Voting for the weather…
(8 Nov 08)

Congratulations to Barack Obama on an historic win, and kudos to his team that ran an almost flawless campaign, but how much should they be thankful for factors that they really couldn't control? The economic meltdown did help Obama above McCain by all accounts, but what about the weather? On Tuesday's election day most of the US had pretty good weather, and was unseasonably mild for this time of year. But what if it had rained in the key states on election day? In a survey after the 2004 election, it was estimated that turnout for the Democratic Party may go down as much as 5% if it's raining. This is down to more Republicans being more affluent, and probably having more of their own transport. So if there had been heavy downpours on Tuesday, would it have affected the result? Probably not, but the race might have been a little tighter – and wetter…

Does watching TV make you pregnant..?
(8 Nov 08)

Although the act of watching TV is unlikely to make girls pregnant per se, it does seem to be a key factor. In new research just unveiled pregnancy rates are much higher among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behaviour compared with those who have tamer viewing tastes. In fact teens who watched the raciest shows were twice as likely to become pregnant as those who watched few such programs. The sorts of shows in question included "Sex and the City," ''That 70s Show" and "Friends." Well I actually did see an episode of "Gossip Girl" for the first time a week ago and was pretty amazed at the content. This was basically 15 year olds planning who they were going to have sex with. Isn't that growing up too fast..?

Wireless connection to God...
(8 Nov 08)

Is there common ground between the hi-tech and the religious communities? Can you find time to pray to your God, when there is also business to be done? For tech-savvy Orthodox Jews here, that is a definite yes. Two entrepreneurs who attended Jewish Yeshiva University in New York City have written a new software programme that turns the BlackBerry from a device to check e-mail and stocks into a pray phone. The add-on programme replaces the traditional prayer book by providing all the Hebrew blessings observant Jews are required to say three times a day. As one of the inventors noted, while sometimes you might not remember your prayer book, no one goes anywhere without their BlackBerry. And yes, the newly configured device is indeed being dubbed the "JewBerry"…

Voting days…
(1 Nov 08)

Elections in Hong Kong are held – rather sensibly – on the weekend. It's the same in France, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and many other countries. But Presidential Elections here in the US are always held on Tuesdays. Why not at the weekend, when more people would have more time to vote? Ah, for that answer you have to go back to 1845 when it made perfect sense. It's nothing to do with the constitution, and instead to do with agriculture. Saturday was for farming, Sunday was the Lord's Day, Monday was the day when you travelled to the place where the poll took place, Tuesday was the polling day, Wednesday was when you returned home, and Thursday was when you got back to work. But many people are not farmers in the US these days nor need a day to travel to and from the polling station. And having the election on a Tuesday is pretty inconvenient to many people, and is often quoted as the reason why many do not bother to vote. So there is now legislation before Congress that would enable weekend voting in national elections. It might even pass – as long as members of Congress are there to vote on it and it's not a weekend…

Taxless syndrome…
(1 Nov 08)

The aide to NY State Governor David Patterson has just resigned after revelations that he hadn't paid his income taxes for the five years since 2001. The Governor himself is a remarkable man as he is legally blind and has a phenomenal memory, but a good assistant is vital to his organised life. So when Charles O'Byrne resigned last week, it must have been quite a blow. However the reasoning as to why he hadn't paid taxes as stated by the man's lawyer was even more bizarre. It is alleged that he suffered from a medical condition – a syndrome indeed – that causes people not to file their taxes. Honestly. Which you or I may just call stupidity…

Times Square Thriller…
(30 Oct 08)

Setting the mood for Halloween, a special event took place in Times Square Thursday morning. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is the biggest selling album of all time, and so Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum held a competition to try to break the Guinness record for the most people doing a "Thriller" dance. The record had been for 62 zombies 2 years ago, but you'll be delighted to know that the record was smashed with 73 people dancing in a synchronized zombie-style. Anyone wanting to take part had to take lessons on how to do the Thriller dance, got a zombie mini-makeover and took a photo with Madame Tussauds’ Michael Jackson wax figure – which was wearing the original jacket from the classic 1980s video...

