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Archive for the ‘BY THE WAY’ Category

The Big Yard Sale

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, Peter Coddles, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s 7:30 am and I’m hustling around to get ready for the today’s big yard sale.  I have spent the last couple of weeks scrounging around the apartment, the cottage and through stuff we’ve had left over from doing Flea Markets.  In other words I have WAY TOO much stuff to put out on two tables!!

AND as Peter predicted the ground is wet because for the last two days we have showers….this is NOT an auspicious beginning 😦

I literally spent the entire day yesterday sorting through the boxes of stuff trying to group the junk, er, I mean stuff into plastic bins and price each piece.  This is of course an area where we diverge: I want this stuff GONE and am happy to price it to sell and well, my other half is a bit more attached to his possessions and is not giving anything away!  Oh no?  I’ve already promised myself that 90% of what is going into the sale is going to Goodwill and Habitats if it doesn’t sell.

I’m not immune to the fact that we are probably putting out some items that really don’t belong in  a yard sale, they are much more Flea Market antiques and nostalgic collectibles but right now, this is the only venue.  And, I swear I will do another yard sale in the summer when lots more people are in town.  This particular day was designated by an organizer and promoted as Town Wide.  I hope there was sufficient advertising to entice people to come even though this is one gray, soggy day.  Oh how dismal it all looks now!

This is the morning to be moving quickly and hello Murphy’s Law – we’re up and Peter takes the first shower and drops his lens in the bathroom-15 minutes later we find it.  I need him dressed and outside to set up those big table for me and to lug the crap er, I mean stuff out to the porch.  Just to add to the total aggravation of it all is the fact we broke the door on our shed two weeks ago, it’s not fixed so the wagon which is supposed to be for sale is in there along with big sheets of plastic I wanted with me in case of a shower!  Oh yeah, think it’s going to be a fun, fun day all around!

Friday afternoon my living room looked like this…

And this…

Trying To Sort Through

Trying To Sort Through

By 8pm last night, I had priced, sorted and packed up everything and then listened to the weather report

Way Too Much Stuff

Way Too Much Stuff

Packed and Priced

Packed and Price

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Thursday’s Top 10 Reasons To Own A Metropolitan

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, Thursday's Top Ten, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2014| 3 Comments »

I’ve been experiencing a lot of issues lately uploading photos, previewing posts and actually being able to access my admin bar. I’ve been in touch with the Support staff at WordPress.com and am trying a few things.  I need to see if a photo I upload will show in my preview screen before I publish it.  That’s why today you are seeing our oh so cute 1958 Metropolitan.

In 2010 I posted a photo on Facebook and a couple of days ago my cousin who must have been scrolling thru my photos came across it and hit LIKE.  Well, you know that brings the picture to the forefront again and in the last few day 45 people have LIKED it and we’ve received several comments.  OMG! The photo is not reaching “friends of friends” and has gone far and beyond.

A Perfect Match

A Perfect Match

This isn’t the same photo BUT it is of our adorable little Metropolitan with it’s SOCUTE license plate and here are 10 reasons why we love it.

1. It’s a people-stopper! Parked in front of the cottage, people stop constantly to look and take a picture.

2. When my husband drives it, it’s a chick-magnet.

3. When I drive it, men follow me to where I park it and ask me all kinds of questions and admire it.

4. It’s small enough to fit in most parking spaces

5. We get to belong to a national car club MOCNA-Metropolitan Owners Club of North America

6. We actually get to drive it – it’s not so classic that it only sits in a garage.

7. It gets great mileage and always gets a big smile at the gas station

8. When we drive it, people in other cars or on the sidewalks hoot, holler, toot and give us a thumbs-up sign.

9. Peter sits on the front porch with his martini and greets all the pretty young girls who stop and squeal over how cute the car it is.

10. We get to go to Vintage Car Shows and are the only Metropolitan included!

So Cute at a Vintage Car Show

So Cute at a Vintage Car Show

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Cinco de Mayo – It’s Not Just Margaritas and Salsa

Posted in BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I love to celebrate any holiday, I really do….my ideal is to always have a party or dinner significant to the holiday or event.  We’ve had Mardi Gras parties, Oscar parties, Martini parties, Super Bowl Sunday dinners with dishes from the team’s home states, Valentine cookies and cakes, Easter brunches, July 4th picnics…you name it and we’ve had it at one time or another.

