I didn't know "pluvial" either. Thanks for that, and the traffic warnings came in handy.
“It’s Still Here” - Tune of “I’m Still Here” [short version]
(just summarizing a point off view, not necessarily my opinion)
See traffic back up
That’s gonna go on for days
‘Cause it’s here
As the costs rack up
We move like mice in a maze
‘Cause it’s here.
The U.N. meets, we get annoyed
Checking which streets we must avoid
Some of us give the Bronx cheer
Cause it’s here
Tempers all flaring,
Wishing directions were clear
Why’s it here?
Car horns all blaring,
Doesn’t it seem worse this year?
Still it’s here.
(big finish)
Though it’s impressive, brings renown
It makes a mess of our whole town
Can’t the U.N. move somewhere
Far from here
Lord knows, we think it’s not fair
Move from here! Far from here! Why’s it here?
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Fortunately, I don't plan on being around the UN or even in Manhattan for the rest of this month right now, so the traffic and parking won't concern me for the most part.
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@Tal Barzilai, I remember growing up and loving the Reader's Digest, and thinking how great it must be to live in Pleasantville, but still be able to come into Times Square easily any time I'd want. The ride wasn't much longer than the trip from Coney Island.
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Thank you for the daily run down and the amusing weather report.
Please move Metropolitan Diary to another page. If an anecdote takes up space in a major newspaper it should be interesting to people other than those it happened to.
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A modest proposal for New Yorkers. We will move a million of you to swing states such as Florida and Ohio. You get to avoid that traffic mess and the Democrats can win enough electoral votes. Win, win.
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@Ziggy Yes, but you would have us live amongst the uncivilized heathen who refuse to pay taxes to support the many services that we expect from a civilized society such as decent public schools, competent and safe police and fire departments, garbage collection, public libraries and parks, museums of every sort and descriptions, all manner and varieties of restaurants, and . . . to paraphrase Ms. Browning, how to compare the Ohio, let me count the ways.
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Re Metropolitan Diary:
_ I will never forget the one dinner I had at the Four Seasons. I was a business guest of the owner of the Seagrams Building but that's beside the point.
_ Our waiter didn’t feel the need to introduce himself like so many waiters do. After he took our order I never noticed him again. Our dishes magically appeared and disappeared without any interruption to our conversation. The glasses somehow filled themselves. I don’t remember what I ordered but I will always remember the five star service.
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@Bob, that would happen when we went with a friend to Il Tinello, very near Trump Tower. The friend was in the same writing workshop, and in class, he was just another one of us aspiring writers, but at Il Tinello, we saw the first time that everyone knew him and his wife, his Woman Friday had checked what the specials were. (It turned out he lived in Trump Tower, and of course we all wanted to see the place! He was a phenomenal feel-good composer in the Menken or Coleman pure-joy style; when his wife dropped that Andrew Lloyd Webber was one floor away [I forget if a floor up or a floor down], one of us joked to be careful when he's composing on the piano, was he sure Mr. Lloyd Webber's assistant wasn't listening with a glass in case there are any good tunes coming from a floor away, LOL.)
We all kept going to Il Tinello, as it was reasonable & great.
Once, when I had an expense account client development lunch, we went to Il Tinello. To my delight, the food was just as good as always. But as expected, the service without being with our friend who was a regular, was just normal excellent service. Before dessert, a server recognized me from all the times I'd been with the regular customer's party. Definite change, manager came to chat - as I'd now been identified as a regular.
(These days, I'm finding in SOME places something odd, that when you're a regular, they may take you for granted, like they know you'll come back anyway. Not sure that logic works.)
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@Bob Castro
I was taken once to the Four Seasons. It was pretentious, which was clearly part of the point. The food was completely unmemorable. I can't remember a single thing I ate.
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Unfortunately similar traffic congestion and inconvenience exists on most spring summer fall weekends when there are many street closures due to bicycle "events", "charity" walks, marathons, street "fairs" etc. Wish these would disappear.
Weekend streets closures also means no access to MTA buses, depriving people of critical transportation.
Would prefer one week of UN-generated traffic over constant weekend gridlock.
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Is it reasonable for tens of thousands of people to be inconvenienced for UN activities? And more important, do these police activities really protect anyone?
Suppose someone were to have an armored heavy bulldozer, such as Israel uses and drive it through the "security" lines? Suppose any number of bad things that could easily be accomplished. Is it reasonable to incarcerate an entire city for "security"?
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@Eugene: I totally agree with you about everyone being inconvenienced. I wish they'd move the UN to the midwest or overseas.
BUT don't you think an armored bulldozer would be rather conspicuous on the streets of Manhattan? And if someone *did* attempt what you suggest, that's why the NYPD uses trucks full of sand, etc. as barriers.
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@L: But if you moved the UN to the Midwest (Des Moines?) the 'diplomats' and their bloated staffs would not be interested in 'serving.'
Expense budgets would be cut by 90%. Nikki Haley would have no need to spend $52,000 on curtains.
Worst of all, without parties to attend, some actual work might get done. The horror.
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@L : at the current rate of construction in NYC, especially in midtown Manhattan, no one would notice a convoy of bulldozers, armored or not.
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Pluvial? Holy moly macaroni. Nice one! I did need to delve into my Funk and Wagnalls for that little nugget.
I once decided to use a new word every day, but unfortunately I chose the words alphabetically. After a full day of trying to fit "aardvark" into much of what I said or wrote, I now choose words randomly. I think that I'll (unashamedly) steal your word today and use it as mine!
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@Billy from Brooklyn - That "aardvark" alphabetical thought reminds me of the comic who did a “theater review” of a great star who tried doing the proverbial reading the phone book.
“All alone onstage, Ms. Twelvetrees vividly conjures up an intriguing array of characters, but the writing fails her; it feels as if just as we are captivated by the esteemed actress’ depiction of , for example, Aaron and Anna Aardvark at One First Avenue, the playwright moves on to others, and never goes back to Aaron and Anna. It is leaving them wanting more run amok, gone terribly wrong. Yet at its center, Ms. Twelvetrees is a wonder, and props to the prop designer. And one can’t help think that a movie version where we actually see the characters might show this writer’s work better.”
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@Billy from Brooklyn
Pluvial is not a word I expect to hear conveyed with a Brooklyn accent unless you are Slip Mahoney.
@BlackJackJacques, but certainly there are Brooklyn contexts for using it in a sentence, like: Everyone at the 2001 Odyssey disco in Bay Ridge was surprised to hear that the pluvial hit “It’s Raining Men” didn’t even reach the Top 40 in the U.S.
1
Unless NYC undergoes major redesign, it will become less and less influential in the political, cultural, and economic life of America. Population loss due to flood-risk and to insane traffic is already an issue. We have to imagine something like elevated ring roads encircling Manhattan and connected by new off-ramps to NJ and upstate NY. Residents of LI and its city bureaus need safe and rapid escape routes from their sea-locked isle.
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Elevated ring roads? I'm having visions of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis."
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