Campaign expenses…
(30 Oct 08)

It's staggering to imagine how much money has been spent in the current presidential election campaign. This Wednesday saw a 30 minute Barack Obama advertisement run on three of the main TV networks here (at a cost of US$1 million per network) and that's a very handy sum for TV channels that are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, which will be missed when the various campaigns come to an end after the election. By many estimates, the Obama campaign spent around US$250 million on TV adverts in the last 5 months, and although the McCain camp has spent rather less, for this election cycle as a whole, the grand total of advertising in all media by all parties is estimated to be around $2.5 billion…

The supersonic aircraft carrier…
(25 Oct 08)

It was the sleekest, fastest, and most beautiful of all commercial airliners, and it was back in NY this week. Concorde returned – however it arrived by sea, and will be staying afloat too. The fleet of Concordes were retired in 2003, and a British Airways plane has returned to be an exhibit on a huge aircraft carrier, based on the west side of Manhattan. The Intrepid aircraft carrier has also been away for 2 years for renovations, but that returned 2 weeks ago to its rightful place in the Hudson River. The Intrepid – along with the Concorde - will reopen to the public on 8th November and will be one of the biggest attractions of the city – literally...

The Family Flap…
(25 Oct 08)

A couple of weeks ago it leaked out that an episode of The Simpsons which will run just before the Presidential Election would seem to endorse Barack Obama – something that the producers have stressed is not so. However now there's been more controversy with another animated series which runs just after The Simpsons on a Sunday night here. The Family Guy episode which run last weekend seemed to suggest that 1940's Nazi officers would have supported the McCain / Palin presidential ticket. Whilst Brian (the talking dog) travels back in time with Stewie, (the adult baby) they notice a Nazi uniform which has a John McCain / Sarah Palin campaign badge on it. The Family Guy is one of the most irreverent of cartoon series (much more so than The Simpsons) but it's rare that any one programme would overtly endorse (or dis-endorse) any one candidate…

Good news for elephants on eBay…
(25 Oct 08)

A welcome announcement from eBay this last week, as the online auction site announced that it would ban any sales of elephant ivory on the site in order to help conservation efforts for the African elephant. The ban will include any raw ivory, or anything old made from ivory – including family heirlooms. The problem is though that although the website is willing to enforce the ban, they don't actually hold any of the items, and are only acting as a portal for anyone trading from any other country. And presuming that they'll be monitoring the site using word recognition techniques, and spotting the word 'ivory' in the process, there must be hundreds of other ways to describe ivory without actually spelling it out. So don't expect an immediate flourishing of elephant herds in Africa as a consequence, but any measure that makes poaching less profitable and trading in ivory less acceptable, should be welcomed…

Pole dancing reprieve…
(25 Oct 08)

Pole dancing. Is it solely for strippers or is it a valid way to keep fit? That has been the conundrum for a small suburb of Pittsburgh where a dance studio had been denied a license as local authorities deemed the practice of pole dancing to be too "provocative". Stephanie Babines, 30, wanted to include pole dancing in her "Oh My You're Gorgeous" studio as a way for clients to "release their inner goddess", but was denied the permit. She sued the authorities, and won. Government officials had said that they didn't want the studio to become some sort of strip club, but civil libertarians were incensed that the town was deeming what sort of dances could be done by local ladies. The judge agreed, so the local ladies will be releasing a lot of inner goddesses in the months ahead…

The fake rocket scandal…
(24 Oct 08)

You'd imagine that in a city so security conscious as New York, officials might spot a huge missile being driven around town. Not so! But a man has ended up in court for towing a huge truck-mounted rocket behind his vehicle, not because of the security threat, but because it had Viagra written on the side, and so the makers of that love missile are suing him for copyright infringement! The fact that he drove the 25-foot-long fake missile right into the centre of Manhattan seems to have been overlooked by those who should have noticed such things. Yes he was stopped a couple of times, but not to ask about why he had a missile in tow, but just to check his licence and registration for the truck! So Pfizer – the company that makes Viagra – is suing him for promoting the rocket (though surely it is in their commercial interest) and the NY authorities are supposedly "looking into" how a man towing a rocket could just drive into the city…

The $150,000 spending spree…
(24 Oct 08)

Sarah Palin has gotten into a little more controversy by supposedly spending $150,000 on outfits for campaigning in. These have been billed as "campaign accessories" by the Republican campaign and in her defence, it wasn't actually Palin who went shopping (she's been kinda busy) but her close advisors who spent the dollars on her behalf. So naturally there has been a degree of consternation as to how the self-proclaimed "hockey mom" could rack up $150,000 in clothing. The answer to that is basically down to the media - that will damn her for both spending or not spending. And whatever your political stripe, you have to have some sympathy for Palin. Where as both John McCain and Barack Obama really just need a few dark grey suits, white shirts, and glob of boring ties, it is harder for a woman…

Bloomberg's third term…
(24 Oct 08)

