Posts from — November 2007

General Cigar’s Hall of Magic by AllWaysNY on Flickr.

From the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Meet me under the smoke rings…
at General Cigar’s Hall of Magic!

See famous magicians perform incredible feats of magic before your very eyes. Unbelievable and amazing! You and your family will never forget it. It’s the magic of the future, waiting for you now at General Cigar’s fabulous World’s Fair exhibit! It’s all free! How do you get there? Just follow the smoke rings!

The New York Times reports that New York City’s homicide rate is poised to reach one of the all time lows since standardized reporting statistics became available in 1963. If this year’s trend continues, the city should keep the number of murders under five-hundred, or a little over one a day. Significant is the fact that of the five-hundred or less murdered at the end of this year, less than one-hundred of the victims will have not personally known his/her attacker. The remaining deaths will have been committed by relatives, friends, or rival gang-members. After a certain point, it is thought that lowering the murder rate any further may be nearly impossible, as most attacks will take place in non-public places between individuals who know each other. Keeping the homicide numbers so low also assumes that the local and national economies don’t tank, stressing city finances, services, and social relations (or the city experiences another drug-epidemic like that of crack cocaine), spurring the kind of rise seen during the 1970s and 1980s.

The city’s murder rate has been dipping since the high of 2,245 in 1990. Mayor David Dinkins’ policies helped spur the decline (contrary to the perception that Rudy Giuliani single-handedly tamed violent crime–a perception he seems more than happy to circulate). Dinkins’ “Safe Streets, Safe City” tax surcharge of 1991 provided the funds necessary to hire 6,000 more police personnel and community policing practices were introduced. During Dinkins’ administration, from 1990 to 1993, murders in New York City dropped almost 14 percent.

As the city and suburbs brace for the inevitable frenzy of shopping that begins on the day after Thanksgiving, the Center for an Urban Future highlights a new trend in shopping habits that is having an effect on the city’s economy. Significant numbers of shoppers who live outside of New York City are returning to several concentrated shopping districts throughout the city to buy goods like “saris, spices, plantains, herbal medicines and an assortment of other ethnic products.” These unique products are difficult to find for immigrants, their descendants, and others in suburban shopping centers, many of which are filled with big box stores and national chains.

The individuals returning to the city spend their cash and generate tax revenue for the city that would have otherwise been spent in Long Island, New Jersey, or Connecticut. The concentrated shopping districts are also driving the creation of new jobs at a faster pace than in other areas in the city.

The number of businesses citywide increased by 9.6 percent between 1994 and 2004. By contrast, the number of businesses in Flushing grew by an astonishing 54.6 percent during the same period and increased by 47.3 percent in Sunset Park, by 33.7 percent in Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach, by 17.8 percent in Washington Heights, by 14.3 percent in Jackson Heights and by 10.8 percent in Flatbush…Overall employment in the city increased by 6.9 percent between 1994 and 2004. During the same period, employment rose by 33.6 percent in Washington Heights, by 27.9 percent in Jackson Heights, by 23.2 percent in Sunset Park, by 13.3 percent in Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach, by 12.1 percent in Flushing and by 10.2 percent in Elmhurst.

The business and job growth are positives for the city as is the reversal in the general trend of New Yorkers venturing out of the city to find deals amidst the vast shopping malls and parking fields of suburban and exurban New York.

As immigrant populations grow, these shopping districts are poised to experience growth, especially if local politicians and planners take their into account their potential as regional draws. There is also potentially competition on the horizon, as retail outlets that offer goods targeted to specific communities begin to develop outside of the city.

Battery Park Turkey by gak on Flickr.

Happy Thanksgiving from AllWaysNY!

Rudy & Judi.

1993 Giuliani Mayoral Ad with Donna Hanover and Kids (YouTube)

From Ms. Hanover’s voice-over “…He seemed strong and at the same time gentle, and I liked that…I wish all those people who think he’s so tough could see him with children–that’s the real Rudy…”

The Bess Mess (New York Times) Take a former Miss America turned Cultural Affairs commissioner, add a millionaire sewer contractor with Mafia ties, stir in a New York State Supreme Court justice and her job-hunting daughter, throw in a divorce case and governmental corruption, and you’ve got a winner!

