Page 2 of 9

Posted on

Why Shaming Speeders Will Not Work

The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has passed some excellent legislature in his time in office. As a person interested in good health, I was pleased to see the ban on trans fat in restaurant food as well as the bans on smoking in an increasing number of places and the proposed ban on the sale of larger sizes of soda, which serve no purpose other than to expand the pocketbooks of the sellers and the waistlines of the consumers while cutting down on their lifeline.

Continue reading → Why Shaming Speeders Will Not Work

Posted on

WiFi Speeds at the NYU Bobst Library

I had a couple of hours to kill last night in Greenwich Village in New York City, and I enjoyed walking everywhere — including Cornelia Street and the temporary Apple SoHo store at 72 Greene Street — to relive some beloved, old, memories of living in that neighborhood years ago.  Another regular, old, haunt of mine was NYU’s beautiful Bobst library.  It had been awhile since I’d been in Bobst with a WiFi device and so last night I decided to do some testing with my new iPhone 4S and iPad 2 — and the results were amazing!

Continue reading → WiFi Speeds at the NYU Bobst Library

Posted on

14th Street Apple Store In-Store Personal Pickup Problems

Yesterday, I decided to test the new “In-Store Personal Pickup” option Apple is now offering customers when you order from the online Apple Store.  I had to take the iPad 2 plunge — times two! — and I placed a nine-item order online at 10:30am in the morning and planned to pick up everything from the 14th Street Apple Store in New York City when I finished teaching later that night.

Continue reading → 14th Street Apple Store In-Store Personal Pickup Problems

Posted on

Crime Spikes in New York City

We are in the crest of a crime spree in New York City and I’m wondering why this is happening now.  Is the economy finally so poor and far-reaching that the forgotten and misbegotten are now finally rising up from the streets to take back what was lost in this economic downturn?

A 400 percent increase in murders in tony Williamsburg; a 400 percent increase in rapes in Sheepshead Bay and a 250 percent increase in killings in Washington Heights are all troublesome statistics that have Mayor Michael Bloomberg and police officials concerned.

“We worry every day about trying to make this city safer,” Mayor Bloomberg said Monday.

Continue reading → Crime Spikes in New York City

Posted on

Lessons Viewed from Afar: Yoga at Bryant Park

One of the greatest things about living and working in New York City is seeing real life happenings that look like staged events.  Janna and I are currently teaching together in Manhattan, and all Summer we have had the pleasure to watch — from our classroom perch on West 40th Street — weekly group Yoga sessions in Bryant Park.  Last night after the final class, I flung open the window and took this image.  You can see the Bryant Park carousel in the foreground and at least 300 yoga students congregating and sprawling on yoga mats on the green.  The students change poses in unison.  It’s like watching a beautiful, magical, dance from afar between the trees.

Continue reading → Lessons Viewed from Afar: Yoga at Bryant Park

Posted on

Sugar Pimps Want Federal New York City Welfare Dollars

In an amazingly horrible PR spin — not unlike Renaming the Slaughterhouse — the big soda pop makers are fighting the New York City ban on using Federal welfare money on sugary drinks — because, I guess, the Sugar Pimps want our kids unhealthy and fat.

Continue reading → Sugar Pimps Want Federal New York City Welfare Dollars

Posted on

The History of Our American Sign Language Classes at CUNY

Janna and I were delighted to create, and then teach, our “Hardcore ASL” style of learning as a new series of American Sign Language courses offered by the City University of New York professional school, and while we no longer teach there, the experience was both historic and defining.

Continue reading → The History of Our American Sign Language Classes at CUNY

Posted on

West 120th Street is the Widest Street in the World

There’s an old saying in the New York City Morningside Heights neighborhood — “The Widest Street in the World is West 120th Street.” — and the significance of that chestnut is that West 120th Street is the “dividing line” between Columbia College and Teachers College at Columbia University.

Continue reading → West 120th Street is the Widest Street in the World

Posted on

Pulling a Ponytail: Blaming the Root, Not the Ends

Yesterday, in my — Muslim Women Conundrum — article, I lamented the fact that the women dropped a class I was teaching because of their fear of being touched by a man.  Commenter “nosleepingdog” said this, in the replies stream:

We should remember though that the ultimate enforcers of these strictures are Islamic men. A woman who is accused of having deliberately put herself in a position where a man might touch her, may be beaten, disowned, raped, or killed. Very logical. Does make one wonder. Even questioning the authority of the rules and the enforcers is a crime.

That point made me think about the real roots of this masked problem of oppression, and I recalled a story my wife shared with me this week that draws a deeper, and more widespread — and certainly more pernicious! — example of how men have, and still do, try to actively control women.  Even women they do not know.

Continue reading → Pulling a Ponytail: Blaming the Root, Not the Ends

Posted on

The Great Jersey City Whiteout: 23 Inches of Whoopass!

The weekend snowstorm that tackled us into Monday opened 23 inches of Whoopass here in Jersey City, and many pockets of humanity in and around the Tri-State area are still trying to dig out of the drifts.  We lost power several times Sunday and Monday and lots of neighborhood trees were tipped into felling by the heavy, wet, snow.  Streets are still unplowed.  Sidewalks are still impassable.  It’s a winter whiteout of neighborhood morality and city leadership.

Continue reading → The Great Jersey City Whiteout: 23 Inches of Whoopass!