Podcast appearances and mentions of Bryant Park

BOOP! announces closing, Vineyard Theatre's 2025–2026 Off-Broadway season, Diane Paulus lassos Phantom, Lynne Meadow steps down after 53 years at MTC, Thursdays lunch in Bryant Park, plus Birthdays, Closers, and Recommendations. Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every read more The post Today on Broadway: Friday, June 27, 2025 appeared first on BroadwayRadio.

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The New Jersey governor primary is today. And with the state's current governor Phil Murphy term-limited, the race is heated. Brenda Plascencia reports. Connecticut's Attorney General denounced the use of the National Guard and Marines against protesters in Los Angeles today. President Trump has deployed troops against the wishes of California's governor Gavin Newsom. Adithi Vimalanathan reports. It's a big day for museum lovers: museum mile begins tonight! Museums on 5th Avenue will be free to the public until 9 pm. Adithi Vimalanathan reports. Last week, Bryant Park held their massive, annual game of musical chairs. Over 900 people showed up to play. Lainey Nguyen takes us there. What's What explores current events, culture, news and hot topic issues surrounding the New York metropolitan area. The weekday show includes features, interviews and music news exclusively from WFUV. New episodes air every weekday after 4pm. News Host and Producer: Alexandra Pfau Editor: Robin Shannon Theme Music: Joe Bergsieker

Scotsman in New York NEW YORK is, undoubtedly, one of the most exciting cities in the world and I can't believe that I have just visited for the first time. Thankfully I have now been to see this amazing metropolis for myself and this Podcast shares that experience with you. From screeching Police sirens to bellowing bagpipes, this was an adventure worth waiting for. It is only a few weeks since I returned from New York and I was absolutely buzzing after my first visit to the Big Apple, to such an extent that I'm inserting this bonus Podcast detailing my experience in the city and the excitement of being part of Tartan week when thousands of Scots pour into the metropolis to join thousands more diaspora Scots who come from all over America to enjoy this bagpiping, drum thumping, highland dancing, whisky drinking throng. It is incredible. The Tartan Parade actually marched up 6th Avenue, waved on by thousands of people who lined the streets. Of course this was just one part of my journey, and I share with you the wonderful times I had at Met Cloisters, Central Park where I recorded a busker singing John Lennon's song, Imagine, not far from where he used to live and was killed. I visit the Empire State Building, the Vanderbilt experience and the Peak restaurant at Hudson Yards, and all at a height of 1400 feet. I walk the Highline and take a gastronomic tour around Chelsea Market. Well, let me share my experience of New York with you, not just Tartan week but my overall visit which was a whirlwind of both tourist sites and off the beaten track places which were just as wonderful.

Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing?

Who will be the 2028 Presidential Democratic Candidate? What's wrong with Bill Belichick and letting his girlfriend control his life? President Trump is removing Harvard's Tax-exempt status. Mark Takes Your Calls! Mark Interviews Restaurant Critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing?

NPR and PBS got their federal funding cut. The Tariff Trade War with China may be getting closer to a deal. Actress Ruth Buzzi has passed away. It's time for Chuck Schumer to go and Dems want him gone! Mark Interviews Fox News Contributor. Joe breaks down the reasons Kamala Harris lost the election. Did Ron DeSantis ever have a chance at becoming President? Joe talks about his book! Who will be the 2028 Presidential Democratic Candidate? What's wrong with Bill Belichick and letting his girlfriend control his life? President Trump is removing Harvard's Tax-exempt status. Mark Interviews Restaurant Critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing?

Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who will be the 2028 Presidential Democratic Candidate? What's wrong with Bill Belichick and letting his girlfriend control his life? President Trump is removing Harvard's Tax-exempt status. Mark Takes Your Calls! Mark Interviews Restaurant Critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NPR and PBS got their federal funding cut. The Tariff Trade War with China may be getting closer to a deal. Actress Ruth Buzzi has passed away. It's time for Chuck Schumer to go and Dems want him gone! Mark Interviews Fox News Contributor. Joe breaks down the reasons Kamala Harris lost the election. Did Ron DeSantis ever have a chance at becoming President? Joe talks about his book! Who will be the 2028 Presidential Democratic Candidate? What's wrong with Bill Belichick and letting his girlfriend control his life? President Trump is removing Harvard's Tax-exempt status. Mark Interviews Restaurant Critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve lets Mark know what's happening with the state of Restaurants in NYC. In addition, people and businesses are building and renovating buildings. How is Bryant Park doing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, it is my pleasure to speak with Anne Rappa & Alex Glauber. Anne is the fine art practice leader for Marsh McLennan. She provides risk management advice and assists clients by negotiating risk and insurance solutions related to fine art collections and transactions. Anne has 30 years' experience representing the interests of both individual and institutional collectors, institutions, art dealers, auction houses, art logistics companies and other fine art focused businesses. Anne, and her firm Marsh McLennan, are a valued Advisor member of the FOX community, and we are grateful to have their expertise and thought leadership in our membership community. Alex is an art advisor, curator, and educator based in New York. He is the founder and principal of AWG Art Advisory, where he works with private individuals, corporations, and institutions in the conceptualization, building, and management of fine art collections. Prior to founding AWG Art Advisory in 2009, Alex served as an assistant curator for the Lehman Brothers and Neuberger Berman art collections from 2006 to 2009. He has curated monographic and thematic group exhibitions at venues as varied as the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, Phillips auction house, and Bryant Park, New York, as well as at galleries such as Lisson Gallery, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Chapter NY, Dickinson, David Lewis Gallery, and Casey Kaplan. Art is an increasingly popular investment asset among enterprise families and family offices – both as a passion investment and an alternative asset in their diversified portfolios. Anne and Alex talk about what is going on today in the world of art investing and highlight the latest trends that have been shaping the space over the recent years. They also explain how art is different from other investment assets, describing the unique attributes and market structures that set art apart from other investments and even from other alternative assets. One practical piece of advice Anne and Alex have for our listeners is to consider and understand the role of a professional art advisor. They describe the role of the art advisor and share their views on why families and family offices should be working with one and what value they can extract from such a relationship. With the unique attributes and value of art come also some unique risks. Anne and Alex shed some light on the major risks art investors should be aware of and how family offices and their clients can manage and protect themselves against those risks. Don't miss this deeply instructional conversation with two of the leading experts and advisors in the world of art investing.

In this Episode we speak to SPin New York Founder , former Pro Table Tennis Player, Pickleballer, and TED X speaker Wally Green. We Talk about his rise to pro superstardom, team JOOLA, his sports history and other topics. you don't want to miss it. a little more info about Wally , He has played for the U.S. in more than 35 International Pro Tour competitions. Green grew up in a low-income ⁠housing project⁠ in Brooklyn, New York. He became part of a gang and his juvenile ⁠rap sheet⁠ included ⁠carjacking⁠ and gun possession. He was shot twice, says that he grew up with domestic violence, and that he owned six guns when he was 13 years old. He was sent to boarding school in Nigeria for a time, and in New York he went to ⁠Lafayette High School⁠. At Lafayette, he played basketball, football and volleyball, among other sports.Green was involved in the promotion of the 2006 video game ⁠Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis⁠ in Tokyo, and provided ⁠motion capture⁠ for one of the characters.⁠[8]⁠ In 2009, he co-founded the table tennis franchise ⁠SPiN⁠ with, among others, ⁠Susan Sarandon⁠.⁠[9]⁠On his initiative, table tennis tables were installed in ⁠Bryant Park⁠ in New York City, initially as marketing for SPiN.Green stopped competing internationally in 2016. His record in ITTF events is one match won in singles, and two in doubles. In 2018 he said "I'm not the best player in the world, but I'm definitely the coolest. I'm sure of it. That beats being the best." Green stopped competing internationally in 2016. His record in ITTF events is one match won in singles, and two in doubles. In 2018 he said "I'm not the best player in the world, but I'm definitely the coolest. I'm sure of it. That beats being the best." He credits table tennis with saving his life. a Delay in his voice so disregard . Follow Wally:Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/wallygreennyc/?hl=enTik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wallygreennycofficial?lang=en

2:49:06 – Frank in NYC and New Jersey, plus the Other Side. Topics include: Bryant Park, Goethe, polymath, outdoor seating, Eataly Caffè, mystery pencil case, Sarasa Grand Vintage pens, Station Unlimited, Calling All Listeners (12/6/09), Flea Devil, Black Mirror, red balloon, Blue Prince, Person of Interest (2011–2016), PEPs, science, edge of perception, editing of reality, Florida survey, […]

2:49:06 – Frank in NYC and New Jersey, plus the Other Side. Topics include: Bryant Park, Goethe, polymath, outdoor seating, Eataly Caffè, mystery pencil case, Sarasa Grand Vintage pens, Station Unlimited, Calling All Listeners (12/6/09), Flea Devil, Black Mirror, red balloon, Blue Prince, Person of Interest (2011–2016), PEPs, science, edge of perception, editing of reality, Florida survey, […]

