New York City
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A guy gets stabbed in New York City and dies from his wounds. That’s what happened to Tony Ciccarello. He died in September 2014 from what the medical examiner attributed to “complications of a bowel obstruction ‘due to ventral hernias due to remote exploratory laparotomy for treatment of stab wound of torso.'” He was stabbed, he had an operation to repair the wound, and he died from the attendant complications.
As ordinary as this might appear, there is one major twist. Ciccarello was stabbed “sometime in the late 1950s,” and died over fifty years later.
when he died in September, the unsolved and mostly forgotten crime took on elevated importance in the eyes of New York City. The medical examiner determined his death, at 97 years old, was connected to the stabbing five decades before.
It’s a homicide, and the police have launched a murder investigation.
I understand that from a medical perspective he died from that decades-old wound, but he was also 97 years old. He presumably outlived everyone involved in this case: the surgeons, his murderer, and just about anyone who could have been involved.
Telegraph and electrical lines dangle dangerously overhead during the Blizzard of 1888, the blizzard by which all others blizzards are compared.
Between Friday night and Saturday morning, snow fell on New York City. I was out late, and it snowed enough that I had to ditch my bike in a friend’s basement for the weekend. By Saturday morning, there was a nice layer of snow covering the streets. It was just enough to hide the grit and grime of the city streets, but not enough to cripple the city. Many people I spoke to on Saturday rhapsodized about waking up with snow on the ground. To these shiny happy people, I offered these two thoughts:
- Sure it’s nice to wake up with snow on the ground on a weekend. Snow on the ground isn’t so lovely on a weekday when you have to schlep to work.
- Wait until Tuesday.
By Saturday, only the most fervent weather watchers were aware that we were expecting significant snowfall starting on Monday. I knew there was something coming but couldn’t believe that we were in store for about two feet of snow over a two day period with hurricane force winds. Today, it seems, the blizzard is all we can talk about. Will we get an early dismissal? Will our classes be cancelled? Is the city actually shutting down the streets tonight at 11:00 PM?
The answer to all these questions is yes.
The awning of a grocery store is damaged from the weight of the snow during the blizzard of 1888 in New York City. The blizzard on March 12-14 paralyzed the city with about 40″ of snow and winds that reached up to 60 miles per hour, creating drifts as high as fifty feet. (AP Photo)
Although it’s worrisome that the usually dispassionate NOAA warning has qualified this storm as “potentially historic,” my attitude towards these things is pretty blazé. I learned long ago that I couldn’t control the weather, and that it was fairly pointless to fret about rain, snow, cold, heat, hurricanes, etc. Instead of sweating these uncontrollable climatological events, it’s more productive to find a few things to do to occupy my time.
- Be thankful it’s not 1888. The Blizzard of 1888 is one of those weather events that led to at least two major infrastructural changes. Power and telegraph lines were moved underground because they dangled dangerous over the street: icicles were like daggers waiting to come down onto an unsuspecting pedestrians. Similarly, elevated train lines and streetcars were crippled by the fifty-foot-high snowdrifts, leading to move mass transit underground and the construction of the first subways systems in Boston and New York. The Bowery Boys have a great written summary and podcast about this storm. Another extraordinary fact about the Blizzard of 1888 was that it was a “superstorm,” not unlike Sandy. The major difference is that it happened in the winter: imagine all the flooding from Sandy, but instead of water which can recede fairly quickly, it was snow that has melt or be cleared.
- Make chili. During our many storms together, from hurricanes to blizzards, Sarah would make us a huge pot of chili and leave it out on the stove. We would scoop out a bowl at a time over the course of several days. But these days, I’m making my own chili. Dan Nosowitz argues that the essence of chili is the spices and suggests you make chili without meat. This is consistent with my thinking about Mexican pozole and Japanese ramen being more similar than different: their essence lies with the broth, not the meat, noodles, or hominy.
- Take photos with your nice camera. Writing for The Verge, Chris Plante argues that you should buy and use a nice camera instead of your phone to capture your life’s memories. In this spirit, I’ve packed my SLR and will be carrying it around in the event I come across some worthwhile photo opportunities from this blizzard. I doubt any of my photos will be as impactful at the one above from 1888 with the dangling power lines threatening New Yorkers below, but maybe your photos will.
- Do something. And because a blizzard of this magnitude usually closes roads, schools, and some offices, we get the luxury of time. This is a good time to write something or clean the bikes.
By Wednesday, we’ll all be back to fighting our fellow humans and the elements to get to work. And some of us will be rethinking how nice it is to wake up to snow on the ground.
Last night, we had our first significant snowfall of 2015. I had ridden my bike out and left it parked outside. This is what it looked like as I was preparing to head to bed.
Over the course of seven Thanksgivings together, Sarah and I would go to as many as three Thanksgiving Day dinners in a single day. We would eventually pare that down to one because the travel would be a bit draining, but even then, there was still a lot of food to eat. It was early in that period that I started to ride about fifty miles or so on Thanksgiving morning. A turkey trot, even one on two wheels, is one of the best ideas ever! I did one last year, and despite the temperature being well below freezing, we all pushed on and burned a couple of thousand calories in anticipation of all the food we would be eating.