Some holidays are about a lot more than the food and fun.  I understand the importance of the religious aspect of Christmas and Easter, the historical significance of July 4th and other national holidays.  So in that vein, and before we start to down those Magaritas and eat chips and salsa and dine on Mexican food tonight, I thought I would re-post a blog from a couple of years ago.  It’s the story of Cinco de Mayo.

May 5th, battle of Puebla, cinco de mayo, celebration, Mexico, French forces

This is Why We Celebrate Victory

If you’ve noticed a sudden dearth of avocados, limes, Corona Extras and Jose Cuervo at your local grocery store over the past couple of days, don’t panic — no one is conspiring against you. Instead, your neighbors are simply stocking up to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday celebrated in Mexico and all over the United States with delicious Mexican cuisine, far too much alcohol and plenty of fanfare.

But Cinco de Mayo (“the fifth of May”) is much more than an entertaining way to forget an entire day’s worth of events. The holiday owes its origins to the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, when the Mexican army overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to defeat invading French forces from conquering the state of Puebla. The victory remains a cause for commemoration nearly 150 years later.

Interestingly enough, Cinco de Mayo isn’t celebrated in Mexico nearly as much as it is in the United States, as the country’s most widely recognized national patriotic holiday is actually the Mexican Independence Day on September 16. But Cinco de Mayo gets plenty of attention in the U.S. not just from Mexican-Americans, but also from anybody interested in seeking out new forms of cultural exposure — largely due to the efforts of liquor companies and Mexican restaurants.

Last year, MTV Tr3s sent comedian Cristela Alonzo to Los Angeles’ historic Olvera Street to report on the community’s deep understanding of Cinco del Mayo. While the holiday has historic roots, Alonzo acknowledged that many participants view Cinco de Mayo as “an excuse to get drunk and party.” But as Alonzo learned, enjoying the rowdier aspects of Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have to come at the expense of forgetting the holiday’s cultural significance.

“What’s important is to remember the meaning behind the holiday,” she reported of her findings. “It’s about freedom and to celebrate those who had the courage to defend it.”

So as you immerse yourself in today’s festivities, make sure to put your ice cold cerveza down for long enough to acknowledge the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo, a holiday built on the foundation of freedom. ** This article is from the MTV website

And today!  

Corona, Dos Equis, beer, fiesta, Mexico, Battle of Puebla, cinco de mayo, jose cuervo, tequila, limes, margharitas

Cha Cha Cha It’s Fiesta Time

Corona, Dos Equis, beer, fiesta, Mexico, Battle of Puebla, cinco de mayo, jose cuervo, tequila, limes, margharitas
Cha Cha Cha It’s Fiesta Time!
You know what they say: Drink responsibly, Drive safely – OH WAIT, we live in New York City, we can be totally irresponsible – BUT then again there is May 6th to think about!

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What Goes Around Comes Around

Posted in BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Or History Repeats Itself!  Clichés yes, true yes!

Over the past several years I have been noticing how many things are being re-introduced to the PBCB generation.  Oh you don’t know who that is?  PBCB is my term for the all the young marrieds (from about 2002 on) who filled their Wedding Registry with items from Crate & Barrrel, Potter Barn and some Williams Sonoma thrown in for good measure.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

The REAL Thing

The REAL Thing

My household has been filled with real retro items for years.  I love kitchen ware, dish ware and flatware from the 30’s-40’s and 50’s.  I have wonderful pieces such as the red, yellow and blue refrigerator dishes with the glass lids and now from Amazon.com you can buy a clear glass storage dish.  I had beautiful round golden oak claw foot dining room table in my house in CT and although I know 90% of the X and Y generation eschew the old and like to buy newer than new, I did a double-take when I opened up a Pottery Barn catalogue and saw their new round oak table!  Visit any one of the Holy Three (Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma) and you will find Fondue Pots, Martini Shakers, Mason jars, Bread boxes – I’m not saying when I was a 20-year-old newlywed that I was looking for antique furniture or retro kitchen ware, but within a couple of years I realized the value and practicality of many of the old items NOT to mention the price.  You can buy furniture made out of real wood, not laminated at an auction or thrift or antique shop for less than what you might pay for compressed board and veneer.

