Like so many who love reading the Metropolitan Diary in the daily New York Times online I miss it, but I know that whoever made this unhappy decision can change his or her mind and reverse course.
It is heartening that this has happened in the past. In 1997 former Metropolitan Diary editor Ron Alexander wrote: “The Times realized the deep affection between readers and Diary some summers ago when the column was dropped from the Sunday national edition. Letters of protest poured in. When the Times did an about-face, countless readers wrote to say thanks. . . . Responded The New York Times in a letter to readers: ‘We underestimated the affection people have for the Diary,’ an executive wrote in a letter of apology, ‘I hope you will be pleased to see that we have restored Metropolitan Diary to its rightful place in the national edition of the New York news page.’”
Today the “rightful place” of the Metropolitan Diary is in the daily online edition of the Times, and my hope is that executives of the paper will realize this, do another “about-face” and restore the Diary to its current “rightful place.”
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Either Alexandra or Jonathan (or perhaps both?) wrote: “Don’t fret. The Metropolitan Diary will resume publication on Monday, Aug. 27.”
What can I say? I’m fretting already. :)
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Dear Dean,
I am happy to find you here today. There are many of us who already miss the Diary each weekday. The Times has changed its mind in the past about this column when executives underestimated how many of us love it. Decisions can be reversed, and my hope is that the Diary will be restored to its now proper place as part of the online daily edition of the Times.
Allen from Inwood wishes Dean from CT well.
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@Allen, since the Diary items can take place as recently as last week or as far back as anytime in the 1900s as the submitter's age allows anyway, I wonder if a Best of the Diary approach could work for non-Monday days. When I googled for the Diary stories by Victor Washkevich last week, I noticed that even the 5-story Diaries from the previous decade (this link is 2009) are still fresh, since the Diary is not anchored in any time but the time you're reading it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/nyregion/08diary.html
Figuring how to choose which to use is beyond my skill set. But it might work!
I agree with being sensible, an ounce of prevention and all of that. But do we really want to walk around in large sunglasses, our trousers tucked into our socks to avoid tics, and slathered in sunscreen, including our eyelids? At what point to we become comical Pee Wee Herman types?
We do not need to go about all summer without any protection, but for gosh sakes, enjoy the summer and be reasonable. We are from pioneer stock!
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Re: In the News
"The Administration of Children and Families unveiled a free tattoo-removal service for young sex-trafficking victims and former gang members. [WPIX 11]"
The reference to the "Administration of Children and Families" is incorrect.
It is the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS). (ACS is the city agency that administers child protective services, foster care and other child welfare services in NYC)
I'm in Manhattan and can't really think of any place that would offer a good beach spot. Dodging boats and strong currents aren't exactly conducive to a having a nice quiet day of relaxation on the water --and then, there's the sewage...
A trip to Coney Island or Orchard Beach in the North Bronx is just fine by me.
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My eye doctor told me to always wear a hat in the sun, because UV rays can get to the eyes from around the dark glasses.
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What about a predicted high temperature of 77 degrees - and humid - is "comfortable?" For whom, or what? Reptiles?
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Re: sunglasses
Since I'm both near and far-sighted and cannot wear contacts, getting prescription sunglasses in addition to my regular glasses is very costly. When I'm out in the sun however, I do wear a broad brimmed hat. I hope that provides some protection?
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Hi Shawnthedog’s Mom,
There are different kinds of sunglasses which fit over a pair of regular prescription eyeglasses—some
more stylish and less clunky looking than others—and offering the kind of top as well as side protection Dr. Brissette spoke of. These are the kinds of protective sunglasses often recommended following cataract surgery I believe. They would give your eyes a lot of protection. Hope this is useful information to you Shawnthedog’s Mom. It is always nice to see your comments.
Stay well,
Allen
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We have beaches Coney Island, Brighton Beach, the Rockaways. Ok, so maybe a Manhattanite might need to take an hour subway ride to get there. An hour of people's time to get to beach, for those who really want to go, doesn't seem like to much to ask relative to the massive financial investment to build a beach in Manhattan. There seems like much better ways to spend our money, like fixing the outer borough subway stations so the ceilings are literally falling on people's heads.