This year, I volunteered to co-lead a ride to Piermont on Thanksgiving morning (membership required to view listing) because the usual leader is out of town. But this Thanksgiving eve, we had a Nor’easter pass through the region that threatened to blanket the area with freezing rain and snow, making the prospects of riding to Piermont seem grim.
Despite all the hoopla over the storm, the snow didn’t actually materialize. But my co-leader and I were concerned that the rain and freezing temperatures throughout Thursday would create icy conditions between the city and Piermont.
We were not interested in riding in such nonsense. As I said to him, I’d rather be called a chicken (for being scared of possibly non-existent icy roads) than a turkey (for slipping and sliding all the way to Piermont and back).
We postponed the ride to Friday.
Happy thanksgiving, everyone!
I saw this squished rat on East Third Street in the East Village as I biked to NYU this morning. I initially rode past it, but I went back to snap a photo of it. It seemed like the perfect image of what life in New York feels like to me right now.
Did I mention that it started to rain as I biked over the Willamsburg Bridge to approach Manhattan?
You could see New City from our bedroom window, as in this February 2010 photo.
As if I weren’t sad enough these days, I learned that New City Kitchen Express, on Vernon Boulevard, will likely close within the next two weeks after seven years serving the neighborhood. Every New York City neighborhood needs a “cheap Chinese” place, and that’s what New City was for our corner of Long Island City.
LIC Post reports:
The restaurant’s lease expired and the business owners did not want to pay the much higher rent. The landlord is seeking $10,500 a month in rent as well as $3,300 per month to cover the real estate taxes.
This is sad because I’ve come to recognize the family that runs the shop and even watched the son and daughter, who work the register, cook the food, and make the occasional delivery, grow up over the years. I remember how they were temporarily forced outside of their space when the upper floors of the building caught fire. But the store closing is even more sad to me because this was where Sarah and I had one of our first meals in Long Island City.
Our first meal in the neighborhood was at Manducati’s, as were looking to take shelter on a bitterly cold night after looking at an apartment. We also ate at Dominie’s Hoek after John Casella at Crest Haven Realty showed us two apartments, one of which we took. After signing the lease, we dined in at Tuk Tuk to power us as we prepared the apartment for our move-in a few weeks later.
We were lucky enough to be allowed to move in early to do things that are much easier to do when you’re not surrounded by boxes containing all your worldly possessions, such as line kitchen shelves and to paint the walls. Each night, Sarah and I would do some work and then head to either my place or hers for the night. It was on one of those preparation nights, a Friday if memory serves, that Sarah and I got hungry and sought some quick food options. I hadn’t brought my computer, and this was before we had smartphones, so we couldn’t look up a place and its menu on the Internet. However, from our bedroom window, which faces Vernon Boulevard, we could see the New City’s sign from our window and copied down the phone number.1 We phoned in a take-out order but since we didn’t have a menu, we just ordered whatever you expect to find at every Chinese take-out place in New York: General Tso tofu for Sarah, the chicken version for me, and peanut noodles for the both of us.
One thing I did not know about New City was that it had recently opened when we moved in. It seemed like they were there forever.
Three years ago, I went to Gonerfest and saw Shannon and the Clams at the Saturday show at the Hi-Tone, which relocated last year. This day is almost always an overwhelming experience because the Saturday afternoon at Murphy’s has two shows going on at once: one outside in the patio and also one inside the bar. And it goes from noon to 6:00 PM. And then there’s the five-plus hours of music at the Hi-Tone, which include the Shannon and the Clams set. The whole day is a rock ‘n’ roll assault on your senses.
Since I won’t be going to Memphis this year, I’ll have to settle for seeing this band that I saw play there in the past. They have two three shows in New York, all in Brooklyn. Go see at least one of them.
Update: It appears that, as of Tuesday, September 9, all three shows are sold out.
Details
- September 9, 2014
- 8:00 PM
- Union Pool, 484 Union Ave, Brooklyn
- 12.00
- September 11, 2014
- 8:00 PM
- Death by Audio, 49 S 2nd St, Brooklyn
- 13.50
- September 12, 2014
- 8:00 PM
- Palisades BK, 906 Broadway, Brooklyn
- 12.00
August 2014 was a really weird month.
While it was one of the most emotionally difficult months of my life, it was also one of most pleasant in terms of weather. The first weekend of August started with some rain, but after that there was only one rain storm that interrupted my month on wheels. The weather was so perfect that I only rode the subway six times in the month of August. Back in the days of the Fun Pass, I would do swipe that card six times in a single day.