So Mayor Michael Bloomberg has done it. Persuaded NY City Council members to allow him to serve a third term in office – should the public so vote. The city laws state that mayors can only serve two consecutive terms, and this was confirmed by a referendum by the people in the 90's, however Bloomberg wants to serve for another 4 year term, and so has asked the city council to change the regulations accordingly. After much debate within the chambers (and even more out of it) council members decided by 29-22 to allow a third term for elected officials. Now it will be up to the public to decide in 12 months time whether they want him to continue or not. It is a strange issue though as even though Bloomberg is a popular mayor, and seen to have been a very good steward for the city, his attempt to manipulate the city council to – seemingly – fit his own wishes, has made a lot of his previous fans turn against him. But a lot can happen in the next 12 months, and with a virtually bottomless budget, Bloomberg will undoubtedly be putting his highest profile and most expensive foot forward when it comes to persuading the public…

Celebrate Columbus Day...?
(18 Oct 08)

It was a holiday here on Monday this week, as the United States observed Columbus Day – the day back in 1492 when Christopher Columbus "discovered" the New World and stuck his flag in it. Now of course the country was still here prior to Chris discovering it in Europe's eyes, and so speak to many a native American here and they'll have rather different opinions on whether Columbus Day should be celebrated or not. So this isn't a national holiday, and some states do not observe it at all – especially those with a larger indigenous population. However what is often forgotten is that Christopher Columbus wasn't actually looking for America when he turned up on its shores in October 1492. He was on a mission sponsored by the Spanish monarchy in the hope of finding a new naval route from Spain to India – but found the American continent instead. Don't you just hate it when that happens..?

The waters change...
(18 Oct 08)

There's been some changes in the water in NY this last week. The four man-made waterfalls that were deemed art installations in the East River have now come to the end of their reign, ending an ambitious public art project that inspired both admiration and complaints. Millions of visitors and residents saw the 100 foot high eye-catching installations during their 15-week run, and most deemed it a great success – although there were some detractors. Those against it generally objected to the salty mist that sprayed out from the waterfalls and damaged plants and trees along the Brooklyn waterfront. Meanwhile, the water has frozen over outside the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan with the reopening of the world famous ice rink there for the season. So even though the Fall weather was warm and balmy this week, you could still wrap up all toasty and go for a spin on the ice…

Speed eating slices…
(18 Oct 08)

Yet another speed-eating contest to report on from New York. There's the hot-dog eating fest on 4th July, the dumpling speed-eating at the Dragon Boat Festival here, and then recently a cannoli chomping contest in Little Italy. Also with an Italian bent, there is the pizza speed-eating contest, that was held in Times Square this week, and it was the previous winner of the hot-dog guzzling that also consumed the most slices of pizza. Joey Chestnut downed 45 slices of pizza - which equates to nearly six whole pies of 16 inch diameter – in 10 minutes. It's the first time Joey has won the pizza championship, and his previous successes have been with the hot-dogs, and also another speed-eating contest for asparagus – which almost sounds healthy by comparison. Almost…

Good news for the right whales…
(18 Oct 08)

Excellent news for whales swimming off the coast of the US. The US Government has just voted for a speed limit on large commercial ships sailing through some waters off the eastern seaboard. Any ship longer than 65 feet and sailing within 20 miles of the Atlantic coastline will have to keep within 10 knots – or get a speeding ticket presumably. This is to help the so called right whales, which are an endangered species and probably number less than 400 at the moment. The problem is that these whales in particular have a habit of bumping into shipping by mistake, and being injured or killed. So it's hoped that by slowing the shipping down will give the whales a batter chance to avoid ships. Go whales..!

Another bump in the road…
(18 Oct 08)

Although the cost of oil has dropped considerably in the last couple of weeks, the effect of high prices is still being felt in New York – as there are fewer road repairs. It's easily forgotten that one of the key components of asphalt on the road, is crude oil, and apparently the cost of asphalt for repairing the potholes in New York's roads has gone up four-fold in the last 6 months. So there will be less road resurfacing in the city for the months ahead, and as a cyclist around town, I don't like that! However I do approve of the new measure that has been introduced on the other side of the country. Portland, Oregon has the highest percentage of people who bike to work in the whole of the country, and so legislators there have just passed a resolution to give cyclists a credit of $20 per month for the maintenance, repair, or purchase of a bike – which can then be redeemed in selected bike shops. Yeah!

