A Year In New York

I got to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. before dawn today with some friends and found a spot near one of the Jumbotrons about halfway between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Shivering be damned; I wanted to see Barack Obama become President Barack Obama and learn what tone he would set for the [...]

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The tree has been standing unadorned in my living room for the last two weeks, and when my partner Joo visits me she looks at it suspiciously. It makes her sneeze. Joo is a Hindu, half-allergic to Christmas and fully allergic to pollen.
“OK, OK, OK, I’ll help you decorate it,” she said yesterday, sniffling, “and [...]

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NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2008 – After taking drastic cost-cutting measures brought on by the nation’s financial crisis, the blog A Year In New York announced that it would resume production today.
In November, the popular blog interrupted service and disappointed readers as it nearly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, the site regained its footing [...]

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Last night I made my first visit to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) in Brooklyn to see a documentary about building construction for the 21st Century. To get there, I walked from the York Street subway through a landscape that was unapologetically early 20th Century: narrow streets, industrial blocks now converted to lofts, [...]

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So far the closest Joo and I have come to the Atlantic is the grilled red snapper we ordered from Spice Thai. To address our saltwater deficiency we boarded the LIRR, and one hour out of Penn Station we stood ankle deep in the fine, powdery sand of Long Beach, wondering why nobody was in [...]

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Today I read with great interest a story in the New York Times called “Newcomers Adjust, Eventually, to New York” about the thousands who arrive each year and their challenge of assimilation. Exactly when does a newcomer become a New Yorker?
I asked myself that question and, man, I just don’t know. My fifth-floor apartment is [...]

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