Rebuild the Towers ... Although the twin towers were really pretty ugly, except at sunset or in the mist, I personally think they should just rebuild the towers exactly the way they were, right way, except maybe correcting some of the burn flaws and aesthetic errors. That would make a better statement to the world than all this crapping around about the footprint, the bathtub, the towers of light, the memorial, the loved ones, the brave firemen, the cops, the grief struck iron mongers cutting the tangled girders on the building they spent 10 years putting up, the brave window washers that died doing their job, and all that etc. People think hat no one would want to work in replacement towers cause they are a 3x target, but I bet people would rent the space right away, I know I would. The more I hear about it, the more convinced i am they should just get on with it and rebuild them pretty much the way they were as fast as possible. That would be the best statement to the world, the terrorists, and the people that think we needed to be taught a lesson. Last month I took my bike downtown and was riding around in the park around the SI Ferry when i came upon this crushed up golden globe like statue thing. I stood there looking at this strange crumbled art wondering why does this thing look so familiar? It was never here in the Battery before... when I realized it was the arrogent gold globe sculpture that used to sit in the middle of the WTC plaza that got crushed when the towers fell. They have set it up in Battery Park with an eternal flame and a little plaque. I immediatly burst into tears. As far as I'm concerned that is enough memorial for me.
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Towers on 110th Street... Went to the neighborhood meeting Tuesday Night about what's happening on 110th Street. Now that we have spent 2 years living through the Columbia Construction on the corner of 110th and Broadway for the inappropriate Primary School and apartments, the moving of our bus stop to a mid-residential-block so sleepers can enjoy the heaving of the Number 4 bus starting around 4:30 am, we learned that the owner of the NE corner of the intersection has decided to put up a luxe condominium tower. What does the neighborhood lose? The best market in the neighborhood- The West Side Market with all its wierd Gourmet choices, bakery goods, and reasonable produce, Columbia Bagels, Mailboxes Etc. ( my place for cheap copies on my way to court) Dynasty Restauraunt, and the methadone clinic. Each of these amenities has a special place in the life of the neighborhood- even the clinic, which reminds us of how seedy the area was not that long ago. The biggest loss will be the West Side market, a source for cheap vegetables and fruit. It will have its biggest impact on the eating habits of all the people on fixed incomes who can't get to the used vegetable store down at 104 and Amsterdam. A head of lettuce at West Side is usually $1 a head- while the Dag's has it for $1.79 a pound. Baby Carrots are 1.29 at West Side, Dag's has them for 1.79 except for when they are on sale. And then theres the fact that it will no longer be possible to run down to the market at midnight for some fresh strawberries or ice cream before going to bed. People that come to dinner parties at my house wait until they get off the train to pick up fruit or some specialty to bring. We even rushed down there New years at 1 am to get some more cheese and some seltzer for drinks. Such convenience will be sorely missed. We still miss the Woolworth Store which was replaced with the Footlocker. Things that were avaiable in one trip to the Woolworths now take planning and 2 days of going to different stores out of the area to obtain. The older ladies that liked to crochet had to give it up, cause they can't buy crochet thread in the neighrbohood anymore. We also can't buy nice cheap cotton underwear, Parakeets, Canaries, Goldfish, inexpensive hardware, Lampshades, pots and pans, graters and all sorts of cheap little kitchen gadgets. They had bedroom slippers and cheap cotton sandles, nightgowns, pajamas, no run pantihose, rayon stockings, and half slips, stupid little novelties like the porcelin hen sitting in a basket nest, little starfighters and rubber duckies, board games, Ouija Boards and costumes for halloween, lots and lots of cheap garish cosmetics, dynel hairpieces, hair nets, and color rinses to fool around with. Woolworths was the place to go if you had a craft or sewing project, or just needed a quick fix for your clothing. They carried their own brand of sewing notions which were excellent, iron on tape for a quick hem, rick-rack , and quilting supplies different colored thread, needles and crochet hooks, yarn, fabric, and interfacing. In short, all the things for a full household in a civilized society. Now that Footlocker is finally closing, I wonder if the West Side market will move there.