Silverman's Big Schlep…
(18 Oct 08)

One of the key points in any US election is actually getting the electorate to vote – something that traditionally only about half of eligible voters will do. One person trying to change that is comedienne Sarah Silverman who is trying to get young Jewish voters to go to the key state of Florida to persuade their ageing relatives to go out and vote – preferably for Barack Obama in her case. She is calling the drive The Great Schlep (loosely translated as a long, arduous journey) and is promoting the event on her website, YouTube, plus any of her comedy performances around the country. Her pitch is to "visit your grandparents and change the world"…

Obama buys half-hour of network primetime…
(16 Oct 08)

One of the big differences between the Obama and McCain campaigns is the amount of money that they have raised – and are spending. Barack Obama's team are a fund raising juggernaut and will be having a massive spend just before the election – and have just purchased a huge 30 minute chunk of primetime TV to run on three of the main networks. The TV ad will run Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. – less than a week before the general election – and cost about $1 million on each network. The biggest casualty of this will be the revamped "Knight Rider" on NBC which will be prized out of its regular slot for one week…

How will the next Pres size up..?
(11 Oct 08)

How do you measure up a president of the United States? Is height and weight as important as the issues that they debate? Some have said that Barack Obama is too slender to be president, and at 6' 1½" and 180 lbs, he would be one of the skinniest presidents in history. Ronald Reagan was close, but still half an inch shorter and 5 pounds heavier. You have to go back to Jimmy Carter in 1976 who was about the same height and weight. However if John McCain is elected, he would be the shortest president in over a century. Most commanders in chief are around 6 feet, but at just 5'7" McCain would be the shortest pres since William McKinley back in 1900…

Is Homer endorsing Obama..?
(11 Oct 08)

Interesting leak on YouTube this last 7 days of a clip of a new episode of The Simpsons which will be broadcast here 2 days before the US presidential election. It appears that Homer tried to vote for Barack Obama, but the electronic voting machine only let him vote for John McCain. This has been seen as a ringing endorsement for Obama by the producers of the TV cartoon, something vehemently denied by executive producer James L Brooks, who stressed that they were just "clowns at the fringe of the party"…

On the desk treadmill…
(11 Oct 08)

If you are one of the people stuck behind a desk all day, and thus complaining that you don't get enough exercise, then you might like to consider what some companies are installing here in the US – the office treadmill. No, not just an endless pile of paperwork, but an actual gym treadmill placed behind a desk so that you can do your work, whilst jogging or power-walking. It might not burn that many calories (perhaps 100 / 150 per hour) but it does have health benefits for circulation and general well-being, and it does even encourage employees to be at their desks. Now although talking on the phone is not a problem whilst jogging (especially if you have a hands-free set) this new office plan does need extra skill-sets if you need to use your keyboard whilst jogging. And that really is multi-tasking…

The not so free ferry…
(11 Oct 08)

One of the best value attractions in NYC has to be the Staten Island ferry – which runs from the southern tip of Manhattan to Staten Island just to the south, and has terrific views to the Statue Of Liberty too. It is run by the city, and is free for everybody. Well, sort of free, as there is no charge to use it, but new stats have shown that it actually cost the city US$5.69 for each 'free' ride it gave out – a rise of 23% on last year, an increase put down to higher fuel costs mostly. The 50-cent round-trip fare was eliminated in 1997 and, despite looming city budget deficits, there's little sentiment to reinstate any charge. So continue to enjoy the free ride if you are visiting the city – everyone here does…

Smashing pumpkins...
(11 Oct 08)

Now that Fall has well and truly fallen in New York, it's time to think of Halloween, and also the essential Halloween vegetable - pumpkins! They are already out in force around stores in the area, so you can now make plans for your jack-o-lantern designs. New York State ranks third in the US in the value of its pumpkin crop. The 2007 crop was worth over $22 million and weighed about 50 million tonnes. But the summer of 2008 has been even better for growing pumpkins, with periods of rain and sun happening at exactly the right time. But still they will be more expensive this year. Farmers have said that the soaring cost of gasoline, fertilizer and health insurance has made pumpkins pricier. When did pumpkins start getting health insurance...?

Pouring out of Starbucks...
(11 Oct 08)

The Starbucks chain is slightly smaller here in the US after some downsizing this year, but they have been criticised as being particularly wasteful in their most precious resource - water. A new investigation has claimed that the 10,000 stores worldwide waste 23 million litres (about 6 million gallons) of water each day. Apparently every Starbucks branch has a cold tap behind the counter which has water running non stop, and staff are banned from turning the water off under "health and safety rules". The argument is that a constant stream of water prevents bacteria growing in the tap - something that experts have said is complete nonsense. Just to give perspective, that 23 million litres of water wasted every day is enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 83 minutes, or sustain the population of many an African country. And they don't even drink coffee in the Sahara - though there probably is still a Starbucks there…

