minneapolis policeman holding a knee over George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes which was caught on video.

TV News Appears to Sensationalize More than Inform

On Saturday night Fox News ran and reran the same footage multiple times of a car burning, seeming to hype and sensationalize the footage into a full blown ‘riot’. The a lot of the Fox footage was taken from the air, in a helicopter which they lease (reportedly) for millions annually, which again repeatedly showed video of the crowd below, which appeared to be mostly our men in blue. So given little good video, they talked about groups dallying into the police and back again – but really didn’t seem to have any video to support their claims. The next day Mayor de Blasio reported that there were no deaths and no serious injuries to members of the NYPD or the crowd. But there was some looting.

An NBC news account made the situation seem far more chaotic than it was by shaking the camera, providing the appearance of chaos. And so on.

More Photos & Video Coming Wednesday

Covering the George Floyd Protests in NYC from the Ground - Not from a Cushy Corporate Media Chopper

The ‘crisis’ seemed to be more manufactured by the TV news, than by what was actually happening on the streets, which is why I decided I needed to cover this myself. Second hand TV news seems increasingly like garbage news, but before I could make such a claim, I had to see for myself.

Having grown up in a newspaper family, I’ve been watching the news and presentation of it all of my life, beginning with the Kennedy assassination, which my father made all of us watch as he said it was history in the making. Back then the news was owned by dozens, if not hundreds of independent newspapermen and broadcasters, so like social media, there was a variety of news presentations and you could pick from them.

Today large multi-billion dollar corporations control most of the news we see, and it seems their focus is largely centered around profit driven ratings instead of a fair and balanced presentation of the news. This is why they seem to hype, sensationalize and distort Americans’ perceived reality in order to keep them glued to the tube. And the hyping and sensationalizing is not getting better – it’s getting worse.

No longer can you turn on the TV to be informed, but rather to be scared, angered and far too often – to become disinformed.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the George Floyd Pink Floyd protests in NYC.

Closure of Rikers Island Moves Another Step Forward

In Oct 2019 NYC Council Designated Neighborhood Jail Locations in Four Boroughs

Community Board One in Astoria Only Approved the Closure of Rikers Island

January 26, 2020 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Queens Neighborhoods / Queens Politics / Bronx Politics & Government / Queens Buzz NYC & Bronx Buzz NYC.

A week ago, on Tuesday, January 21st I attended the Community Board One meeting at the Astoria World Manor where the board was asked to approve the closing of the Rikers Island Detention Facility effective sometime before the end of the year 2026.

The photo at right was taken from an airplane while landing at LaGuardia in a prior year. Rikers Island Correctional Facility is a stone's throw away from LGA.

 

Queens Community Board One in Astoria Votes on Rikers Closure

The presentation consisted of two slides. One highlighted the social / moral blight that Rikers Island had become. The second slide simply proposed the request in very limited terms - the closing of Rikers Island and the conversion of it to a ‘public place’. The presentation to the Committee was done by a team lead by Dana Kaplan, Deputy Director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice.

So please note that the Community Board had no role in the placement of neighborhood jails, nor did they sign off on anything that may become of Rikers Island going forward. They only approved the closing of the Correctional Facility and the allowance of use for it as a "public place".

I spoke with CB1 District Manager Florence Kolouris after the meeting about what exactly that meant. She told me that there isn’t any definition, per se, given for public place – but a couple of examples of prior public places include Lincoln Center, Fort Totten and Queens Borough Hall.

The Community Board approved the measure with a recommendation that CB1 be kept in the loop throughout the closing process, including any demolition. Plenty of questions followed regarding what would become of the 400 acre island. Nothing concrete was proposed at this time, but the audience was assured that any changes would have to come through the Community Board via the ULURP process [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure].

 

The Bronx & Queens - Rikers Island Community Jurisdiction & Prison Population

It’s worth noting that technically Rikers Island is a part of the Bronx – not Queens – even though the only road traveling onto the island originates in the Astoria / East Elmhurst neighborhoods of Queens. In addition to Queens Community Board One, Bronx Community Board Two, representing the Hunts Point neighborhood, also has influence over the island. Since the Dinkins Administration in the 1990's, there's been a floating barge facility that's docked in Hunts Point, that is considered a part of the Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

Currently there are an estimated 7,000 plus inmates on Rikers Island. At its height, in 1991, Rikers Island held an estimated overcapacity inmate population of nearly 22,000. By the time the facility is to be closed in 2026, the inmate population is expected to have declined to between 3,000 and 4,000.

The photo at right shows the Rikers Island Correctional Facility which will be closed by the end of 2026.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the Rikers Island closing in Queens & the Bronx approved by Community Board One in Astoria / Queens. The designated Rikers replacement jail sites in four of the five boroughs was approved in an October NYC Council meeting.

BX LITTLE ITALY

Bronx Little Italy Neighborhood & Arthur Avenue in Belmont Bx Bronx Little Italy, Savor the Flavor Bronx Little Italy Still Has Some Old World Charm January 21, 2020 / Belmont Neighborhood Bx / Bronx Shopping NYC / Bronx Restaurants NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. The past couple of years I've had the opportunity to spend some time in Bronx Little Italy which is located in the Belmont neighborhood in the central Bronx. The neighborhood is just south of Fordham University and the New York Botanical Gardens and just west of the Bronx Zoo, so it's well positioned to accommodate visitors to these attractive destinations. But most of the traffic in Bronx Little Italy still comes from within the neighborhood itself, the surrounding Bronx neighborhoods, and from the greater NYC metro area neighborhoods, into which the descendants of Belmont Bronx Italian families had moved. The heart of Bronx Little Italy runs along Arthur Avenue south of East Fordham Road / 189th Street to East 184th and Crescent Road. It also expands a bit east and west, along 187th and Crescent Road, but the epicenter is along Arthur Avenue. Arthur Avenue was named after Chester Arthur who was the 21st President of the United States [1881 - 1885].   Brief History of Little Italy in the Bronx The Belmont section of the Bronx was once owned by the Lorillard family, who were wealthy tobacconists in the 1800's. Some of their cigarette brands included Salem, Kook and Winston, which were among the top selling cigarettes, back when it was fashionable to ingest cancer causing agents in such a manner. They named the area Belmont, which means beautiful mountain, as the neighborhood is comprised of hilly areas. In the late 1800's, as the Gilded Age ended, the Lorillard estate was broken into segments and sold off by the heirs. According to Wikipedia the first wave of Italian immigrants starting coming to America following the unification of Italy in 1861 and ran for the latter part of that century. The second wave of Italian immigrants came between the turn of the 20th century [1900] and ending around the time of the beginning of WWII [1938 - 1940]. Many Italians flocked to the Bronx, and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx became a center of Italian food and culture. And it's been that way ever since. One of the main attractions on Arthur Avenue is the Arthur Avenue retail market, which was founded in part by NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. LaGuardia was of Italian and Jewish descent and a reformer, who promoted the market as a means of moving street vendors off the street and inside, as outside vending was somewhat unsanitary and believed to be a health issue. CLICK here to read the rest of our report on Bronx Little Italy & Arthur Avenue Shops & Restaurants in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx.

 

Click here for reports about Bronx holiday events and here for Bronx holiday markets.

Eric Adams Wins in Landslide Defeating Sliwa by More than 2:1

Republican Voter Turnout Was Strong on Long Island, but not in NYC

November 3, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Politics & Government / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Moderate Democrat Eric Adams sailed to victory Tuesday to become NYC's second African American Mayor. Democrat David Dinkins was the first. With 78% of the precincts reporting Adams won 676,481 votes to Sliwa's 293,127.