What actually prompted this blog today was the fact that someone clicked on a previous blog post of mine https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/what-the-heck-is-this-obsolete-relics-from-my-life/ and I took the opportunity to re-read it myself.   And then the light bulb went off and I thought about the present my sister-in-law, Juanita gave me on Saturday;  If you have a smart phone or Blackberry and you are over the age of 50, you probably send texts and emails (like me) filled with strange words, badly spelled and a lot of non sequiturs  because our fingers are too fat for the keypad or we are attempting to write that email or text while we are sitting on the bus or worse yet, walking.  You know you can send some very embarrassing stuff.  She gave me a stylus!  A cute little handy item with a soft rubber head and bingo, I find myself typing out clear messages!  

Yes, what goes around, comes around especially in an older person’s mind – I just discovered that I wrote a blog post almost identical to this one in 2010.  See https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/whats-old-is-new-again/

Now if you haven’t clicked on the link for the older blog or blogs and you have no idea of what I’m talking about, now would be the time to do so!  

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SAKURA MATSURI or A Special Saturday with Tia

Posted in BY THE WAY, FAMILY & FRIENDS, New York Speaks, tagged , , , , , , on April 29, 2014| 3 Comments »

Recently, I wrote how stressed I’ve been over a few things!  Tia, who is actually Juanita, my sister-in-law arranged a special fun day this past Saturday for both of us.  It was guaranteed to be fun and stress-free!  We were going to spend the day at Sakura Matsuri or Cherry Blossom Festival viewing the beautiful cherry trees, drinking Sakura tea, watching some Japanese flower arranging and maybe catch a Tea Ceremony.  I would be Juanita’s guest as she belongs to BAM (Brooklyn Art Museum) which is adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and where there are over 200 cherry trees of different varieties! She brewed some sakura tea which we enjoyed in a shady spot mid-afternoon.

Real China Cups

Real China Cups

And how did my sister-in-law come to be such a fan of the cherry trees?  Well, to begin with, she informed that she’s sure she was Japanese in another lifetime and one can’t really argue with that!  Her son, (my nephew by marriage) lives and works in Japan and is fluent in the language (I am so impressed with that)!  Juanita goes to Japan once a year to visit Justin and tries to time her visit to see the cherry blossoms. She came home this year with a beautiful kimono which she wore while we were at the Gardens.

Tia's Cherry Blossom and Butterfly Kimono

Tia’s Cherry Blossom and Butterfly Kimono

Viewing the cherry blossoms in Japan is an amazing experience;  In Japan this annual celebration is about appreciating the temporal beauty of nature.  Friends and families gather under the cherry trees for a picnic or hanami for food and drink, songs and to enjoy the beauty of the sakura (cherry blossoms).  Celebrations begin in the day and often last into the night.  The viewing of the trees begins the buds bursting into bloom and ends with the colorful pink and white carpet of petals on the ground.

Bursting to Bloom

Bursting to Bloom

Pink, Pink and Pink

Pink, Pink and Pink

Typical of the American way of life, I walked around the 42+acres of trees, seeing them, enjoying  them but never sitting still long enough to really, really appreciating their beauty, their delicate color… No we were off to see the flower arranging and the library and the vintage kimonos.  Well, actually in all honesty, we only had a couple of hours, it was hot and we saw as much as we could.

The Art of Japanese Flower Arrangements

The Art of Japanese Flower Arrangements

The Botanical Gardens are not only splendid with Cherry Blossoms, there are gorgeous Magnolia trees all around the Library.

Deep Pink Magnolias

Deep Pink Magnolias

Juanita suggested we return to Manhattan and board a bus to New Jersey where she would take me to a huge Japanese food market where we could have a late lunch and I would get to see a store full of exotic Japanese food products.  I love to go to ethnic markets, checking out items I never heard of and admiring the packaging and labeling.  I could have wandered around that store for hours.  We were ravenous and ordered A LOT; Most of it was gone by the time we decided to take a photo.

