Philadelphia BYOB: Now That's Brotherly Love

Filed under: City Living

If you're like me, you might think that having a cocktail with dinner is a nice way to complement a meal, and set a relaxing tone at the table. Can you imagine, then, how relaxing things could get if the dinner table held a full honkin' bottle of tequila? Now try to picture a city full of restaurants that encourage just such a scene.

That's the situation I found myself in during a recent visit to Philadelphia, where BYOB is a common motto at many of the city's small, and reliably good, restaurants. There's even a map of them. When I asked what's up with the BYOB style, many people said liquor licenses were too hard to get/too expensive for many new restaurants. But city laws let people bring their own booze.

So, they do. And, at a cozy yet stylish spot called Lolita, we did, too. Here was the drill: we got on the 30-minute wait list for a table. We walked around some -- and visited the liquor store around the corner, where a bottle of tequila was procured.
At Lolita, the waiter ran through their different fresh margarita mixes for the night. We picked blood orange-mint-lime, at $13. Our server brought the pitcher and two salted glasses of ice to the table, where our bottle awaited. He poured about a quarter of the booze into the pitcher and withdrew.

We tried it -- and it was great. But, we agreed, it needed just a bit more of the good stuff. Which, conveniently, was right at hand.

Bill Chappell

11:29 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Of Magic Markers And Glass Ceilings

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Found this sign after the event and had trouble envisioning what a "gender equality festival" might entail. Tests of strength? Karate training? Automatic salary increases?

Looks like it had a more positive spin. Plus, it's part of year-round programming by a local nonprofit.

Laura Silver

9:30 AM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Give Me Liberty ... Or Merchandising

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Don't Love

The red carpet for the All-Star Game parade on Sixth Avenue is long gone, but 42 commemorative eight-and-a-half foot statues of liberty are still hanging around Manhattan.

I mistook the first one I saw for one of those street performers who paint themselves pale green and strike the pose for hours. Only this one was red. I thought it might be a political commentary -- Liberty on fire, Liberty gone awry -- but when I got closer, I noticed that this crowned lady really didn't budge at all. Plus, she was slightly larger than human scale. And made in China.That's one detail that Major League Baseball's site neglected to mention in its open letter to the people of France.

People of New York -- or anywhere else -- who like the statues can take home a nine-inch replica for $24.99.

Don't get me wrong. I like the idea of multicolored statuettes, a la Ivan Chermayeff's 1974 poster for the Museum of Immigration at the Statue of Liberty. The larger-than-life Statues of Liberty on Parade smack more of commercialism than freedom of expression. I can't help equating them with the "Cows on Parade" that grazed New York streets in 2000.

But maybe I'm just carrying a torch for the Lady of the Harbor.

Laura Silver

9:42 AM ET | 07-18-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Your Big Suburban House Is Making You Miserable

Filed under: City Living

Humans think they'd prefer a bigger house in the suburbs over a smaller place in the city, and never mind the commute. The latest science says they're wrong.

Laura Conaway

8:53 AM ET | 07-18-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Reverse Graffiti: Making Pictures By Cleaning

Filed under: City Living

File this artist under people we'd try to meet if we weren't down to our last few grains of sand. His name's Moose, and he makes graffiti by stripping the grime away from city walls. You'll have to meet him for yourself, here and at the Reverse Graffiti Project.

Laura Conaway

6:32 AM ET | 07-18-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Out Of The Frying Pan, Onto The Blog

Filed under: City Living, What I Made for Dinner

Sad times here at the BPP.

There's still a good serving of fun stuff in the works, but it's tough to face the fact that a lot of those back burner ideas just won't come to fruition this time around.

Here's one thing (in fact the only thing) that was cooking on my stove last night -- that famed piece of Brooklyn-grown okra, pictured here with other spoils from my window box.

Continue reading "Out Of The Frying Pan, Onto The Blog" »

Laura Silver

10:15 AM ET | 07-17-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

For The Love Of A Ghost Bike

Filed under: City Living

Larry Boes talks about caring for a Ghost Bike

Larry Boes rides a bike in New York City. He's gay. And he lost a partner to AIDS. When he read that a gay bike rider had been killed a few blocks from his house, Boes volunteered to look after his memorial Ghost Bike.

"As an out gay man, it wasn't just someone taking care of the bike," Boes says. "It was somebody who wanted to. I think that's what we should do. If two communities cross, the bike community and any other community, it says, 'Get involved.' "

For Boes, that has meant decorating the bike on holidays. It has also meant digging through the trash for the name plate that identifies it as a commemoration of David Smith, age 65. For whatever reason, people have taken to pulling the plaque off and kicking in the tires.

Laura Conaway

8:42 AM ET | 07-16-2008 | permalink | comments (19) | e-mail post

 

Dawn Of A New Day

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, Too Beautiful to Live

There's a certain Zen to the pre-dawn commute. Empty streets, birds chirping, a sense of victory at having beat the masses.

I'm a lifelong New Yorker (translation: jaded curmudgeon) but in these early-morning moments, the city often wins me back.

A shorter BPP means a later start time. I got to leave my house when it was light out and rode my bike up the spine of Sixth Avenue, past the sites of chance encounters and old jobs.

Continue reading "Dawn Of A New Day" »

Laura Silver

7:47 AM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink | comments (18) | e-mail post

 

Today, We're All About Bikes

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

If you love public radio, you'll know that Science Friday is one of the best shows going. MA Shumin just finished this video for them.

It's especially on my mind today, since I'm going over to interview the person who takes care of a ghost bike I see every day.

Laura Conaway

2:07 PM ET | 07-10-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

Bike City, USA: Madison, Wisconsin

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

This Midwestern town is known for its capitol building, its farmer's market and the sprawling state university campus that blankets the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona.

I just spent a few days there, rented a bike from the venerable Yellow Jersey and learned that this is also a great place to be on two wheels. The city's bike map lists bike lanes, bike paths and bike routes.

In short, it's a cyclist's paradise. I set off in search of a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Warner Park, five miles out of town. I couldn't find the lady with the torch, but wasn't disappointed. The bike lanes were well marked and drivers treated me with respect, not the incessant honking that's the norm in New York City.

That was just the beginning in a series of pleasant surprises:

Continue reading "Bike City, USA: Madison, Wisconsin" »

Laura Silver

8:46 AM ET | 07-10-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

 

Okra Grows In Brooklyn

Filed under: City Living

Naysayers, take note: Okra can grow in a window box.

I went away for a few days and when I came home, the okra plant in the kitchen of my fifth-floor walk-up was sporting a fuzzy, four-inch pod. The farmer who sold me the starter plant -- or rather, gave it to me after my first round of okra withered --- told me to make haste in harvesting the pods.

But, proud okra mama that I am, I had to admire it on the vine for just one more day. The underside of the leaves and the stem have beads of sticky sap, which, I hope, bodes well for future offspring.

Laura Silver

8:09 AM ET | 07-10-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Listener Challenge: The $10 Burger-and-Beer

Filed under: City Living

A guy we know on Twitter, @mjb, wrote the other day: "Found $10 on the sidewalk, free lunch, and free beer after work."

And we're thinking, in what city, guy? It turns out MJB lives in Washington, D.C., where his job was springing for lunch that day. But @faerirose says you could pull it off in Omaha, if you stick to basics like Budweiser.

Help us with this one, people. Where you live, can you buy a burger and a beer for $10?

Laura Conaway

9:43 AM ET | 07- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (19) | e-mail post

 

Those Happy, Happy Danes

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

Denmark tops the latest list of the planet's happiest nations.

I'm not saying the livable streets of Denmark's biggest city, Copenhagen, are by any means the sole factor in Danish well-being. I'm just saying I'd be a happier American if our cities looked like the one in the trailer above.

Bonus:
The documentary Contested Streets
Streetsblog, a livable streets resource

Laura Conaway

12:06 PM ET | 07- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

A Ghost Bike Flies Its Colors

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private

You never really get used to seeing them, or at least I don't: ghost bikes, junkers painted white and chained to a street sign or bridge railing. They record the spots where cyclists have been killed by cars. Two of them mark a popular car-free bike path in Manhattan -- a reminder that there may be safest and safer, but there's no such thing as perfectly safe.

I've been wondering for a while now whether the ghost bike above commemorates David Smith. He was killed in December 2007, at the age of 65, while riding the same bike lane I take to work. The white cycle sits on the northwest corner of 36th Street and Sixth Avenue. It catches my eye in the last three minutes of my ride.

Smith was knocked out of the lane when a passenger in an illegally parked truck opened the door. A second truck hit him. I remember reading that his partner of 36 years was a man. I remember thinking, Hit the door. Fall toward the curb. Stay out of traffic.

As if, in the moment, a cyclist really has much choice about what happens.

This morning, I zipped up a very quiet Sixth Avenue -- it's amazing what 5:30 a.m. does to traffic -- dodging takeout containers and bottles left over from the city's Gay Pride celebration. And there was the ghost bike, newly decorated with flowers and a rainbow flag. Happy Pride, David Smith. Wish you were here.

Laura Conaway

2:23 PM ET | 06-30-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post

 

The Saga of Florent Takes an Unexpected Turn

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

A month ago, we profiled the closing of the famous New York restaurant Florent. Owner Florent Morellet was forced to close his namesake diner due to a skyrocketing rent price. Last week, there was a new plot twist in the Florent soap opera. The landlord, Joanne Lucas, will re-open the restaurant tomorrow under the name of the diner that existed before Florent opened his place in 1985: R & L Restaurant.

The original R & L was opened by Lucas' father in 1955. She told The New York Times she didn't have the heart to close the restaurant that had been in her family for years. The restaurant's look and food will remain basically the same, as Florent's chef is staying on board.

Last night, longtime friends of the restaurant convened for the final hours for what they know as Florent. Neighborhood regulars and former and current staff reunited for champagne and cake. Letters from the prophetic menu boards were packaged in tiny gift boxes as party favors.

Continue reading "The Saga of Florent Takes an Unexpected Turn" »

Zena Barakat

12:01 PM ET | 06-30-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

'The Real World' Is Coming -- What Should We Do?

Filed under: City Living

Next month the New York City borough of Brooklyn officially jumps the shark. The Real World: Brooklyn begins filming.

As you may know, a fair number of BPP staffers live in Brooklyn, including Ian Chillag and me (although not together). And as luck would have it, the seven degenerates headed our way will be living literally a few blocks down the road (0.6 miles from Ian and one mile from me).

Now I enjoy eating disorders, casual sex, abs, and low-grade alcoholism as much as the next public radio listener. But I'm not exactly psyched about the arrival of "The Real World: Brooklyn."

However, like it or not, it's coming. So I figure, we might as well make the best of it. But how? I want to find some way for Ian and me to cover our new neighbors' high jinks for the BPP, preferably without having to stay up past 10 pm.

Any ideas?

Dan Pashman

8:05 AM ET | 06-27-2008 | permalink | comments (17) | e-mail post

 

I Know Who's Not My City

Filed under: City Living

Today Mike Pesca talked to Professor Richard Florida about his new book, "Who's Your City?" The basic premise of the book is that whatever choice you made to live where you live probably affected your fate more than any other decision you have ever made.

This being 2008, there's a nifty lil' website to go with the book, and it includes some fun interactives, like a "place finder" a quiz that helps you figure out where you should be living.

I took it and found out that I should NOT be living where I live. I'm going to take it again and see if I can do better, because I don't want to move!

Who's YOUR city?