Filtering the truth debate…
(10 Oct 08)

Part of the fun from the Presidential (and VP) debates at the moment is to see who can embarrass the other more, and in doing so, there's a tendency to manipulate – or at least massage - the truth. So there's quite a good non-partisan website to sift the facts from the not-so-facts called POLITIFACT.com, which has a rather fun gauge called the "truth-o-meter" and another one called the "flip-o-meter" – which is there to see if candidates say one thing one week, and the opposite the next. Then they rate the various quotes from true / mostly true / half true / barely true / false / liar, liar pants on fire…

Soup wars...
(10 Oct 08)

One of the advertising strategies here in the US that is far more adversarial than in any other country I've been in, is the way that one product or service bad-mouths another product or service. In most advertising, the stress is to say how good your item is, however here, you not only say how good your product A is, but also how bad product B is. And getting advertising dollar at the moment are the Soup Wars. The Campbells soup company is having a ding-dong battle with another firm called Progresso. This started as fairly minor bragging that one soup tastes better than the other, which grew to more TV ads that stressed that the other company's soup was worse, and now it's grown to full page ads in the broadsheet press. So consider the Soup Wars as officially on…

How the Sun went down on NYC…
(4 Oct 08)

It's rare that new print media survives in this age of the on-line edition, and indeed a recent newspaper (as in a real, paper-made-of-paper) has fallen by the commercial wayside and stopped the presses. The New York Sun was a reincarnation of an earlier publication of the same name, and started up in 2002. It was fairly opinionated and certainly right-leaning, but was more broadsheet than tabloid (and largely devoid of much news unfortunately). After several appeals for financing, the last edition went out on the last day of September. It probably was a rash hope to expect a conservative paper to thrive in the liberal dominated media that is New York, but as in all media, competition is best for keeping journos on their feet…

Road charges for firefighters..?
(4 Oct 08)

The MTA – the authority that runs the buses, subways, and most of the bridges and tunnels in the city of New York - is always going to be cash-strapped. And now with less money coming from Wall Street into the city coffers, it won't be getting any raises in subsidies from the city any time soon. Now the authority has gone a step closer to approving a controversial plan to charge police, firefighters and other emergency-service responders crossing bridges and tunnels. At the moment, all emergency vehicles pass anywhere without charge, but they might soon be paying a toll. The argument from the MTA is that these vehicles don't get free gas, so why should they be free of bridge and tunnel tolls? The city thinks differently, and consider this just a back-door way of extracting more money from the city. So if you are a fireman responding to an emergency situation, it's probably best to have some loose change on you for the toll booth – just in case…

AC/DC sell out..?
(4 Oct 08)

Think of the quintessential defiant-to-society rock band, and AC/DC comes to mind. But have the Aussie-rockers sold out? Here in the US, their new "Black Ice" album out later this month will only be available through Wal-Mart – a chain that most would deem irreconcilably suburban. Not only that, but the band, and MTV have teamed up to release an AC/DC version of their Rock Band video game – which again, will have exclusivity rights at Wal-Mart. Whatever next… maybe the band's perennially shorts-wearing Angus Young will start promoting school clothes?

Texts beat phones…
(4 Oct 08)

Text messaging has been a learning process for the US, and the country has taken to it far slower than in many other countries. However now, there are more text messages sent than phone-calls made. Teenagers are the most prolific texters, with the 13-17 age group sending or receiving an average of 1,740 texts per month, whilst 18-24 year olds merely sent an average of 790 per month. And apparently, 42% of all teenagers can create and send SMS texts whilst blindfolded…

New York croc retires to Miami…
(4 Oct 08)

In Africa, the 'Elephants' Graveyard' is a mythical place where elephants are supposed to go to die. There's the same thing for people in the US, and it's called Florida. Not just for humans either, as a Cuban crocodile called Maria who has spent the past four decades at the Bronx Zoo will live out her remaining days in Miami. Although she has several children, she lost her mate, Fidel, years ago. She’s at least 40 years old, and thought to be close to the end of her days. So she boarded a plane to Miami this week and will spend her sunset years at the Miami Metrozoo - where her offspring will probably feel obligated to go and visit at family-gathering times like Thanksgiving and Christmas…

No mermaid privacy…
(27 Sep 08)