Rudeness of Cars... Have you noticed that people coming out of cross streets on Broadway no longer bother using turn signals? It's a kind of guessing game here at 110th. Is he going to go straight, or turn? Does that wobble indicate he's going to turn? Is it safe to cross the street? I've got the signal, how about if I just go through the intersection on my bike? Will I get run over cause he's really going to turn? It's not possible any more to tell where cars are going. And with the double park situation right on top the intersection, double parked food trucks, Con Ed emergency vehicles, Moms dropping their kids off at the new school, and turning Number 4 buses, cars get impatient. They make these little agressive rushes when they think they have the light, honking their horns impatiently and going fast without using their turn signals. The situation has become nightmarish. The other new thing is cars honking their horns at you if you are not moving fast enough. They do this constantly - to pedestrians, bikes, and other cars. If I am driving on, for instance 89th street on the block where there is a school, I tend to poke along if there is a red light up at Amsterdam, cause I don't want to hit any kids that may pop out from between cars, and the light up ahead is red and I'll just have to wait anyway. This attitude drives SUVs crazy. They honk and honk, and try to sneak their huge vehicles around me, so they can rush up to a red light and slam on their brakes. Here on 110th a friend of mine had an accident last week after a rude SUV that kept blowing his horn at her, forcing her to move in a tight space created by double parked trucks. The sun was at just the wrong angle, blinding her, and she hit a traffic pole. The honking SUV just sped away. What we really need is a remote that mutes car horns. Some idiot is behind you blowing his horn for no reason, and you just press the remote button with a directional finder on your dash board and his horn goes silent. Pedestrians would carry a more conventional remote with them to shut up cars that are honking because they are not moving fast enough on their walkers. There could be a long distance remote and you could aim out the window at night to silence offending car alarms. Yeah.

Went to see the "Mini Midsummer Night's Dream" directed by Morna Martell and presented by Drama Tune Inc. yesterday at the West Side Community Garden for its final Sunday performance. (The Garden is located on 89th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue, and is open daily for those who wish to stop by and look at the flowers) Last Sunday the performance was canceled due to a 3 hour downpour. This week the weather held, and there was a good turnout- about 120 people attended. The acoustics were perfect in the Garden amphitheater, and the actors experienced in projecting Shakspearian diction. The audience of all ages and backgrounds followed the story with attention and frequent laughter at the right spots. The most delightful piece of foolery was Puck, played by Jenne Vath, who expertly herded her pack of fairies (played by fifteen neighborhood youngsters) through the machinations of the plot enchantments. Titiana ( Christina Malina)was the beautiful long golden haired fairy queen, and lovingly stroked Bottome's( David Lutzer) hairy donkey ears to the delight of our local pack of fairies hiding in the wings behind the tall Asters growing in Mary Lou Briggs Flower plot. The lover's mixup was an amusing trifle, and the last piece, a "play within a play" for the Athenian king was followed with great amusement by the audience. The cast forswore the timeless Mendelsohnn songs to sing pleasant unaccompanied songs by Ralph Martell. There is a special raindate performance Thursday, Septmeber 4,at 6 pm. It's a wonderful piece, enhanced by a lush Garden setting. I think I'll bring refreshments for the end of the run.

My Third Blackout in the City... New York was finally all the way back last night at about 11 pm, and the subways started up this morning. We were out in the country when it happened. I had just gassed up and we were up at Roger's Book Barn. My brake light started going on and off after we left the book store, so I headed for a repair shop. Just as i was going to pay the guy $20 just to look at the brakes, everything went down. The lady there said "oh no, not again", and said it had happened an hour earlier that afternoon but went right back on again. I got the impression it was something local or to do with their fuse box. They went off somewhere to try and get their computer up, and a guy waiting in line with us said $20 was too much "just to look" and that they got a good mechanic down the road at the gas station. When we left the repair shop, I noticed the traffic signals were out. When we got to the gas station the pumps were already closed with cones, but the mechanic immediately told me that the red light meant that my brake fluid was low. He charged 2 dollars to put it in. We couldn't get any radio stations so we thought the power glitch was a local thing, and decided to head back to the City. Along the way we looked with wonderment on scenes of people trying to get gas, closed stores, people sitting by the roads, and local Firemen, boyscouts, Police, and State troopers directing traffic at the intersections. In Fishkill Plains, people were emerging from a pizza place with pizzas so we went in to see about dinner. It was the only place we saw open in three counties. He had the old manual cash register and terrific pizza with real mozzarella cheese. The pizzas were being put together in the darkened kitchen in back of the bar by lantern light for the crowds of people and cooked in old gas ovens. We found out while we were waiting that the blackout extended throughout New York, and over to Cleveland. After we grabbed the pizza I headed back on the Taconic/Sawmill and West side highway to W 95 St and riverside drive ( no signals the whole way) and managed to miss traffic jams of epic porportions on every other approach to the City. The Bronx/Manhattan Hudson bridge was open into Manhattan, and there was practically no inbound traffic anywhere, including the West Side highway. The other side was jammed solid with traffic and throngs of people people walking home on the highways. There were no speedcops anywhere up in the country- they were all deployed at intersections, so I went about as fast as the car would go 85-90 the whole way back so we would get in before sunset.Once back, we parked on 110th and climbed six floors into the apartment to quickly find candles, matches and flashlights before it got dark. It was real hot, about 90, even with all the windows open,so we went back out to the car with the flashlight and sat in the car intermittently running the airconditioning and watched the crowds on Broadway and traffic jams. An event like this really gives you a fair idea of how many people are in or come into Manhattan everyday. The Police had set up red flares at the 110th Street intersection and were trying to control traffic, but it was impossible because there were so many pedestrians - people in business clothes with brief cases walking uptown from work and other throngs dressed up or in shorts walking down towards Times Square. It was weird, cause just one block over on Riverside Drive there were not many cars and practically no foot traffic, even on the wide sidewalks under the trees. We walked around some, to see if lights were on in Queens and over to the River to look for lights in Jersey. Some of the bars were open and letting people run tabs or taking cash. The V & T Pizza Sidewalk cafe part was open and serving pizzas, but surprisingly the Hungarian Pastry Shop cafe at 111th and Amsterdam was closed. The other stores were all closed and locked. Places like the West Side market with substantial outside merchandise had the help sit out in front in case you might want to take a watermelon or something. The guy in front of the Famous Deli had a baseball bat. WNCY was back on the air so we could listen to the radio and read some in the air conditioned car. About 1am it got cooler so we went back upstairs. I read for a while by the light of the big Pascal candle (decommisioned from Church after Easter) and went to bed. We got up early, and I was sitting in the living room when the light went on. Barry went down at 9 am and came back with a quart of fresh milk and the papers.