Tricia McKinney

3:16 PM ET | 06-25-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

 

The Flavor is Gone

Filed under: City Living

The Gum Tree is no more. For decades, Philadelphians took the chewed gum from their mouths and affixed it to a tree outside the cheesesteak joint Ishkabibble's. Why? No one knows, and it doesn't matter. What matters is that the gross and beloved monument is now gone, the victim of renovations to its South Street home.

The tragedy got us thinking: what other unlikely landmarks are out there? These are monuments that weren't meant to be monuments, but somehow everyone in a community came to know and love them. Do you have one in your neighborhood? Let us know.

Ian Chillag

8:59 AM ET | 06-23-2008 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post

 

Post Office Steps: One Artist's Studio

Filed under: City Living

I have a soft spot for New York's main post office -- it's open 24/7 and has a modest (and free) postal museum in its corridors. I've made more than a dozen last-minute runs to get things postmarked before midnight, and waiting in a Beaux-Arts building always seemed like a reward.

Now that plans are underway to convert the building into a train station, I've already started mourning the end of late-night pilgrimages to the McKim, Mead and White mecca.

But, when I walked by the building the other day, I was reassured about the public use of this space. Monique Fagan Smith had turned the post office steps into an open-air art studio. She was painting on a six-foot-tall canvas that looked like linoleum or the flip side of billboard ad.

Fagan Smith had a single can of paint: green. And one brush. Lots of people were sitting on the steps across from Penn Station, but no one paid attention to Fagan Smith's painting.

Continue reading "Post Office Steps: One Artist's Studio " »

Laura Silver

8:41 AM ET | 06-20-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Drawing Pictures

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

When I read that Time Out was soliciting readers to send in photos, from around town, to illustrate -- I couldn't resist submitting this picture. It was taken across the street from the MOMA in Midtown. The subject had no idea I was taking his picture, but I knew it'd be worth a thousand words. I love it when a still image can tell a story.

--Josh Rogosin

Caitlin Kenney

12:24 PM ET | 06-19-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Allegory for an Industry, or Just a DUI Souvenir?

Filed under: City Living

I was walking home the other night and saw this freshly crumpled newspaper box at an intersection in Washington, D.C.
Wish I could have seen this happen -- the damage implies a state of control/uncontrol that intrigues me. It's really what I'd expect to see if you could cram a newspaper box into a huge microwave -- and the box was made of plastic, I guess. It's like it just swooned.
Anyway, if you're someone who can't get enough of Newspaper Industry Dying stories, please just pretend I included that angle here, along with a pithy comparison of this stricken box and a budget crunch.
Bonus: You can even throw in me equating this hit to a denial-of-service Web attack, if you want to use metaphor to tap into the old "The more things change..." angle. But we needn't trouble ourselves with such things.

Bill Chappell

12:38 PM ET | 06-16-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Art of Reinvention

Filed under: City Living

The way cities reshape themselves amazes me -- especially when you get a look at the tools they use to do it. Get a load of this thing: It's huge, it's heavy, and for good measure it has blades.

This thing might look reasonable at first glance. But notice the cars in the background, and you'll get a sense of the scale. It's like 10 feet tall. I have no idea, or at least very little, of what this thing's for. But I'm certain it gets the job done.

It actually reminded me of a Richard Serra piece, built as it is to dwarf human scale and expectations -- especially in a small Washington, D.C., neighborhood that is being rebuilt to accommodate its new baseball park.

Bill Chappell

10:59 AM ET | 06-16-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Big Jump

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

After hearing our BPP segment on BMX cyclist Kevin Robinson yesterday, I decided that I had to take my eight-year-old son Fred last night. Fred and I have gone to other BMX events, most notably the King of New York competition in the Bronx two years ago, but we didn't really know Robinson, or K-Rob, as his fans refer to him. We just knew that we wanted to see him on that enormous U-shaped ramp making BMX history.

Continue reading "The Big Jump" »

Paul Hechinger

11:40 AM ET | 06-13-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

A Head of Lettuce Grows In Brooklyn

Filed under: City Living

A few months ago, a gardener named David Amman told me, "If you're not growing anything, you're not assisting."

That made me rethink the long-dormant windowboxes in my fifth-floor walk-up. I bought starter plants -- $2 to $3 apiece -- including romaine and red leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a few kinds herbs and okra. (Yes, I really do I like it.)

The okra died a quick death (I'm trying a new batch) but the tomato plants are thriving. My real pride and joy, though, is the lettuce. It's doubled in size and is almost as wide as the container it's in.

One problem: I'd never seen it grow before and wasn't sure how to harvest it. I have to open the window to water my micro crops, and the lettuce leaves were in danger of getting mangled, so I started plucking off a leaf or two at a time.

It's tasty, fresh, highly fuel-efficient and right outside my kitchen window.

Laura Silver

1:41 PM ET | 06-12-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

The Inaugural Tour de Queens

Filed under: City Living

Yesterday, I biked the first-ever Tour de Queens.

It was a hot, humid tour of the northwestern corner of New York's biggest borough. A victory lap for city cycling and, on a personal note, a ride down memory lane.

When I was riding through Queens as a kid in the 1980s, there weren't bike paths. My favorite destination was the Unisphere, a 12-story sphere leftover from the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The pathways were cracked pavement strewn with broken glass. And it always seemed empty.

Yesterday, more than 500 cyclists pedaled past some of the monuments of my childhood -- we started at the giant globe and headed for the waterfront. We went under the Hell Gate Bridge, beneath the Triborough Bridge and over the 100-year-old Borden Avenue Bridge. And I discovered new spots, like the aptly named Rust Street in the industrial neighborhood of Maspeth.

The ride ended back at Unisphere. And for a moment, with sweaty riders of every ethnic background collapsed on the grass, it felt like the center of the world.

Laura Silver

9:14 AM ET | 06- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

The View from the Front of the Subway

Filed under: City Living

@labanex just tweeted this video from inside the front door of New York City's 7 train. It's 48 minutes long. You could always save the other 46 for a rainy day. Or maybe you need them now.

In Libra, Don DeLillo has the young Lee Harvey Oswald soaking up just such a view:

"[H]e rode the subway to the ends of the city, two hundred miles of track. He liked to stand at the front of the car, hands flat against the glass. The train smashed through the dark. People stood on local platforms staring nowhere, a look they had been practicing for years. He kind of wondered, speeding past, who they really were. His body fluttered in the fastest stretches. They went so fast sometimes that he thought they were on the edge of no-control. The noise was pitched to a level of pain he absorbed as a personal test... There was so much iron in the sound of those curves he could almost taste it, like a toy you put in your mouth when you were little."

And yes, it is kind of like that, even if you're not Lee Harvey Oswald.

Laura Conaway

1:24 PM ET | 06- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

'Sex and the City' Made on Bryant Park

Filed under: City Living

Whatever you think of Sex and the City -- the movie, the show, the column, the brand -- you couldn't help bumping into it last year in New York as the film version went into production. Someone captured this scene across Bryant Park from our office.

Laura Conaway

8:56 AM ET | 05-30-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Gamillions of Bikes in Copenhagen

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

Several times in New York this spring, I've pulled up to intersections on my bike and realized I'm looking at more bikes than cars. It mostly happens in neighborhoods instead of Midtown Manhattan, but sometimes it happens even on high-traffic streets.

City transportation planners report that the number of cyclists is way up. But we're nowhere near the velo crowd in Copenhagen, Denmark. The person who took the video above admits it's a bit of a cheat -- the footage was taken just after a drawbridge had been lowered. Even so, it's an amazing stream of bikes.

Bonus: L.A. Times covers riding in New York.

Laura Conaway

2:11 PM ET | 05-28-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Once and Future Lower East Side

Filed under: City Living

We talked about America's most endangered historic places on BPP this morning. The list caught our eye because one of the sites, New York's Lower East Side neighborhood, is close to the BPP's home turf. It also reminded us of a great conversation we had with acclaimed novelist and The Wire screenwriter Richard Price. His latest story is set in the Lower East Side. It's a crime novel that's just as much a work of anthropology, studying the neighborhood's supercharged diversity. Our conversation with Price is well worth a listen.

Mark Garrison

10:04 AM ET | 05-26-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Happy 125th Birthday, Brooklyn Bridge

Filed under: City Living

Last night New York kicked off a five-day celebration of the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th birthday. The bridge holds a special place in my heart, for a variety of reasons. My (now) wife Janie and I walked across it on our first date. We got engaged on it. And we got married in its shadow. Now we're fortunate enough to live down the street from it, which means we get to view it and walk across it on a regular basis.

Janie and I attended last night's festivities. I tried to tell her it was all in our honor, but I don't think she believed me. It was a clear night featuring fireworks, a specially-designed multi-colored lighting scheme for the bridge, and a giant birthday cake in the shape of the bridge. We even got to eat the cake. (I don't want to get all political here, but that Michael Bloomberg sure knows how to run a city. He brought enough cake for everyone! The event greatly improved my tax-dollar-to-cake ratio.)

Continue reading "Happy 125th Birthday, Brooklyn Bridge" »

Dan Pashman

8:53 AM ET | 05-23-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Bat Mitzvah Flies Free

Filed under: City Living, Video

On Wednesday night, I went with Bill Chappell to Fort Marcy Park in Fairfax, Virginia, for the release of his beloved Bat Mitzvah.

For the last five months, Bat Mitzvah had been living the good life under the care of bat rehabilitator Leslie Sturges with all the mealworms and darkness a little bat could want, but the time had come for her to fly home.

For me, watching her disappear into the darkness was a little sad, but Leslie didn't feel that way at all.

"The wonderful thing about rehab is to have a wild creature share your life for a little bit and then go finish being wild," she said. "You know, our interest is not in keeping them -- it is in helping them go on. All these wild animals are up against such pressure from people right now that any little thing we can do to help them live a healthy life we feel like we kind of owe it to them."

She sounded just a like a proud mother.

Caitlin Kenney

3:36 PM ET | 05-16-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

New York Announces Winning Subway Buskers

Filed under: City Living, News, Video

A big thanks to everyone who voted in our best subway busker contest. Tomorrow on the BPP, winner Balla Tounkara will perform during our broadcast. Tune in to hear his beautiful voice and intricate picking on the kora, a Malian instrument with 21 strings.

And moments ago, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the winners of the Music Under New York auditions. All four of the musicians in our contest were accepted into the Music Under New York Program. Kip Rosser, the theremin player in the audition story, was also accepted.

So next time you're in New York City, you might see these great musicians performing in the most coveted spots in the subway system.

Congratulations to all.

Zena Barakat

2:33 PM ET | 05-15-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Into the Wild: A Little Bat's Trip to, and from, Rehab

Filed under: City Living, Video

On Wednesday night, I got to watch the little bat I found in December getting released back into the wild!

Leslie Sturges, who has been looking after the bat since NPR became a bit obsessed with it -- How does it survive this brutal cold? Why is it all alone? -- had pronounced Bat Mitzvah healthy and ready to return to full-time bat duties.

Leslie says the bat, a silver-haired female, is likely pregnant, though we weren't going to breach its privacy enough to find out for sure.

I visited Leslie's BatWorld NOVA (that's Northern Virginia for acronym-ophobes) on my bike a couple weeks ago and checked out the rehab process. That's her, holding the bat in the clip below. Soon, with Caitlin Kenney's help, we'll be posting more video -- including a clip from the release!

Bill Chappell

7:41 AM ET | 05-15-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Coming Soon: An Update on Our Pet Bat

Filed under: City Living

Some of you might remember Bat Mitzvah, the little bat we found wedged into the side of a building near NPR this past winter. It was a silver-haired bat, and it turned out to need help to survive.

We're planning an update on the bat Thursday, with all kinds of good stuff.