Today's guest is Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He spent two years as a police officer in Baltimore. I asked him to come on and talk about his new book, Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop. It's one of my favorite books I've read this year (and it was one of my three book recommendations on Ezra Klein's show last week).Peter spoke with hundreds of police officers and NYC officials to understand and describe exactly how the city's leaders in the early 1990s managed to drive down crime so successfully.We discussed:* How bad did things get in the 1970s?* Why did processing an arrest take so long?* What did Bill Bratton and other key leaders do differently?* How did police get rid of the squeegee men?I've included my reading list at the bottom of this piece. Thanks to Harry Fletcher-Wood for his judicious transcript edits.Subscribe for one new interview a week.Peter, how would you describe yourself?I would say I'm a criminologist: my background is sociology, but I am not in the sociology department. I'm not so big on theory, and sociology has a lot of theory. I was a grad student at Harvard in sociology and worked as a police officer [in Baltimore] and that became my dissertation and first book, Cop in the Hood. I've somewhat banked my career on those 20 months in the police department.Not a lot of sociologists spend a couple of years working a police beat.It's generally frowned upon, both for methodological reasons and issues of bias. But there is also an ideological opposition in a lot of academia to policing. It's seen as going to the dark side and something to be condemned, not understood.Sociologists said crime can't go down unless we fix society first. It's caused by poverty, racism, unemployment, and social and economic factors — they're called the root causes. But they don't seem to have a great impact on crime, as important as they are. When I'm in grad school, murders dropped 30-40% in New York City. At the same time, Mayor Giuliani is slashing social spending, and poverty is increasing. The whole academic field is just wrong. I thought it an interesting field to get into.We're going to talk about your new book, which is called Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop. I had a blast reading it. Tell me about the process of writing it.A lot of this is oral history, basically. But supposedly people don't like buying books that are called oral histories. It is told entirely from the perspective of police officers who were on the job at the time. I would not pretend I talked to everyone, because there were 30,000+ cops around, but I spoke to many cops and to all the major players involved in the 1990s crime drop in New York City.I was born in the ‘90s, and I had no idea about a crazy statistic you cite: 25% of the entire national crime decline was attributable to New York City's crime decline.In one year, yeah. One of the things people say to diminish the role of policing is that the crime drop happened everywhere — and it did end up happening almost everywhere. But I think that is partly because what happened in New York City was a lot of hard work, but it wasn't that complicated. It was very easy to propagate, and people came to New York to find out what was going on. You could see results, literally in a matter of months.It happened first in New York City. Really, it happened first in the subways and that's interesting, because if crime goes down in the subways [which, at the time, fell under the separate New York City Transit Police] and not in the rest of the city, you say, “What is going on in the subways that is unique?” It was the exact same strategies and leadership that later transformed the NYPD [New York Police Department].Set the scene: What was the state of crime and disorder in New York in the ‘70s and into the ‘80s?Long story short, it was bad. Crime in New York was a big problem from the late ‘60s up to the mid ‘90s, and the ‘70s is when the people who became the leaders started their careers. So these were defining moments. The city was almost bankrupt in 1975 and laid off 5,000 cops; 3,000 for a long period of time. That was arguably the nadir. It scarred the police department and the city.Eventually, the city got its finances in order and came to the realization that “we've got a big crime problem too.” That crime problem really came to a head with crack cocaine. Robberies peaked in New York City in 1980. There were above 100,000 robberies in 1981, and those are just reported robberies. A lot of people get robbed and just say, “It's not worth it to report,” or, “I'm going to work,” or, “Cops aren't going to do anything.” The number of robberies and car thefts was amazingly high. The trauma, the impact on the city and on urban space, and people's perception of fear, all comes from that. If you're afraid of crime, it's high up on the hierarchy of needs.To some extent, those lessons have been lost or forgotten. Last year there were 16,600 [robberies], which is a huge increase from a few years ago, but we're still talking an 85% reduction compared to the worst years. It supposedly wasn't possible. What I wanted to get into in Back from the Brink was the actual mechanisms of the crime drop. I did about fifty formal interviews and hundreds of informal interviews building the story. By and large, people were telling the same story.In 1975, the city almost goes bankrupt. It's cutting costs everywhere, and it lays off more than 5,000 cops, about 20% of the force, in one day. There's not a new police academy class until 1979, four years later. Talk to me about where the NYPD was at that time.They were retrenched, and the cops were demoralized because “This is how the city treats us?” The actual process of laying off the cops itself was just brutal: they went to work, and were told once they got to work that they were no longer cops. “Give me your badge, give me your gun."The city also was dealing with crime, disorder, and racial unrest. The police department was worried about corruption, which was a legacy of the Knapp Commission [which investigated NYPD corruption] and [Frank] Serpico [a whistleblowing officer]. It's an old police adage, that if you don't work, you can't get in trouble. That became very much the standard way of doing things. Keep your head low, stay out of trouble, and you'll collect your paycheck and go home.You talk about the blackout in 1977, when much of the city lost power and you have widespread looting and arson. 13,000 off-duty cops get called in during the emergency, and only about 5,000 show up, which is a remarkable sign of the state of morale.The person in my book who's talking about that is Louis Anemone. He showed up because his neighbor and friend and partner was there, and he's got to help him. It was very much an in-the-foxholes experience. I contrast that with the more recent blackout, in which the city went and had a big block party instead. That is reflective of the change that happened in the city.In the mid-80s you get the crack cocaine epidemic. Talk to me about how police respond.From a political perspective, that era coincided with David Dinkins as [New York City's first black] mayor. He was universally disliked, to put it mildly, by white and black police officers alike. He was seen as hands off. He was elected in part to improve racial relations in New York City, to mitigate racial strife, but in Crown Heights and Washington Heights, there were riots, and racial relations got worse. He failed at the level he was supposed to be good at. Crime and quality of life were the major issues in that election.Dinkins's approach to the violence is centered around what they called “community policing.” Will you describe how Dinkins and political leaders in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s thought about policing?This is under Ben Ward, the [NYPD] Commissioner at the time. The mayor appoints the police commissioner — and the buck does stop with the mayor — but the mayor is not actively involved in day-to-day operations. That part does go down to the police department.Community policing was seen as an attempt to improve relations between the police and the community. The real goal was to lessen racial strife and unrest between black (and to a lesser extent Hispanic) communities and the NYPD. Going back to the ‘60s, New York had been rocked by continued unrest in neighborhoods like Central Harlem, East New York, and Bushwick. Community policing was seen as saying that police are partly to blame, and we want to improve relations. Some of it was an attempt to get the community more involved in crime fighting.It's tough. It involves a certain rosy view of the community, but that part of the community isn't causing the problems. It avoids the fact there are people who are actively criming and are willing to hurt people who get in their way. Community policing doesn't really address the active criminal element, that is a small part of any community, including high-crime communities.Arrests increased drastically during this era, more than in the ‘90s with broken windows policing. If the idea is to have fewer arrests, it didn't happen in the ‘80s. Some good came out of it, because it did encourage cops to be a bit more active and cops are incentivized by overtime. Arrests were so incredibly time-consuming, which kind of defeated the purpose of community policing. If you made an arrest in that era, there was a good chance you might spend literally 24 hours processing the arrest.Will you describe what goes into that 24 hours?From my experience policing in Baltimore, I knew arrests were time-consuming and paperwork redundant, but I could process a simple arrest in an hour or two. Even a complicated one that involved juveniles and guns and drugs, we're talking six to eight hours.In the ‘80s, Bob Davin, [in the] Transit Police, would say they'd make an arrest, process at the local precinct, search him in front of a desk officer, print him, and then they would have to get a radio car off patrol to drive you down to central booking at 100 Centre Street [New York City Criminal Court]. Then they would fingerprint him. They didn't have the live scan fingerprints machine, it was all ink. It had to be faxed up to Albany and the FBI to see if it hit on any warrant federally and for positive identification of the person. Sometimes it took 12 hours to have the prints come back and the perp would be remanded until that time. Then you'd have to wait for the prosecutor to get their act together and to review all the paperwork. You couldn't consider bail unless the prints came back either positive or negative and then you would have that initial arraignment and the cop could then go home. There are a lot of moving parts, and they moved at a glacial pace.The system often doesn't work 24/7. A lot of this has changed, but some of it was having to wait until 9 am for people to show up to go to work, because it's not a single system. The courts, the jails, and policing all march to their own drummer, and that created a level of inefficiency.So much of the nitty-gritty of what cops actually do is boring, behind-the-scenes stuff: How do we speed up the paperwork? Can we group prisoners together? Can we do some of this at the police station instead of taking it downtown? Is all of this necessary? Can we cooperate with the various prosecutors? There are five different prosecutors in New York City, one for each borough.There's not a great incentive to streamline this. Cops enjoyed the overtime. That's one of the reasons they would make arrests. So during this time, if a cop makes an arrest for drug dealing, that cop is gone and no cop was there to replace him. If it's a minor arrest, there's a good chance in the long run charges will be dropped anyway. And you're taking cops off the street. In that sense, it's lose-lose. But, you have to think, “What's the alternative?”Bob Davin is a fascinating guy. There's a famous picture from 1981 by Martha Cooper of two cops on a subway train. It's graffitied up and they're in their leather jackets and look like cops from the ‘70s. Martha Cooper graciously gave me permission to use the picture, but she said, "You have to indemnify me because I don't have a release form. I don't know who the cops are." I said, "Martha, I do know who the cop is, because he's in my book and he loves the picture.” Bob Davin is the cop on the right.Davin says that things started to get more efficient. They had hub sites in the late ‘80s or ‘90s, so precincts in the north of Manhattan could bring their prisoners there, and you wouldn't have to take a car out of service to go back to Central Booking and deal with traffic. They started collecting prisoners and bringing them en masse on a small school bus, and that would cut into overtime. Then moving to electronic scan fingerprints drastically saves time waiting for those to come back.These improvements were made, but some of them involve collective bargaining with unions, to limit overtime and arrests that are made for the pure purpose of overtime. You want cops making arrests for the right reason and not simply to make money. But boy, there was a lot of money made in arrests.In 1991, you have the infamous Crown Heights riot in Brooklyn. Racial tensions kick off. It's a nightmare for the mayor, there's this sense that he has lost control. The following year, you have this infamous police protest at City Hall where it becomes clear the relationship between the cops and the mayor has totally evaporated. How does all that play into the mayoral race between Dinkins and Giuliani?It was unintentional, but a lot of the blame for Crown Heights falls on the police department. The part of the story that is better known is that there was a procession for a Hasidic rabbi that was led by a police car. He would go to his wife's grave, and he got a little three-car motorcade. At some point, the police look at this and go "Why are we doing this? We're going to change it." The man who made the deal said ‘I"m retiring in a couple weeks, can we just leave it till then? Because I gave him my word." They're like, "Alright, whatever."This motor car procession is then involved in a car crash, and a young child named Gavin Cato is killed, and another girl is severely injured. The volunteer, Jewish-run ambulance shows up and decides they don't have the equipment: they call for a professional city ambulance. Once that ambulance is on the way, they take the mildly-injured Jewish people to the hospital. The rumor starts that the Jewish ambulance abandoned the black children to die.This isn't the first incident. There's long been strife over property and who the landlord is. But this was the spark that set off riots. A young Jewish man was randomly attacked on the street and was killed.As an aside, he also shouldn't have died, but at the hospital they missed internal bleeding.Meanwhile, the police department has no real leadership at the time. One chief is going to retire, another is on vacation, a third doesn't know what he's doing, and basically everyone is afraid to do anything. So police do nothing. They pull back, and you have three days of very anti-Semitic riots. Crowds chanting "Kill the Jews" and marching on the Lubavitch Hasidic Headquarters. Al Sharpton shows up. The riots are blamed on Dinkins, which is partly fair, but a lot of that's on the NYPD. Finally, the mayor and the police commissioner go to see what's going on and they get attacked. It's the only time in New York City history that there's ever been an emergency call from the police commissioner's car. People are throwing rocks at it.It took three days to realise this, but that's when they say “We have to do something here,” and they gather a group of officers who later become many of Bratton's main chiefs at the time [Bill Bratton was Commissioner of the NYPD from 1994-1996, under Giuliani]: Mike Julian, Louis Anemone, Ray Kelly, and [John] Timoney. They end the unrest in a day. They allow people to march, they get the police department to set rules. It still goes on for a bit, but no one gets hurt after that, and that's it.It was a huge, national story at the time, but a lot of the details were not covered. Reporters were taken from their car and beaten and stripped. The significance was downplayed at the time, especially by the New York Times, I would say.That's followed by the Washington Heights riots, which is a different story. A drug dealer was shot and killed by cops. There were rumors, which were proven to be false, that he was executed and unarmed. Then there were three days of rioting there. It wasn't quite as severe, but 53 cops were hurt, 120 stores were set on fire, and Mayor Dinkins paid for the victim's family to go to the Dominican Republic for the funeral. The police perspective again was, “You're picking the wrong side here.”Then there's the so-called Police Riot at City Hall. Nominally, it was about the CCRB, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and setting up an accountability mechanism to control cops. But really it was just an anti-Dinkins protest. It was drunken and unruly. The cops stormed the steps of City Hall. I have the account of one of the cops who was on the top of those steps looking at this mob of cops storming to him, and he's getting worried he's going to be killed in a crush. There were racist chants from off-duty cops in the crowd. It did not reflect well on police officers. But it showed this hatred of David Dinkins, who was seen as siding with criminals and being anti-police. The irony is that Dinkins is the one who ends up hiring all the cops that Giuliani gets credit for.In the “Safe Streets, Safe City” program?Yes. That was because a white tourist, Brian Watkins, was killed in a subway station protecting his parents who were getting robbed. That led to the famous headline [in the New York Post] of “Dave, do something! Crime-ravaged city cries out for help.” He, with City Council President Peter Vallone, Sr., drafted and pushed through this massive hiring of police officers, “Safe Streets, Safe City.”The hiring wasn't fast-tracked. It might be because Dinkins's people didn't really want more cops. But it was a Dinkins push that got a massive hiring of cops. When the first huge class of police officers graduated, Bill Bratton was there and not David Dinkins.Some interviewees in your book talk about how there's physically not enough room in the police academies at this time, so they have to run classes 24/7. You cycle cohorts in and out of the same classroom, because there are too many new cops for the facilities.You have thousands of cops going through it at once. Everyone describes it as quite a chaotic scene. But it would have been hard to do what the NYPD did without those cops. Ray Kelly, who was police commissioner under Dinkins at the end [from 1992 to 1994] before he became police commissioner for 12 years under Bloomberg [from 2002 to 2013] probably could have done something with those cops too, but he never had the chance, because the mayoral leadership at the time was much more limiting in what they wanted cops to do.Crime starts declining slowly in the first few years of the ‘90s under Dinkins, and then in ‘93 Giuliani wins a squeaker of a mayoral election against Dinkins.One of the major issues was the then-notorious “squeegee men” of New York City. These were guys who would go to cars stopped at bridges and tunnel entrances and would rub a squeegee over the windshield asking for money. It was unpleasant, intimidating, and unwanted, and it was seen as one of those things that were just inevitable. Like graffiti on the subway in the ‘80s. Nothing we can do about it because these poor people don't have jobs or housing or whatever.The irony is that Bratton and Giuliani were happy to take credit for that, and it was an issue in the mayoral campaign, but it was solved under David Dinkins and Ray Kelly and Mike Julian with the help of George Kelling [who, with James Wilson, came up with broken windows theory]. But they never got credit for it. One wonders if, had they done that just a few months earlier, it would have shifted the entire campaign and we'd have a different course of history in New York City.It's a great example of a couple of things that several people in your book talk about. One is that disorder is often caused by a very small set of individuals. There's only like 70 squeegee men, yet everybody sees them, because they're posted up at the main tunnel and bridge entrances to Manhattan. And getting them off the streets solves the problem entirely.Another emphasis in the book is how perceptions of crime are central. You quote Jack Maple, the father of Compstat, as saying, “A murder on the subway counts as a multiple murder up on the street, because everybody feels like that's their subway.” The particular locations of crimes really affect public perception.Absolutely. Perception is reality for a lot of these things, because most people aren't victimized by crime. But when people perceive that no one is in control they feel less safe. It's not that this perception is false, it just might not be directly related to an actual criminal act.The other thing I try to show is that it's not just saying, “We've got to get rid of squeegee men. How do you do it?” They had tried before, but this is why you need smart cops and good leadership, because it's a problem-solving technique, and the way to get rid of graffiti is different to the way you get rid of squeegee men.This book is in opposition to those who just say, “We can't police our way out of this problem.” No, we can. We can't police our way out of every problem. But if you define the problem as, we don't want people at intersections with squeegees, of course we can police our way out of the problem, using legal constitutional tools. You need the political will. And then the hard work starts, because you have to figure out how to actually do it.Will you describe how they tackle the squeegee men problem?Mike Julian was behind it. They hired George Kelling, who's known for broken windows. They said, “These people are here to make money. So to just go there and make a few arrests isn't going to solve the problem.” First of all, he had to figure out what legal authority [to use], and he used Traffic Reg 44 [which prohibits pedestrians