Ramen, Rice, Salmon and a Hard-Boiled Egg

Ramen, Rice, Salmon and a Hard-Boiled Egg

I had such a great time checking out the Saki, the Daikon, the various Teas and then best of all, it was time for sweets!  Tia bought a dish of Japanese soft ice cream in the exotic flavors of Black Sesame (which tasted like peanut butter), Matcha Green tea and Madagascar Vanilla.  If you are a follower of this blog, you know I was in bliss!  And then we had a big fat cream puff filled with Green Tea cream.  I brought home an Ichigo Daifuku for my husband who I had abandoned for the entire day.  This Japanese delicacy is a strawberry wrapped in red bean paste and mochi and he loved it.  I hate to admit this but at the check-out counter where impulse purchases are the same in every market, we bought yeast cakes, one filled with cream and one with red bean paste.  I thought I would not eat another morsel when I got home but sometime around 8:00pm I heard the yeast cake calling my name! 

Ichigo Daifuku

Ichigo Daifuku

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Spring Cleaning With The Heat ON!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2014| 2 Comments »

Reczniki papierowe

Paper Towels – I Love Them!

Really, I mean really!  I am now officially joining the thousands of people in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states who complain about the weather on a daily basis!  There is no where you go that someone doesn’t say something about the ever-lasting, mother-loving winter.  Where oh where is Spring?  We had two days of hot weather, too hot for April of course and now we are back to weather 10 degrees above freezing!

The calendar says it’s April and for me that has always meant it was time to shut down the furnace, take down the heavy drapes in the bedroom and hang the light weight cotton drapes.  I switch the area rug in the foyer, switch the covers on the toss pillows and put a chenille bedspread on the bed.  Switching the closets around with the seasonal clothing is next and oh God, how I hate that job!  All of the above (except the closets) has been done in the apartment, oh and the windows have to be professionally washed.

However, I’m writing this while I’m sitting in the cottage where the heat has been on since last night when we arrived!  Not only did we sleep with the blanket and the coverlet on, we also threw a quilt over us, (and I thought I was going to turn off the furnace!) That and a warm-bodied cat kept us cosy all night.  So even though it’s cold inside and out, this weekend was designated for Spring cleaning and I was determined to get some  deep cleaning done.  

I started this morning before breakfast and in my own frenetic way I was cleaning the bathroom and the stove top and shaking out rugs all at the same time!  I imagine that an observer would think I was haphazardly jumping from task to task but I know what I’m doing and as I circulate, I finish up what I started.  I took a roll of paper towels and a bottle of Simple Green and a bottle of Awesome and proceeded to wash and wipe everything on the kitchen counter and then every blessed thing in the living room.  Anyone who knows us, knows that, that’s a lot of blessed things!

I had help!  Yes, I coerced my husband into helping me mainly because I really wanted to get behind all the furniture and vacuum the baseboards.  This meant moving some heavy pieces as well as picking up more things off the floor to get behind and under them.  Cobwebs!  I found cobwebs!

The bedrooms got vacuumed and tomorrow morning I’ll finish dusting and wiping down things up there especially the guest room as we have a house guest coming.  When Murray arrives tomorrow I promised to make him matzo bri and then I imagine he will head to the beach with his camera.  I love having a guest who amuses himself because since the weatherman promised warm weather for tomorrow, we are planning to do some yard work.  Time to unwrap the patio furniture, rake the sand out of the lawn and I still have to clip some dead heads off one of my hydrangea bushes.  

I really don’t mind cleaning and thankfully when it’s done, I get great pleasure out of looking at the results!  Poor Peter, I must have told him 10 times tonight how clean I thought the living room felt!  I’m looking forward to being thrilled when I clean out the refrigerator and wash the windows inside and out!

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PASSmeOver Some of that Matzo Crack! I’m Addicted

Posted in BY THE WAY, Everyday Food, FAMILY & FRIENDS, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 14, 2014| 1 Comment »

English: "Holyland" brand matzah, ma...

“Holyland” brand matzah, machine-made in Jerusalem and purchased at Trader Joes in the United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tonight which as you know is unlike any other night or if you don’t, you can check out a previous blog of mine https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/why-is-this-night-different-from-all-other-nights/.  Anyway tonight we are going to my sister-in-law’s home for a Seder dinner.  It will of course be a feast, and being the balabusta  she is, she is cooking a very traditional meal as well as adding vegetarian dishes for the one or two non-meat eaters in the group.  And by group I mean she is seating and serving 11 people tonight!