But for now, let me ask you: Have you ever been really lost -- so turned around that you couldn't trust your sense of direction to set you straight? The kind of lost where asking the locals only makes things worse?

That's what happened to me when I tried to ride my bike the 19 (theoretical) miles from NPR to Bat World NOVA, to check in on the bat and visit with Leslie Sturges, who runs the bat-rehab operation.

It turns out there isn't a good bike route to get there, which means I took to underpasses, overpasses, highways (even a pike, briefly!) and other generally stupid places to ride a bike.

By the time I got out there, I could totally identify with the bats who have lost their way in this world and relied on Leslie to get them back on track.

As for the ride back into town, I took a route not available to most bats: the subway.

Bill Chappell

3:53 PM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

What I Could Not Do This Morning

Filed under: City Living

Fortunately, the unfolding part went just fine. The ride was great, and now the mostly folded Brompton is under my desk. Will practice after the show.

Laura Conaway

6:10 AM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

BPPdian Rhythm: Sleep Struggles in Morning Radio

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private

This morning we talked to Dr. Ana Krieger about sleepwalking. It was an interesting conversation, especially for BPPers, who spend an enormous amount of time thinking and plotting about when to sleep and how to get more of it. No one who has ever worked an a.m. shift for more than a week will find this surprising.

Our day starts before 5 a.m. Getting the fabled eight hours a night is attainable. But the real challenge is getting a decent night's sleep AND having a normal life, as in going out to dinner, seeing your friends' new band play, generally having face-to-face contact with people you like. It is not mathematically impossible, but it's pretty tough.

The math? Assume it takes you 90 minutes to get ready and get to work. (This sub-assumes you aren't too vain and don't live too far. More primp time and longer commutes make it even worse.) That means to get in by 4:30, you need to be up at 3 a.m. To get eight hours, you need to be asleep at 7 p.m. Not a lot of time for fun with friends, unless your entire social circle consists of teachers, pastry chefs, the unemployed or others with consistently free afternoons. But, there is a way out. . .

Continue reading "BPPdian Rhythm: Sleep Struggles in Morning Radio" »

Mark Garrison

12:57 PM ET | 05-13-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

Cricket Players Bring a Beautiful Game Stateside

Filed under: City Living, Video

From Elsa Butler:

For those of us who grew up with the American pastime of baseball, cricket can be a confusing game. For immigrants from places like Guyana, the Caribbean islands, India and Pakistan, cricket is a way of life. "I was born in India, I've been playing for a long time," says Sohom Datta, a senior at Stuyvesant High School who helped start his school's cricket team.

But when families move to the United States, kids end up playing American sports like basketball and football in school.

"My favorite quote about that is that when Indian kids come to Britain, they're still cricket crazy. When they go to America, they forget about cricket," says Datta. "That stuck with me."

That is quickly changing. The New York Department of Education introduced cricket into the public school system and the response was tremendous. It's only the first season, but the varsity league is already in full swing. Teams signed up from Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.

As in baseball, there are bats and balls, but no bases to be found. Instead, the batters run back and forth between "stumps." The pitchers are called "bowlers." They try to knock little wooden "bails" off the "wickets" -- three wooden sticks stuck in the ground.

Several kids in the league have never played before, but they say they're having blast learning an unconventional sport.

Laura Conaway

7:43 AM ET | 05-13-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Great Beef 'n Cheddar Tragedy of '08

Filed under: City Living

We had a good conversation this morning about chain restaurant reviews in the New York Times. Here's our talk with David Corcoran, who reviewed T.G.I. Friday's for the Times, and blogger Ezra Klein, who reacted to the reviews.

Working on this segment yesterday got me thinking about Arby's, hands down my favorite chain meal. I lack the literary ability to convey the soul-nourishing deliciousness of the Beef 'n Cheddar, so I don't dare try. Seconds after finishing the day's work, I met up with my girlfriend (I know what you're thinking: a date at Arby's can't be romantic. I also know you are wrong.) and we hustled to the Manhattan Mall, site of the ONLY Arby's in Manhattan. Nothing prepared us for what we found.

Continue reading "The Great Beef 'n Cheddar Tragedy of '08" »

Mark Garrison

8:48 AM ET | 05- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (14) | e-mail post

 

The Joy of Chain Dining

Filed under: City Living

A New York Times article got more than a few BPPers talking about their loves and hates of chain restaurants. The Times dining coverage gets the most attention when it reviews the fantastically expensive and the impossibly exclusive.

So this piece stood out, since it reviewed several chain restaurants that normal people, far from Manhattan, go to every day, like Outback and Olive Garden. It caused a bit of a buzz online, even on blogs that normally stick to politics.

We'll talk to one of the Times reviewers and one of the bloggers on Thursday's show. Working on this segment got all of us talking, and thinking about our favorite chains. Someone proposed a BPP staff field trip to the nearby Times Square Red Lobster (the one with the really giant, really glowing, really red, rotating lobster out front). For me, there is one chain that towers over all others: Arby's. On a recent road trip, I swerved a car across two lanes of traffic to pull into one and grab a Beef 'n Cheddar. (Don't worry. No one was ever in danger, and the car was a rental.) Sadly, the king of marinated beef doesn't have a franchise in Manhattan. Or so I thought...

Continue reading "The Joy of Chain Dining" »

Mark Garrison

4:17 PM ET | 05- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

Brooklyn Outraged Over Spraypainted Turtle

Filed under: City Living

A few folks in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, found their favorite backyard turtle for the first time this spring -- newly spraypainted.

Being from Brooklyn, they reached out to the blog Gowanus Lounge. They wrote:

We have this turtle that wanders through the different backyards here. She hibernates every winter and comes out every spring. I had been wondering why she wasn't "up" yet , by May 1st; but, I blamed it on the lack of rain in the last half of april. It seems though that she had gotten up and out instead. My landlord passed her through the window to me day before yesterday looking like the photo. Painted. Pepto colored spray paint. It is obviously intentional because she got such a sustained spray that it has drip marks. The face and feet, as well.

The neighbors suspect workers from a nearby construction site, since the paint appears to match a color used there. Me, I'm not ready to make the leap. But I have put a bug into a herpetologist I know for advice about how to clean the critter up.

Bonus: Newsday story on the turtle.

Laura Conaway

2:15 PM ET | 05- 6-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

DIY: The Mysteries of Yogurt

Filed under: City Living

About this time last year, I started riding my bike to work every day. Then I got a basket to carry packages in. And then I brought home a Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker.

My family eats approximately five or six hundred quarts of yogurt a week, between the three of us, and I'd had it with plastic tubs spilling out of the cupboard. We were going to make our own. The recipe called for starting yogurt the old-fashioned way -- with more yogurt. But I quickly discovered that the stuff you buy off the shelf, even from cows that roamed free and studied Suzuki violin, doesn't always pack enough active culture to turn milk into yogurt.

We turned to off-the-shelf yogurt starter, a powder that is to yogurt what yeast is to bread. That stuff works, every time. But then came the mystery, or mysteries.

Continue reading "DIY: The Mysteries of Yogurt" »

Laura Conaway

3:43 PM ET | 05- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (12) | e-mail post

 

Turn a Subway Busker into a BPP Star

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette, Video

Update: Voting closed Monday at 6 a.m. See full results.

It's our version of American Idol, folks. Turn to your inner Paula, Simon and Randy and watch these clips of New York subway musicians, then vote for your favorite!

We chose these four musicians of the 50 who participated in the Music Under New York competition.

The winner of your votes will be invited to the BPP studios to perform. Voting ends at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, May 12. We'll announce the winner on our broadcast that morning.

Zena Barakat

11:52 AM ET | 05- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (21) | e-mail post

 

NYC Subway Musicians Compete

Filed under: City Living, Video

On an average weekday, 173,00 people walk through New York City's Times Square subway stop -- nearly 10 times the audience at a sold-out Justin Timberlake concert at Madison Square Garden.

That's why every year, musicians compete for the opportunity to perform in the Times Square subway station, and other prime underground locations.

On Thursday, nearly 50 musical acts auditioned for the Music Under New York program, and 20 will be accepted this year. The winners will be announced next week.

Since 1985, the annual auditions have showcased diverse talents. As master of ceremonies Bob Holman puts it, "It's the most New York of all events!"

Zena Barakat

11:45 AM ET | 05- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Listener Asks: Advice for Moving to New York City?

Filed under: City Living

So a listener has a friend who's maybe moving to New York City.

My best guess is that my household spent something like $10,000 on that process, which included renting an apartment we'd never seen and being asked to sign the lease in a parking lot under an elevated subway line.

Despite the horror stories about real estate, the listener and her friend have gamely sent over some questions. If you think you can help, hit the comments.

1.) Is it possible to find a livable, fairly decent apartment for under $1,000 a month, or would it be better to find roommates?
2.) What are the best times to go apartment shopping?
3.) How wise would it be for a 21-year-old small woman to live by herself the first time she's even in NY?
4.) How long does it usually take to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan?
5.) What's average for a one-bedroom or studio apt in NY?
6.) Is it generally OK to get an apartment in NY without first viewing it?
7.) In what neighborhoods does one NOT want to live?
8.) In NY, when one decides on an apartment, how much notice does the landlord need?
9.) What neighborhoods are preferable for NYU students (are there any places where NYU students tend to live in a large group)?

Laura Conaway

8:23 AM ET | 05- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

 

Rock, Paper...Waaah?

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette, Video

People gotta know: there's a new rock, paper, scissors on the scene. Jacob is currently office champion.

Zena Barakat

10:16 AM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post

 

All Hail Noel, Rookie Hack

Filed under: City Living

Last week, Noel Hidalgo got behind the wheel for his first day as a New York City cabbie. If that wasn't scary enough, our own Mike Pesca rode shotgun and played the results on the show today.

For more on Noel's adventures in yellow, check out his blog. Angry fares. New York City streets. Other cabbies. I can't imagine a scarier job. Can you?

Ian Chillag

7:39 AM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Doom-Prevention Gear for Straphangers

Filed under: City Living

Car ownership is a rare thing among BPP staffers and New Yorkers in general. The subway is a great way to get around -- except, of course, when fares go up, the train is filthy, or the employees all go on strike.

To one company, those complaints are the least of your worries. They think of your cozy subway car as a magnet for terrorists, fire, poison gas and shattered glass. The solution? Housebag, of course!

Not really. It's Subivor, and it's actually a real product. (Turn down your speakers before you click through. The ad on the page includes ominous music, sirens and screams at high volume.) So what do you need to survive any subway peril? Apparently just a survival mask, flashlight, whistle, something called a pry bar and, naturally, a moist towelette. And for just $27.99, you can get all of that and more in a little bag available in your choice of fun reflective colors: pink, orange, green or yellow. I'm not making any of this up.

I won't be stocking up on Subivors, but I would gladly drop 30 bucks, or more, for something that would stop people who hog seats and/or find my subway car the perfect place to test all the ringtones, loudly, on their mobile phones.

Mark Garrison

2:01 PM ET | 04-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Biking on the 405: Um, Yes.

Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette

Sorry, Mama, but I maybe gotta do this one.

A few fed-up, fearless and probably foolhardy bike riders in Los Angeles decided to take the easy way home: the interstate.

(Their site's here. Thanks to Streetsblog for blogging this first.)

Laura Conaway

11:55 AM ET | 04-25-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

 

Slideshow: Hunting the Pit Bull of Salamanders

Filed under: City Living

For 60 years, naturalists believed the Northern Dusky salamander had disappeared from Manhattan. The amphibian species is common in the Eastern United States, but people just assumed it couldn't hack it here. The last known citing was by Carl Gans, who wrote about it for a 1945 article in the journal Copeia.

