N.Y. Today: 5 of Our Best Stories of 2018

Dec 26, 2018 · 9 comments
ZNY (New York)
4 out of the NYT Best Stories of 2018 are about sex, death and money!
Lenore (Manhattan)
The story about Mark Peters really changed my opinion on Peters versus deBlasio. Turns out that the guy Peters is really a dangerous jerk. Good riddance.
Freddie (New York NY)
This is (or could ve) a coincidence. In the photo at 0:54 to 0:56 in this YouTube I'd done, the kid on the right https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiQRDVKvf5Q seems to be the same kid as the kid on the left in the article's Coney Island 1978 photo, a few years older, and maybe he'd wandered into Brighton Beach a bit and found Mrs. Stahl's Knishes on the way to the Oceana Theater. The smile is pretty much exact! My mom was sure for a while that the interfaith couple in the series of photos at the end was me and my friend Sandy, until I pointed out that my mom never had a son who wound up over five-foot-eight. She said she'd told the girls she plays cards with that was me, so if it ever comes up... It's all stock photos in the YouTube from photographers, so I wonder if the same photogenic kids tended to get photographed somehow.
Leon Freilich (Park Slope)
(Following a round of Christmas feasting) SWEETER THAN SWEET Overindulge Your craving for sweets While your better self Weighs what he eats? A piece of cake Is a joy within But even so He'd rather be thin.
Freddie (New York NY)
@Leon Freilich, re "rather be thin - another very funny but sadly too true one. Iit fascinated me that you could tell the time capsule in the article link was from the time when actual working out was not as common as it became, that the "gym bodies" you see now on just regular folks, men and women you work with, seem to be the rarity in those photos. (It was strange but not in a bad way, since it's not a. documentary, that the wonderful actor who played Sonny in the "Cher Show" that I just saw was really sculpted in a way someone like Sonny never would have been in the 1970s, even though Sonny did revealing bits like Adam in the Garden of Eden.) I went from a de Blasio-level daily workout followed by Hog and Daz for dinner, which had all food groups and more, then back at the office until late since California was still on duty; then it became the same hour-plus but lots of stopping and shmoozing at the machines and same ice cream then back to work; then the hour got down to 30 minutes; and at some point the Hog and Daz remained without the workout but just walking and I'd think: why isn't my body burning that off anymore. :) At least now that those pints are 14 ounces rather than 16 ounces for the same price, it's so tempting to convince myself that when 14 ounces disappear in two days, that hey, it's not THAT bad, it wasn't a full pint!
Leon Freilich (Park Slope)
Get the gifts you always wanted? An all-expense-paid two-month vacation in Canarsie? Argyle socks? A stroller for five? Natural makeup from Mud Flats? An old Hudson car without doors? A lifetime subscription to Look magazine? Slippers that slip off? Blame Santa Flaws!
Freddie (New York NY)
I waited to see if anyone else had the Grinchy, Scroogey thought I had about the secretary who followed her boss' investment and amassed over $9-millon. But I'll say this and duck. :) It's nagging at me that there should in all fairness be a net worth point - $2-million? $3-million? I don't know what number - at which taking advantage of rent control FEELS unfair. I have no idea to whom it's directly unfair. Maybe the landlord? Maybe that other family that really needs the lower rent to give the kids a better life? Maybe the whole housing system? It's a lovely story to have donated the money. But over the years, nothing ended up on her tax returns? The people whose "buys" and "sells" she followed were all just so incredibly lucky THAT often? (Maybe a song will help, LOL.) tune of Auld Lang Syne Should old investments earn a lot And never hurt your mind. Should old investments be forgot When the way they're spent is kind. We all don't mind, my dear, we all don't mind. Let's just enjoy the kindness here. And pay no mind.
Shawnthedog's Mom (NJ)
This is a message for Billy (from Brooklyn) who asked in a previous column about how to edit his user name. Comments on that column are closed, so Billy, if you're reading this...here goes. Upper right corner of your screen, click on "account." At the top of the window that will open when you do that, is your username. Click on that. That will take you to a page called "Reader Center." Go to the upper right corner of that page and click on "account." When you do that, "edit profile" will come up. Click on that, and voila! You can change your user id. At least that's how it works on my PC. Not sure if it's the same if you read nytimes thru the mobile app.
Freddie (New York NY)
“First Amendment rights to curse out their beloved team were violated This reminds me of the story where the great lyricist Carolyn Leigh was in rehearsals with Bob Fosse, Cy Coleman and Neil Simon on the show “Little Me,” and everyone felt with some adjustments, Sid Caesar could turn a number into a showstopper. Carolyn Leigh was assured that if she wasn’t happy with the result, it would be changed back, but she felt upset enough to walk out of rehearsals. The group went back to work, sure she’d like what they worked up when she came back. She walked in with a cop who was on the beat, pointed at her collaborators and said “Officer, arrest them! They’re violating my Dramatists Guild rights.” Discussion of criminal vs. civil ensued, and they invited the policeman to see the show.