Democrat Jumaane Williams was re-elected Public Advocate, garnering 598,810 votes which was nearly 69% of the total, with 93% of the scanners reporting.

Progressive Democrat Brad Lander won the NYC Comptroller position, winning 604,000 of the votes, or 70% of the vote with 93% of the scanners counted.

And Democrat Alvin Bragg won the Manhattan District Attorney office, garnering 183,000 votes or 83% of the total.

Four of the five Borough Presidencies were won by Democrats. In Manhattan Mark Levine handily won the borough presidency with 181,000 votes or 85% of the total, with 93% of scanners counted. In Queens Donovan Richards handily won re-election, winning 160,000 votes or 66% of the total, with 79% of the precincts reporting. In Brooklyn Antonio Reynoso also won handily, winning 217,000 votes or 73% of the total, with 78% of the precincts reporting. In the Bronx Vanessa Gibson took in 80,000 votes which was 80% of the total, with 72% of the precincts reporting.

And on Staten Island, the only Republican to win a Borough Presidency, Vito Fossella, won 60,000 votes or 60% of the total, with 87% of the precincts reporting.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the election results of NYC and surrounding area municipal areas in November 2021, including Eric Adams landslide victory vs Curtis Sliwa.

DIAZ JR RUN FOR MAYOR

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - Bronx State of the Borough Address - Bronx NYC Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr Unofficially Announces Mayoral Candidacy Bronx Borough President Diaz Delivers Borough Address 2019 February 21, 2019 / Mott Haven Neighborhood / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Politics & Government / Bronx Buzz NYC. I stepped inside the auditorium, at Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School in Mott Haven, just as the National Anthem began. Eden Augustine from the Bronx High School of Science sang the anthem last year and this year it was xyz from H.E.R.O High. The H.E.R.O. stands for Health, Education & Research Occupations. The Principal of the school, Kristen Cahill Garcia, stepped out onto the stage to say a few words. She noted that Samuel Gompers CTE High School had closed in 2015 and re-opened that Fall as three schools: 1) H.E.R.O. High, 2) a New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities II, and 3) Mott Haven Community High School which is a transfer school for older students. She went on to say that while things have been progressing in a positive direction – there’s still more work to be done. Senate Minority Leader Schumer Gives Introductory Remarks The next speaker, was a surprise guest, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senator Schumer mentioned how he was trying to help with affordable housing and getting more train stations added for commuters in the Eastern neighborhoods of the Bronx. He talked about how we are stronger when we are united, and that the Bronx seems to be united, in spite of the fact that so many of its denizens come from somewhere else. He finished by complimenting Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. on his leadership. Bronx President's State of the Borough Address Well Attended And the last of the ‘warm up remarks’ was given by a Bronx Borough President's Office staffer [Communications Director John DeSio?] who called off a very long list of people in attendance including: Bronx City Council members, NYS Senators, NYS Assembly members, NYC government officials, people representing federal and state government officials, a few Brooklynites, and high ranking Bronx Borough officials like the head of the NYPD in the Bronx and NYC Parks Department in the Bronx and others. He continued on, mentioning folks from non-profits including a number of people representing higher learning institutions in the Bronx such as Hostos, Monroe and Bronx Community Colleges, members of the leadership teams at Jacobi Hospital and Lincoln Medical Center, and Bronx cultural organizations like the NY Botanical Gardens, the Bronx Museum, the Bronx Council for the Arts, and lastly, but not least, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and several Bronx union chapters like the Bronx Carpenters Union and Bronx Electrical Union. This is not a complete list but it’s a pretty good summary without the full detail. Not in Attendance - Ruben Diaz Sr? Notably absent from the list, was NYC Councilmember Ruben Diaz Sr., who made his way into the news with a comment about gays last week – click here to read a short report. I reckon Ruben Diaz Sr.’s absence was probably best for both of them, as they seem to have a good relationship, even though they’re different from one another. We were treated to a short, entertaining video featuring the Bodega Boys, who reportedly just signed with Showtime for a program at 11 pm on Thursdays. The Bodega Boys started a podcast that put them into the big time. Kind of like how Cardi B started posting videos on YouTube, which went viral and made her into the top billing name she is today. In the video there was an ‘unofficial announcement’ of Ruben Diaz Jr.’s plans to run for NYC Mayor in 2021 [see photo still from the video above]. CLICK here to read the rest of our report, including video and photos, of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s State of the Bronx Borough Address 2019.

DIAZ ON GAYS

Bronx City Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr Creates a Stir with Remarks about Gays & Loses Chairmanship Ruben Diaz Sr.'s Comments on Gays NYC City Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr. Creates Stir & Loses Chairman Post February 15, 2019 / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC. The photo at right shows Ruben Diaz Sr at Ruben Diaz Jr's State of the Borough Address in 2018. This week or so, New York City Councilman Diaz opened his mouth and stuck a cowboy-sized boot in it, declaring that City Hall was, "... controlled by the homosexual community ...". The statement cost Diaz his NYC Council Chairmanship, and the NYC Council then voted 45 - 1 to punish him, following an investigation. Diaz Sr isn't doing his son, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, any favors, as his son has been rumored to be contemplating a run for Mayor in 2021. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr tweeted that his father's remarks were antagonistic, not inclusive nor respectful of our diversity, and that his father should apologize. Thus far Ruben Diaz Sr has refused to do so. Diaz, a former minister, ought to pay heed to the Bible, which in the Book of Proverbs tells us that, "Pride goeth before the fall." CLICK here to view the rest of our report about Bronx based NYC Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr.'s comment on gays. The report includes a brief look at the history of gay leadership in the NYC Council as well as a brief scientific look at sexuality - including homosexuality - in nature.

Bronx Halloween Parties & Events NYC 2021 Bronx Halloween Parties & Events NYC 2021 Halloween Parties in Mott Haven, Port Morris, Longwood, Fordham, University Heights & Other Neighborhoods in the Bronx October 19, 2021 / Belmont Neighborhood Bronx / Bronx Restaurants Little Italy / Bronx Buzz NYC. Halloween occurs on a Sunday this year. The Bronx Halloween party celebrations begin as early as Saturday, October 23rd running through the weekend, with some Bronx Halloween parties on Halloween day itself. Halloween is one big costume party, where the theatrical side of people, is given a small opening. Halloween provides people the opportunity to create and play roles they have wanted to play, that the day-to-day keeps submerged. Is it their Doctor side or their Jekyll side - or something uncategorizable? In the photo at right in the introduction to this story is a woman attending a Halloween party at the Queens Museum a number of years ago. In the body of the story, the photo at right is an actor at ID Theater in Mott Haven who performed in a play which was a part of the 14th annual city-wide, Celebrate Mexico Now in 2017. Professional actors are paid to assume and perform roles, but on Halloween it's an all-volunteer, unpaid, theatrical free-for-all ... but that very chaos of creativity is what also makes it so much fun. Click here to read more about our round up of Halloween parties & events in the Bronx NYC 2021.

astoria realtors

NYC News Round Up Mid October 2021

MTA Ridership Bouncing Above the Halfway Line, Columbus Day Weekend Travel Numbers, Movies & Theaters Attendance Update, Demographics of Office Workers Returning to Work in NYC and CoVid Vaccination Progress NYC NYS & USA

October 12, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will range from the low to the high 70's throughout the week, while the temperature lows will be in the 60's all week. Winds will be 4 - 8 mph all week. Humidity will range from the mid 70% to mid 80% Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping to between the mid 60% - 70% range on Thursday and Friday. No rain is in the forecast until Saturday, so you can get the update in our Friday post.