I asked what I could bring and was assigned an asparagus dish.  I’m going to make a room temperature asparagus platter with an egg sauce on top.  If I haven’t already posted this recipe previously, I will tomorrow.  It was a traditional Easter Sunday dinner side in my family for years.

And then if I can organize myself, I plan to make some Matzo Crack!  This is a surprise addition to the meal.  Naturally Stacey, our hostess, who is size 2 is planning on serving strawberries and cream for dessert, something light and moderately healthy.  I, on the other hand, am hoping for the taste of chocolate and in keeping with the holiday tradition of no leavened bread, I’m going to make chocolate toffee matzoh! 

So simple to do (they say) and since I’m posting this prior to actually making it, I can’t attest to that but I do believe this is not going to be difficult at all.

4-5 pieces of matzo

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup ( 2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate bits

Toppings as desired

Preheat oven to 375º

Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and/or parchment paper.  Place matzo in one layer on baking sheet, breaking it when necessary to fill pan complexly.

In large sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Once mixture reaches a boil, continue to cook for additional 3 minutes, still stirring, until thickened and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from heat and pour over matzo, spreading evenly with a heat proof spatula.

Put the pan in the oven, then immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees.  Bake for 15 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn’t burn.  If it looks like it is starting to burn, turn heat down to 325 degrees.

After 15 minutes, the toffee should have  bubbled up and turned a rich golden brown.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate over the pan.  Let sit for 5 minutes and then spread the now-melted chocolate evenly with a spatula.

You can leave as it is or add a topping such as sea salt or toasted nuts.  Let cool completely, then break into smaller pieces and store in airtight container.

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SIX HOURS OF MINDLESS TV or How to relieve some stress

Posted in BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2014| 2 Comments »

Well, last night was quite an evening….I started at 8:00PM insisting we watch the 2 hour special of Kitchen Nightmares.  I love Gordon Ramsey and make no apologies for saying so!  I watch Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef and Kitchen Nightmares.  Last night my husband watched it with me and whether he did so out of love or reluctance to get up off the couch is up for debate.  Actually he wanted to see this episode because we had seen the original show of Amy’s Bakery and we, like apparently hundreds of other watchers were both fascinated and appalled by the goings on in Scottsdale!  If you didn’t see the show and are at all curious I understand that YouTube has many clips.  Amy  and her husband George (aka The Gangster) run a restaurant and while they are at it, they run a lot of their customers out of the dining room and run all of their wait staff out the door!  This morning, Peter wanted to discuss just how fascinating a personality Amy is and I sort of dismissed her by remarking “I don’t find narcissism and neurotic behavior all that fascinating”.  Probably the rigid Germanic side of my ancestry!

Anyway this blog was not intended to go on and on about that show but seriously I could….Which makes those two characters and Gordon Ramsey interesting and fascinating after all!

Next I checked out my DVR to find what else I may have recorded for my own personal viewing;  I say that because Peter hates to watch commercial TV and usually only watched movies (the black and white kind of course) so I tape many of the “dumb” shows I want to see and I watch them way into the wee hours of the night.  I told him I was going to watch The Millionaire Matchmaker which I thought would surely drive him into the bedroom but no, he stayed.  This particular episode was about this shallow, disgusting and fat (yes I said fat) NY publicist and I figured if he was going to watch one of these shows, he would find this one interesting.  NOTE: the word interesting doesn’t alway connote something clever or good.  She was so disgusting I refuse to give her any more verbiage in my blog!

I think Peter left the room after that because I announced I was going to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  I knew he would scoot out of the den before that was on.  He hates doctor/hospital shows and this one is a soap too.  I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy since its beginning but wonder if it is readying itself for a swan song ending.  I read somewhere that Sandra Oh is leaving and now it looks like Karev will be off making some real money in private practice!  Peter just loves it when I talk about these characters as if they were real people lol.

English: Logo for the US television show Grey'...