One of the hottest parties in NY (which I still seem to have not been invited to) is the Diddy event in the Hamptons – a veritable who's who of the glitterati. However one girl who went there in 2003 filed a lawsuit against a magazine that published photographs of her at the party allegedly without her permission. Maria Dominguez was frolicking in the pool – as a topless mermaid - and was snapped by a photog from 'Vibe' Magazine which then published the pics in a section billed as "mermaids gone wild". The woman claimed that she'd never given permission to be photographed, and claimed $1 million to compensate for her distress. However in a ruling just out this week, a Manhattan court judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that anyone going to such a glitzy party full of photogs would know that you'd be bound to get snapped, and that if you don't want to get photographed topless wearing a mermaid costume, then don't go to Diddy's event wearing exactly that…

Porn tax exemption…
(27 Sep 08)

With state and federal taxes taking up a large slice of anyone's income here, many people claim for as many deductions as possible. But can you claim for sex? According to a new ruling, that answer is no. William Halby - a 77-year-old lawyer from Brooklyn – has been in dispute with tax authorities as he had claimed deductions of US$300,000 for prostitutes, porn, sex toys and erotic massages over the last few years. His claim that the trips to hookers were "reasonable medical expenses in his effort to fight depression and erectile dysfunction brought on by age" were deemed not so by the judge, and so he will now have to cough up $25,000 on back taxes. One of the issues the tax authorities had was that paying for sex is illegal (and thus non-tax deductible) and besides, he didn't have any receipts from the girls. So if there is a moral in this amoral tale, just make sure you get call-girl receipts in future…

More slow motion at ground zero…
(27 Sep 08)

Controversy over the World Trade Center site continues, with many people still bemused why the site is still basically an open pit, 7 years on from the 9-11 attacks. However in one part of the site, contractors have discovered the remnants of a glacier which has given them a glimpse of New York from about 18,000 BC. It's about 70 feet below street level, and once fully checked over by historians, will be covered up again. And then maybe, in another 20,000 years the new World Trade Center site will be finished. Maybe…

The Playboy crisis…
(26 Sep 08)

Sheesh, the economic crisis is hurting so many unexpected areas. Hugh Hefner might actually have to fire one of his Playboy bunnies at the mansion to keep costs under control. This is supposedly true as the Playboy share price has plummeted recently. But surely firing the bunnies is not the way to go…

Bye-bye Yankee Stadium…
(26 Sep 08)

An emotional time for many last Sunday, when after 85 years, the last ever game was held at Yankee Stadium. The team is moving to a new stadium just across the road from the current one for the start of the 09 season. It's a bigger, fancier, and infinitely more expensive stadium that will be in effect next year, and you can bet that ticket prices will be bigger too. But it's been a controversial project as the new stadium will be the same size as the old one (fewer seats in fact), but will have a lot more corporate boxes. Officials had said that the old stadium was falling apart, but renovations would have probably only cost about 200 or 300 million, but the new place cost about 1.3 billion. And depending on who you talk to, there has been various degrees of money given or loaned by the city, but apparently they'll get a fancy new box to view games from next year – so that's OK then…

New York's safe sex…
(20 Aug 08)

The streets of New York City are safer now than at virtually any other time in the past, but it seems that safe sex is also on the 'rise'. As part of an ongoing AIDS education programme, the Health Department gave away over 39 million condoms (including 2 million female condoms) to community groups in the last 12 months – which is more than double the amount last year. And if you want to do the math, then 39 million is enough for every man, woman and child in the city six times over. So either there's a lot of lurv-ing going on or there's a lot of stockpiling. But the city says it is cost effective, as even though 39 million condoms costs the city over $1 million, the price of a lifetime of AIDS treatment for just ONE person is $350,000. Oh, and the target is to give away 50 million condoms in the next year.

No puppeteering on the weekend…
(20 Aug 08)

If you are visiting the city, then don't fall into the trap of drinking from an open container in public – that is against the law, and you could get fined. But there are some even more bizarre rules that NYC can boast. It is a section 10-114 violation to climb up the outside of a building (something we had a problem with on the dare-devil front over the summer), and it is – in theory – an offence for a barber to give a haircut or shave on a Sunday (lest he be fined $5). More oddly, it is a violation to sell dyed baby chickens, ducklings, or baby rabbits (or get a $500 fine)… but odder still it is officially against the law for anyone to stage a puppet performance from any window or open space in any building. So if you were planning on holding an impromptu Punch & Judy show from the balcony of your Lower East Side apartment, you might like to reconsider…

Counting the cannoli…
(20 Aug 08)