The image at right was taken from the official website of the military health system in the U.S. It shows George Washington, who back in 1776 ordered his troops to get vaccinated against small pox, as the Continental Army was losing more men to disease than were being killed by the British. Here we are over two centuries later, and about a fifth to a quarter of the people in this nation, think they are being 'patriotic' by defying vaccination mandates - like Texas Governor Greg ButtHead and Florida Governor Ron De Stupido. We discuss where these people's confidence in their incredible ignorance comes from, below. The champion of American ignorance was born in Australia.

 

MTA Ridership Running at 45% - 65% of 2019 Volume

Both the subways and buses are running at near or over half their pre-pandemic ridership. While that may not be great news, it's encouraging, as we've been tracking the MTA's progress since the pandemic hit, and these numbers are about the best posted.

It's important to put things in context, and that is that NYC tourism contributes to MTA usage and it's still nowhere close to normal [like the MTA ridership numbers], and many white collar workers are still working remotely because many large Manhattan based corporate operations delayed their plans to return to the office in September 2021 - kicking the deadline to January 2022 because of the CoVid Delta variant surge.

The photo at right was taken a few weeks ago in Grand Central Station. Things have a come a long way from where they were a year ago.

I wish the non-vaxers would quit listening to the hypocritical pundits on Fox News, the NY Post & WSJ who are reportedly all - or mostly - vaccinated, including the Australian born billionaire and Goebbels-like owner himself, Rupert Murdoch. It was reported that about 90% of all Fox employees have been vaccinated, and for those who resist there's a very stringent testing regimen.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the NYC economy is coming back as more people get vaccinated, in spite of Rupert Murdoch's mass media CoVid disinformation campaign.

Things To Do Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx NYC Columbus Day Weekend Things to do in the Bronx NYC Things To Do in the Bronx over the Columbus Day Weekend October 4, 2021 / Things To Do Bronx NYC / Bronx Buzz NYC. More Columbus Day events coming on the Friday 10/8/21 of this weekend. At that time we'll also provide updated Weather which you'll be able to access by clicking the header above to go to the Front Page for the Weekend Update. This report contains a listing of some of the things to do over the Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx including art museums, theaters, live music / comedy / dance venues, sporting & social events, and restaurants in the Bronx NYC. Weather. As of October 4, 2021, the Temperature highs will be in the 70's all four days of the long weekend. The temperature lows will be in the low 60's throughout the weekend. There's a 35% chance of a small amount of rain [2/10th's of an inch] between Saturday evening 5 pm and Sunday evening 6 pm. Winds will be about 5 - 10 mph Friday and Monday and between 10 - 15 mph on Saturday and Sunday. The Humidity will be between 65 - 75% on Friday & Saturday, and 70 - 80% on Sunday and Monday. Click for Bronx Weather. You can still attend Bronx street fairs, go bicycling in the Bronx NYC, play soccer & other games in Bronx parks, go shopping in the Bronx NYC, attend Bronx parades, visit a local Bronx farmers market, watch theater, visit the Bronx theaters, performing arts & art museums, and eat out at one of the Bronx restaurants. And we provide an update on the Friday of Columbus Day Weekend with things to do on the front page of this site.   Columbus Day Weekend Events in the Bronx Little Italy in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, near the Bronx Zoo, NY Botanical Garden and Fordham University, is hosting an event this weekend. Details coming Friday. There's also the 44th Annual Bronx Columbus Day Parade which starts at 12 noon on Sunday 10/10/21 at White Plains Rd and Morris Park Ave and ends by turning left on Williamsbridge Rd and then ending at Lydig Avenue in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. Click here to obtain information about things to do Holiday Weekends in the Bronx. And our things to do / Bronx events calendar is updated monthly with between 50 - 100 different Bronx fun / cultural events. Bronx Public & Private Parks & Public Indoor Swim Pools The Bronx several parks of which a few include public indoor swimming facilities. Click here for a listing of the Bronx Parks including maps showing their locations along with a bit of park history. There are a couple of indoor public swimming pools in the Bronx. One is at the St Mary's Recreation Center at 450 St. Ann's Avenue in St. Mary's Park and the other is at the Hansborough Recreation Center in the Howard Bennett Playground at 35 West 134th Street. Effective September 30, 2021 NYC public indoor swimming pools will reopen at 33% capacity and CoVid guidelines will remain in effect.   NYC Golfing In The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan & Staten Island The Bronx has four public golf courses: Mosholu, Van Cortlandt Park are accessible via the MTA / subway. And Pelham Bay Park and Trump golf links are accessible via subway and a brief bus ride. The Trump Golf Links are an NYC golf course owned by the city, for which Mayor Bloomberg had cut a licensing deal with Donald Trump in 2012 to rename and manage it. Since the Capitol Riot / Insurrection, the City has decided to terminate that deal and rename the golf course, but Trump is suing to keep the contract. Queens has four golf courses and all of them are open this weekend. Click here for details about Queens Golf Courses including maps and links to the operators' websites. Manhattan doesn't have any golf courses per se, but there is a driving range at 62 Chelsea Piers at 22nd Street and the West Side Highway. There are also three simulated golfing centers in Manhattan that operate under the Five Iron Golf name at 22 Stone Street [at Broad St] in the Financial District, at 138 5th Avenue in the Flatiron District and in the Continental on the third floor at 883 6th Avenue near Macy's and Madison Square Garden. Brooklyn has a couple of golf courses including Dyker Beach golf course which is accessible via subway and Marine Park golf course which is accessible via subway and bus. Click here for things to do Columbus Day Weekend in the Bronx.

The Nature of Democracy is Compromise

How Else Would a Majority of 330 Million People Get Agreement on Anything?

September 30, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Politics & Government / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

There are a couple of important legislative bills being debated in the House and Senate. On the one hand you have the Progressive Caucus threatening to hold, or even kill, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in the Senate. And on the other you have a couple of Democratic Senators withholding their votes on passing the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better bill.

Trump left office leaving a multi-trillion dollar deficit in 2020, and the same is expected to occur this year, regardless of the votes on the pending bills. If both bills pass, these huge deficits could spell significant trouble for American business, the economy and the people employed by them by virtue of impacting the trading rate for our currency vis a vis other currencies around the world. The combination of these bills could significantly devalue the purchasing power of the dollar.

If neither bill passes, Biden along with EVERY OTHER Democrat, would be negatively impacted. By possibly failing to pass at least one of the measures, while holding majorities in both chambers, the Democrats would leave themselves wide open to the opposition labeling them "Do Nothing Democrats". And you can be sure that Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, NY Post, Wall St Journal and ABC News would not let that opportunity slip by unheralded, unhyped and unsensationalized by his plethora of putrid propagandists.

There comes a time when one must step back and see the bigger picture. And at present, the bigger picture is that the Democrats can score a BIG WIN, by passing the INFRASTRUCTURE BILL - as that can be a rallying cry for them in the 2022 midterms and beyond. In passing the INFRASTRUCTURE BILL, Biden and the Democrats would have accomplished something that PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICANS FAILED TO DO, with even bigger majorities in both chambers.

It would be very sad, to see the Democrats let this opportunity slip away, because they fail to do what American legislators have done beginning with the inception of the republic - which is to compromise in order to get something done. We are at an important inflection point, voters, so pay heed to who votes which way, so that in 2022 and beyond, you'll know who is so uncompromising, that they will never get anything done.

Senator Bernie Sanders' legislative record is a case in point. In March of 2020, I did a story that, in part, focused on Sanders' legislative record, which was abysmal. Click here for our report on Senator Sanders' legislative record where no legislation of any significance was passed.