A couple of years ago, a New York City Parks Department ecologist who had seen the Gans article decided to go look for herself. Ellen Pehek says she and a colleague spent a day in August picking their way down a rocky bluff before finding a muddy spot in the woods. They turned over a rock and found a mother Northern Dusky and her hatchlings.

This spring, an old friend took my family on a hunt for Northern Duskies. Erik Baard is launching a website, Nature Calendar, for city dwellers who love nature. I may not be as committed as Erik to time outdoors, but I did fall in love with the humble Northern Dusky. Ecologists call it the pit bull of salamanders for its stout body and strong jaws. I like to think of it as the little salamander that could.

Laura Conaway

10:18 AM ET | 04-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Found in Manhattan: The Pit Bull of Salamanders

Filed under: City Living

Going to talk a bit in the show about hunting for the Northern Dusky salamander, an amphibian that survived in secret for 60 years in Manhattan. Slideshow's on the way.

Laura Conaway

7:36 AM ET | 04-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

The Pope's in Town. So Are the Street Preachers

Filed under: City Living

Pope Benedict XVI is in New York City today, and so are some of his detractors. A few people from Universal Life, the Inner Religion set up a booth on West 42nd Street, across from BPP World Headquarters.

Among their offerings was a petition declaring that the Catholic Church should no longer call itself Christian. (I haven't put a call in to the Catholic Church yet, but probably we can guess folks there will disagree.)

Neither of the evangelists pictured here would identify themselves. They explained that their faith is Christian, vegetarian, and based on the idea that we're all temples of God, so we don't need a church. Read the rest for yourself on the Universal Life website.

Laura Conaway

12:57 PM ET | 04-18-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Filed under: City Living

We've been enjoying a great stretch of weather here in NYC. Today they opened the grass in Bryant Park for the first time this year.

A couple more cool shots are after the jump...

Continue reading "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" »

Dan Pashman

3:05 PM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

A Poem in Your Pocket, or Are You Happy to See Me?

Filed under: City Living

Today is national "Poem in Your Pocket" day. The idea is you are supposed to memorize or carry around your favorite poem to share with anybody who will listen. Please post yours here! I know mine by heart, although I will admit the punctuation escapes me, as it was written by ee cummings. Here's the official phrasing:

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddyandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed

balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

Alison Stewart

10:03 AM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | comments (23) | e-mail post

 

NPR's Pet Getting Ready to Fly Again

Filed under: City Living, Video

Name NPR's pet bat/Video by Bill Chappell and Wright Bryan

Back in December, we followed the case of a tiny silver-haired bat that had taken up residence in the crevice of a Washington, D.C., building. We fell in love with the bat and took pictures and video before, one day, it disappeared.

It turns out Bat Mitzvah got dehydrated and was taken to a bat hospital, where she was to spend the winter recovering before heading for the wild again. Now Leslie Sturges of Bat World NOVA sends an update:

"I put her in the flight cage tonight for a couple hours to get her wings back. She's definitely capable of flight, but it's tiring for her. . . . We just didn't get any warm snaps that lasted long enough for her to go this winter, and spring has refused to stick around long enough to put her out in the flight cage overnight. This weekend looks good, so maybe she can get some flight exercise and can go next week. Keep your fingers crossed for warm nights!"

Laura Conaway

8:47 AM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

People from the Planet of No Nature

Filed under: City Living

It's finally spring -- and that means flowers. And they, in turn, often mean big events, like Washington D.C.'s Cherry Blossom Festival. I was walking around there a week or two ago, when I saw all these people hunched over in one area, snapping pictures like crazy.

It wasn't an animal, or art. It was some recently bloomed flowers. Talk about "Glad to see ya, springtime!"

I had to wonder what my mom, or especially my grandmother, would have thought if she looked out her window and saw a dozen people trampling the yard to get a picture of her flower bed.

Have to say, I'm glad people like nature -- flowers and fresh air are great. But I wish it weren't necessary to crowd around it like it's something from outer space.

Bill Chappell

8:29 AM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

White Stuff I Like

Filed under: City Living

Summer Ash, our own astrophysicist to the (radio) stars, sends this amazing clip of art made from plastic bags by Joshua Allen Harris. Reusable Bags is on the beat.

Laura Conaway

8:50 AM ET | 04-12-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

First Real Sign of Spring (Or: Bug-Eradication Tips?)

Filed under: City Living

We changed the clocks. The crocuses bloomed. Baseball season started. But somehow it didn't feel like spring . . . . Until yesterday. My wife and I had our first water bug of the season saunter through the kitchen last night. Ah, Mother Nature, how you bless us with your many creations.

For those who don't know, water bugs are big insects related to roaches. But bigger. At least the ones in Brooklyn are. They're about two inches long and one inch wide. I know some of you will call me soft for being disturbed by these harmless scamps. Others will call me inhumane for wanting to eradicate them from my life. You're entitled to your opinions. But you probably don't live in a bug-infested dystopia.

The exterminator comes once a month, to no avail. We lay out roach motels, and the bugs order room service. We put down boric acid, and they take it like a B-12 shot in the thorax.

So fair blog readers, I ask you: Got any good ideas? Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of water bugs and roaches that don't involve large quantities of chemicals?

Dan Pashman

9:12 AM ET | 04- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (17) | e-mail post

 

Desperately Seeking Tam Tams

Filed under: City Living

They're hexagonal-shaped crackers that have a lot more flavor than matzoh (chalk it up to the additional sugar and oil) and they've been on -- or near -- my family's Passover table for as long as I can remember. And stocked in my parents' pantry throughout the year.

Matzah is a must on Passover, but there's no religious obligation to eat a Tam Tam. Representatives from the company that makes them, Manischewitz, didn't get back to me on the origin of the name, but I suspect it may have something to do with the Hebrew/Yiddish word "ta'am," meaning "taste" and by extension, "tasty."

This year, Tam Tams are short supply, and as part of research for our segment on the crisis, I did some calling around. One store deep in Brooklyn said they had the whole-wheat version in stock (I've tried those in the past and decided they weren't worth the trip). Then a guy at an Upper West Side kosher grocery said he had several flavors, so I ran up there to buy out his stock.

It was too good to be true. Kosher-for-Passover crackers? Yes. But not Tam Tam brand. Not the familiar, yellowish hexagons. I went to a nearby D'Agostino's grocery store. There was a whole endcap of Passover-compliant goods. Minus the Tams Tams.

The typical saying at the end of the Passover meal is "Next year in Jerusalem."

Now, there's something else to look forward to in the year to come.

Laura Silver

8:35 PM ET | 04- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

Listener Checks In: Hanging On in Detroit

Filed under: City Living

Joe Grassi on where he hears the BPP.

On today's show, a listener named Joe Grassi told about using the BPP podcast to get through his shifts on a Chrysler assembly line near Detroit. He works on a line where they make doors, at a pace of 180 doors an hour.

Grassi says he has been laid off three times since entering the industry in 2000, never for longer than a few months. He has remained the low one on the seniority totem pole -- because no one else has gotten hired. These days, you don't need a weatherman to tell you life is hard for people in and around Detroit.

If you want to get sense of life there, Grassi told me, check out this high school kid's op-ed from April 6 Detroit Free Press. In "Kilpatrick Makes It Harder to Defend Detroid," Darnell Gardner Jr. says he believes the city's embattled mayor has an ethical and moral obliglation to listen to him. And you can bet he's got plenty to say. Gardner writes:

In the past 10 years, I have seen every aspect of Detroit decay. My neighborhood, East English Village, once a diverse, safe and clean gem of the city, has crumbled before my eyes. I have forgotten what it feels like to be at peace. Whether it is gunshots, loud and profane music, or dime bags left on my sidewalk, something reminds me every day of how low this city has fallen.

. . .

I have even heard teachers say that they could not grade some papers because they were unreadable. In fact, one of my peers asked me to proofread one of his essays, and I nearly began to sob halfway through it.

Laura Conaway

2:38 PM ET | 04- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Meatloaf: What I Made for Dinner, April 3, 2008

Filed under: City Living

I decided to make dinner last night, keeping in mind that Bill and I are going to a fancy-pants restaurant this evening. It's part of a tradition. We were married on the 4th of the month, so every 4th, we hit an Italian place -- sometimes a low-key red-sauce joint and sometimes a high-end white-tablecloth spot, in memory of our two-week of honeymoon on which we ate our way across Italy.

So I went for an American staple: Meatloaf.

I "re-imagined" a recipe I found in the Silver Palate cookbook called Street Market Meatloaf. It's taken from some famous Venice, Calif., eatery. I re-imagined it because I wanted to use what I had in the house!

Full recipe follows:

Continue reading "Meatloaf: What I Made for Dinner, April 3, 2008" »

Alison Stewart

9:45 AM ET | 04- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Found on the Subway: New Kids on the Block Fans

Filed under: City Living

Amanda and Sara, plucked from the predawn train.

When you take the New York City subway at 5:30 in the morning, you see a lot of blue-collar types -- nurses, people carrying hardhats, foot messengers clocking in early.

But today in New York, you might have seen Sara Barnes and Amanda Omeljaniuk on their way to the New Kids on the Block reunion. And you'd have noticed them.

Maybe NKOTB's biggest fans in the world, the pair of 19-year-olds stayed up all night working on their look. They nailed it. Sara and Amanda bravely got off the train with a stranger carrying a press pass and told us their story.

Alternate headline for this item: In the Country of Old Men on the Block

Laura Conaway

8:28 AM ET | 04- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Scenes from a Cuban Exhibition, in New Jersey

Filed under: City Living, Slideshow

The latest cool thing to bring back from Cuba (if you can get there) isn't a cigar but a painting.

On today's show, Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, a collector and co-founder of the Cuban Artists Fund, talks about the hot market for art from the island nation.

Meanwhile, the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, N.J., shares the images in the slideshow above. Its exhibit, "Cuba: Artists Experience Their Country," stays up through March 30.

Laura Conaway

9:50 AM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Photo Evidence: Find That Typo

Filed under: City Living

NPR editor person and general pal Beth Novey sends this picture of a typo in Washington, D.C. I'm calling it "Unchecked Baggage."

More: Man travels country to fixe typo's.

Laura Conaway

7:24 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

What's It Like to Grow Up in a Big City?

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private

Back home in Mississippi, people often ask me what it's like to raise a kid in New York City. That's not really an answerable question, I think, except maybe with one example after another.

The other day our son, Nathaniel, turned six. A few people still hold birthday parties at home, but by this point the kids are getting big enough that 15 of them can't fit all that well into a New York City house.

Instead, we loaded the cake and balloons and party favors (a flower in a pot for each kid) into the wagon that we use instead of a car. Nathaniel wanted to haul it himself, and he did. He pulled that wagon (most of) the mile to the tumbling studio where he takes a class each week. The weather was wet and windy, and the balloons were uncooperative. But he did it.

Laura Conaway

11:17 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Vanquishing Veisalgia: How Folks Handle Their Hangovers

Filed under: City Living, Video

Today on the BPP, we spoke to Dr. Billy Goldberg who gave us some expert advice on how to handle a hangover. But we also made a point to drop by our local pub yesterday to check in on how midday revelers were planning on dealing with their veisalgia.

Check it out:

Win Rosenfeld

6:17 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Astrophysicist Makes House Call

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, The Dagobah System

Sometimes you need help from an astrophysicist, and that's when you're glad for Summer Ash (aka).

Summer came to my emotional rescue this week after I read this headline in the New York Times: "Kissing the Earth Goodbye in About 7.59 Billion Years."