Because I was keeping track of my swipes for the month, I thought I’d share my trip record.
| Date |
Ride |
Trains |
Why I didn’t bike? |
| Aug 2 |
Woodside to Vernon-Jackson |
7 |
I had returned from visiting my uncle in Riverhead with my mom, and I took the LIRR train back. |
| Aug 12 |
8th Street-NYU to Broadway, Astoria |
N |
It was raining so I left my bike at NYU and went to my friend’s apartment in Astoria, where I was couch surfing. |
| Aug 13 |
Broadway, Astoria to 8th Street-NYU |
N |
I had left my bike at NYU and it was still raining. I rode back in the evening. |
| Aug 23 |
Vernon-Jackson to Woodland |
7 to 4 |
I rode with Andre to Woodland to start the ride to the Peekskill Brewery. I rode the subway for the purposes of a bike ride. |
| Aug 23 |
Grand Central to Vernon-Jackson |
7 |
Andre and I took Metro North and from Peekskill so we took the 7 train back to Long Island City. |
| Aug 29 |
West 4th Street to Sutphin Blvd-Hillside Ave, Jamaica |
F |
Again, I rode the subway for the purposes of a bike ride. This was for the ride to Blue Point on Labor Day weekend. |
Keep in mind that I have been without a home for almost of all August, so it’s not like I spent days at a time at home or just putzing around Long Island City (which I miss doing a lot). I also didn’t go away except for two days over Labor Day weekend, which did account for one of the swipes. Finally, I have been traveling a lot more than usual around the city. I didn’t track my rides, but except for August 1, 2, and 30, I rode a bike every single day in August.
September is only a week old, and again, I have been able to avoid the subway entirely. So far, I have zero swipes for the month. It really shows how mild and dry this summer has been.
After some kvetching on my part and a long-running petition drive, CUNY Queens College has launched a shuttle from Jamaica and Flushing. It will run on a pilot basis from from August 25 to 28. After August 28, students will ride for free, and faculty and staff can buy a sticker to ride the shuttle.
Routes and Schedule
The shuttle service operates weekdays 7 am-11 pm and weekends 7 am-7 pm, covering two routes.
From Jamaica
Starting at 7 am, buses will pick up riders every 20 minutes, and transport them to Queens Hall and the Student Union. Travel time to or from Jamaica is approximately 25-30 minutes.
From Flushing
Starting at 7 am, buses will pick up riders every 20 minutes, and will transport them to the Student Union and Queens Hall. Travel time to or from Flushing is approximately 15 minutes.
Cross campus – between Queens Hall and Student Union
Every 20 minutes, riders may go from Queens Hall to the Student Union by taking the Jamaica bus across campus; those who wish to go from the Student Union to Queens Hall may take the Flushing bus.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help me all that much since I take the E or F train from Forest Hills and then ride the Q64. But because I am not sure where I will end up living in the next few weeks, this might be of some benefit if I have to go to Jamaica or Flushing. For example, if I end up staying in downtown Brooklyn, it might make sense to take the LIRR from Jamaica towards Atlantic Ave. But who knows what my life will be like in the next few weeks.
At least, I can start encouraging students to leave their cars at home and take mass transit to campus.
This was the first procedure to partially remove part of my toenail, in April 2012. Partially removing my toenail has become a yearly ritual.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had some pretty painful ingrown toenails. I even remember getting them as a kid, but I was always able to dig around a bit to get the nail in a good spot. But perhaps in a sign of aging, my ingrown toenails have become so painful that I’ve deferred to the help of medical professionals. About once a year since April 2012, I’ve had a podiatrist essentially give me a high-priced pedicure. A doctor will trim the part of the nail that has worked itself into my skin and then call it a day. I was anxious the first time I had the procedure and was expecting to need help getting home. One friend said that I would need as much as month recovery time. It concerned me so much that I looked into filing a disability insurance claim to help cover my lost wages. However, it wasn’t as bad as all that. After each procedure, I have been able to walk out and even ride my bike home. I felt so good the first time, I even went to the once-monthly Tiki Tuesday night at the Astor Room in Astoria with Sarah and my friend Julia.
Warning: It’s going to get a little gross, here.
But after at least three procedures, most recently in March 2013, I think it’s time to get the problem permanently fixed. I want them to remove the toenails entirely so they may finally grow straight. I also have a few really discolored nails, too. They developed over time, and I neglected them so long, there might be no other way to fix the problem than to get rid of those altogether.
I’m not sure how bad the procedure will be and whether I will be able to walk on my own. When I asked the doctor how much recovery I would need after a complete toenail extraction, she said that it would only require a day or two of convalescence compared to the partial extraction. I am hopeful that means I can at least walk out of the doctor’s office and get around okay, preferably even bike around since it keeps most of my weight off my feet.
My biggest concern at the moment is my recovery. I don’t have a permanent home right now, and I am worried that I might not be able to get to my temporary home. Where will I recover, if it’s as bad as I fear? For the most part, I’ve been able to get by on my own after the previous toenail extractions, I was able to do quite a bit on my own after I dislocated my pinkie last April, and I was able to take care of myself when I had food poisoning in late May. But even through those times, I had someone to take care of me, should I needed help. Right now, I don’t have that, and I really miss it. And I’m scared.