I like Bernie, and in 2016 found his candidacy to be of great interest. I think he's an important player in politics in our day, and continues to play an important role in the national conversation. But that said, the reason Biden won out for the presidency, is that Sanders he has never achieved anything legislatively. Click here for our report on Senator Sanders' candidacy for president in 2016.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the negotiations among Democrats regarding Biden's U.S. Infrastructure Bill / Legislation.

NYC News Updates & Catch Up

NYC Public Schools Open Monday, CoVid Guidelines Tightening in order to Avoid Illness and Closures & to Keep the Economy Running, Broadway Reopens, U.S. Open Ends with a Youthful Women's Contest & Medvedev Foils What Could Have Been Historical Men's Final by Djokovic, 911 Subway Series - Yanks 8 / Mets 7, Yom Kippur, and 911 Media Blindspot on how the Wars on Terrorism Mutated to a War on Democracy & Truth

September 13, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. Generally good with highs near 80 Saturday and near 90 on Sunday, with the lows around 70 both days and no rain. Humidity will be around 60% and the winds will be 5 - 10 mph.

The image at right shows Murdoch's Fox faking the news about CoVid. Notice how they try to pin labels on CNN [masquerade], the Democrats [politicize / scam], other media [hysteria] and scaremonger about 'other' lockdowns. In the case of the labelers, they are oftentimes accusing someone else of doing exactly what they are doing. In psychology this is called projection, where they project their traits onto others in order to distract whomever they are communicating with, from noticing those traits in them.

 

NYC Public Schools Open Monday with CoVid Guidelines in Place

Mayor de Blasio announced that not only teachers, but also school staff in the NYC Public School system, will be required to have at least one vaccine dose by September 27th.

While there isn't a mandate for children over 12 to be vaccinated [yet?], all NYC public school children are required to wear masks, social distance at three or more feet, and may be subject to health screenings [testing]. The Catholic schools in NYC are not requiring vaccines for teachers or students, but are requiring the wearing of masks.

Additionally the NYC Indoor Vaccine Mandate, announced on August 17th, will begin enforcement on Monday, September 13th. The mandate requires both employees and customers to get vaccinated in order to work at or patronize dining, fitness and entertainment venues when indoors. The mandate will not be enforced by the NYPD, but rather by a slew of other city agencies / departments that already oversee the operations of these businesses.

Vaccination Rates & Mandates for NYC Employees. According to a July 26, 2021 report by Intelligencer, Mayor de Blasio mandated that all municipal employees get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. At the time the NYPD reportedly had a vaccination rate of 43%, and the NYFD had a vaccination rate of 51% and Corrections had a vaccination rate of 41%. By September 10, 2021 the NYPD vaccination rate had increased to 53%, and the overall municipal employee vaccination rate was 65%, which was in line with the average for New Yorkers generally, where 67% have been vaccinated according to a September 10, 2021 AMNY report.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on CoVid vaccination mandates, reopening schools for in-person learning and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, NY Post & WSJ dishonest reporting of CoVid and the importance of also vaccinating the ignorant.

911 / The War in Afghanistan is Over - but the War on the Truth that put us there - Continues

TV News People Provided Superficial, Dimwitted, Gossipy Accounts of the Withdrawal, & Unfortunately, Far too many of the Print Reports Weren’t Much Better

September 7, 2021 / Fox News Fakes the News / U.S. Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

Somehow amidst the din of Murdoch mass media hyped criticism, the real headline was buried.

"The War is Over. The Twenty Year War in Afghanistan is Over. "

 

This was one of two Murdoch Wars - So his Outlets Seemed to Disminish or Ignore the Human & Taxpayer Costs - Over 170,000 Human Lives & Over $2 Trillion and Counting - and so did the Knuckleheads at the Other News Outlets

Where are the parades? Where are the celebrations? Where are the Congressional and Senate committees and hearings to investigate how we got into the Afghanistan war in the first place? And then why we stayed so long? Who incited this war and then profited from the $2 trillion in spending that the U.S. taxpayer took out loans to pay?

About 2,461 American soldiers died in the Afghanistan War. According to an August 17, 2021 report by the Associated Press, another 3846 American contractors lost their lives, as well as 72 journalists. The Afghanis suffered significant fatalities as well, as 66,000 Afghani military and police died, 47,000 Afghani civilians and 51,000 Taliban fighters.

TV News Provided Scant Real Insight, Information or Understanding Surrounding America's Withdrawal from Afghanistand to the Viewer

In the reporting over the past month or so I DID NOT SEE EVEN ONE REFERENCE TO THE RUSSIAN WITHDRAWAL from Afghanistan in the 1980’s. NOT ONE! Why does that matter?

Because if you’re going to evaluate how effective the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was, you MUST look at prior history, and the Russian withdrawal is the closest, realistic assessment of what the costs of withdrawal from Afghanistan could, would or should be. I watched with something bordering between disgust and horror, as the gutted out nationally branded TV ‘news’ organizations ‘informed’ the American people as to what was happening as the American withdrawal from Afghanistan took place before our eyes in real time.

I. The Pied Piper Framed a Dishonest & Negative Narrative about President Biden's Handling of the Withdrawal via his WSJ, then Echoed it with the Nearly Half of the Nationally Branded U.S. Daily Media he Controls, which the Lazy and / or Incompetent Competition then Parrotted

Australian born billionaire, Rupert Murdoch - as is too often the case - led the rest of the mindless mass media, like the Pied Piper. On August 15, 2021, the Wall St. Journal published an OpEd by the ‘Editorial Board’. The ‘Editorial Board’ appears to be the pen name of billionaire Rupert Murdoch who owns and controls the paper. The ‘Editorial Board’ said published the narrative that Biden was incompetent and had messed things up, with scant reference to history or a holistic presentation of the facts.

Ever since that narrative was published, it has been used by many of the rest of the mass media, to contextualize or frame presentations made by the corporate press in discussing the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Not everyone in the mass media was so incompetent or so lazy that they used the mendacious Murdoch’s narrative – thankfully. But eyeballing things, I’d estimate that more than half of them did. I suppose the good news is that there are still a few real, independent-minded journalists operating in our midst.

Murdoch used his Wall St. Journal brand to lead the narrative, because it has a history as a respected publication. Even though respect for the brand seems to have been diminishing ever since Murdoch’s took control of the paper in August of 2007. After the announcement many of the real journalists who could leave, did. Barron’s was included in the acquisition and remains a Murdoch brand today.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on Rupert Murdoch's War on Truth in English-speaking democracies including America.

 

A Look Back at the NYC Municipal Primary Election Results of 2021

Females Won Big, But Because of Ranked Choice Voting, the Results Trickled in Over the Past Month, & Real Assessments of the Changed Landscape have yet to Follow

August 3, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Government & Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The June 22nd election primary for NYC municipal offices has long passed, but a solid look at the overall results of the election has not yet followed. What I will attempt to do today, is to offer provide a top down summary of the results, along with some interpretation of what this means going forward.

 

Women Won Big in the New York City Council Democratic Primaries

One of the biggest changes to municipal government likely to occur following the November election is that the NYC Council will move from less than a third women, to over half women for the first time in NYC history. This assumes most or all of the Democrats win their seats in the general election. This usually happens in a heavily blue state like New York, just as Republican primary winners in Alabama become the likely winners of the general election in that heavily red state. Somewhere between 29 and 31 of the Democratic primary winners in the NYC Council races were women out of a 51 member municipal legislative body.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the NYC Municipal Democratic Primary Election results of June 2021.

How Would a Mayor Eric Adams Govern?

He Seems to Favor Charter Schools & They Seem to Favor Him, He's Pulled in the Most Real Estate Cash & He has Indicated He'll Reverse Course a bit on Police Reform & ...