Maybe it was the part about how, in the end, "there won't even be fragments." Maybe it was the part where the scientists say never mind the Himalayas. Maybe it was that I'd just read Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel, The Road. Or maybe it's that we're reading The Little Prince at my house -- and no matter what he says, you can't just up and quit your planet.

Whatever caused it, I had a case of existential suffocation. And I called on Summer Ash, who's used to dealing with our universe's cold infinities, to pull me out.

Laura Conaway

9:46 AM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

It's the End of the World, and They Know It

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, The Best Song In The World Today

Solar flares: I suppose you could say they're pretty.

Call me Vic Chestnutt, but I'm kind of about to choke.

The New York Times reports on a new theory that the Earth will meet its demise by getting sucked into the sun. "Kissing the Earth Goodbye in About 7.59 Billion Years," the paper warns. As it renders the theory: "Earth will be dragged from its orbit by an engorged red Sun and spiral to a rapid vaporous death."

A few weeks back, I read Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road, a post-apocalyptic tale peopled by cannibals and a few desperate moral souls. The book's protagonist is a dying father trying to save his son. Never mind the movie rights -- this thing already plays behind my closed eyelids. The last thing I needed was for actual science to pile on.

Riding to my rescue in half an hour is astrophysicist to the (radio) stars Summer Ash. She promises the news is not so bad. I'm aiming to share the interview on Thursday's show. (UPDATE: Have to hold this until Friday's show.)

Laura Conaway

1:22 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

 

Spring Forward: Anybody Feeling Sleepy Out There?

Filed under: City Living

The past couple of weeks, my walk from the subway to the office has included the faintest hint of dawn over the East River.

And now, thanks to Daylight Saving Time, that hint of dawn is gone. I'm thinking I'll see it again sometime in the first week of April. For now, I'm grumpy and noticing on our Twitter feed that I'm maybe not so alone.

From @sgtret: "It is dark out here. Depressing. At least I won't have the sun in my face for the morning commute . . ."

Laura Conaway

7:00 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

 

Life in the Big City: Desperate for Air (and Green Leaves)

Filed under: City Living

Is living in a city healthy for its inhabitants? Lots of studies list the benefits of city life -- chief among them, the 8 to 10 pounds urbanites keep off by walking all over the place. There are other perks, too, like centralized healthcare and a sense of community.

But when I walk around most big cities, I rarely think, "Damn, these are some healthy people." This time of year, they just seem pale, and maybe a little out of it.

Continue reading "Life in the Big City: Desperate for Air (and Green Leaves)" »

Bill Chappell

12:44 PM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Paging Mr. C. Kret: Your Van Is Causing a Web-Jam

Filed under: City Living

I first saw this truck around Washington, D.C., a few years ago, but I had no idea it was any kind of an institution in its own right until a friend mentioned it a few weeks back. Then, lo and behold, there it was again, and I snapped a photo.

A quick search yielded an odd entry on, of all things, the Guinness World Records site. "RubbaBanMan" makes no mention of the van, but he does include some of its spray-painted text. Evidently, the guy hopes to accumulate a record-worthy rubber-band ball.

Continue reading "Paging Mr. C. Kret: Your Van Is Causing a Web-Jam" »

Bill Chappell

11:16 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Move Over Christmas Tree, It's the Electric Fountain

Filed under: City Living

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree may be out-gawked this year by a 35-foot light sculpture called the Electric Fountain. We caught up with the creators at yesterday's unveiling, London-based artists Sue Webster and Tim Noble, and brought back some eye candy:

Pauline Bartolone

5:17 PM ET | 02-28-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

A Story to Make You Glad for Your Humble Home

Filed under: City Living

When all else fails, there's still the New York Post. "Horror Night at the Plaza," the tabloid says today. "Woman Trapped 7 Hours After Door Jams."

Except to say that it involved the former Plaza Hotel and a garbage room, I'm not going to add a thing. Go ahead and treat yourself to the rest.

Laura Conaway

1:58 PM ET | 02-28-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Rate This Journalist's Flirting Skills

Filed under: City Living

I was put up to it, I swear.

Right before I started working at the BPP, my video producer friend Charlotte Buchen asked me to be the on-camera reporter for a Current TV piece on 'eye gazing' parties. Basically it's like speed dating, except the flirting happens nonverbally. Rules are simple: Lock eyes with someone for three straight minutes, then move onto the next person. It's pretty intense.

Flirting in this case was part of the reporting process. How did I do?

Pauline Bartolone

8:48 AM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

A Wake for Love on Valentine's Day Eve

Filed under: City Living, Video

We had WNYC reporter Kathleen Horan on the show yesterday to talk about her website relationshipobit.com. The site collects creative writing meant to put past relationships to rest.

Last night Horan threw a "wake for love" in downtown Manhattan, where we got to see some catharsis in action.

What's your relationship obituary this lovers' holiday?

Pauline Bartolone

8:22 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Love That City Bike

Filed under: City Living

Out on the streets, I'm seeing signs of a recovery. And it's not an economic recovery, but it does involve a cycle -- a bicycle. City types are turning away from the mountain bike. After years of seeing the urban crowd lumber along on tricked-out, knobby-tired beasts with names like "Mountain Capper," I'm noticing signs of sanity among my fellow pedaling commuters.

The "comfort bike" started it, when people realized they didn't want to hunch over a quirky, jerky straight handlebar every time they wanted to enjoy the outdoors. But there was one problem: the name "comfort bike" makes it sound like you should ride it with Velcro-strap shoes.

So, enter the "city bike," a catchall term for bicycles with classic designs and more muted colors (and no over-the-top decals). They are heavy and sturdy enough to ride on city streets, they have a long wheelbase to soak up the bumps, and many of them look like they were stolen off the streets of Amsterdam. Also, forget that useless fuss of having 28 gears: most city bikes have between one and seven gears, which are often in an enclosed, simple rear hub.

And just to prove how civilized they are, most city bikes also include a chain guard, to keep your street clothes looking good when you get where you're going.

I helped a friend of mine put her new Dutch-style city bike together the other day. It looks cool, it rides great -- and, I'm happy to say, it seems to be part of a trend.

Bill Chappell

2:27 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

 

YouTube: Baltimore Cop vs. Skater Kid

Filed under: City Living, News

Twitter and NPR guy Jon Foreman sends this video of a Baltimore cop who went to 11 on a 14-year-old skateboarding where he shouldn't have. Officer Salvatore Rivieri was suspended yesterday with pay.

Dude, please, kids are people, too.

Laura Conaway

11:22 AM ET | 02-13-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

 

Sugar Mamas and Boy Toys: Cast Your Vote

Filed under: City Living

The plot from The Graduate might become a reality for some young men in New York City tonight. Fifteen wealthy women over 35 and 15 hot young guys are set up for a speed-dating event. To qualify, the women had to make more than $500,000 a year or have $4 million in liquid assets. The guys just had to be nice to look at and under 35 years old.

The "Sugar Mama and Boy Toy" event is being organized by Jeremy Abelson of pocketchangenyc.com.

On their website, you can click through the listings of the real-life "cougar" women and pretty boys and vote on your favorites. Names are not disclosed, but pictures are included -- and in the case of the women, you get a financial snapshot. If for no other reason, browse for the comments.

To a 37-year old blond woman with $15,000,000 in entrusted assets, one man jokingly writes:

38. Commented by George Costanza on 2/6/2008 I'm bald. Have no job. And I live with my parents. Cawwwwl me!

Or a message to a 65-year-old with $10,422,000 in liquid assets:

I AM SUNDAY ADEBOLA 28,
YOU LOOK VERY BEATIFUL AND NICE EVEN AT YOUR AGE , I CAN MAKE YOU LOOK YOUNGER BY GIVING YOU HAPPINESS

Gals, you can vote on your favorite boy toy until 7pm EST tonight. I don't know about you, but those big muscles scare me.

Pauline Bartolone

9:55 AM ET | 02- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

What Are You Giving Up for Lent?

Filed under: City Living

I just strolled down 5th Avenue and saw a lot of people which smudges on their foreheads.
After all our Mardi Gras festivities yesterday, I am surprised I forgot today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Traditionally, the 40 days of Lent were a pre-Easter period of fasting...but now most people who observe the holiday give up something near and dear to their hearts to help them consider growth, penitence and simplicity. In the past, I've given up gossip websites, chocolate, beer. I better get on the stick and decide about '08. What about you?

Alison Stewart

10:02 AM ET | 02- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (17) | e-mail post

 

Vampire Weekend's Guide to New York

Filed under: City Living, Music, Video

Vampire Weekend is a band worth watching. Pitchfork anointed them with its coveted "Best New Music" title this year, and The Village Voice and The New York Times have both spent plenty of column inches gushing about the band's original sound. This week, Vampire Weekend reached the top 10 on the iTunes most-downloaded list.

Some people hear the Talking Heads in their music, some hear the Clash. But everyone can agree that they have a distinctly New York feel. Weekends' lyrics range from crosstown bus rides to Upper East Side hangouts. We chatted with the Columbia graduates last week near their alma mater and discussed all things New York.

Win Rosenfeld

10:07 PM ET | 02- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

 

Improv Everywhere Strikes Again

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Remember when we had Alan Corey of Improv Everywhere on the BPP to talk about No Pants 2K8? The pants-free subway ride was just one of many cool stunts the group has pulled in NYC and elsewhere.

They just posted video of an earlier adventure, in which they got 200 people to freeze simultaneously in Grand Central Station for five minutes. It's seriously awesome. Check it out.

Tricia McKinney

8:13 PM ET | 02- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Yo, Peep, Yo! The Birth of a Gender Neutral Pronoun

Filed under: City Living, Links From the Show

On today's show, we did a story about a new use of the word yo. Apparently, it's not just a greeting anymore. Some students in Baltimore, Maryland, are using it as a way to refer to a third person, in a gender neutral kind of way.

Here's how a couple of students at The Baltimore Career Academy use the pronoun:

And there's a back story: The pronoun got attention when, a few years ago, a group of Baltimore teachers in a linguistics class at Johns Hopkins University shared with each other the spontaneous uses of yo they were hearing at their schools. Some examples:

"Yo handin' out papers (She is handing out papers)
"Peep, yo!" (Look at him!)
"You acting like I said what yo said" (You're acting like I said what he/she said)
"Yo been runnin' in the halls" (He/She has been running in the halls)

Elaine Stotko, professor of the linguistics class and Margaret Troyer, Stotko's student and Baltimore teacher, did a study on the use of the pronoun and published their findings in American Speech.

In one phase of the data collection, students were given a set of cartoon drawings with characters "made to look like the African American children at the school." The students were asked to fill in the conversation bubble using slang, which was defined as "informal language, the way you talk to your friends, not the way you talk in school." Below are the four drawings:

From the American Speech article:

"Of the 115 students who participated, 68 students did not use yo at all and 47 used,yo,as an attention-focusing device in one or more of their conversations. Eight out of those 47 students also used yo as a third person pronoun. There were 8 uses of yo in the subject position:

Yo look like a sack a** gump.
Yo is a clown.
Yo sucks at magic tricks.
Yo needs to pull his pants down.
Yo looks like a freak.
Yo is a straight clown.
Yo going to put that chicken in his mouth.
Yo, looka that dude pants. Yo is a clown.

What I want to know is, what the heck is a sack a** gump?

Pauline Bartolone

1:48 PM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink | comments (14) | e-mail post

 

Slideshow: Xtreme Knitters Rock the Yarn

Filed under: City Living, Slideshow

On today's show, Sabrina Gschwandtner introduced us to the world of extreme knitting -- guerrilla artists who leave knitted "tags" as a new form of graffiti, people who knit with weird stuff like fiberglass and lead, people who get together for massive knitting parties and cover entire park benches with yarn. Wow.