The 4th July hot-dog speed-eating contest at Coney Island has worldwide renown, but there are other equally grotesque speed-feeding events too. I covered the dumpling speed-eating contest at the Dragon Boat races here last year, but remember NY has a huge Italian community, so they have a cannoli speed-eating contest. And what is a cannoli? A particularly deadly tube of sweet pastry, filled with hyper-fattening cream. Each one will set you back around 500 calories. As part of the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, the contest was held last weekend with the surprisingly skinny Brad Sciullo taking the crown and consuming 20 cannolis in 6 minutes – washed down with coffee and water. That may sound a lot – it is – but the record is for a monstrous 26 cannoli in 6 minutes. A total of 13,000 calories – enough to feed a fleet of supermodels for a decade…

Coffee or tea or porn…?
(20 Aug 08)

A new innovation that some airlines are starting here is in-flight internet service. It's a good extra revenue stream on internal US flights too. American Airlines is one of those, and will sell you unlimited WiFi for your coast-to-coast trip for about US$13. But there have been calls for the airline to block certain sites, as some more uncouth passengers are surfing porn sites during the flight, which is causing offence to other passengers and flight crew. I know that 5 hour flights across the US can be boring, but can't you just wait until you get off to get off?

Not so pretty in NY…
(20 Aug 08)

You'll often hear it claimed that New York is the greatest city in the world – though how anyone would know that without visiting all the other cities in the world is a moot point. But in a new survey by Leisure & Travel Magazine and CNN, New York at least came top of other American cities in some categories – for shopping, culture, and people-watching. The city was deemed to have the most stylish and diverse population, but as for being intelligent, the city was a mere 10th place out of 25 cities. (Understandably Los Angeles was considered the least intelligent place in the USA.) New Yorkers also lived up to their reputation of not being too friendly – being placed 24th in the list – thankfully just ahead of Los Angeles again. However the category that might hurt the most for this city so resplendent with stars and celebs, is that it was considered to have only the 9th most beautiful people in the nation. Miami was top of the list, with San Diego, Austin, and San Francisco all being above NYC. And what will prickle the most, is that even the twin mid-west cities of Minneapolis / St. Paul were seen to have more attractive residents than the Big Apple. Enough to make many a Manhattanite fashionista cry into their Fendi bags…

End of the fun at the funfair?
(13 Sep 08)

With summer officially over in the US, there are some casualties that won't make it to next year. One of those will be the Astroland Amusement Park at Coney Island here in NY. It is set to close for good on 14 September, but is one of the city's most enduring attractions, partly for how imperfect it is. Imagine a place of sword-swallowers, strong men, and circus attractions, then combine that with roller-coasters and the famous sea-side boardwalk, and you have Astroland. It's slightly run down, a shade seedy, and definitely unique. The big Wonder Wheel and the world famous, truly scary Cyclone rollercoaster will stay as they are listed monuments, but for throwing hoops over prizes to win plush toys, or the other essence of kitsch that is the anti-Disneyland, then you'll have to look elsewhere next year. Of course you'll still be able to get overpriced popcorn and hot-dogs in the city - you just have to go to the movies for that...

Crime snapping…
(13 Sep 08)

Now it's easier to report any crimes you see to the NYPD by your camera-phone. Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Gordon (no, that's Batman isn't it) Police Commissioner Kelly have just announced a new programme where concerned citizens can not only send SMS text messages to 911 to report a crime, but can also send images from camera phones too. You do still have to call 911, but you then tell the operator that you have a pic to send, and then that can go through. And it happens in real time too, so the Police dispatcher can then send those images from a witness to a patrol car on the beat. Although this new scheme is meant to be another way to fight crime and be a deterrent, there are limitations. As mayor Bloomberg said himself, "if some big hulking guy is coming at you with a hatchet, I would suggest you don't take out your camera and try to take a picture…" Uh huh…

Never say the "B" word...
(13 Sep 08)

I've learned through experience that most Immigration officials at airports just don't have a sense of humour. I've tried, and they just don't. I even spent 3 years in Guantanamo as a consequence. But seriously, nor do most other people have humour at airports - perhaps with good reason. A hot-tempered passenger at New York's Kennedy airport has got into trouble for allegedly faking a bomb scare. Rosalinda Baez, 31, had missed a flight to Texas - even though her luggage was on board - something that shouldn't have happened anyway. However when she demanded her bags be returned, the airline refused. At this point, the passenger allegedly said: "What if I had a bomb in my bag?" When that tactic didn't work, she supposedly added: "Well, I [DO] have a bomb in my bag, so are you guys going to turn the plane around 'cause I need my bag?" Uh oh... wrong thing to say, as the plane then made an emergency landing and the passenger is being made to pay the airline US$23,000 for the extra costs involved...