May 17, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

 

Eric Adams isn't Scott Stringer

Last week I did a report snapshotting what I know about Scott Stringer's political career that leads me to think he's not to be trusted.

Stringer takes big public stands on what I would call generic Democratic issues over which he has little influence - gender equality, race and climate change - while speaking with forked tongue on issues over which he has considerable influence - like real estate developments, local education, public libraries and the pension fund investments - that significantly impact the local communities, neighborhoods and unions.

In that report I also noted how Stringer seems opportunistic in compromising his stances [for example in education and the public library system] in order to capitalize on what he seems to think are self enhancing career opportunities. And Stringer also seems to have used the power and authority of government positions entrusted to him by the people, to aid those who fund his campaigns, possibly trading what's good for the people, in exchange for what's good for Scott Stringer.

Stringer hit my radar nearly a decade ago, while Eric Adams only hit my radar a few years ago. So I'm less familiar with Adams career than Stringer's. But in doing the research, I found that Eric Adams appears to be a slow steady hand, whose positions have evolved over time ... and I would add that generally they appear to have evolved carefully.

 

1. Eric Adams - Public Schools & Education

Pro Charter Schools & What that Means

FOR PROFIT Charter Schools, don't seem to solve the failing schools problem, but rather split and shift the problem burdens, while privatizing and gutting a significant portion of the public school system. I began reporting on education during the Bloomberg era, wherein Bloomberg's Administration seemed to split public schools into two smaller entities, and then parcel out the achieving students / families via charter recruitment to the privately run for profit charters, while leaving the lower performing students / families in the care of unions and the general public. It seemed to me they didn't really solve anything, and sucked needed capital out of the public school system, putting it in the hands of the venture capitalists who were funding them.

This situation appeared to me not unlike what the insurance industry had done prior to Obamacare - whereby the insurance companies recruited healthy people for health insurance, and avoided signing those who weren't healthy in order to enhance their economic performance. To me this goes against the grain of what America is all about - which is equal opportunity for all. The privatization of the public schools by the predatory for profit charters would turn the public education system into the haves and have nots.

*** It's worth noting that NON-PROFIT CHARTERS evolved for different reasons and provided a healthy challenge to the union run public education system and I view far more favorably than the for profit charters.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about Eric Adams political career and policy positions on charter schools, housing and the police / also an analysis of gun public policy failures in the U.S..

The Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Cuomo

The Sheer Number of Allegations Appears to Indicate Something is Not Right

But This Report is Not About Judging Cuomo, Either Way, but Urging People to Let Due Process Play Out

March 15, 2021 / US Politics / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Part II.

I'm going to explore each accuser's allegations while providing a bit of background on each of them. I have found some of Cuomo's accusers more credible than others, in what I would call the integrity of the whole situation. That said, the sheer number of allegations certainly lends credence to the notion that something is not right in how Cuomo is managing his staff at the Capitol and in the Governor's mansion.

One's attractiveness to the opposite sex, can cut both ways. It can be used: 1) as a powerful tool to obtain special favors, wage increases and promotions one didn't earn, or 2) it can attract unwanted advances that feel threatening to one's person and livelihood. In the former case (#1), one's co-workers or competitors are often the victims by being passed over for promotions, travel and other opportunities. In the latter case (#2), one is a victim / target of unwanted sexual advances by virtue of their god given beauty.

While in Business School, one of my very best friends - who coincidentally was named Murdoch [but no relation to Rupert] - told me that his father had told him that

"... it was more important to be respected, than liked ..."

We both had to seriously contemplate this advice, as this friend was immensely popular. He had asked me to help him unravel what seemed his father's riddle. Ultimately In due time I concluded that my friend's father was right - it is more important to be respected than liked.

I think that is also good advice for women in the workforce, and provides a compass for how one should conduct oneself. Not every man out there is a gentleman, and oftentimes successful men are also the badly behaved men, some can even be assholes like - let's say - Donald Trump. And as we've seen over the past four year presidency, both the men and women who reported into him were certainly psychologically abused. And I won't even begin to contemplate Melania's situation.

So with that in mind, let's take a brief look at each of Cuomo's accusers and their allegations regarding the Governor.

 

I. Lindsey Boylan (36) - Deputy Secretary for Economic Development & Special Advisor to the Governor

Lindsay Boylan was the first woman to come forward and charge Andrew Cuomo with sexual harrassment in a tweet in December of 2020. She worked for Cuomo from 2015 - 2018 as the Governor's Deputy Secretary and Advisor, during which time she alleges she was continually harassed. Boylan is now running for Manhattan Borough President.

In the accounts of Boylan's claims I've seen published she indicated Cuomo would touch or brush against her arm or leg, compare her to an ex-girlfriend, make unwanted sexually charged statements or inquiries, and on one occasion kissed her on the lips without her permission following the award of a promotion.

Boylan first went public with her claims in December 2020, telling the world that she was speaking out now, because she felt that the public should know this, as Andrew Cuomo was up for consideration for the position of the U.S. Attorney General. This seemed reminiscent of Christine Blasey Ford stepping forth in 2018 with allegations of attempted rape by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But attempted rape is a far more serious allegation than harassment / inappropriate workplace behavior.

At the time Boylan said she didn't want to speak to any journalists about the explosive claims. This set off my spidey sense, because it seems unfair to think that you can make such explosive, career busting allegations without expecting reporters to want to dig deeper for the full context of the story.

Cuomo denied the allegations.

Last year [2020] Boylan was beaten in the Democratic congressional primary. It would seem to be a fair question to ask whether she is angry / blames Cuomo for her loss, believing that perhaps he did not help her enough? One might also ponder whether she is she using the explosive claims of sexual harassment against Cuomo to gain publicity for her current campaign for Manhattan Borough President, while simultaniously by capitalizing on / reaching out to the #MeToo movement?

In what appeared Cuomo pushback, some of Boylan's personnel files were disclosed to the press, indicating there may have been some issues surrounding to her departure from the Cuomo Administration, regarding her management of employees working for her. Boylan says this is part of a Cuomo intimidation / smear campaign.

Boylan said she was harrassed most or many of the nearly four years she worked for Cuomo [2015 - 2018]. Like many women, she hesitated and waited until [two] years after her departure before going public.

The #MeToo movement advocates that all women's sexual harassment claims should be believed, as for centuries women's sexual harrassment claims have been discredited and ignored.

Yet not long after she went public, she threatened to start a women's PAC to torch Schumer and other New York politicians who did not come out to support her in her allegations sooner. The gap in her announcement and in Schumer and other politicians' speaking out in her favor, was about two and a half months [late Dec 2020 to early Mar 2021]. Boylan also published a threatening tweet castigating both President Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris for withholding judgment as well, before she deleted it.

Boylan's vehement 'PAC fundraising' response, caused me to stop to ponder the full nature of Boylan's nearly four relationship with Cuomo, which seems to have greatly benefitted her with promotions and travel, until it did not. I was also reminded of how Donald Trump and Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz opportunistically used 'Stop the Steal' to fundraise PAC money for themselves off of an emotional, voter 'patriotism' hot button issue.

As with Janice Dean's allegations / crusade / soft gubernatiorial campaign launch, where Shakespeare's quote in Hamlet "The lady doth protest too much me thinks" seemed to resonate, as I again found myself asking if this quote also has some relevance to Boylan's case. See prior report for full explanation regarding Janice Dean.

Boylan's allegations would be given due consideration in an investigation. And we may learn much more about hers and Cuomo's relationship ... and it's possible that it could be highly toxic to both of them.

 

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about the multiple sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo including by Lindsey Boylan, candidate for Manhattan Borough President.