Gschwandtner is the editor KnitKnit, a zine, and the new book KnitKnit: Profiles and Projects from Knitting's New Wave.

Laura Conaway

9:59 AM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink | comments (19) | e-mail post

 

Burned! Urban Lead Legend Is True

Filed under: City Living

For a long time, girlfriend Nora and I used a French press to make coffee in the morning. I, wanting to minimize time between waking up and drinking coffee, would take hot water from the faucet, put it in the kettle, get it to a boil and make coffee from there.

We lived in an old house with old pipes, and Nora would argue that we shouldn't be drinking from the hot water side, saying that it was likely to have more bad stuff in it than the cold water.

I responded that even if it did have more bad stuff, we were boiling it so it didn't matter. Turns out, as usual, I was wrong.

Continue reading "Burned! Urban Lead Legend Is True" »

Ian Chillag

9:28 AM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

What I Made for Dinner, 1/28/08

Filed under: City Living

Tonight's dinner was made with the help of BPP resident astrophysicist Summer Ash, who took her head out of the heavens long enough to recommend a tasty dish. It's a simple pasta and sauce, the sauce being diced tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies. I swapped ground beef for the anchovies because I'm just not that adventurous. I think I overdid the spices a bit. I never know when to leave well enough alone.

Tricia McKinney

7:34 PM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

What I Made for Dinner 1/22/08

Filed under: City Living

Earlier in the day before I was completely overwhelmed by fatigue I planned to get ambitious and make something with fresh ingredients and an exotic spice or two. Something NPR-worthy.

But this is me, and in this, as in so many other things, I dream big and deliver small.

So here's what I'm making for the McKinneys:

Pork chops grilled on one of those George Foreman-type-thingies--maybe in a marinade, maybe with just some ground pepper.

Some kind of frozen vegetable cooked in the microwave. I'm getting partial to these single-serving-sized packs of frozen veggies so I can have brussels sprouts while husband and daughter have corn. They don't do beans in these little bags yet.

And the piece de microwavable resistance? Mashed potatoes. But not real mashed potatoes nor those tubs of viscous, gluey potato-like pre-made mashed taters. These are frozen potato bits that you mix with milk and then microwave. I happened upon them at my hometown grocery store and ya know what? They're pretty good.

I am sad about all the packaging. Honest. But hey, I got my microwave for free on freecycle and although it's a million years old and enormous and not at all good looking, at least it sort of works and it's not in a landfill!

Next week I'll be good and organic and all that stuff. Cross my heart, NPR!

Tricia McKinney

7:24 PM ET | 01-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Cloverfield = Coastal Insensitivity?

Filed under: City Living

Alison Stewart, still trying to get back from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, sends this on the movies:

The New York Times takes the Cloverfield filmakers to the woodshed with a review that charges they should be ashamed of themselves for some spot-on visual allusions to Sept. 11, 2001. Critic Manohla Dargis writes:

Like Cloverfield itself, this new monster is nothing more than a blunt instrument designed to smash and grab without Freudian complexity or political critique, despite the tacky allusions to Sept. 11. The screams and the images of smoke billowing through the canyons of Lower Manhattan may make you think of the attack, and you may curse the filmmakers for their vulgarity, insensitivity or lack of imagination. (The director, Matt Reeves, lives in Los Angeles, as does the writer, Drew Goddard, and the movie's star producer, J. J. Abrams.)

I saw the film and there ARE two scenes which look more like footage from that sad fall day than a 2.0 monster movie.

What do you think? Tacky or realistic story telling?

-- Alison Stewart

Caitlin Kenney

11:51 AM ET | 01-22-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

The Internet Has No Feelings

Filed under: City Living

Joel Rakes likes Sufjan Stevens. Nothing wrong with that. He and some friends saw him play in Brooklyn, and ran into him outside after the show, and took the above picture. Nothing wrong with that either.

The picture is pretty bad...the guy that was taking the picture didn't tell us he was pushing the button, which is why not many of the people in the picture (Sufjan included) look ready for the picture. We took the picture, said thanks and off we were. It was pretty quick as we didn't want to keep him from getting on with his life.

So Joel Rakes has a website, and on said website he posts a picture of the day, which he hosts on Flickr. Liking Sufjan Stevens as he does and having a picture of himself with Sufjan Stevens as he did, he made the above picture the picture of the day. The next day, it showed up on the popular music blog BrooklynVegan at the top of a post about music happenings that week.

I didn't actually find out it was on the BrooklynVegan site until a week or so later. I'd actually been to BrooklynVegan a week or so the picture was posted and I check in from time to time. However, I noticed that my photo was getting tons of hits...like over 300 views which is a lot more than normal.

So somebody stole his picture. No worries. Then came the comments. At first, a little picking on Sufjan, but for the most part, pretty innocuous stuff:

god sufjan looks like the most insufferable stick in the mud. Someone needs to smack him across the face and say "cheer up b***h you are popular and rich"
that key foods across from southpaw has some bumpin' music.
i hope Sufjan isn't trying to turn a whole generation onto the godawful goatee. that's some atrocious facial hair.

Then, 8 comments in, a commenter named Hater of Tools chimed in:

actually, I don't blame Sufjan for looking so down. wouldn't you be depressed if a bunch of tools forced you to take a photo with them? look at those people, complete tools.

And thus commenced the crap parade...

Continue reading "The Internet Has No Feelings" »

Ian Chillag

10:16 AM ET | 01-22-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

What I Made for Dinner, 1/15/08

Filed under: City Living

Laura Conaway, this blog's esteemed editor, has been harassing me to start blogging what I make for my family for dinner every night. I have no idea why she would find this interesting. We McKinneys must represent the typical nuclear family or something. If so, I feel sorry for this nation.

Here's what we consumed chez McKinney this evening: beef stir fry with peppers. It was purchased pre-chopped at Stop and Shop with a sell-by date of today. I glopped way too much pre-made black bean sauce from a jar all over it. I served it with brown basmati rice. My daughter's portion was sauce-free.

Happy, Laura?

Tricia McKinney

8:24 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

 

Listener Checks In: The Snow Outside Boston

Filed under: City Living

Listener DougH sends pics and video from his family's snow day in Newton Corner, Mass., not far from Boston.

Good grief, I wish we had some snow here in New York.

However it seems to y'all up there, it looks like heaven to me.

Laura Conaway

2:19 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Pants-free at the BPP?

Filed under: City Living

Last week we interviewed one of the geniuses behind No Pants 2k8, the annual improvisational event in which random people ride the subway sans pants. The 7th annual version of the event happened on Saturday. No one here at BPP world headquarters joined in.

Or so we thought....

Friend of the BPP and sometime cohost Mike Pesca sent out an e-mail this morning with a link to a picture of some pants-free riders. One of them looks a lot like NPR audio engineer Josh Rogosin. It's the guy 2nd from the left.

Josh says that it's not him, though he does acknowledge a resemblance. And I tend to believe him, because the picture was taken in Boston, one of the 9 participating cities.

Tricia McKinney

11:36 AM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Video: Tear in Your Beer

Filed under: City Living, News, Video

A hops shortage has beer brewers scrambling worldwide. The cost of this key ingredient went up 400 percent last year. Add to that increasing barley prices and it means bad news for the beer drinkers AND the brewers. You can blame it on the bad weather, growers going to other industries, even ethanol subsidies.

But the bottom line is that some pub-goers in Manhattan are already dishing out 50 cents more for a pint of microbrew. That may not seem like much, but prices might shoot up even more this year -- in some markets by up to three more dollars more per six pack.

Chris Sheehan, the head brewer at New York City's Chelsea Brewery, let us in on how a good beer-maker copes with tough times like these.

Win Rosenfeld

6:35 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Yesterday Was National Clean Off Your Desk Day

Filed under: City Living

Yeah, that's not going so well.

Tricia McKinney

11:29 AM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

It's National Clean Off Your Desk Day

Filed under: City Living

I have to get going.

Tricia McKinney

12:20 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

A Fashion Blast from the Past

Filed under: City Living

Do you wonder what was fashionable in the 1980s? I mean, what was really fashionable -- as in, stuff you could make yourself and then wear?

Well, imagine getting two years' worth of vintage Vogue Patterns magazines delivered to your door.

That's what happened at my apartment last month. Every few days, a new Vogue Patterns would show up in the day's mail, addressed to my landlord -- who hasn't lived there since the late '80s, from what I understand.

My roommate and I were shocked, amused and uncertain what to do. It just seemed entirely wrong to throw these things out, after they've spent 20 years in transit, struggling to deliver their message of What's Hot Now! -- even if "now" is really 1987. For now, they're on our coffee table.

Bill Chappell

11:44 AM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Festivus 'Feats of Strength'

Filed under: City Living

We ended Wednesday's show talking about Festivus -- the end-of-year "holiday" made popular by the creators of Seinfeld. The celebration's strange rituals have been picked up at parties nationwide. It's full of grievances, bare aluminum poles, and "feats of strength."

Continue reading "The Festivus 'Feats of Strength'" »

Pauline Bartolone

3:40 PM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Backing the Pack: Green Bay Shows Its Pride

Filed under: City Living, Sports, Video

If you caught our segment on "Kettle of Fish," the New York City haven for displaced Green Bay Packers fans, you have an idea of how serious these folks are. But to get the full picture of Cheesehead dedication, you need to see Packer fans in their natural element.

Check out this slideshow, accompanied by the music of Green Bay fan Eddy J Lemberger.

See the video here and hear Dan and me talking about it with Alison and Mike Pesca here.

Win Rosenfeld

9:33 AM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Cheeseheads in Exile: The NYC Packers Bar

Filed under: City Living

Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the smallest city in America with a pro sports team. Throughout the state, the Green Bay Packers reign supreme. But hundreds of miles away, in New York City, a Packer fan can feel pretty lonely. Fortunately for New York's small band of cheesehead expats there's the Kettle of Fish, a Greenwich Village bar purchased in 1998 by a transplanted Wisconsinite and transformed into the Big Apple's number one spot for Packer Backers. But game days at the Kettle of Fish aren't just about football, beer, and Wisconsin cheddar cheese. They're also about finding a small piece of home in the big city.

And by the way...Bonnie Wasserman, the woman featured towards the end of the video, may seem a little tipsy, but she's no slouch.

Win Rosenfeld

6:26 AM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

What a Face: NPR's Pet Bat Feeling Better Now

Filed under: City Living

Remember that silver-haired bat living in the wall in Washington, D.C.? Weekend All Things Considered sends this picture of Bat Mitzvah (aka Beautiful) recovering from dehydration in a bat hospital. Come spring, she'll get the chance to fly free again.

Laura Conaway

9:21 AM ET | 12-26-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Lift Your Spirits: A Liquor for the Last Minute

Filed under: City Living, Stuff We Love

Everybody is on an absinthe kick, it seems, happy to sip a drink on its passage back from the Dark Side and into the mainstream. That's great -- but there are two liqueur-type herbals -- or herbal-type liqueurs -- I'd like to see get more props, as well.

The first, Fernet Branca, was a fave of Hunter S. Thompson, who claimed it to be the way out of the thorny woods of a hangover -- sometimes the only way.

And I probably don't need to tell you, but if this stuff could clear out Hunter's hangover, yours should be no problem.

Continue reading "Lift Your Spirits: A Liquor for the Last Minute" »

Bill Chappell

10:58 AM ET | 12-24-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

UPDATED: Pet Bat Rescued by Bat Doctor

Filed under: City Living

I have it on good sources that NPR's Weekend All Things Considered -- or WATC, as we say around here -- is planning a segment tomorrow on the rescue of that silver-haired bat in Washington, D.C.