Blogomat... Just looking in the Times magazine again today and noticed the article by the older guy who ruins himself playing Tennis every chance that he gets, and how Americans have become big "consumers" of exercise. Our President is characterized as a "gym rat", people pay big bucks to join gyms with special machines to exercise, and I am constantly being shoved off the sidewalk or roadway by rollerbladers or cyclers intent on getting their exercise. They all have special little suits to wear too. Pastel shorts, little warm-up items with white stripes down the sides, helmets, kneepads, exercise bras, wrist weights, sneakers. Thus, exercise has been transformed into a consumable item, a consumable that can be referenced as a class item. The other day on the train coming back from Ocean Hill I eavesdropped in on a conversation between a young black man, and a white classmate he met on the train going to Manhattan. After catching up on grades and class schedules, the white guy asked where the black guy was heading-" Oh I'm going to my gym in Manhattan... You mean you go all the way into Manhattan to use a gym? Well yes, you meet better people, and the whole experience is just better in Manhattan...." I ride a bike for basic transportation inside the City. I've been riding a bike for just about my whole life for transportation, first as a protest against automobile culture in Buffalo where I grew up, then as cheap transportation in Germany where it cost over a thousand marks to get a license in lessons fees, and finally in New York, where I rode a bike to my job in midtown everyday until they laid us off. During the nineties, I got a car as a gift, and became a car owner for the first time in my adult life. We use the Buick to go outside the City and on vacations, but still use the bike to get around town- no parking muss, quick routes through traffic, nice routes through parks, no subway or bus fare. The exercise has been a pretty secondary reason for owning a bike - a cheap one that doesn't get stolen more than every two or three years. Everyday on the elevator, my nesighbors confuse me with one who is part of the exercise culture- "Oh, are you going out for exercise? Do you ride in the park? " I nicely but pointedly say, "No, I am going to a meeting", or "I have errands to run. " I wonder how much longer the guy who ruins himself playing tennis, or the young black guy that rides into Manhattan just to use a better class of gym, will keep on exercising. I wonder if the tennis guy rides to the courts in a big black SUV, like many of my neighbors, even in the upper west side of Manhattan. When did exercise become something that was the province of the rich ( or middle class) and the young, or those aspiring to be young and/or rich? How come when I travel outside the City I rarely see anyone outside walking or riding a bike dressed in normal clothes as if they were heading to church, or a shopping center? I wonder how exercise, which used to be an inevitable part of everyday life performed by everyone as part of going about their normal daily business, became a class conscious consumable item.

In the bushes...Looking at the shrub on TV this week, I flashed on an image of the inside his head - that if you could lift off the top of his head and peer inside you'd see a little brown leather brain, wheezing like a tiny bellows when the shrub cogitated about those bothersome things like what he calls the "skepticists," or tried to remember the name of the country that his good friend Tony Blair represents. Like two tiny leather footballs stuck together...