Mayor Walker (Dandyism)

Jeanine and Al Pirro Finally Separate (Gothamist)

Mayor O’Dwyer’s Lady (Time)

Kerik’s Love Nest (New York Sun)

With the various pigeon-related plans and controversies of the past week, AllWaysNY looks to the New York Times archives to offer two different historical perspectives on the city’s feathered friends. The 1881 letter to the editor is especially tart in its comments about the mass killing of pigeons: “the natural laws which make decomposition and putrefication of the dead offensive to the living will ensure full punishment for such cruel and bloody outrages against the harmless pigeons.” Click on each clipping for the full text.

Pro-Pigeon: June 27, 1881

Needless to say, Anti-Pigeon: October 19, 1919

Jack Cafferty, Sue Simmons, and Dr. Frank Field seem just plain giddy (or maybe had one too many martinis over lunch) in this WNBC-TV Live at Five weather segment from 1983. Also notice that with the condensed set, the bluescreen gets quickly covered with the equivalent of a big window shade as Dr. Field returns to the anchor-desk.

Fresh Kills Landfill by axlotl on Flickr.

Anyone know what those pump? monitoring equipment? contraptions are and how they work?

Do Not Open–Thanks by Vidiot on Flickr.

The next time you just can’t seem to find that little shop you’ve heard about or can’t figure out whether you’re heading north or south, you can thank the latest trend in store-front design–leaving off the address number. Yes, we have all seen it before and wondered why a business wouldn’t want to make itself easily locatable. Well, now we have the answer: garbage.

We learn that the issue of omitting address numbers on store-front businesses seems to be getting progressively worse in the central Bronx, and many think it is because owners are trying to dodge $300 tickets from the Sanitation Department for things like litter and improper disposals.

Vincent Prezioso, president of the Northeast Bronx Association pretty much sums it up:

“I’m sure there are some people who are too lazy, and there are other people who are very devious, thinking, ‘How will they know where I live if I don’t have any numbers on the door?’ If they think that if there’s no door number they won’t get tickets, they’re very naïve.”

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión thinks the practice is devious enough to try and stop it (it also violates the city’s Administrative Code) and:

To address the problem, Mr. Carrión has said that if district managers report missing or incorrect numbers to his Topographical Bureau, the bureau will notify the landlords — the only recourse for enforcement.

By the way, it’s a little surprising but just plain great that borough presidents’ offices have their own topographical bureaus (AllWaysNY has highlighted the Queens bureau, which has got to have quite a job with the unique street/address numbering system in the borough).

Iller Than Theirs
Iller Than Theirs
Embedded Records

Back home in Brooklyn after an ill-fated decision to move to Phoenix, Tone Tank joined with Krayo to put together Iller Than Theirs, an offshoot of Nuclear Family. Iller Than Theirs just released their new self-titled album, which has got some great tracks. The back-to-basics approach, solid writing, humor, and interesting instrumentals serve to make this album a real joy.

Portion of lyrics from “The Same” featuring Masta Ace available on Iller Than Theirs’ MySpace page.

It ain’t never going to be the same as when you was young
So we going to have to change some of your ways if you’re going to make it
You might not have the patience,
But it ain’t never going to be the same as when you was young
So we going to have to change some of the things you used to do
We’ll make ‘em change into something new…
They’re trying to turn Brooklyn into a shopping mall
BK ain’t the same not hardly at all
They got a Chuck E. Cheese and an Applebee’s
Making luxury apartments out of factories
And then they turn around and not like that’s for me
But I ain’t there for that you can have it please
They say that change with change is a change to stay
But why they want to move here and change the state?
Man, this place is great we made it that way
This is the borough where my family was raised

“Razor Bumps” Video

Iller than Theirs / MySpace / Blog