Weekend Update & A Different Perspective on Andrew Cuomo's Troubles

The Weather Returns to Seasonal, Daylight Savings Time Springs Ahead Sunday, People Vaccinated Growing Rapidly & Has Raging Rupert Incited Another Rioting Mob?

March 12, 2021 / US Politics / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This past week, we experienced a few enjoyable weather days this week, with temperatures in the 60's and 70's. But alas, all good things must come to an end, so starting tonight the temperature will fall back into the 30's and we'll return to seasonal weather for the next week or so.

Weather. The temperature high will be about 70 on Friday, returning to the 50's on Saturday and Sunday. The temperature lows will fall to the mid 30's tonight and Saturday and then fall to the mid 20's on Sunday night. No rain is in the forecast and the humidity will remain low at about 30% throughout the weekend. The wind will range from 10 - 18 mph on Friday, 5 - 10 mph Saturday and rise back up to 18 mph on Sunday.

Daylight Savings Time, where you 'spring ahead' by setting your clock ahead an hour ahead, begins early Sunday morning at 2 am. At present it gets light about 6 am, so following the change it will become light out around 7 am, and currently it gets dark around 6 pm, and following the change it will then get dark around 7 pm.

The number of New Yorkers and Americans vaccinated continues to grow quickly. As of this post some 65 million Americans or about 20% of the nation has received at least one shot. New York is staying abreast with the rest of the nation, with four million New Yorkers [state] having received at least one shot, which is 20% of the state population of about 20 million. New York City has vaccinted 1.8 million people which is also about 20% of the 8.4 million New York City residents.

And the pace of vaccinations continues to accelerate, because just this past week, in New York State over a million doses were administered. President Biden wants everyone to be eligible to receive the vaccine by early May, so that come Independence Day, we can celebrate together is a post pandemic normalcy. The nation's production of vaccine continues to grow, and the vaccine distribution / administration capability which is handled at the state and municipal level, appear to be in place to handle the growing demand.

Children are not among those eligible to be vaccinated. This is because most children do not appear to become severely ill. There are tests being conducted on vaccinating younger children ages 16 - 18, as well as some kids as young as 12, and plans are being discussed regarding vaccinating children 5 - 11.

 

Did Raging Rupert Murdoch's Mass Media Riot Machine Incite Another Mob by Distorting & Using #MeToo?

March 12, 2021 / US Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

While watching the story of Governor Cuomo's troubles unfold, they triggered my 'spidey sense', or as it used to be called, my newsman's nose. In either case something smells rotten in NYS and as oftentimes is the case, it seems to be coming from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century & Newscorp - which includes the NY Post, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, his Harper Collins Publishing Company and possibly with an assist from Disney / ABC News where he has become the largest shareholder and where he seems to be making behind-the-scense personnel moves in the news division.

Even more than Trump, Rupert Murdoch is a trojan horse threat to our democracy. He has already turned both Australia and Britain into banana republics where he appears to change prime ministers at the drop of a hat and unfortunately most of the natives of those lands don't even seem to be aware that they're living in a mediacracy - which is a state controlled by one man's mass media holdings. Both Britain and Australia have been through at least four prime ministers within the past five years, because it seems Murdoch couldn't get exactly what he wanted on the first three tries.

Why do I think the stench is coming from Murdoch's 21st Century & Newscorp and not the Governor's mansion? Because Murdoch's gang of mendacious multi-millionaire minions too often seem not to give a damn about reporting the truth - but rather about distorting and even fictionalizing it to stoke the ratings busting fires of discontent - by attacking government officials who seem not to give Murdoch what he wants from them.

Murdoch's portfolio of wealthy teleprompter actors and actresses, seem to feign anger and outrage, in order to stoke the hyper ventillating audiences of reality contortionists Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro and Tucker into a ratings driven profit frenzy ... which the Australian born billionaire cashes in on, but also uses to brow beat those government officials who won't obey him and use our governmental apparatus to enhance Murdoch's wealth and power.

Earlier this year Murdoch's mass media appeared to help stoke the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol by feeding their audiences misinformation about the integrity of the election results and of the voting apparatus. Murdoch's mendacious minions did such a colossal job of disinforming the American public, that they are now the defendants in a $2.7 multi-BILLION dollar lawsuit filed by Smartmatic, one of the voting machine companies.

Murdoch appeared to fire Fox News host Lou Dobbs in order to pretend Fox News doesn't tolerate that sort of thing [disinforming their audience], just like they fired Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes - BUT only after years of reported sexual harassment transgressions when it became too big to ignore, and activists started boycotting Fox advertisers and the greedy 'little man' billionaire started losing money on them. Then came the "I didn't know" and yet another Murdoch inspired phony act of the most insincere contrition.

Remorseful Rupert Murdoch's quintessential phony act of contrition was performed in Britain in 2012, during the investigation into his company's [or ies'] phone hacking of ordinary British citizens for sadistic pleasure and profit. Murdoch's company reportedly hacked the phones of private citizens in order to sensationalize their personal trauma and tragedy on the front pages of Murdoch's British tabloids and TV outlets. Revealing the personal and private pain of private citizen(s) appeared to be great for Murdoch's newspaper sales, great for Rupert's TV ratings and great for rapacious Rupert Murdoch's insatiable appetite for ever more money. It was all part of his life-long, predatory power grab from the ignorant people who get their 'news' from his outlets, and make their voting decisions based on it.

So let's take a look at how the Cuomo story / stories unfolded, in search of truth - not ratings, and in search of a more behind-the-scenes account of things [also known as asking why] - not by partaking in a superficial, broadcast mass media induced, modern day virtual mob lynching, which is what appears to be happening as we speak. The virtual mob won't hang Cuomo's real life carcass like a Mussolini, but rather they will hang his reputation out to dry, based entirely on - as of yet - unsubstantiated allegations made in some cases by people who haven't even revealed themselves and to date have remained fully anonymous. The broadcast TV mass media induced mob will leave Cuomo for politically dead ... which appears exactly what the perennially angry, mean, old man - Rupert Keith Murdoch - wants. Assuming of course, that the actions and words of so many of Murdoch's apparently dishonest minions, represents his the 'Triump of the Will' or the Goebbels-like Media Fuhrer's wishes.

Step aside Atticus Finch - there's a new mindless mob in town - and it appears to be incited by the Australian born propagandist, Herr Rupert Murdoch, America's 21st century Goebbels.

 

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about Rupert Murdoch's mass media blitzkrieg assault on Governor Cuomo using Fox News weather teleprompter reader Janice Dean to lead a media coup d'etat by hyping and sensationalizing allegations and innuendo about NYS CoVid pandemic nursing home deaths.

 

Things To Do & News Updates NYC

Movie Theaters, Taxi Drivers, Gun Arrests, the NRA Russia & Trump, Central Park & Bronx Golf Course Concessions Bidding Deadline March 19, 2021, CoVid Testing, Vaccination Stats & Daylight Savings Time Two Weeks Away

February 26, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / Things To Do NYC / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. Friday won't see any rain, but on Saturday there's nearly a 100% chance of a small amount [a quarter inch] of rain in the morning. Saturday afternoon should be clear. On Sunday there's also a high probabilty of a half inch of rain, most likely to fall around midday, with a lingering probability lasting the rest of the day [40% - 60%]. Temperature highs will be in the mid 40's to low 50's throughout the weekend and the temperature lows will be in the mid 30's on Friday and hovering around 40 the rest of the weekend. Humidity will rise from the 40% range to near the 70% range on Friday and then stay between the 70% - 80% range the rest of the weekend. Winds will be 50 - 10 mph all weekend.