from soliciting vehicle occupants]. He talked to Norm Siegel of the NYCLU [New York Civil Liberties Union] about this, who did not want this crackdown to happen. But Norman said, “Okay, this is the law, I can't fight that one. You're doing it legally. It's all in the books.” And So that took away that opposition.But the relentless part of it is key. First they filmed people. Then, when it came to enforcement, they warned people. Then they cited people, and anybody that was left they arrested. They did not have to arrest many people, because the key is they did this every four hours. It was that that changed behavior, because even a simple arrest isn't going to necessarily deter someone if it's a productive way to make money. But being out there every four hours for a couple of weeks or months was enough to get people to do something else. What that something else is, we still don't know, but we solved the squeegee problem.So in 93, Giuliani is elected by something like 50,000 votes overall. Just as an aside, in Prince of the City, Fred Siegel describes something I had no idea about. There's a Puerto Rican Democratic Councilman who flips and supports Giuliani. Mayor Eric Adams, who at the time was the head of a nonprofit for black men in law enforcement, calls him a race traitor for doing that and for being married to a white woman. There was a remarkable level of racial vitriol in that race that I totally missed.10 years ago when I started this, I asked if I could interview then-Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, and he said yes, and the interview kept getting rescheduled, and I said, “Eh, I don't need him.” It's a regret of mine. I should have pursued that, but coulda, woulda, shoulda.Giuliani is elected, and he campaigns very explicitly on a reducing crime and disorder platform. And he hires Bill Bratton. Tell me about Bratton coming on board as NYPD commissioner.Bratton grew up in Boston, was a police officer there, became head of the New York City Transit Police when that was a separate police department. Right before he becomes NYPD Commissioner, he's back in Boston, as the Chief of Police there, and there is a movement among certain people to get Bratton the NYC job. They succeed in that, and Bratton is a very confident man. He very much took a broken windows approach and said, “We are going to focus on crime.” He has a right-hand man by the name of Jack Maple who he knows from the Transit Police. Maple is just a lieutenant in transit, and Bratton makes him the de facto number two man in the police department.Jack Maple passed away in 2001 and I didn't know what I was going to do, because it's hard to interview a man who's no longer alive. Chris Mitchell co-wrote Jack Maple's autobiography called Crime Fighter and he graciously gave me all the micro-cassettes of the original interviews he conducted with Maple around 1998. Everyone has a Jack Maple story. He's probably the most important character in Back from the Brink.Jack Maple comes in, no one really knows who he is, no one respects him because he was just a lieutenant in Transit. He goes around and asks a basic question — this is 1994 — he says, “How many people were shot in New York City in 1993?” And nobody knows. That is the state of crime-fighting in New York City before this era. There might have been 7,000 people shot in New York City in 1990 and we just don't know, even to this day.One citation from your book: in 1993, an average of 16 people were shot every day. Which is just remarkable.And remember, shootings have been declining for two or three years before that! But nobody knew, because they weren't keeping track of shootings, because it's not one of the FBI Uniform Crime Report [which tracks crime data nationally] index crimes. But wouldn't you be curious? It took Jack Maple to be curious, so he made people count, and it was findable, but you had to go through every aggravated assault and see if a gun was involved. You had to go through every murder from the previous year and see if it was a shooting. He did this. So we only have shooting data in New York City going back to 1993. It's just a simple process of caring.The super-short version of Back from the Brink is it was a change in mission statement: “We're going to care about crime.” Because they hadn't before. They cared about corruption, racial unrest, brutality, and scandal. They cared about the clearance rate for robbery a bit. You were supposed to make three arrests for every ten robberies. It didn't matter so much that you were stopping a pattern or arresting the right person, as long as you had three arrests for every ten reported crimes, that was fine.This is a story about people who cared. They're from this city — Bratton wasn't, but most of the rest are. They understood the trauma of violence and the fact that people with families were afraid to go outside, and nobody in the power structure seemed to care. So they made the NYPD care about this. Suddenly, the mid-level police executives, the precinct commanders, had to care. and the meetings weren't about keeping overtime down, instead they were about ”What are you doing to stop this shooting?”Tell listeners a little bit more about Jack Maple, because he's a remarkable character, and folks may not know what a kook he was.I think he was a little less kooky than he liked to present. His public persona was wearing a snazzy cat and spats and dressing like a fictional cartoon detective from his own mind, but he's a working-class guy from Queens who becomes a transit cop.When Bratton takes over, he writes a letter up the chain of command saying this is what we should do. Bratton read it and said, “This guy is smart.” Listening to 80 hours of Jack Maple, everyone correctly says he was a smart guy, but he had a very working-class demeanor and took to the elite lifestyle. He loved hanging out and getting fancy drinks at the Plaza Hotel. He was the idea man of the NYPD. Everyone has a Jack Maple imitation. “You're talking to the Jackster,” he'd say. He had smart people working under him who were supportive of this. But it was very much trying to figure out as they went along, because the city doesn't stop nor does it sleep.He was a bulls***er, but he's the one who came up with the basic outline of the strategy of crime reduction in New York City. He famously wrote it on a napkin at Elaine's, and it said, “First, we need to gather accurate and timely intelligence.” And that was, in essence, CompStat. “Then, we need to deploy our cops to where they need to be.” That was a big thing. He found out that cops weren't working: specialized units weren't working weekends and nights when the actual crime was happening. They had their excuses, but basically they wanted a cushy schedule. He changed that. Then, of course, you have to figure out what you're doing, what the effective tactics are. Then, constant follow up and assessment.You can't give up. You can't say “Problem solved.” A lot of people say it wasn't so much if your plan didn't work, you just needed a Plan B. It was the idea that throwing your hands in the air and saying, “What are you going to do?” that became notoriously unacceptable under Chief Anemone's stern demeanor at CompStat. These were not pleasant meetings. Those are the meetings that both propagated policies that work and held officers accountable. There was some humiliation going on, so CompStat was feared.Lots of folks hear CompStat and think about better tracking of crime locations and incidents. But as you flesh out, the meat on the bones of CompStat was this relentless follow-up. You'd have these weekly meetings early in the morning with all the precinct heads. There were relentless asks from the bosses, “What's going on in your district or in your precinct? Can you explain why this is happening? What are you doing to get these numbers down?” And follow-ups the following week or month. It was constant.CompStat is often thought of as high-tech computer stuff. It wasn't. There was nothing that couldn't have been done with old overhead projectors. It's just that no one had done it before. Billy Gorta says it's a glorified accountability system at a time when nobody knew anything about computers. Everyone now has access to crime maps on a computer. It was about actually gathering accurate, timely data.Bratton was very concerned that these numbers had to be right. It was getting everyone in the same room and saying, “This is what our focus is going to be now.” And getting people to care about crime victims, especially when those crime victims might be unsympathetic because of their demeanor, criminal activity, or a long arrest record. “We're going to care about every shooting, we're going to care about every murder.”Part of it was cracking down on illegal guns. There were hundreds of tactics. The federal prosecutors also played a key role. It was getting this cooperation. Once it started working and Giuliani made it a major part of claiming success as mayor, suddenly everyone wanted to be part of this, and you had other city agencies trying to figure it out. So it was a very positive feedback loop, once it was seen as a success.When Bratton came on the job, he said, “I'm going to bring down crime 15%.” No police commissioner had ever said that before. In the history of policing before 1994, no police commissioner ever promised a double-digit reduction in crime or even talked about it. People said “That's crazy.” It was done, and then year after year. That's the type of confidence that they had. They were surprised it worked as well as it did, but they all had the sense that there's a new captain on this ship, and we're trying new things. It was an age of ideas and experiment.And it was a very short time.That's the other thing that surprised me. Giuliani fired Bratton in the middle of ‘96.It's remarkable. Bratton comes in ‘94, and August 1994 is where you see crime drop off a cliff. You have this massive beginning of the reduction that continues.That inflection point is important for historical knowledge. I don't address alternatives that other people have proposed [to explain the fall in crime] — For example, the reduction in lead [in gasoline, paint, and water pipes] or legalized abortion with Roe v. Wade [proposed by Stephen Dubner].Reasonable people can differ. Back from the Brink focuses on the police part of the equation. Today, almost nobody, except for a few academics, says that police had nothing to do with the crime drop. That August inflection is key, because there is nothing in a lagged time analysis going back 20 years that is going to say that is the magic month where things happened. Yet if you look at what happened in CompStat, that's the month they started getting individual officer data, and noticing that most cops made zero arrests, and said, “Let's get them in the game as well.” And that seemed to be the key; that's when crime fell off the table. The meetings started in April, I believe, but August is really when the massive crime drop began.To your point about the confidence that crime could be driven down double digits year over year, there's a great quote you have from Jack Maple, where he says to a fellow cop, “This is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. As long as we have absolute control, we can absolutely drive this number into the floor.”One detail I enjoyed was that Jack Maple, when he was a transit cop, would camp out under a big refrigerator box with little holes cut out for eyes and sit on the subway platform waiting for crooks.For people who are interested in Jack Maple, it is worth reading his autobiography, Crime Fighter. Mike Daly wrote New York's Finest, which uses the same tapes that I had access to, and he is much more focused on that. He's actually the godfather of Jack Maple's son, who is currently a New York City police officer. But Maple and co were confident, and it turned out they were right.As well as having changes in tactics and approach and accountability across the NYPD, you also have a series of specific location cleanups. You have a specific initiative focused on the Port Authority, which is a cesspool at the time, an initiative in Times Square, the Bryant Park cleanup, and then Giuliani also focuses on organized crime on the Fulton Fish Market, and this open-air market in Harlem.I was struck that there was both this general accountability push in the NYPD through CompStat, and a relentless focus on cleaning up individual places that were hubs of disorder.I'm not certain the crime drop would have happened without reclamation of public spaces and business improvement districts. Bryant Park's a fascinating story because Dan Biederman, who heads the Corporation, said, “People just thought it was like a lost cause, this park can't be saved. The city is in a spiral of decline.” He uses Jane Jacobs' “eyes on the street” theory and then George Kelling and James Q. Wilson's broken windows theory. The park has money — not city money, but from local property owners — and it reopens in 1991 to great acclaim and is still a fabulous place to be. It showed for the first time that public space was worth saving and could be saved. New York City at the time needed that lesson. It's interesting that today, Bryant Park has no permanent police presence and less crime. Back in the ‘80s, Bryant Park had an active police presence and a lot more crime.The first class I ever taught when I started at John Jay College in 2004, I was talking about broken windows. A student in the class named Jeff Marshall, who is in my book, told me about Operation Alternatives at the Port Authority. He had been a Port Authority police officer at the time, and I had not heard of this. People are just unaware of this part of history. It very much has lessons for today, because in policing often there's nothing new under the sun. It's just repackaged, dusted off, and done again. The issue was, how do we make the Port Authority safe for passengers? How do we both help and get rid of people living in the bus terminal? It's a semi-public space, so it makes it difficult. There was a social services element about it, that was Operational Alternatives. A lot of people took advantage of that and got help. But the flip side was, you don't have to take services, but you can't stay here.I interviewed the manager of the bus terminal. He was so proud of what he did. He's a bureaucrat, a high-ranking one, but a port authority manager. He came from the George Washington Bridge, which he loved. And he wonders, what the hell am I going to do with this bus terminal? But the Port Authority cared, because they're a huge organization and that's the only thing with their name on it — They also control JFK Airport and bridges and tunnels and all the airports, but people call the bus terminal Port Authority.They gave him almost unlimited money and power and said, “Fix it please, do what you've got to do,” and he did. It was environmental design, giving police overtime so they'd be part of this, a big part of it was having a social service element so it wasn't just kicking people out with nowhere to go.Some of it was also setting up rules. This also helped Bratton in the subway, because this happened at the same time. The court ruled that you can enforce certain rules in the semi-public spaces. It was not clear until this moment whether it was constitutional or not. To be specific, you have a constitutional right to beg on the street, but you do not have a constitutional right to beg on the subway. That came down to a court decision. Had that not happened, I don't know if in the long run the crime drop would have happened.That court decision comes down to the specific point that it's not a free-speech right on the subway to panhandle, because people can't leave, because you've got them trapped in that space.You can't cross the street to get away from it. But it also recognized that it wasn't pure begging, that there was a gray area between aggressive begging and extortion and robbery.You note that in the early 1990s, one-third of subway commuters said they consciously avoided certain stations because of safety, and two thirds felt coerced to give money by aggressive panhandling.The folks in your book talk a lot about the 80/20 rule applying all over the place. That something like 20% of the people you catch are committing 80% of the crimes.There's a similar dynamic that you talk about on the subways, both in the book and in your commentary over the past couple years about disorder in New York. You say approximately 2,000 people with serious mental illness are at risk for street homelessness, and these people cycle through the cities, streets, subways, jails, and hospitals.What lessons from the ‘90s can be applied today for both helping those people and stopping them being a threat to others?Before the ‘80s and Reagan budget cuts there had been a psychiatric system that could help people. That largely got defunded. [Deinstitutionalization began in New York State earlier, in the 1960s.] We did not solve the problem of mental health or homelessness in the ‘90s, but we solved the problem of behavior. George Kelling [of broken windows theory] emphasized this repeatedly, and people would ignore it. We are not criminalizing homelessness or poverty. We're focusing on behavior that we are trying to change. People who willfully ignore that distinction almost assume that poor people are naturally disorderly or criminal, or that all homeless people are twitching and threatening other people. Even people with mental illness can behave in a public space.Times have changed a bit. I think there are different drugs now that make things arguably a bit worse. I am not a mental health expert, but we do need more involuntary commitment, not just for our sake, but for theirs, people who need help. I pass people daily, often the same person, basically decomposing on a subway stop in the cold. They are offered help by social services, and they say no. They should not be allowed to make that choice because they're literally dying on the street in front of us. Basic humanity demands that we be a little more aggressive in forcing people who are not making rational decisions, because now you have to be an imminent threat to yourself or others. That standard does need to change. But there also need to be mental health beds available for people in this condition.I don't know what the solution is to homelessness or mental health. But I do know the solution to public disorder on the subway and that's, regardless of your mental state or housing status, enforcing legal, constitutional rules, policing behavior. It does not involve locking everybody up. It involves drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. It's amazing how much people will comply with those rules.That presents the idea that someone's in charge, it's not a free-for-all. You get that virtuous loop, which New York had achieved in 2014–2016, when crime was at an all-time low in the city. Then the politicians decided public order wasn't worth preserving anymore. These are political choices.I had a similar version of this conversation with a friend who was shocked that there were zero murders on the subway in 2017 and that that number was stable: you had one or two a year for several years in the mid-2010s.It was five or fewer a year from 1997 to 2019, and often one or two. Then you have zero in 2017. There were [ten in 2022]. It coincides perfectly with an order from [Mayor] de Blasio's office and the homeless czar [Director of Homeless Services Steven] Banks [which] told police to stop enforcing subway rules against loitering. The subways became — once again — a de facto homeless shelter. Getting rule-violating homeless people out of the subway in the late ‘80s was such a difficult and major accomplishment at the time, and to be fair it's not as bad as it was.The alternative was that homeless outreach was supposed to offer people services. When they decline, which 95% of people do, you're to leave them be. I would argue again, I don't think that's a more humane stance to take. But it's not just about them, it's about subway riders.There's one story that I think was relevant for you to tell. You were attacked this fall on a subway platform by a guy threatening to kill you. It turns out he's had a number of run-ins with the criminal justice system. Can you tell us where that guy is now?I believe he's in prison now. The only reason I know who it is is because I said, one day I'm going to see his picture in the New York Post because he's going to hurt somebody. Am I 100 percent certain it's Michael Blount who attacked me? No, but I'm willing to call him out by name because I believe it is. He was out of prison for raping a child, and he slashed his ex-girlfriend and pushed her on the subway tracks. And then was on the lam for a while. I look at him and the shape of his face, his height, age, build, complexion, and I go, that's got to be him.I wasn't hurt, but he gave me a sucker punch trying to knock me out and then chased me a bit threatening to kill me, and I believe he wanted to. It's the only time I ever was confronted by a person who I really believe wanted to kill me, and this includes policing in the Eastern District in Baltimore. It was an attempted misdemeanor assault in the long run. But I knew it wasn't about me. It was him. I assume he's going to stay in prison longer for what he did to his ex-girlfriend. But I never thought it would happen to me. I was lucky the punch didn't connect.Peter Moskos's new book is Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop.My reading listEssays:Johnny Hirschauer's reporting, including “A Failed 'Solution' to 'America's Mental Health Crisis',“ “Return to the Roots,” and “The Last Institutions.” “Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety,” by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson. ​“It's Time to Talk About America's Disorder Problem,” Charles Lehman.Books:Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy.​Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York, and the Genius of American Life, Fred Siegel.​ Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District, Peter Moskos.​Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, Sam Quinones.​Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub

In questo speciale 40° episodio, vi porto in un viaggio nel tempo attraverso quattro decenni di trasformazioni che hanno ridefinito New York.Dagli anni bui dei graffiti in metropolitana e della criminalità dilagante, alla rinascita di Times Square, dalla tragedia dell'11 settembre alla resilienza che ne è seguita, fino ai nuovi quartieri e grattacieli che hanno ridisegnato lo skyline.Scopriremo come una città sull'orlo del collasso sia diventata la metropoli sicura e vibrante che conosciamo oggi. Vi racconterò le storie dei luoghi simbolo di questa trasformazione: dalla High Line con la sua recente espansione del Moynihan Connector ai progetti visionari di Hudson Yards, da un Bryant Park rigenerato a una Brooklyn diventata destinazione globale.Un episodio ricco di aneddoti, curiosità e testimonianze su quattro decenni che hanno visto New York reinventarsi continuamente, mostrando al mondo la sua straordinaria capacità di trasformare le crisi in opportunità di rinascita. Una celebrazione della città che cambia, ma che mantiene sempre intatto il suo spirito unico.

2:26:34 – Frank in New Jersey and NYC, plus the Other Side. Topics include: 22nd anniversary of The Overnightscape, show history, numerology, Penny Farthing, Stoic 2, The Dark Yellow Radio, The Sidetrack, expensive vegan bagel to celebrate, Bryant Park, C D B! by William Steig (1968), quantum random numbers, Wi-Fi light bulbs, Indian lunch, sitting at […]