The bat seemed to have gone missing a few days ago, but apparently it was in good hands all along. The good folks from WATC had gone with a bat expert to see it, and the expert decided the bat was dehydrated. They took it to a bat hospital, and now it's doing much, much better. When the weather warms, I'm told, they intend to turn the bat loose again.

And what do you know, the bat's a she. I'm hearing from WATC that the bat is now going by the name of Beautiful, though I'm still holding out for Bat Mitzvah.

UPDATE: The new segment is online -- very cool.

Laura Conaway

1:42 PM ET | 12-21-2007 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

 

Girls Toys Bring New Meaning to "Ho Ho Ho"

Filed under: City Living

On the show today, we talked about the toy choices available out there for girls and how a lot of them are...how can I put this? Skanky.

My husband has declared a moratorium on Bratz in our home. We'll see how long that lasts. In the meantime, I decided to try to find some clothes for my daughter's Barbie doll (given to her by a classmate last Christmas; I gritted my teeth and said "thank you"). My goal? The least skanky possible outfits.

The pickings were slim. Here's what I came up with.

At first the outfit on the right seemed great--a long-sleeved top, long pants. Hooray! Then I saw the shoes. Platform boots with a heel that would be four to five inches on a real human being.

Next up....

Continue reading "Girls Toys Bring New Meaning to "Ho Ho Ho"" »

Tricia McKinney

3:04 PM ET | 12-20-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Fight for the New/Old New Orleans

Filed under: City Living, News

Ten Months Post-Katrina from Editor B on Vimeo.

New Orleans is moving to tear down a bunch of its old public housing. The New York Times says that's an architectural shame. Activists in New Orleans say it's worth fighting over.

And this guy, Bart Everson, a guy determined to stay in the city, has this to say:

Some people want to tear all the public housing developments down to build mixed income developments, and some people think that's a nefarious plan for "ethnic cleansing." Emotions run high around this issue. Shrill rhetoric abounds, and civil discourse is in tragically short supply.

That's a Bart Everson video project up top. Day in, day out, Everson's blog provides one of the best keyholes into the Katrina recovery.

Laura Conaway

12:42 PM ET | 12-20-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Want to Rent a Dog for a Day?

Filed under: City Living, Sound Off

Wish you had a dog but don't want the responsibility of full-time pet ownership? FlexPetz has a plan for you. Sign up for the company's "flexible dog ownership program" and a pooch can be yours -- for as long as you want, and not a minute longer.

FlexPetz rep Chris Haddix came on our show today to talk about the business and to defend it against people saying that part-time pets are bound to have problems.

Personally, I could use a part-time dog -- especially when I'm out there walking our family's full-time terrier in the predawn -- but I've got my questions about actually getting a part-time dog. You?

Laura Conaway

9:20 AM ET | 12-19-2007 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

 

NPR's Pet Bat: AWOL -- or Worse?

Filed under: City Living

I'm sorry to report that the little silver-haired bat tucked into a wall in Washington, D.C., has gone missing. Right now, it's a mystery, with people leaning toward one of these two explanations:

1). The bat fled very strong winds (gusts of more than 40 mph) and freezing temperatures that hit D.C. this weekend.

2). Somebody lame did something bad, which resulted in the bat being hurt or forced to leave.

I prefer to think it was the weather, or simply time for a bat-change. But will try to find out if the building staff knows anything.

It's also possible that, with people calling the little critter Luke Burbat, it chose to move on Friday, in a simpatico moment with our own Luke Burbank.

Ed. note: We announced the results of our bat-naming contest on the show today.

Bill Chappell

11:23 AM ET | 12-17-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

UPDATED: Name NPR's Pet Bat

Filed under: City Living

Now that we've fallen in love with this silver-haired bat, perched in a crevice in Washington, D.C., we've decided to give it a name.

Listeners, drop suggestions in the comments. Should we call the bat Rover? Wanda? Benjamin Franklin? Hmmm.....

Ed: The results of the naming contest are in / and the bat is GONE.

Laura Conaway

7:48 AM ET | 12-14-2007 | permalink | comments (54) | e-mail post

 

Let's Go on a Shopping Adventure--Not!

Filed under: City Living

As the parent of a 4-year-old at the height of Christmas shopping season, my response to the toy choices out there is not unique. But, boy is it heartfelt. The messages we're sending our children with some of the toys out there are not very....progressive. Ok, they're horrible.

Take this Dora the Explorer purse. I can sort of deal with the fact that Dora, one of the few somewhat positive role models for girls, is being used to shill a traditionally feminine accessory. But that's not the worst part. There's this little plastic talking Dora head that goes with the purse (Why? That's a question for a separate post). It says things like, "Let's go on a shopping adventure!" and "We look like two stylish explorers!"

Click to hear for yourself:

Tricia McKinney

12:41 PM ET | 12-13-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Video: World's Cutest Bat (UPDATED)

Filed under: City Living

Name NPR's pet bat/Video by Bill Chappell and Wright Bryan

If you were a little bat spending December alone in the city, you would probably be more than capable of finding ways to enjoy your solitude. Eating at irregular hours; sleeping all day; not shopping for a whole colony's worth of Christmas presents -- all these things could easily become rewards in themselves.

But let's say that hasn't worked out that great for you -- and you're feeling a little ignored in all the holiday bustle. Would it help if a group of people kept an eye on you, and reported on your daily activities? No? Too stalkerish? How about we throw in a camera crew?

Yes, it has come to this.

Continue reading "Video: World's Cutest Bat (UPDATED)" »

Bill Chappell

6:02 AM ET | 12-13-2007 | permalink | comments (14) | e-mail post

 

Chinese Food on Christmas

Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private

We've done a couple of segments with Rob Tannenbaum and David Fagen, who together form a hilarious musical act called Good For the Jews. Today we played their song "It's Good To Be a Jew At Christmas," and there's a great line about Jews eating at Chinese restaurants on Christmas Day. How perfect is it that my good friend Lai Ling (a Chinese woman whose last name just happens to be Jew) sent me this video last night?

Angela Ellis

8:14 AM ET | 12-12-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Friendly Scientist Identifies NPR's Pet Bat

Filed under: City Living

Turns out I've found no ordinary brick bat.

My colleagues Vikki Valentine and Jessica Goldstein at the NPR Science Desk passed along photos of the bat nestled in a crevice here in Washington, D.C., to bat expert Hill Henry (not a typo, I swear). Hill, a biologist with the Tennessee Valley Authority, writes:

"Not a big brown, I'll go with one of my favorites, the silver-haired bat. The light colored (pink) patch of skin on an otherwise black ear is diagnostic, in addition to silver hair on the back and hair-covered patagium."

(That's the double-sided skin that makes up bats' wings)

We've got an audio interview with Hill on our showpage, plus more of his e-mail and another photo from Andrew Prince after the jump.

Continue reading "Friendly Scientist Identifies NPR's Pet Bat" »

Bill Chappell

2:24 PM ET | 12-11-2007 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post

 

Fight Night at a Memphis McDonald's

Filed under: City Living, Where I Live Now

Got this from Lindsey Turner, who lives in Memphis and loves it.

Laura Conaway

11:29 AM ET | 12-10-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Can This Paragraph Be Saved?

Filed under: City Living, Media

With your help, maybe. From yesterday's New York Times, on newcomers noticing the "phenomenon" of carrying umbrellas when it snows:

Yet deep down in his soul, the transplant will hold on to the notion that umbrellas are to be used only as protection against the rain, which is wet and, when it drenches the clothes and skin, makes one uncomfortable.

Sharpen those red pencils, y'all.

Laura Conaway

8:28 AM ET | 12-10-2007 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

 

Updated: Just a Bat Beating the Odds in the Big City

Filed under: City Living

There is something exciting about spotting a wild critter in the city. Since moving to Washington four years ago, I've walked past raccoons and biked past more than a dozen deer in Rock Creek Park.

So I was just beaming last month, when I saw my new favorite urban animal: a furry little bat who lives downtown between Congress and the White House.

When I first saw him, he looked like the waste bolus an owl might cough up after digesting a rat: a little cylinder of fur, with random signs of bones and feet. The whole thing was nestled in a building's crevice, about three feet off the ground.

Continue reading "Updated: Just a Bat Beating the Odds in the Big City" »

Bill Chappell

7:45 AM ET | 12-10-2007 | permalink | comments (22) | e-mail post

 

I Hope This Works

Filed under: City Living

..not only because I'd like to save some trees, or 8 million people (according to the website) but because all those Christmas catalogs are driving me nuts! Two people in my life have sent me the link to CatalogChoice.org. With a couple of clicks, you can remove your name from a number of retailers' mailing lists and, voila, you won't receive multiple Restoration Hardware tomes. I've already signed up and hopefully all those bulletins about nose hair trimmers and/or rhinestone encrusted bras will cease and desist.

Alison Stewart

12:13 PM ET | 12- 4-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Rumble Strips Get Funky

Filed under: City Living

In Japan, engineers have invented rumble strips that make music when you drive over them. Well, sort of music. It's a Japanese pop song we don't recognize -- sounds more like a rhythmic washing machine.

The Guardian explains.

Ilya Marritz

7:58 AM ET | 11-29-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Unicycling in the Streets of Manhattan

Filed under: City Living

Mama said cut that out. (Even if it is totally amazing.)

Laura Conaway

9:57 AM ET | 11-27-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

The Perfect Jeans, You Say?

Filed under: City Living

A New York Times blogger claims to have the solution to one of life's age-old questions: How do you find the perfect pair of jeans for any body? "Bogus," I said. It can't be done.

After years of intense dressing room sessions in department stores and specialty shops across America, I was a cynic. And in my cynicism, I decided to try out one of the blogger's tried-and-true gimmicks, www.zafu.com, which asks you a series of questions and then spits out your so-called perfect matches. (Sorry, boys, this is a girls-only site.)

After a five-minute online questionnaire and some tough-love, honest answers about my body, the website shot 76 possible pairs of jeans at me. Now, I already knew my perfect matches going into this game. (As I said, I've spent many an hour sifting through denim for my blue soul mate.) And to my great surprise, two of the first 10 suggestions from Zafu were already in my closet.

So, perhaps it is true. A website that has solved the great jeans mystery. Call it a Christmas miracle.

MJ Davis

9:33 AM ET | 11-27-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

This Bird Is Worth $10,000

Filed under: City Living, Links From the Show, Sound Off

Lee Frankel has been papering his New York neighborhood with fliers seeking information about his lost pet parrot. On today's show, he told us the saga of his lost feathered friend and made the case for its being worth a $10,000 reward.

If you've seen the bird in question, by all means let us know. Second, about that reward: How much is enough -- or too much?

Laura Conaway

7:55 AM ET | 11-26-2007 | permalink | comments (30) | e-mail post

 

2007: The Year Thanksgiving Died

Filed under: City Living

Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday. I guess it was fun while it lasted. Sure, we're still technically going through the turkey-centric motions that tradition dictates, but let's face it: Thanksgiving is dead.

I know it's become old hat to bemoan the earlification of Christmas, but this year the trend must be noted. Let history show that 2007 was the year the zeitgeist officially went straight from Halloween to Christmas. (Of course, the BPP broke this story back in September.)

Like most red-blooded Americans, I let Starbucks tell me what month it is. In October we celebrated Halloween with Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I think the first few days of November were Macchiato Awareness Week. And then it was Christmas, red shirts with reindeer and everything. I heard rumors of a Turkey Pesto Cranberry Sandwich somewhere in there, but I didn't see one.