The right to leap...
(13 Sep 08)

We've had a spot of bother with daredevils in the city in the last few months. Those who get their jollies from climbing up the outside of buildings either to demonstrate for a cause, or simply because they consider themselves Spiderman wannabes. There have been three reported incidents over the summer, all of whom decided to climb up the outside of the New York Times building - which to be fair, if you want publicity, is a good place to do it. Others have tried to parachute off the top of the Empire State Building before now - though they were prevented from doing so. Now a bill before the city council proposes a charge of reckless endangerment for anyone who aims to jump off a ledge - the endangerment part being for those underneath of course. So those who climb or leap off of structures more than 50 feet in height without a permit would face up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. However opponents have claimed that it is - and I quote - a "fundamental human right" to leap off buildings. Each to their own, but I don't see that particular human right being enshrined in the United Nations charter any time soon...

The Sushi Inquisition…
(6 Sep 08)

How much do you know your sushi, and could you taste the difference between a salmon roll, and a roll with another kind of fish in it? Ultimately you trust the store or restaurant where you buy the sushi to tell the truth. A couple of school students decided to put that to the test and ran DNA testing on the fish in sushi found in 10 stores and 4 restaurants, and found that 25% of all the sushi sold, was not what it claimed to be! The much sought after white tuna was found to be the much cheaper Mozambique tilapia, whilst some red snapper turned out to be Atlantic cod. It appears to be the lower end restaurants and outlets are the primary culprits, and I imagine that such misdemeanours wouldn't be limited to New York either. So just keep in mind when buying sushi, that the results may be a little fishy… obviously…

Bright lights of NYC…
(6 Sep 08)

One highlight of any trip to New York City must be the bright lights – but those lights might soon be running a little more economically. The City Dept Of Transportation is looking into replacing the 300,000 traditional sodium street lamps in the 5 boroughs to a more eco-friendly L.E.D. type. L.E.D.'s last more than 50,000 hours and so would need to be replaced less often, and so save the city money in the longer term, paying for themselves in 2-3 years. And fear not, you can still tell any of the myriad "how many city officials does it take to change a light bulb" jokes…

Windmills for New Amsterdam…
(22 Aug 08)

The latest incentive that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is promoting is alternative energy – and in particular, wind power. He was in Las Vegas this week at an alternative energy conference and said that he was determined to make New York the #1 city in the nation for clean power. So he's now asking experts how windmills could be placed around the city, and also off-shore to reduce the burden on fossil fuels. He's interested in putting windmills on some high buildings, along with some of the bridges too. Naturally this has lead to some amusing images of windmills above the Brooklyn Bridge, or atop the Empire State Building, or replacing the torch in the hand of the Statue of Liberty, but such things would be a lot more low-key than that so not to damage the image of the city.

Interestingly though, this is the city coming full circle. New York used to be New Amsterdam, and what is more common in the Netherlands than windmills. There used to be at least one in the city in the 1600's, and in fact there is a windmill depicted on the official seal of New York to this day (as below). So whatever goes around, comes around – especially if you're a windmill…

Rock 'n' Rolling in Manhattan…
(22 Aug 08)

You might think that the US is the cradle of music, but where does America celebrate rock 'n' roll the most? Bizarrely enough, in Cleveland, Ohio. (It's roughly half-way between New York City and Chicago.) That is where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is based, but thankfully that is to come to New York. Although the museum itself will be staying put in Ohio, there will be an annex of it based in Manhattan in November. It will be a privately funded project, but has the full support of the city and it was Mayor Michael Bloomberg who announced the deal last week, along with sagging rock 'n' roll star Billy Joel. As the Mayor himself noted: "[New York] is where Ed Sullivan met The Beatles and where Lou Reed took a walk on the wild side." Among its artifacts (and I'm not including Billy Joel in that list) will be the phone booth from the now defunct CBGB nightclub and Bruce Springsteen's first car, a yellow 1957 Chevy convertible – all the exhibits here will have a particular New York connection. Especially the phone booth…

Turtlenapped..!
(22 Aug 08)

One of the strangest thefts recently is the case of the two-headed turtle. Yes there are rare cases of turtles with two heads and this one was being held at a pet store in Brooklyn. It needed very special attention and each head needed to be fed by hand because otherwise the two heads would fight over food. No really. However sometime between 11am and noon last Sunday, someone came into the pet store in Windsor Terrace, and whilst the owner was dealing with another customer, reached into the tank and stole the two-headed turtle. Owner Sean Casey has reported the turtle-napping to the police, who naturally thought he was kidding. But if you do know where the two-headed turtle is then the owner will accept him back with no questions asked. From either head…