2:26:34 – Frank in New Jersey and NYC, plus the Other Side. Topics include: 22nd anniversary of The Overnightscape, show history, numerology, Penny Farthing, Stoic 2, The Dark Yellow Radio, The Sidetrack, expensive vegan bagel to celebrate, Bryant Park, C D B! by William Steig (1968), quantum random numbers, Wi-Fi light bulbs, Indian lunch, sitting at […]

All Family Pharmacy https://AllFamilyPharmacy.com/HermanDon't wait to be prepared.  Protect  yourself and your family today.  Use code HERMAN10 to save 10% on your order.  Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bioptimizers https://Bioptimizers.com/toddEnter promo code TODD to get 10% off any order.Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/toddCelebrate St. Patrick's Day with an Irish Bag of coffee and a “Lucky” gift box from BoneFrog Coffee.  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.Bulwark Capital Bulwark Capital Management (bulwarkcapitalmgmt.com)Don't miss the next live Webinar Thursday March 20th at 3:30pm pacific.  Sign up today by calling 866-779-RISK or go to KnowYourRiskRadio.com.Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit Renue.Healthcare/Todd.I think president trump nailed what's going on with Elon Musk and the torching of his Tesla facilities. Thank God Trump labeled them acts of domestic terror.Episode Links:Trump just absolutely stated it perfectly.“Elon Musk has done a great job, but he's paying a price for it. He didn't have to do this. He didn't need this... He actually is a real patriot. This is really not good for him, yet he's doing it."Climate insanity: "A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit..." So let me get this straight: The climate cult is literally paving paradise, destroying nature all to build a highway so people can go to a climate change conferenceNo sign of Seattle Police. Once again, the Mayor is allowing the activist class to block traffic and march through city streets without consequencesMy friend and his family were attacked by some random lunatic while driving his @Tesla @cybertruck by Bryant Park in NYC. Time to add some defensive measures.NEW: A triggered leftist tries to attack @67Kevin1 mid-interview as he was asking questions at an anti-@elonmusk protest in San Francisco. Another protester with a trans flag thrust it in his face, knocking his phone out of his hand.Leftists occupy Tesla dealership in ManhattanValerie Costa, the far-left activist behind the so-called "Tesla Takedown" fueling a spree of vandalism nationwide, proudly admits her campaign draws inspiration from Luigi Mangione.Wow! This guy wants to take out Trump. Right in the open says so. Make him Famous!Claremont Institute Wants Trump to Order Civil Servants to Undergo ‘Deprogramming'

On this NYFW edition of the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi speaks with Pamella Roland, the founder of her namesake brand that's been a NYFW mainstay for over 20 years. Roland's first show was at NYFW in 2002, and since then, she's observed as the week has changed venues and vibes — from the days of everyone showing at Bryant Park to today, when designers are spread out around the city. She shares with Glossy what kind of work and preparation goes into making an effective fashion show happen and how brands can make the most of the week.

