For me it was a lucky thing. My college years coincided with peak Disco years: 1975 - 1979. I was born for the era as one of those white kids who caught the fever during the Chubby Checkers phenomena of 1962 and kept at it- dancing in front of my bedroom mirror on Saturday mornings while Soul Train was on the set. The Bar Mitzvah circuit had me dancing almost every weekend when I was thirteen. My young life was an endless dance party.
Off to St. Louis for College at Washington University – and my campus nick-name was DISCO JON. I was voted number one “white” dancer in St. Louis by a group of black friends from the disco scene. In the summer of ’78 my buddy Paul Bailey and I danced for 6 weeks straight, 7 days a week – never missing a night of furious disco dancing.
30 plus years later I look back with laughter at those times. While I have some regrets about not taking the books more seriously and becoming cum laude, (nobody told me about it) – I can with special satisfaction say I didn’t get cheated in Disco heaven. That was my calling. If there was a working future for a white kid as a disco dancer, I was sold.
Back then, without computerized social...
New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has become a global phenomenon and the most discussed person on the planet for two weeks. He shoots baskets just twenty blocks from my midtown apartment but I cannot see him. The New York Rangers are the leaders of the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference. The team laces up their skates only three stops on the Q, N, or R from my corner yet I cannot watch them.
Such was life as a Time Warner Cable subscriber who, unlike someone ordering Chinese takeout, wants their MSG. MSG, of course, is Madison Square Garden Co.'s MSG Network. They own the broadcast rights to the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.
This sports-crazed New Yorker normally finds the Knicks and Rangers at the two-week intersection between the Super Bowl and spring training reporting dates for baseball’s pitchers and catchers. Just a quick drink at the conclusion of 19 weeks of the NFL before the start of the wonderful grind of six months of our National Pastime begins. However; the recent phenomenon that is Lin and the stellar play of the Broadway Blue Shirts has changed the game a bit this mild February. Basketball and hockey, the NBA and the NHL, have hijacked my...
In New York City, we all know death and taxes are inevitable, but it’s easy to remove fear around the latter by taking advantage of new programs and technology. I like free. We all like free and now many of you can file your taxes for free. Yes, 99% this is my Presidents' Day gift to you well in advance of the April deadline.
If you are filing a simple W2 this year and earn less than $57,000 a year or know someone who is in this income bracket, I recommend taking advantage of the free filing process at MyFreeTaxes
Even if you are not in this income bracket, you likely know someone who is. Of the 135 million U.S. taxpayers in 2011, 80 million reported adjusted gross incomes of $50,000 or under.
Now, this program is not for everyone. I would still advise working with an accountant, if you are a small business owner with complicated deductions, or say a retiree with annuity payments, or anyone handling anything beyond a straight- forward return.
For the majority of New Yorkers and Americans in the right income bracket, MyFreeTaxes is a great program sponsored by the Wal-Mart Foundation. Partners of this campaign include One Economy’s theBeehive.org, the National Disability...
We’re not plugged in to the New York fashion scene so of course we didn’t get invited to any of the Fashion Week events of 2012. Imagine our excitement when a partner at Elizabeth’s law firm gave us tickets to see the Barbara Seville collection at Lincoln Center.
We got dressed up in our trendiest clothes and went to her matinee showing. We looked around in awe as we walked past the gorgeous water fountain and into the building directly behind it. We checked out the two murals on either side of the lobby, then walked up the pretty red staircase, and sat in the red velvet seats at the show. Everyone was very well dressed and most of them smelled pretty good too. There were thousands of people there, but I didn’t see as many celebrities as I would expect at such a high profile event. There were a lot of old people coughing, however.
Barbara Seville had a catwalk around a full orchestra in a pit, which was very refreshing, as I understand most fashion shows just have a catwalk with no orchestra and no pit. The place was decorated plainly, though there were neat giant crystal snowflake lights that lifted into the ceiling, which was a nice touch especially as it is...
I was recently told three stories about New York canines and their owners’ sex lives that must be shared.
The first tale concerns my dear friend and neighbor Alice. She and her husband own an Alaskan Malamute. For those who are not familiar, this breed is huge. During a conversation comparing our puppy mishaps, Alice's husband Jesse started telling me how their pup used to get jealous when he would make the moves on his wife. He continued to describe one lovely Sunday morning when he and Alice got frisky in the middle of reading the New York Times. Recklessly shedding their garments, foreplay led them from the kitchen table and living rug to the bedroom; where, their pup Butch joined the disrobing activities. In the heat of the moment, Jesse was vaguely aware of Butch stealing the socks off his feet and figured he’d track them down later. One thing led to another, Jesse and Alice got on with their hanky panky and afterwards- Jesse’s warm and woolly socks were nowhere to be found. They thought it was weird when they couldn’t find them, but things got even stranger when Butch began up heaving a long, dark tar like substance. Jesse reached into the pup’s throat to...
Apartment living tends to both extend the intimacies of the family unit as well as guard them. Because we have so little privacy (shrinking every day with each new technological "advance") we do tend to guard what little we have. However, in my many years of apartment dwelling (my entire life to be exact) I have seen my share of outrageous "public" behavior. I place public in quotes because as we ALL know, none of us would likely walk into the street in our pajamas and bunny slippers, and yet do not hesitate to wear our bedroom garb to get the mail. While we wouldn't dare expose our lingerie in our offices or schools, we happily fold the most intimate (and often odd) apparel under the laundry room's neon lights and closed circuit cameras.
For better or worse we know things about our building neighbors- our very extended family- that we wouldn't otherwise want to know.
72nd Street and 3rd Avenue: The Doorman Rescue
One of the joys of living in the city is never having to drive after an evening of overindulgence. And that is great if you live in a walk-up or a building with no security or doormen. But if you do have such service you are bound to show some, ahem,...
As a business and money expert people always ask me what keeps me on track with my personal finances. In the fast paced, high priced world of work and social whirl in New York City, I tell people if you can make it here on under $100,000, you can make it anywhere and even prosper.
The following apps have changed my financial life, my health and my creativity. They’re not the new “in” thing, they are money tools I’ve used for a year or more, which give me time to enjoy my life.
Banking Apps
I do not have time to run checks to the bank every week and I travel a lot. Both Chase and USAA offer fantastic apps. There is nothing like getting a check, finding some good light and lining up the check and a black surface to put as much as $5000 a day in your account. I also have an added alert when more than $500 leaves my account at any one time and I have an account balance low alert.
Spending Lite
If you really want to change your spending behavior for the better, a tried and true plan for success is to write down everything you spend every day. Who wants to do that while jettisoning between subways, boardrooms and cocktails? Well, this app really makes that...
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