Things To Do, News Briefs & Updates

- NYC Movie Theaters Can Reopen March 5, 2021

Governor Cuomo announced that movie theaters will be able to reopen at 25% capacity March 5th, 2021.

-Taxi Driver Blockade Brooklyn Bridge in Support of Medallion Debt Restructuring

One story that seemed to receive little attention was a taxi driver blockade of the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday afternoon on February 10th. They were making a statement, following a City Council hearing on loan forgiveness / restructuring for taxi driver medallion debt, earlier in the day. The 25,000 member taxi driver union was supportive of the action. NYC government officials are trying to find a way to help taxi drivers, but are constrained by the current fiscal challenges arising from the CoVid crisis.

- January Gun Arrests Up 75% & Full Year 2020 were Up 29%

At the end of January, NYC Police Commissioner Demot Shea said that 417 gun arrests had been made that month, up 75% versus a year ago. He also noted that last year gun arrests were up 29% versus 2018. He rhetorically asked the question, "what's changed that there are so many guns making their way into NYC?"

- The NRA, Guns, Russian Cash & the Trump Money Laundromat

According to an April 2, 2018 report in Rolling Stone, the NRA President, David Keene, was an honored guest in Moscow at a 2013 event hosted by The Right to Bear Arms group. Prior to and during the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia courted the NRA, including hosting members at all expense paid events.

According to the report, the Russian group was deceitfully presented as 'grassroots' organization, led in part by Maria Butina, seeking comraderie with like minded gun enthusiasts. The reality appears to be that they were working under the influence of the Russian government, in an effort to infiltrate politically conservative groups in the U.S., to become what was alleged to be money laundering conduits for campaign cash to the Trump and other Republican political campaigns.

The NRA was founded in 1871 in New York and recently moved its headquarters to Texas. In February 2019 NYS Attorney General Tisch James filed a lawsuit against the NRA seeking to dissolve it because, the brief contended, it had become so corrupt and self serving and had failed to comply with numerous laws.

In August 2019 the two Republican members of the Federal Election Commission [Caroline Hunter & Matthew Petersen] blocked an investigation into whether Russia had used the NRA as a money laundering machine to funnel [$30 million] cash to Trump and Republicans in the 2016 election. In the 2016 election NRA donations spiked $35 million which was believed to have come from Russian government influenced agents, like the Russian oligarchs. According to an August 20, 2019 report,

" ... The [FEC] split 2-2 vote fell along partisan lines, with the FEC’s two Republicans voting against any further inquiry into whether Alexander Torshin, a sanctioned Russian official, and Maria Butina, a convicted Russian agent, grew close to the NRA in order to help direct the group’s 2016 political donations...."

See earlier reports we did on Mitch McConnell which identify Russian oligarch funding he, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and other top Republicans received from the Russian oligarchs in 2016 as reported by Open Secrets which is a non-profit group that 'follows the money' of election campaign contributions.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about Guns on the NYC streets, the NRA Russia & Trump, and the CoVid vaccination rollout.

How the President, a Former NYC Mayor and Murdoch's Fox News Seemed to Incite the Capitol Insurrectionists

Rudy Giuliani, Nicknamed America's Mayor by Murdoch's Fox News, Appears to have Helped Incite the Band of Simpleminded Trumpsters to Insurrection

Updated January 11, 2021 from 1.8.21 / US Politics / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Rising Film Star [Barat2] and Former NYC Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, appears to have devolved into something of a national freak show or farce over the past five years. Perhaps longer. But in the past few months, he's become something of a national disgrace.

Fox News seems to use nicknames for their propaganda assets, like referring to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the 'Iron Lady' and President Ronald Reagan as the 'Gipper'. Rudy Giuliani seems to be yet another Fox propaganda asset and, as such, is oftentimes referred to as America's Mayor by Fox pundits.

This is not unlike how Murdoch's Fox News nicknames themselves America's Newsroom. This was a trick used by Hitler and Goebbels, using words and images to create the illusion that they, the Nazi Party [in this cae the Fox Nation with red, white and blue colors] was the same as the state - and thus represented all that was right and just. But remember - just because Murdoch's Fox News says it's so - doesn't make it so [like they used to call themselves 'Fair & Balanced' before they started fearing a lawsuit for false advertising]. But, the Australian born billionaire's overwhelming control and / or ownership of America's television media [see our special section on Murdoch and the 21st Propaganda Press on Gotham Buzz] does give him a leg up in attaching and making both good and bad labels stick to people, places and things.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, Rudy Giuliani joined Donald Trump and Donny junior at a Trump rally in Washington, D.C. near the White House. The Donald had promoted this gathering as something 'wild' and related to his seemingly phony stop the steal / election fraud fundraising claims. At the rally Trump told his supporters, numbering about 5,000 [per the park permit] to march down to the Capitol and that he'd be there with them.

I think it's safe to say that the Trump supporters who came to this event came prepared to continue to be misinformed and misled by the con men standing on the stage in front of them. After the speeches the audience mindlessly did as Trump had instructed them, and began marching toward the Capitol - but without their fearful leader [bonespurs acting up again?]. The Trumps and Giuliani were not to be found when the group arrived at the Capitol. What a surprise!

When the Trumpsters reached the barricades in front of the Capitol, the police in charge of protecting it, seemed to give way. What exactly transpired at this juncture we'll find out eventually, but one thing we do know for certain is that Trump didn't deploy as many of the National Guardsmen as he did for his tear gassing photo op with the Bible last summer. So Vice President Mike Pence had to step in to call up more National Guardsmen who eventually secured the Capitol - but not until after it had been ransacked [including one report of defecation].

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on How the President, a Former NYC Mayor and Murdoch's Fox News Seemed to Incite the Capitol Insurrectionists.

The Mirage of the 'Trump Economy' Part II

Australian born Billionaire, Rupert Murdoch Seems to use the Wall St Journal, NY Post & Fox News to Create the Illusion that Trump has Some Sort of Economic Magic Touch, but the Truth is $6 Trillion in New Debt & $3 Trillion in Federal Reserve Bond Purchases

September 21, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / Things To Do NYC / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Few real journalists - if any - have ever honestly accused Rupert Murdoch and most of the large media brands he controls in our nation, of being bastions of truth. In fact, it would seem, quite the opposite - including by some of the people who work for him.

When Murdoch purchased the Wall Street Journal in 2007 [fact check], there were concerns that he would turn it into another one of his propaganda rags. Shortly after the acquisition, a number of Wall Street Journal reporters fled to Bloomberg News. In fact dozens of them. Those journalists that remained at the Wall Street Journal, had to learn how to operate for an Australian born billionaire who seems to delight in misleading the masses - rather than informing them - in order to profit from the audience's ignorance, to which Murdoch media appear to contribute greatly. Murdoch is kind of like a street hustler whose propagandists do sleight of tongue [hand] tricks, while his political accomplices [puppets like Trump & McConnell] pick the pockets of the audience [Americans].

Not Your Father's Wall Street Journal - A Murdoch Propaganda Rag?

This summer over 280 journalists at the Wall Street Journal, became concerned that Herr Murdoch - like Nazi propagandist Herr Goebbels before him - was corrupting the Wall Street Journal into a propaganda outlet, in advance of the election this November. While Murdoch's distortion of the truth in the Wall Street Journal appears to have been going on for years, the event that immediately precipitated the letter, was a misleading - even deceptive - Op Ed by Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence.

In the letter they had a few simple requests. A July 21, 2020 report in the Wall St Journal states,

"... [The WSJ's] Opinion’s lack of fact-checking and transparency, and its apparent disregard for evidence, undermine our readers’ trust and our ability to gain credibility with sources ...”