NYC-based designer Dennis Basso is approaching 20 years of New York Fashion Week runway shows, which included multiple shows at Bryant Park. He'll again be presenting his latest collection at New York Fashion Week this season, on Tuesday. On the latest New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossy Podcast, Basso discusses his favorite Fashion Week memories and the event's biggest changes he's experienced over the years. He also offers a sneak peek of his plans for presenting his fall 2025 collection. Throughout New York Fashion Week, from February 6-11, check back for more daily podcast episodes featuring influential fashion insiders, from brand CEOs to designers.

Kim and her daughter Amelia went to New York City in December to experience the Big Apple for the holidays. In addition to enjoying the holiday markets, ice skating, and decorations, they went on a quest to find all the of the Taylor Swift related spots in the City. If you have a Swiftie fan, give this episode a listen! Trip Highlights: Kim stayed at the Grayson Hotel near Bryant Park, which has a good location but the rooms are very small and the rooftop bar is pretty loud and crowded They visited from Sunday - Wednesday to avoid the weekend crowds Earlier December is better because the crowds get heavier the closer it gets to Christmas and between Christmas and New Years Ice skating in Bryant Park is much cheaper than skating in Rockefeller Center and if you have your own ice skates, it is free. You need to book your time slot when it opens a week in advance. You get 20 minutes to get your skates and 50 minutes on the ice for your time slot. Kim and Mia used CityPASS New York to see many of the sights. The passes are available digitally and you can book reservations (when needed) from within the CityPASS app. They did Top of the Rock at night and then the Empire State Building during the day. During the holidays, Top of the Rock has a seasonal Christmas pop up bar. There are Christmas Markets at Columbus Circle, Bryant Park, Herald Square, and Union Square to visit. Bryant Park is one of the busiest markets. The storefronts on Fifth Avenue are decorated and Sixth Avenue has a lot of large ornaments and other holiday decorations. They didn't get to visit the lights in the neighborhood of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Taylor Swift Spots in NYC: Housing Works - where Taylor Swift filmed part of the "All too well" video House on Cornelius Street Bus Stop Cafe near Cornelius Street Walk on the Highline Chelsea Hotel See more details in Kim's Instagram post

This is your evening All Local update on December 27, 2024.

Wir nehmen euch heute mit nach Midtown Manhattan. Auf einem Weihnachtsspaziergang reden wir über die Herkunft des Baums vorm Rockefeller Center, sprechen darüber, wie ein Deutscher den berühmtesten Spielwarenladen der Welt gegründet hat und wir stellen uns den Massen vor der Eislauf-Fläche an der Stadtbücherei im Bryant Park – und am Ende gibt es eine Premiere in der Geschichte der Sendung: Burger und Bier!   Aber auf jeden Fall noch das: Wir sagen danke fürs Zuhören in 2024 und blicken mit einigem Respekt auf die kommenden Monate und Jahre in unserer Wahlheimat – schön, dass ihr in diesen turbulenten Zeiten dabei seid.    Allen ein frohes Fest und einen guten Rutsch!

A federal judge has denied Mayor Eric Adams' request to dismiss a bribery charge in his five-count indictment, ruling it's up to a jury to decide if he broke the law. Meanwhile, more than 30,000 CUNY faculty and staff could see raises and bonuses under a new agreement awaiting union approval. Also, Bryant Park's Winter Village is sparking fierce debate online as some New Yorkers call it a “tourist-filled nightmare.” Finally, the city's real estate lobby is suing to block a ruling that shifts broker fee costs onto landlords. WNYC's David Brand has the latest.

Brim and Mr. Greer are back at it again. Apart from all the usual shenanigans, the gang chats about everything pop culture with all the trimmings and they discuss the Labubu craze storming the world, how Brim got his hands of a few, and why he should have gotten more. The crew also discusses this year's tree lighting, holidays in Bryant Park, and why Brim should host a Pimp My Scooter TV Series. The cast chats about the new Wicked film, Armie Hammer's mother buying him a vasectomy and Diddy got denied bail again. They discuss Simpson's voice actor retiring, pros and cons about road tripping co-pilots, and how demure is apparently the word of the year. The crew chats about entertainment news, opinions and other cool stuff and things. Enjoy.Wherever you listen to podcasts & www.thegrindhouseradio.comhttps://linktr.ee/thegrindhouseradioThe Grindhouse RadioFB: @thegrindhouseradioTW: @therealghradioInstagram: @thegrindhouseradio

Expert explains why bird flu has spread rapidly in the state. Also, PG&E is hoping to raise its rates again, and the City of Marysville has reached an agreement with the owners of a major league development team to make Bryant Park its new home.

This is your Mid-day All Local update on November 26, 2024.

Don't say yes to the stress. According to recent research, the biggest stressors of daily American life are finances (52%), current events (37%), health (37%) and relationships (29%). Here are four ways to tell if our bodies are pleading for pause — emotional changes, relationship strains, illness and digestive issues. In the headlines on #TheUpdate this Sunday, three teens were arrested for sexually abusing a fellow junior-varsity football teammate in an apparent hazing incident at James Madison High School in Brooklyn this week. Manhattan's famed luxury store row Fifth Avenue is in line for a major makeover. New York City officials unveiled a plan this week to transform a central portion of the thoroughfare between Bryant Park and Central Park into a more pedestrian-centered boulevard. And in Georgia, authorities said they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven on Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

On this week's forecast, it is November! Scorpio Season! Thanksgiving ! Also it is the last weekend for early voting. Election day is November 5! Donald Trump and Kamala Harris allegedly head to head in votes. Election day is November 5. And Kamala Harris made a stop at Saturday Night Live this week. New York City marathon hits New York City. Closures and delays expected. November is Puerto Rican heritage month. Shout out to all the Boricuas. Mayor Adams reports to court this week. Rapper Young Thug released on probation. Los Angeles Dodgers defeat New York Yankees and World Series. You can take the family or Wife to Winter Village at Bryant Park! Make sure you check out Hudson yards full of restaurants, hotels, and a great night out. Downtown there's plenty of festivals, museums, and shows! If you have any comments, topics or questions, make sure to submit to @MRCAKEAVE Add to your Spotify and Apple podcast playlist! Original music by Mr cake ave Ep 193

This month, a very special guest with a very special mission joins Greg on the podcast from New York City, and we are going to get REAL. Anjalee Seneviratne began having seizures when she was growing up in Sri Lanka, and they discuss how a lack of awareness or education about epilepsy leads to people not doing the first thing to bring this condition into the light… talk about it. She is now living in New York City, and attempting to get a bunch of landmark buildings including the Empire State Building to light up for Purple Day on March 26. She has had some luck with World Trade Center and Bryant Park, but with more awareness there is certainly a way! Finally, they talk about a very serious subject that is often times not talked about openly due to its severity, and that is suicide. Anjalee had an episode this past year, but thankfully survived. She talks about how epilepsy and her medication side effects had an impact, and how people treated her after that event. If you or someone you know is suffering from suicidal thoughts, talk to somebody. Dial 988, or visit 988lifeline.org. The world is so much better with you here.   The Talk About It podcast is sponsored by Seizures Are Signs — dedicated to educating families on the importance of early and specific diagnosis by providing an assessment to help get the conversation started, educational information, stories from families who have found a diagnosis, links to advocacy groups, and more. For more information, go to SeizuresAreSigns.com. Seizures are Signs is made available by Jazz Pharmaceuticals

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and a coalition of business groups have a new plan to redesign a stretch of Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park. Plus, the New York Liberty face the Minnesota Lynx in the Twin Cities for Game 4 of the WNBA championship series. If the Libs win, they'll be crowned champions for the first time in their history. And finally, WNYC's Sean Carlson breaks down this week's transit news with transportation reporters Stephen Nessen, Ramsey Khalifeh and editor Clayton Guse

We're coming to you live from Bryant Park in NYC! This week we recap our trips to The Kelly Clarkson Show so far during season 6. Plus, we discuss some of Kelly's new Christmas music.Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/MissIndepodcastBuy merch from our new merch storeFollow us!Facebook | Twitter/X | InstagramFind more at missindepodcast.com

Explore Central Park - View our Central Park guides here. The High Line + Little Island People Watch at Washington Square Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, etc. Staten Island Ferry - Learn about tourist traps to avoid here. 9/11 Memorial Pools NYC Public Library on 5th Ave Hudson River Park, Bryant Park, etc. Free Events Art Galleries - See Saw App Walk Any of the Bridges: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge Live Show Tapings - 1iota Bonus Idea: Watch your favorite sports team at a supporters bar. View our full list here.