Starbucks isn't alone. The other day I went into the Gap and they're playing Christmas carols. When I asked the woman behind the counter if she could stand a full SEVEN WEEKS of "Jingle Bell Rock," she fell to the floor weeping.

I can only assume that this seemingly-inevitable development stems from the fact that there's just not enough money to be made from Thanksgiving. Where's the turkey lobby when you need them? Infighting, that's where. I found an online poll that asks readers to vote on which is better, white meat or dark meat. How can Thanksgiving carve out its own slice of the season without a unified front? You don't see the baked ham and roast goose fighting over Christmas superiority. Like decent American entrees, they know we're gluttonous enough to consume them both.

So I hope you enjoy your turkey and trimmings tomorrow. I know I will. After all, it's probably our last.

Dan Pashman

9:43 AM ET | 11-21-2007 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Has Green Jumped the Shark?

Filed under: City Living

I saw a little item today about how New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was going to announce that the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be "green" for the first time. This made me declare that "green" is officially over.

Then I read the press release, and I started to think it's actually kind of cool. The tree's lights will be LEDs, which they claim will "draw a fraction of the power that is traditionally required by the tree, reducing energy consumption from 3,510 kilowatt hours to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day, saving as much energy as a single family would use in a month in a 2,000 square foot home." Rockefeller Center is also installing solar panels on the roof of one building to reduce electricity consumption, and they claim the electricity the solar panels will generate will more than compensate for the tree's lights.

This also caught my eye:

"For the first time this year, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was cut with a handheld saw this year to reduce energy use. Tishman Speyer is replanting/re-greening the land where the tree came from and recycling all appropriate materials used during the cutting event. Upon completion of the holiday season, the tree will be milled and treated and made into lumber to be used by Habitat for Humanity."

Awww, my grinchy little heart just grew three sizes.

Tricia McKinney

3:26 PM ET | 11-20-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The Philadelphia Story

Filed under: City Living, News

From the city that gave us the gay tearjerker "Philadelphia" -- Philadelphia -- comes the story of an outgoing mayor who's embraced the gay and lesbian community after once shunning it.

Years ago, Mayor John Street said of same-sex nups: "Taxpayer dollars should not be used to support relationships such as these that mimic traditional family relationships."

But next weekend he'll officiate at a same-sex commitment ceremony at Philadelphia City Hall.

Ilya Marritz

7:43 AM ET | 11-19-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Funny, My Kroeger's Doesn't Carry Cow Ghee

Filed under: City Living

Padma Laksmi, author of Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet, stopped by this morning and described her philosophy of putting a global spin on classic American recipes.

Lakshmi tosses in exotic spices here and there (a gross oversimplification). But what if you don't live within reasonable driving distance of a specialty market? One of her favorite places to order up some huitlacoche or arame is Kalustayan's. You may not want to order anything, but it is fun to look.

Alison Stewart

2:00 PM ET | 11-14-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Living, Leaving, Dying, Staying: Richmond, Calif.

Filed under: City Living, Where I Live Now

Got this from Ayesha Walker, of Richmond, Calif., whose Youth Radio essay aired yesterday on Morning Edition. Walker's trying to figure out how to stay -- or how to leave -- the difficult place where she grew up. She writes:

Like in any other oppressed city in America, more often than not, urban temptations win over the mentality of Richmond's young people. Along with the media, we are brought up by our peers to believe that guns, drugs, and promiscuous women are the only accessible paths to success.

Continue reading "Living, Leaving, Dying, Staying: Richmond, Calif." »

Laura Conaway

9:31 AM ET | 11-13-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Drink Up: Carbon and Tannins

Filed under: City Living

I don't drink much wine, but ever since everyone got all carbon-conscious, I'd been feeling guilty about gravitating more toward Cote du Rhone than Sonoma when I'm in the liquor store. Surely it takes more fuel to get European wines to our shores than to truck it across the lower 48?

Not necessarily. Two wine researchers have drawn a wavy line that runs roughly from San Antonio to Toledo. Call it the continental divide of vino: those who live to the west of the line should drink California wines. To the east -- the researchers claim -- people harm the earth less by drinking European.

Amazing, what they can do today with maps!

Ilya Marritz

6:29 AM ET | 11-13-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Monster.com Channels Freud

Filed under: City Living

If you've been job hunting lately, there's a pretty good chance you've been subjected to a relatively new set of criteria. And you may have been asked some questions you didn't expect, such as, "True or false: Sometimes I feel like stepping into mud and letting it ooze between my toes."

The idea that people who play well with others tend to get ahead isn't new, but the idea that personality is replacing experience as the top criteria for employers, and that a team of consultants is waiting to coach your personality after you're hired, certainly is.

Marci Alboher, who writes the Shifting Careers blog on NYTimes.com, wrote a post about psychological testing of prospective employees and it got so many comments that she did more research and wrote a follow-up.

Marci joined the BPP in studio this morning to talk about the legality, morality, and efficacy of these psychological tests. We asked her about the pros and cons, and whether there's a way to game the system. Click the link at the top to hear the interview, and tell us your job hunting horror story.

Dan Pashman

9:48 AM ET | 11- 9-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Overheard in Our Elevator

Filed under: City Living

It ain't Overheard in New York, but here goes...Our building here at Bryant Park is filled with fashion houses, from Michael Kors to Oscar de la Renta to a bunch of other people I've never heard of. Just moments ago, as I rode the elevator up with some fashionistas arriving at work, I overheard this conversation...

Fashionista 1: Oh my God, I love your shoes.

Fashionista 2: Thanks. These are my commuting shoes. I wear them to walk to work.

Fashionista 1: You walk to work in those?

Fashionista 2: Yeah. They're five-inch heels. I change into my six-inch heels for work.

Fashionista 1: Wow. You go, girl.

You go, girl, indeed. For the record, BPP staffers do not distinguish between commuting jeans and work jeans.

Dan Pashman

9:39 AM ET | 11- 1-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

The Cookbook Controversy Reaches Letterman!

Filed under: City Living

The cookbook conflict hit the late night TV.

Last night Jerry Seinfeld defended his wife against a woman he called a wacko.

Here's a quickie rundown: There are two cookbooks out, one written by the Seinfeld's wife, titled Deceptively Delicious and one titled The Sneaky Chef, by Missy Chase Lapine, former publisher of Eating Well magazine. The latter's came out first, and there are some striking similarities between the two -- leading to charges of puree plagiarism!

Both are full of recipes that hide vegetables in kids food--like spinach in brownies.
Both have a brownie recipe that will make you gag, or at least that made the BPP staff gag.
I made them ( see disgusting picture above) and received comments like "I will never eat brownies again."

Continue reading "The Cookbook Controversy Reaches Letterman!" »

Alison Stewart

10:35 AM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

Rent: Who's Paying What?

Filed under: City Living

PC Magazine calls the Rentometer a "cool way to get a very rough estimate of whether or not your rent is a good deal."

We call it a brief, worthwhile obsession. Matt Martinez was pleased to see that he's paying the right amount for once. Others among us are maybe scared to look. (Note: When you enter your rent, don't use commas -- "5000" would be $5,000.)

You?

Laura Conaway

12:45 PM ET | 10-29-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Washington D.C.: Not Just Pearls and Khakis

Filed under: City Living

Possibly the western world's least-fashionable capital city gets the second-hand bug.

Well, actually, D.C.'s Goodwill is on an aggressive campaign to convert all those Cap Hill interns from chinos and sweater sets to frayed cords and loud synthetic blouses (on weekends, at least!) Goodwill has hired a style blogger (no joke) and even posted this corporate-sponsored runway show on YouTube.

Ilya Marritz

10:31 AM ET | 10-29-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

World's Worst Airports

Filed under: City Living

On Friday, guest host Robert Smith cued us in to JFK airport's endangered -- and controversial -- colony of feral cats.

The presence of feral cats is just one of the offenses that got Russia's Mineralnye Vody Airport on Foreign Policy Magazine's index of the World's Worst Airports.

Mineralnye Vody's other - ahem! - blemishes include frequent incursions of snowdrifts and ice into the terminal, a gigantic wall map of the old Soviet Union, and VIP Restaurant, which the BBC's Steve Rosenberg described this way in 2005:

"It didn't have any tea, or food. In fact, it didn't even have any table or chairs, just a picture of a bottle of water on the wall. And a rusty sink full of cigarette butts."

One more not-so-nice thing about Mineralnye Vody: It's a transit hub for journalists headed to Chechnya.

Click here for the full list.

Ilya Marritz

7:30 AM ET | 10-29-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Boo! Halloween Makes My Kid Cry

Filed under: City Living

For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to articulate something that both my husband and I had noticed--that Halloween decorations are much scarier and more disgusting than the ones we remember from childhood. It's not so much that we're squeamish. But our young daughter is so freaked out by the gory zombie our next-door neighbors put by their front door that we now avoid walking that way. And I am becoming well-practiced in the art of diversion whenever we drive by one well-decorated lawn.

But I've been searching for evidence that it's not just oversensitivity on my daughter's part, experts to tell me there's a real trend here, that people are increasingly going for gore in their front yards just like they're going for really disgusting, twisted horror films like the Saw series. I called the National Retail Federation and a spokesperson told me that Americans are spending more on Halloween displays and putting them up for a longer period of time than ever before, but he couldn't provide any figures on the sales of gory displays versus your garden variety happy skeleton and friendly-looking spider ones.

Now the Washington Post has published the very story I've been looking for.

Continue reading "Boo! Halloween Makes My Kid Cry" »

Tricia McKinney

1:45 PM ET | 10-25-2007 | permalink | e-mail post

 

Updated: Crane Drops Debris Bucket 50 Stories in NYC

Filed under: City Living

A crane dropped a bucket full of debris from a height of more than 50 stories at a Bank of America construction site along Manhattan's busy 6th Avenue this afternoon, around 1 p.m. Reports put the number of injured at seven or eight, including workers and passersby. No one was seriously hurt.

Continue reading "Updated: Crane Drops Debris Bucket 50 Stories in NYC" »

Laura Conaway

1:49 PM ET | 10-17-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Girl Fined $300 for Sidewalk Chalk

Filed under: City Living

Kids draw on sidewalks with chalk, right? At least they do in my neighborhood. That's apparently something of a problem for the law, as one Brooklyn girl learned after chalking a blue splotch on her front stoop.

From the Brooklyn Paper (with thanks):

Obviously not all of Natalie Shea's 10th Street neighbors thought her blue chalk splotch was her best work -- a neighbor called 311 to report the "graffiti," and the Department of Sanitation quickly sent a standard letter to Natalie's mom, Jen Pepperman.

Natalie got a letter from the city threatening "enforcement action." Her mom, wisely, calls the whole thing ridiculous.

Laura Conaway

2:56 PM ET | 10-16-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

The City That Couldn't Stop Biking

Filed under: City Living

Don't know what the rest of you are doing for Blog Action Day, but here's my contribution to the supposedly global pile of posts on the environment. With a tip of the hat, I give you Davis, Calif., a place where they really want you to ride a bike.

Laura Conaway

1:11 PM ET | 10-15-2007 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

New York Tries New Kind of Street for Bikes

Filed under: City Living

It's only seven blocks long, and it's hardly the first one in the world, but for people who bike in New York City, the new separated cycling lane on 9th Avenue is a miracle. The idea is to swap the lane for parking with the lane for cycling, so that the parked cars act as a buffer for people pedaling by.

Seeing as how I often bike to work, even in bad weather and often in the dark, I'm sold. (Call-out: StreetsBlog))

Bonus: A call from L.A. for separated lanes; Cool collection of homemade Google bike routes

Laura Conaway

12:05 PM ET | 10- 5-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post