" ... The letter cites several examples of concern, including a recent essay by Vice President Mike Pence about coronavirus infections ... "

“.. [and that] WSJ journalists should not be reprimanded for writing about errors published in Opinion ..."

"... suggests removing opinion pieces from the “Most Popular Articles” and “Recommended Videos” lists on the website, and creating a separate “Most Popular in Opinion” list..."

" ... letter highlighted was an opinion article titled “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism,” which the letter’s authors said was one of the paper’s most read articles in June. The article argued that the “charge of systemic police bias was wrong during the Obama years and remains so today.” The letter says the piece “selectively presented facts and drew an erroneous conclusion from the underlying data...”

i have reported on similar truth distortions by Rupert Murdoch's media, including Fox News, the NY Post and many other media outlets controlled by him in our section about Rupert Murdoch and the Rise of the 21st Century Propaganda Press, which you can find by clicking this link.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report about Rupert Murdoch, an apparent stateless hostile foreign power, and his assault on American Democracy using his media outlets as the Trojan Horse - to promote apparent fraudulent narratives like 'the Trump economy'.

Triumph of The [Rupert's] Will: How Murdoch Manipulates Voter's Perceptions & Public Policy

Australian born Billionaire Appears to use his Media Outlets to Shape Voter's Views, Loading them with Misconceptions, So They'll Elect Compromised Fox Nation Pols, Who Upon Assuming Office, Seem to Reward Murdoch's Media Support, by Crafting Public Policy to Conform to Murdoch's Will, Favoring his Business Interests

September 4, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / U.S. Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

As mentioned previously, I've been doing a fairly deep dive into learning as much about the Third Reich and Nazi Germany as time permits, in order to more fully understand what's happening in present day events.

Media Manipulation for Fun & Profit

I began noticing similarities between Australian born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's manipulative use of his large share of Amerian media in 2016, to what Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda for the Nazis, did beginning in the 1920's until his end in 1945. On May 1, 1945 Goebbels poisoned his children, his wife and himself as the Allied forces neared his home. Hitler and his companions had committed suicide the day before, as Allied forces invaded Berlin. None of them had the courage to stand trial for their crimes against humanity ... although like Mussolini, they may not have made it to court.

 

1. Did Fox 'News' Attempt to Protect the Reputation of a Propaganda Asset via Omission?

So today, we're going to look at just a few of Murdoch's media manipulations made in just the past couple of months - and I'm nearly certain that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, I don't have the resource to fact check what is the largest misleading news content producing organization in the nation, and possibly the free world.

Let's start with the first two photos on this page. This story broke in the Guardian on July 7, 2020.

The first photo shows Fox News 'reporting the news' regarding the sexcapades of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell. In the first photo, Fox News conveniently cropped out Donald Trump. In the second photo [at right] we have the 'full picture' aka the truth.

The man who calls everyone else a 'sleezeball' is seen with Melania 'being best', and two of the people alleged to be among some of the sleeziest on the planet [Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell]. Do birds of a feather flock together?

So we must ask why Rupert Murdoch would crop Donald Trump out of the photo? Is it to avoid portraying the Donald in a negative light in order to keep him - a Murdoch asset - in office?

Trump appears to have been a boon to billionaire Murdoch through massive billionaire tax cuts funded by debt to be paid for by America's children and unborn? Or is because Trump's actions in the Middle East vis a visIsrael seemed to serve to legitimize Murdoch's investment in Genie Energy in the illegally occupied Syrian Golan Heights? Or was it because Trump loosened up the FCC ownership limits for mega media companies like Murdoch's thus allowing the few to control our media, which givens them the power to influence the national democratic conversation - and in Murdoch's case - it seems the power to corrupt it in order to profit from it. Or was it because Trump famously fired all U.S. Attorneys, including Preet Bharara - who was investigating Murdoch's companies for sexual harrassment and phone hacking - less than 24 hours after Sean Hannity on Fox News told him to do just that? Perhaps most importantly, Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr, greenlighted the merger of Disney / ABC, which was an inverted takeover resulting in Rupert Murdoch becoming Disney / ABC's largest shareholder.

• CLICK here to read our report on NYPBA police union endorsement of Trump seems out of step with the union rank and file, as well as the NYPD and NYC - but Murdoch's NY Post provides propaganda cover.

Murdoch's Fox News Racism Revealed

Tucker Carlson Omits Key Facts of African American Deaths by Police

August 18, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / Rupert Murdoch & Fox Fake News Special Section / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

As far as I know, nobody has ever accused Rupert Murdoch of running an unbiased news operation. In fact, it's seems just the opposite, as countless people have found countless significant reporting errors by his mammoth news operation, which in the U.S. alone represents about half the large corporate branded news content viewed by Americans including Fox News, the Wall St Journal, the NY Post, Barron's, MarketWatch and increasingly ABC News where Murdoch is the largest shareholder.

What is most disturbing, is how the pinocchio propagandists on some Murdoch media outlets appear to omit key facts, in order to put forth narratives that are at odds with the truth, which are then imprinted on the minds of the millions upon millions of viewers who watch and believe what they see and hear on Fox News.

Manipulating what ends up in people's minds is exactly what Joseph Goebbels did as the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. As in Nazi Germany, Herr Murdoch's propaganda ministry in the U.S., appears to use the media to favor some people or groups at the expense of other people and groups in its reporting. Oftentimes the groups Murdoch appears to favor break along race and economic class lines. We're going to look at how Tucker Carlson appears to have put forth a false Fascist narrative that further victimizes the African American victims of unnecessary violence at the hands of rogue policemen, whose errant behavior is defended far too often by the police unions.

To be sure, those who fall prey to such mass media manipulation, are also responsible for their own ignorance and subsequent behaviors, including their voting.

Thomas Jefferson said,

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country. If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can always be pretended.”

We saw this pretension of ignorance and denial of responsibility by many Germans following World War II, including from those operating in influential posts with access to top levels of the Nazi high command. They pretended their ignorance, but generally the truth wills out.

I'll make my case regarding Murdoch's Fox News and Tucker Carlson's reporting of African Americans appearing to be victimized by rogue policemen on Fox News Tucker Carlson's nationally televised show. I identified a couple of shows, which were broadcast over American airwaves using a high number of FCC licenses, reaching millions upon millions of Americans who appear to have been disinformed in what seems a systematic effort by Australian born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's media to provide distorted reporting with respect to incidents of police brutality vis a vis the African American community.

Fox News & Tucker Carlson Twist the Facts to Make a Trap for Fools?

The first incident we're going to review, is Tucker Carlson's Fox News coverage of the Rayshared Brooks shooting in Atlanta on Friday, June 12th, 2020. Rayshard Brooks was a 27 year old African American and father of three who was found misparked in a Wendy's parking lot, apparently sleeping. He was found to have a blood alcohol of nearly .11 which is above the legal limit for driving of .08. Brooks was not stopped while driving, but rather after he had misparked his car in a Wendy's drive thru queue.

• CLICK here to view our report on what appears to be Tucker Carlson's racist presentation of the news on Fox News - Is Fox a racist network?

REPLACE THESE?

CENTRAL NHD

EAST NHD

NORTH / WEST NHD

Bronx Buzz Voluntary Subscriptions

We work very hard to help keep you informed by providing you with independent news coverage, as well as information about events in the arts, culture and business in the borough.

You can help us continue to provide you with independent, first-person, fact-based, contextural reporting by purchasing an annual subscription. As it's voluntary, there are a variety of price options, one of which should fit within your budget.

Thanks for your encouragement & support.

Back To Top