Editor's Note: This interview was recorded on Thursday, Sept 19. On Wednesday, Sept 25, The Jerusalem Post reported Netanyahu has cancelled his trip to New York.Nearly a year into Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, US support for the pariah state has not ceased. Now, as Israel drastically escalates indiscriminate bombing and massacres in neighboring Lebanon, the US is preparing to receive Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City, where he will address the United Nations on September 26. The Shut It Down for Palestine coalition has called for a mass march at 3:00 PM on that day, beginning at Bryant Park in Manhattan and then heading to the UN. Layan Fuleihan, Education Director at The People's Forum, returns to The Real News to discuss Netanyahu's visit, how the movement for Palestine will rise to confront him, and why solidarity with Palestine remains the most pressing political question of our time.Studio Production: Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Alinah NehlichHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Enjoy this week's episode with DJ & Producer LEON BLAQ. Native New Yorker Leon Blaq is no stranger to the club scene.He is not new to the bright lights and late nights, but what is new is his voracious appetite for new sounds, often crossing genres and blurring the lines completely. Internationally traveled, he has appeared behind the decks abroad at such venues as Cancun's Club Sweet, and Loki Lounge in Toronto, jet setting all over North America. He has also rocked dance floors on American soil from New York to Miami. He has done Tiki Boat Parties in Florida and even appeared behind the decks at Club Mekka:Miami, courtesy of Nervous Records, and spun at New York City hallmarks such as Pacha, Cielo,Webster Hall, Crobar and Marquee.In addition he's turned out crowds at various dance music events, such as the NYC dance parade, reverberating his unique sound through Bryant Park. With massive labels stamped on his discography such as Nervous Records, Ggressive Recordings and Kult, he continually puts out track after track of quality grooves. Enjoy this Afro House Journey with LEON BLAQ, including his latest release Set Me Free on Redolent! N/A This show is syndicated & distributed exclusively by Syndicast. If you are a radio station interested in airing the show or would like to distribute your podcast / radio show please register here: https://syndicast.co.uk/distribution/registration

Stan Herman The three-time Coty award-winning designer Stan Herman is truly a pioneering man. Not only was he the President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America for sixteen years, but also the founding president of 7th on Sixth Corporation; the fashion shows in Bryant Park. With KOMAR, Stan has incorporated his ready-to-wear design savvy to become America's foremost designer of robes and loungewear. His comfortable, lifestyle driven products can be found on QVC, QVCUK, QVCItaly. After over 24 years on air he has built a return customer base of over 300,000 people and has sold over $150 million worth of robes alone. Furthermore as the leading uniform designer in the world his uniforms arguably cover more bodies than any other single designer. As a pioneer in the industry, Stan popularized "fashion at a price" with his Mr. Mort label; a label sought by vintage collectors today. When most designers were relegated to backrooms, he served as a spokesman for the creative side of the industry, championing designer names on labels, and watching out for the good of his colleagues. He was on the vanguard of designer boutiques with Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and in-store designer partnerships with Henri Bendel. Mr. Herman popularized the Designer Uniform. His list of corporate clients has included many of the world's leading corporations. FedEx, Jet Blue, United Airlines, TWA, U.S. Airways McDonald's, and Amtrak, Avis, Humana, RCCL, and Securitas along with Las Vegas Hotels including Paris, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Mandalay Bay. He just launched the redesign for the newly re-opened Regency Hotel as well as the rest of the Loews Hotel system. He has redesigned the next look for FedEx and the new JetBlue uniform. Ann Leary is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels, THE FOUNDLING, THE CHILDREN, THE GOOD HOUSE, OUTTAKES FROM A MARRIAGE, and the memoir, AN INNOCENT, A BROAD. She has written for numerous publications including Ploughshares, NPR, Real Simple and the New York Times. Her novel, THE GOOD HOUSE was adapted as a motion picture starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline and will be released in theaters in September, 2022. Her new essay collection, I'VE TRIED BEING NICE (Simon Element/MarysueRucci) will be published on June 4, 2024 Ann and her husband Denis Leary live in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Episode 192 of Pelo Buddy TV, an unofficial Peloton podcast & Peloton news show. This week we cover the following topics: The Peloton Strength+ app has started beta testing. The Peloton app now has a Private Teams groups & challenges featured. Kristin McGee talks about a possible return to Peloton as a guest instructor. Peloton's CEO discusses the possibility of raising hardware & subscription prices. There will be fewer, and less deeply discounted, discounts in the future. Peloton is ending direct sales in Germany. The original Peloton bike was removed from the rental program due to low refurbished inventory. There is a “new” 50/50 bootcamp class format. Becs Gentry has a 2 hour run coming up. A “Music of Marvel” class series is on the schedule. A “Build Your Power Zone” German language program was released. This Week at Peloton There is a Fall Cadent apparel collection. Some “scheduled maintenance” took place Wednesday. Olivia Amato is teasing some new things. Ally Love & other instructors were at the US Open. Hannah Corbin has launched her own apparel. Marcel Dinkins was featured in Runners World. Kirra Michel taught a yoga session at Bryant Park. Susie Chan had an event with Hoka in London. Ben Alldis is promoting his speaking & presenting services. John & Amanda share their, and the community's, class picks of the week Enjoy the show? Become a Pelo Buddy TV Supporter!  Find details here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ You can find links to full articles on each of these topics from the episode page here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/pelo-buddy-tv-episode-192/ The show is also available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeloBuddy This episode is hosted by Chris Lewis (#PeloBuddy), Amanda Segal (#Seglo3), and John Prewtt (#Kenny_Bania).

Historical Fiction Novelists Marjan Kamali, Ann Hood and Iris Mwanza live from Bryant Park Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Notes and Links to Ruben Reyes' Work      For Episode 246, Pete welcomes Ruben Reyes, and the two discuss, among other topics, his childhood love of sci fi and fantasy, his family's diverse language history, formative and transformative books and writers, lessons learned from early writing, and salient themes and issues in his collection like agency, power dynamics, notions of “home,” grief, and various forms of violence, as well as larger narratives about the immigration system, family units, and traumas and silences.      Ruben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants. He completed his MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.    He is a graduate of Harvard College where he studied History and Literature and Latinx Studies. His writing has appeared in Audible Originals, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Florida Review Online, Business Insider, The Acentos Review, Strange Horizons, Poynter, and other publications.    His debut story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, is forthcoming from Mariner Books. Originally from Southern California, he lives in Brooklyn.   Buy There is a Rio Grande in Heaven   Ruben Reyes' Website   At about 1:45, Harvard and secret clubs and “annoying social clubs” are discussed   At about 3:00, Ruben details the “chaotic” and exciting leadup to the August 6 publication date of his collection At about 3:45, Ruben shares “generous feedback” from blurbists and other early readers At about 5:50, Ruben shouts out upcoming book events-Brooklyn with Greenlight and Bryant Park, and Libro Mobile in Santa Ana At about 6:50, Ruben talks about growing up in Diamond Bar and how it's emblematic or not of LA and California At about 8:00, Ruben expands upon his language history and that of his family, and he also talks about growing up on fantasy books and Michael Crichton and other “conceptual sci-fi” works At about 10:35, Pete and Ruben strategize on how to get JK Rowling off Twitter and her “misguided” diatribes At about 12:30, Ruben talks about formative writers and writing from his high school and college days At about 14:15, Ruben discusses early writing and lessons learned from the work At about 16:30, Mad appreciation for Borges and how his work was against the “conventional craft” At about 18:30-Ruben highlights the influence of magical realism and its limits and strengths At about 20:00, The two discuss the evocative epigraphs for the story collection, from Roque Dalton and Ray Bradbury At about 23:35, The two discuss the opening short from the collection and the multiple stories that feature “Alternate Histories”; Ruben highlights Jamel Brinkley's guidance  At about 26:45, Ruben explains why he thinks the story has two starting points, and the two discuss the second story, “He Eats His Own” with its mangoes, ritual, and power dynamics and immigrant sagas At about 29:10, Ruben responds to Pete's questions between the balance and relationships between allegory and plot At about 31:00, Pete wonders if Ruben “stands in judgment of [his] characters” At about 33:50, Pete asks Ruben about the ramifications of the relationship between Steven and Tomás, a Salvadoran immigrant who has experienced a lot of grief; Ruben expands on his interest in “escape valves” for characters At about 36:35, The two discuss “Self-Made Man” and its connection to the complexities of immigration  At about 38:40, Ruben discusses “baselines” and the ways in which he resolved to write “three-dimensional characters” and focused on systems and reasons for traumas  At about 40:30, Agency as a theme in the story is discussed through “Quiero Perrear…” and its dynamic characters At about 42:00, Pete and Ruben delight in the opening line of “Quiero Perrear…” and its connections to Kafka's Metamorphosis At about 44:20, Pete is highly complimentary of “My Abuela, the Puppet,” and Ruben explains the story's genesis and connections to real-life At about 47:20, “Salvadoran Slice of Mars” as a way of showing inadequacies of the immigration system is discussed At about 48:55, The themes of “do-overs” and mourning and grief and the ways in which we view those who have passed are discussed in connection with a particularly meaningful story At about 52:20, Ruben discusses the historical fiction involving El Salvador's 1932 Matanza of a story in the collection that is one of the “alternate histories” At about 53:45, the two discuss the incredible work of Roberto Lovato and ideas of “unforgetting” and silences and trauma At about 55:50, Ruben responds to Pete's question about a story that lays out an alternate history of Selena as Ruben brings up systems and fame and the ways that celebrities are treated after their deaths At about 58:40, Ruben details how immigrants often think of “What if” so often  At about 59:40, “Variations on Your Migrant's Life” is explored, and Ruben talks about its inspirations  At about 1:04:15, Valeria and Oscar Ramirez Martinez (graphic picture discussed is not featured in article) and their story, fictionalized in a gutting final story, is discussed  At about 1:07:15, Ruben shouts out places to buy his book and gives his contact info/social media info      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited about having one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 245 with Shannon Sanders, who is a Black writer, attorney, and author of the linked story collection Company, which was winner of the 2023 LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Additionally, her short fiction was the recipient of a 2020 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.  Please tune in for Episode 247 with Christina Cooke. Her writing has appeared in/is forthcoming from The Caribbean Writer, PRISM International, Prairie Schooner, and Lambda Literary Review, among others. A MacDowell Fellow and Journey Prize winner, her critically-acclaimed Broughtupsy, her debut novel, is out as of January 2024. The episode will go live on August 13. Lastly, please go to https://ceasefiretoday.com/, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.  