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@N
I found it odd that somehow it appeared from the article that Manhattan is the equivalent of Paris or Copenhagen as if the other boroughs weren't really NYC.
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Orchard Beach in the Bronx
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@Steve
Oh please. You do realize that "the other boroughs" already have beaches, don't you?
I definitely need to get my eyes checked. I thought I saw some baby deer waiting for the N train with Richard Chamberlain. Turned out they were actually goats with Jon Stewart.
Goats on the Tracks - sounds high concept like Snakes On a Plane, only much more peaceful! This has celebrities, emergency vehicles and a truly happy ending -everything you could want in a New York City story!
Tune of “The Lonely Goatherd”
There on the track was a pair of goats, heard:
“Yay odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo”
Riders who yack unaware of goats, heard:
“Yay odl lay ee odl oo”
Conductor was great, he gave out some notes, saying:
“Yay odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Sorry they’re late, but they saw some goats,
Yay odl lay ee odl oo!”
No big to-do, but we stayed there gawking
Rounding up goats is a sight to see
We met Jon Stewart, hey, now we’re talking:
[The Goats:]
Yay ee odl lay ee odl ee!
Whee!
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@Freddie
Nothing like a morning yodel to start the day!
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I always enjoy Metropolitan Diary! I guess I can get through a week without it, as long as it promises to come back!
PS: A *beach* in Manhattan sounds like a ghastly idea - it would be overcrowded and the water's pretty gross, and then you'll have people behaving badly "at the beach" which is really about the last thing Manhattan needs. If Manhattan were meant to have a beach, Mother Nature would have provided one.
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I would bet that mother nature did provide Manhattan w/ many beaches, all around the island, but that MAN dredged/filled/paved/sea-walled every last one of them. Water pretty gross, yes, but getting better.
If you don't like it, you don't have to go!
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"Don’t fret. The Metropolitan Diary will resume publication on Monday, Aug. 27." That makes it sound like it will be on a daily basis, but that's not what they've been saying. I can't believe our good Alexandra wrote "Don't fret.". It sounds a touch condescending to me. Or maybe it's just me.
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Alex is great and never condescending. My bet is that neither Alex nor Jonathan had anything to do with the decision regarding the Metropolitan Diary, which probably was handed down from someone with more power, perhaps the new Metro editor.
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I'm not fretting. I don't care for the Metropolitan Diary.
The idea of a Manhattan beach doesn't thrill me. I'd want to know I was dipping my toes in clean water. The quality of the Hudson, East, and Harlem Rivers has improved, but not to the point I'd want to swim in them and the "bathtub in the river" concept seems odd.
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@Lifelong Reader, on the Metropolitan Diary, maybe it'll soon be more to your liking, as I wonder if there's been a matter for some people (from some of the comments) when each Diary item had to stand on its own as "an article." The sum of five articles has (in many weeks) had a large New York meaning and scope that may not be there in every snapshot. And when read in the collections that have been made, even more "New York!"
If I may reprise/revise an ode to change. I think if change doesn't work, another solution will be found. (When a feature like for example the City Room ended, I've though the sky was falling, because it had become so part of my life.)
tune of “That’s Amore”
When the stories arrive
And you take in all five - that's a Monday!
When you wake up at six
And you click for your fix - that's a Monday!
So get set, power up the net,
Look at what you get
How they build and they vary.
First you sigh, then you laugh and cry,
Or you say “oh my”
If a story is scary.
When you read five as one
As the work week’s begun - that's a Monday!
Or if you wait til lunch
And consume the whole bunch, you might say:
“Though I’d thought oy-and-vey,
Hey, they may be okay all on one day
Time is tight, I can’t write,
So I’ll comment tonight” - that’s a Monday!
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Do you happen to know Freddie why, when the movie of “The Sound of Music” was made, two delightful songs from the original Broadway show—“How Can Love Survive” and “No Way to Stop It”—both sung by Marion Marlowe and Kurt Kasznar’s characters—were dropped and two rather pedestrian songs—“I Have Confidence” and “Something Good”—both sung by Julie Andrews’s Maria—were substituted? I always assumed it was to give the star more to sing, but the added songs (to me) never measured up to the quality of those they replaced.
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@Freddie: I'd been feeling down about the change to a weekly Diary, but your song really lifted my spirits about it!
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