Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

November 5, 2026

The Hot Dog Will Survive. The Room Might Not.

Victor Victoratos hears the question before some customers order. They have come to Boulevard Drinks for a hot dog, but they need to know how much time is left. “When is your last day?” He says everybody asks. The question has become part of the transaction, alongside the food and the change. There is affection in it, and a little dread. People want the answer even when they already know it. Victor says April 1 would have brought 70 years at this Journal Square address. The business itself goes back to 1937. A customer can do that arithmetic while waiting at the counter, though it will not make the coming move easier to understand.

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October 21, 2026

The Dead Already Paid for Washington Square Park

New York University made an announcement this week. The school pledged $6 million over four years to the Washington Square Park Conservancy, the nonprofit steward of the nine-and-three-quarter-acre square at the foot of Fifth Avenue. The university’s own headline chose a gambler’s verb: “Doubles Down.” The money is real. The park needs care, and the Conservancy has paid for horticulture crews and free programming there for years. NYU students treat the park as their quad because it is one. A school without a campus was handed a campus by geography, and the students love the ground they borrow. Grant all of that. The gift is generous, and the park will be cleaner for it.