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars. This month's exclusive Patreon bonus episode is an interview with Holden Ringer, who recently finished walking more than 4,000 miles across the country from the starting point of LaPush, Washington. Holden is a 26-year-old originally from Dallas, Texas, and he used his odyssey to fundraise for the organization America Walks, as well as to raise awareness about active transportation and meet with fellow-minded advocates along the way. As he says, “Advocacy is built into the activity.” Not long after he reached the Atlantic Ocean in May, we sat in New York's Bryant Park and talked about what he saw and learned during his year-plus odyssey on America's roads, pushing a stroller he named Smiley.

Get up and get informed! Here's all the local news you need to start your day: A new report from the Citizens Committee for Children says most of New York City's infants and toddlers eligible for subsidized child care aren't enrolled in public programs. Meanwhile, the MTA is urging New Yorkers to use the Long Island Railroad's summer packages and enhanced services instead of driving. Plus, Bryant Park's free summer yoga series kicks off Wednesday evening.

Join Lisa Ann on a whirlwind solo adventure as she takes you through her recent secret trip to the Golden State. From the stunning shores of Santa Barbara to the iconic coastline of Malibu, to the Randall Ranch then off to the bustling streets of Los Angeles, Lisa Ann shares the highlights and surprises of her West Coast escapade.  But the journey doesn't stop there. Tune in as Lisa Ann recounts her evening of exclusive interviews for "Back Stage Convos" at Sapphire 39, leading up to her exhilarating hosting gig at the NFL Draft after-party.  Then, brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through 36 hours in the Big Apple, as Lisa Ann teams up with Kiki Klout for an unforgettable adventure. From navigating the streets on Citi Bikes in Central Park to soaking in the atmosphere of Bryant Park, and culminating in a mesmerizing performance of "The Great Gatsby" on Broadway, every moment is packed with excitement. Finally, don't miss out on the chance to have your questions answered as Lisa Ann dives into the Ask Lisa Ann Mailbag, providing insights, advice, and maybe a few surprises along the way.  Get ready to experience the world through Lisa Ann's eyes on this captivating solo episode of "The Lisa Ann Experience." - Follow Lisa Ann: https://thereallisaann.social

From the marmalade to the long table with green lampshades, I've chosen one pleasure after another, and when noon approaches, I have a lunch wagon in mind in Bryant Park, which offers an Italian sausage in a bun. Walking around the park eating a sausage with mustard is my idea of what a real city guy does, a guy with places to go and things to do, so why waste an hour and a half sitting at a table with a tablecloth with three people who are outraged by something in this morning's paper and eager to share their umbrage, which is sound and fury signifying nothing, whereas my heart is beating, I can form words even if I choose not to, and my Grandpa is with me, a stern old Scotsman incapable of saying “I love you” to a child, but he loved marmalade and so do I and that, my dears, is all I can ask for. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garrisonkeillor.substack.com/subscribe

STRAIGHT MEMBERS OF THE COLORADO LEGISLATURE WANT TO IGNORE GAY HISTORY In the push to allow felons who declare they are transgender to legally change their names (thus allowing them to deny their criminal past) Gays Against Groomer's Rich Guggenheim went to testify at the Legislature against the bill. Here is his testimony:My name is Dr. Rich Guggenheim. I am a homosexual resident of Denver. I would like to take a moment of your time to share with you a prominent piece of the gay and lesbian liberation movement from Stonewall.I want to tell you about the history of Malcom Michaels Jr., and Tony Rivera. Both were gay, black men, sex workers, drag queens, and convicted felons. Both were well known in the gay community in the 1960s and 70s. Malcom may be more familiar to you by his drag name, Marsha P. Johnson and is falsely identified today as a transgender woman. Malcom was frequently seen with Tony Rivera, who went by the drag name Sylvia.Both were heavy cocaine users. In fact, the false narrative today is that Marsha threw the first brick, yet Marsha admitted to never even being at Stonewall and instead was with Sylvia, who was passed out from cocaine on a bench in Bryant Park.Marsha and Sylvia are also known for running the STAR house. A home for gay run-away boys as young as 10. STAR house is described as a child prostitution operation and "shelter.” The owner of the building, Michael "Dirty Mike" Umber, a Carlo Gambino soldier, made boy on boy porn. The children were sex trafficked on 42nd Street by Rivera and Michaels for "Matty" Lanniello and his crew. Today we have another former felon, black gay man, sex worker who identifies as transgender, and uses children to perform in sexually provocative shows in adult burlesque clubs in Colorado Springs promoting this bill. The parallels are astonishing! Gay and Lesbian people fought back against allowing people like Malcom and Rivera into the community. They pushed back and worked for decades to destroy the talking points from people like Anita Bryant that homosexuals are child pedophiles. Today, half a century later, we are here in this building, in this room, fighting the exact same fight. HB24-1071, introduced in the legislature, is being presented a group and individual who seek to allow convicted former felons like him to change his name and gender identity.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who has a criminal record.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who does drag.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who works as a sex worker.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who is purported to be a woman.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who works with children in “adult art forms”.Like Malcom and Rivers, rightfully shunned by common sense adults; even in the LGB and T populations for their toxicity to our movement and cause for equality and freedom. Gay men and lesbian women fought against allowing these types of people to be associated with the “community” for a reason. The association of pedophiles and groomers with gays and lesbians was damaging and harmful to our fight for liberation, equality, and freedom. The passing of this bill will result in further homophobic attacks, increased accusations of us being pedophiles, and a continuing decline in the support for LGBTQ rights. I ask for a NO vote on HB24-1071.Apparently his accurate testimony struck a nerve and he was gaveled out, which is the equivalence of being given the hook while testifying. Rich joins me at 1 today to talk about this. Find out more about Gays Against Groomers by clicking here. Follow Rich on Social media by clicking here for Twitter.

Froggy has a heartwarming story from the Jacksonville Humane Society in Florida, Gandhi reminds us to not bottle our emotions, Skeery shouts out those who were there for him over the past few months, Nate blows our minds once more, Danielle has a fun fact about the New York Public Library in Bryant Park, and Sam teaches us about "cheek ups". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, I will talk about Christmas Markets in New York. And with a fun mini-story, you will improve your speaking. If you need to give something special for Christmas, consider buying my Premium courses. Visit: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/courses and get my English programs at an exceptional price. Ok! Let's talk about Christmas markets in New York. What are you planning to do at Christmas? I recommend you fly to NYC because the best Christmas markets are here. New York's holiday markets often include ice skating, twinkling lights, great food vendors, and fun holiday activities. Plus, you can make your Christmas shopping a positive and relaxing experience. Bryant Park's Winter Village You could start by visiting Bryant Park's Winter Village. One of the highlights of this market is the 17,000-square-foot ice skating rink, which is free to use if you bring your skates. FAD Market And after ice skating, you could visit the FAD Market. Each season, the FAD market — for Fashion, Art, and Design - takes over a different Brooklyn venue with many independent vendors and creators. Here, you'll find New York City's emerging brands, designers, and small businesses offering a curated selection of handmade jewelry, clothing, skincare, tableware, and much more. Columbus Circle Holiday Market After all of this activity, you should go to the Columbus Circle Holiday Market, which is one of the most iconic holiday markets. The uptown counterpart to the Union Square Holiday Market offers shoppers a feast for the eyes and the stomach. Get the full text here: speakenglishpodcast.com/281-christmas-markets/

It's December, Jen is in NYC, and we're taking questions from our Discord and Instagram! Listen to us talk about how we read, what makes us DNF, how we met, the books we loved this year (that weren't published this year), and more. We love these episodes, and not only because they happen when we're together on Sarah's couch, but also because we get to talk directly to you!Next week's episode is a surprise deep dive, because y'all are wild about dragons! We're reading Thea Harrison's Dragon Bound, available in print and ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo and your local indie. If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.Show NotesGet our Best Romance of 2023 book box from Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA. We're excited to be partnering with them on this one!You know what we meant when we talked about Bart writing on the chalkboard.If you've never been to New York City at Christmas, we would highly recommend it. This year, the windows at Saks were cosponsored by Dior and celebrated the signs of the zodiac, and it's pretty awesome. But there's also the angels and the Rockefeller center tree, and the Bryant Park holiday market.Jen also went to Back to the Future the musical and ate at the place with two bulls, which was actually called Benny John's.Tillie Cole has bigger problems then Jen not liking any mention of cults in the books she reads.Should you DNF? Yes.If you're looking for a romance writer's conference, check out the Chicago North conference in April of 2024.Some bookish gifts: a Book stand, a bluetooth page turner for your eReader, and get a stand while you're at it.Tracey Livesay made a very funny and very perfect video this week about the rise of Romantasy.