Hi there. I — we — are back. Where did we go? This place:
It was a whirlwind three days. We ventured uptown and down, saw a play, saw cabaret, saw jazz, saw art. This art, in fact, the Raphael exhibit at the Met:
Dog walkers on the upper east side:
Cocktails on the lower east side:
(Actually, I think it’s more properly the east Village. Whatever, I’m a tourist.)
It was exhilarating but exhausting, and I’m still recovering. More later, but we need a new thread.
P.S. To the dismay of perhaps some of you, NYC is not imploding under its COMMUNIST MAYOR. In fact, it seems to be thriving. Of course, he’s only been in office a few months. Give it time. :::Mitch Albom shakes his fist angrily.:::
I’ll be back when I’m more rested.
alex said on April 20, 2026 at 2:14 pm
Happy 4/20 everyone!
So Marabel Morgan ripped off the Saran Wrap idea from Raphael?
Just kidding. Such diaphanous dainties though.
Today I cut the last threads of the cord. I was still getting my internet through the cable company, and when they jacked my rates yet again I decided not to negotiate them down a few bucks by threatening to quit, as always. This time I went ahead and got 5G home internet service from my cellular provider at less than a third of what the cable company was charging, and it’s locked in until 2029.
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Brandon said on April 20, 2026 at 2:33 pm
The East Village is also known as Little Ohio.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/710163-injustice-gods-among-us/71423103?page=4
I grew up in SoCal, but I don’t miss it at all. Okay, I miss it occasionally when I’m freezing my *** off. lol. But other than that, NYC rules. Of course, It’s nothing like the old days, before my time, when this place was gritty, artistically driven and whatnot. That’s changed. It’s become conservative. Much of that is due to the influx of Midwest. I call the East Village “Little Ohio.” It seems as if every person I meet in NYC these days is somehow from Ohio. There’s nothing wrong with that; I don’t have a problem with people from Ohio. But that influence has basically killed the spirit of NYC. Twenty-thirty years ago, which is way before my time, many of the folks who now frequent the East Village would never have dared live there. And forget about Brooklyn. Today, it’s just become another yuppie steel and glass zoo. It’s one of the few places where you have 8 people sharing converted lofts and still paying 1500 a month.
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basset said on April 20, 2026 at 2:38 pm
What does a cocktail cost up there? $13 margarita here last night and I thought that was a lot.
Meanwhile, the knee surgery countdown continues; just over two weeks out, and /r/kneereplacement has been a useful resource.
Already have a big staple and what looks like about a number 6 wood screw in there from prior damage, have asked the surgeon to save em for me if they have to come out.
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Jeff Gill said on April 20, 2026 at 2:48 pm
Manhattan cocktails seem to consistently cost what a bottle of the main liquor costs back home; I’m curious if that’s still true.
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jim said on April 20, 2026 at 3:04 pm
MTG’s replacement sure knows not much: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/clay-fuller-ac-units_n_69e62ab7e4b0b6f552baf894
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Julie Robinson said on April 20, 2026 at 3:10 pm
Daughter and I are headed there in a couple weeks, and though I’m not interested in cocktails, would love to know your hotel and what play you saw. We’re staying in a new place this time, but are always looking for that perfect place, haha. And we still have two slots open for shows. There’s so many we’d love to see, so we’re signing up for lotteries, checking the apps, and letting the universe decide.
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nancy said on April 20, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Expect to pay about $20 for a cocktail in NYC. We went to Death & Co., a famous cocktail bar, and paid a few bucks more. But you don’t sit there drinking all night. You have one, maybe two, and leave.
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Mark P said on April 20, 2026 at 3:38 pm
Have you seen the video of Obama and Mamdani singing “The Wheels on the Bus” with preschoolers in NYC? Try to imagine Trump doing that. No, don’t do that, you’ll break something. Obama puts Trump to shame in every possible way.
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Alan Stamm said on April 20, 2026 at 9:34 pm
Exhilarating whirlwind sure beats “a long weekend of R&R,” as you joshed last Wednesday.
My kinda town.
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Julie Robinson said on April 21, 2026 at 12:10 pm
This morning I spoke to the Municipal Planning Board, probably similar to the board Sherri used to serve on. (Or was that zoning?) The church is hosting a group that grows food in front yard gardens, or gardens next to schools. The produce raised is all donated to schools that serve low-income kids, and in food deserts.
We need some special permissions for a fence to be six feet tall and yada, yada, yada. 99% of the neighbors love it, and then there’s that other 1%. So we gathered petitions and solicited written comments and speakers.
Watching how the sausage is made is fascinating, but Sherri, I tip my hat to you and today’s folks, volunteering their time for endless meetings in sealed chambers away from the sun and nature.
We had unanimous approval from the board and it will go to the next city council meeting, yay!
At one point my watch buzzed me and said, “you appear to be stressed, would you like to plan a calming activity”? Hahaha!
Anyway, such is the work of retirees, and this afternoon we go to a birthday party for a 90 yo, which will be much more pleasant.
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Jakash said on April 21, 2026 at 12:26 pm
Re: Brandon referring to the number of people from Ohio in NYC.
There are a lot of people in Chicago from Ohio, as well. I’m one of them. Since there are a fair number of Buckeyes and native Buckeyes among the nn.c crew, I’ll just mention this meme that I recently became aware of. (I hope it wasn’t here — if so, sorry!)
“Ohio is used (mostly on the Internet) to describe something that is weird, awkward, cringeworthy, or otherwise undesirable or bad in some way. It can also be used to mean ‘boring’ or ‘foolish.’ … The Gen alpha slang use of Ohio as an insult originated on the Internet shortly after a series of memes about the US state of Ohio began circulating in the late twenty-teens. … Ohio is sometimes used by itself to describe things as in “that’s so Ohio,” but it is often found in combination with other Gen alpha slang terms such as skibidi and rizz.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/ohio
Meanwhile, we enjoyed some $7 neighborhood margaritas last night in Chicago. It was “Margarita Monday” and I believe they’re normally $13, but still… Uh, caring about that bargain is so Ohio! 😉
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