 Grey’s Anatomy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been under A LOT OF STRESS lately and sitting alone on the couch last night, remote firmly in my hand  was lovely!  After my Grey’s fix, I watched the last Hell’s Kitchen episode that I missed this week.  Yes, it was time for Mike to go.  Nobody on the blue team liked him and they would never let him help out so he always ended up looking inept.  

It was now about 1:00 AM and too late to watch the scary episode of CSI since even the commercials warned you to be prepared.  I couldn’t watch anything that might involve cannibalism and then go to bed.  Luckily for me, The Millionaire Matchmaker  is running re-runs as well as new episodes and they seem to  be back to back.  I stayed up until 2:00 AM watching more mindless matchmaking.  Well, let me say that Patti isn’t doing her job mindlessly lol, it’s me watching her show mindlessly.

And that’s how it took me 6 hours to unwind from a week of terrible stress.  None of the issues and problems that are causing the stress are resolved but by 2 AM, I couldn’t care less!

Gordon Ramsey

Gordon Ramsey (Photo credit: jo-marshall (was Jo-h))

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100 Word Challenge – Burning The Candle At Both Ends

Posted in 100 Word Challenge, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2014| 3 Comments »

English: An orange candle burning in a dark en...

An orange candle burning in a dark environment with a bright flame. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I saw the usual signs; She was pale, haggard-looking and yet still animated. I tried to get her to listen knowing full well she wouldn’t. Yesterday she was so anxious to go out. Not home even an hour and she was jonesing to leave. Meeting her friends at the mall and then out to a movie. The night before she went to a party and even though she made it home by her midnight curfew, she was still up for hours on the phone. It’s no wonder she was feeling sick.  She was always burning the candle at both ends.

  BURN is the word in this week’s 100 Word Challenge through Velvet Verbosity.  You can read more at http://www.velvetverbosity.com/

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20 Things You Didn’t Know About New York City!

Posted in BY THE WAY, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged , , , , , , , on April 9, 2014| 3 Comments »

English: The western ramp and pylon of Brookly...

 The western ramp and pylon of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I live in a strange and wondrous place.  My City never sleeps which means should I get a craving for anything in the middle of the night, I can either go downstairs to the 24 hour Duane Reade (drugstore++) or across the street to the 24 hour diner and eat another dinner or breakfast.  I can go to the Opera, the Philarmonic or the theater any night of the week. I can eat any ethnic food any day and visit at least 10 museums anytime.  I can see wonderful, colorful parades on most Sundays in the Spring, and Summer and watch the world go by as Israelis, Pakistanis, Irish, Indians and more walk along Fifth Ave.  That’s just a tiny bit of what makes New York City a wonderful place to experience life. BUT there’s so many things about this city that I didn’t know and here are some of those strange and interesting facts.

  1. In 1857, toilet paper was invented by Joseph C. Gayetty in NYC.
  2. The Jewish population in NYC is the largest in the world outside of Israel.
  3. The city of New York will pay for a one-way plane ticket for any homeless person if they have a guaranteed place to stay.
  4. Pinball was banned in the city until 1978.  The NYPD even held “Prohibition-style” busts.
  5. Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are stored in a safe deposit box in the city.
  6. There’s a wind tunnel near the Flat Iron building that can raise women’s skirts.  Men used to gather outside the Flat Iron building to watch.
  7. New York City has more people than 39 of the 50 states in U.S.
  8. There is a birth in New York City every 4.4 minutes.
  9. There is a death in New York City every 9.1 minutes.
  10. PONY means Product of New York.
  11. The borough of Brooklyn on its own would be the fourth largest city in the United States. Queens would also rank fourth nationally.
  12. New York City has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia.
  13. It can cost over $289,000 for a one-year hot dog stand permit in Central Park.
  14. In 1920, a horse-drawn carriage filled with explosives was detonated on Wall Street killing 30 people. No one was ever caught, and it is considered to be one of the first acts of domestic terrorism.
  15. In nine years, Madison Square Garden’s lease will run out and it will have to move.
  16. Sixty percent of cigarettes sold in NYC are illegally smuggled from other states.
  17. Chernobyl is closer to New York than Fukushima is to L.A.
  18. The Empire State building has its own zip code.
  19. The East River is not a river, it’s a tidal estuary.
  20. There are 20,000 bodies buried in Washington Square Park alone.
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