All you need to know about Manhattan culture and so much more...
Take a moment. Step back and think. How does a city the size of New York City function? Only through the hard work of those that fix the streets, collect the trash, clean the streets, work on the tugboats and barges on the river. Through the dedication of those that work the midnight shift so that when we wake up in the morning our city is all the more perfect. Without out any filters or fancy photography tricks this is the first of many journals I plan to post in their honor.
When the words “free” and “pretzel” are uttered in the same sentence, many a people like me tend to get excited and hungry at the same time! Well fear no more, because on April 26th that fantasy will turn into a reality! The beloved Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, which have been uber popular for several years across the country, will be offering one free Honey Whole Grain Pretzel at several of its Manhattan locations. I have actually tried this particular pretzel in the past, and it has a great taste to it with less calories and less of a guilt factor when having it! [Read more…] about Free Pretzel Day at Auntie Anne’s on April 26th!!!
I love the variety of neighborhoods in New York City. Walk a few blocks and you can go from Little Italy to Chinatown. From Koreatown to the Garment District. In the upcoming weeks I will be spotlighting in photographs the mosaic of communities that make up New York. They will not be advertisements or real estate agent walking tours. Rather they will be what the communities look like from the street level. As if you took a stroll and simply looked around. The point is to draw the flavor out from what that neighborhood has to offer from the average point of view in every day life.
The first in this series is Sutton Place. A very small neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan. Sutton Place and Sutton Place South run from 53rd Street to 59th Street. It’s as far east as you can go on the island of Manhattan at that point. The numerous cul de sac parks offer sweeping views of the East River and Roosevelt Island, as well as the Queensboro Bridge.
Sutton Place is considered one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of New York City. The wealth is evident from the attentive doormen of the high rise apartments and the clothes of the women walking around on a sunny day.
It is a beautiful yet exclusive part of the city that certainly adds to the character of all New York.
As the sun goes down over New York you can feel a change coming over the city. It’s not that the city awakens because as we all know, it never truly sleeps. It’s more like a mood change. If you put a soundtrack to it, it wouldn’t be a full symphony orchestra or an operatic aria. It would a lone whining saxophone filling the gray night air (think an abstraction from The Love Supreme); much different than the frantic piano piece of the hectic work day. (think Flight of the Bumble Bee) It’s the sound of the endless possibility of victory, defeat, or both. When the night falls over New York City anything can happen and usually does.
New York City itself is known for being a prime area for some of the best events in the world. That rings true especially for events geared towards the gay community. The Black Party weekend is one of those annual events that bring men from around the world for a weekend of excitement, dancing, interesting wardrobe choices and above all a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the world.
Hosted at the legendary Roseland Ballroom, the Black Party Weekend starts on Friday night and doesn’t end until around Sunday afternoon. If you are into something that is a little outside of the norm, this is the event for you. Leather and gear enthusiasts are rampant at all of the events, as well as some of the most known names in the gay adult industry.
It starts out on Friday night around 7PM with the Black Party Expo. This gets the weekend going, with several different vendors promoting their fascinating lines. Whether it is a gay app that is hot right now (Recon, Mister), the best M4M night in the world (Adonis), or some of the biggest gay adult websites online right now (Cocky Boys, Lucas Entertainment) there was something for everyone there. It was set up with a fantastic light display that encompassed the look of a Ferris Wheel. It was something that I could definitely tell was going to be in heavy use for the party itself.
That same night was where The Hookie awards took place. This event was designed for rentboy.com, a site devoted to the personal enjoyment of a fellow gentleman. Hosted by Rupaul’s Drag Race season 4 winner Sharon Needles and comedian Cole Escada, the awards were presented in full to some well known names in the adult industry (Austin Wolff, Trenton Ducati, Rafael Alencar) and some of the biggest members on Rentboy. Some of the presenters included well known journalists like Paper Magazine Editor-In-Chief Mr. Mickey and Village Voice writer Michael Musto. The awards itself had some really great names to them (Best Top, Best Boyfriend Fantasy, etc) and above all everyone seemed to have a great time. Sharon and Cole did an amazing job themselves, and as a personal fan of Sharon’s it was great to see her perform live and prove why she won season 4.
The next days events were similar to Friday nights. There was an extended version of the expo that lasted from 12-7pm, so if you weren’t able to make it there Friday you had all day to see what the vendors were selling and get to meet and greet some of your favorite stars. Saturday night is what everyone was there for- The Black Party. I had a ton of friends who went, and said they had a great time. Some really unique performances took place but above all the music kept everyone going through the night into Sunday morning.
If you ever get a chance to have a once in a lifetime experience and you are local or visiting the New York City area, stop by next year’s Black Party weekend. It is one that you don’t want to miss!
William Shakespeare once wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…” If the world is truly a stage then the people of New York City are at the very center of it. The human story that unfolds here daily is so rife with drama that it fairly swallows you up as soon as you leave your front door to wade into it. As shown here, just by going a few blocks in any direction you can encounter: creativity, romance, sadness, ingenuity, desperation, heroism, despair, and solemn determination. Each New Yorker contributing an equal amount to City’s story. Walt Whitman summed it up best by saying, “The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.”
The Subway. It’s not the Underground. It’s not the Metro. And it’s not just any ordinary train ride in New York City. It can be stinky, crowded, noisy, sweltering hot or all of the above at any one time. Ask any New Yorker and you will probably get just as many that hate it, as love it. Since its inception in 1869, its hundreds of miles of tracks have stretched under the city like a web of veins carrying the people, who are the life blood of New York.
Beyond grateful to the “Modern Bear” folks who posted my first article and got quite a healthy discussion about the bear community out there. I am very happy with the responses that it got, both negative and positive, because to me this has been a forum that I have wanted to open for a long time and now it has. So thank you to everyone in your comments and critiques (except the one who called me a Kindergartener. 26 with two college degrees here and started my own site with no one else’s help. Yup.)
I don’t really think people understood what I was trying to convey in the first article so let me change up a couple of things that I wrote in the first place. One- I have a great appreciation for all types in the gay community. The “muscle bear” comment was mainly an observation of a great amount of guys I see in the New York City area. They aren’t all like that, but a good portion that I see are. I was told that I should try communities outside of the NYC playing field that aren’t on such a larger scale, and in that response I have. I lived in Providence for five years and that has taught me that communities in smaller towns tend to be less jaded and more outgoing and friendly. You can take what you want from what I just said there, but please note that this is just from my viewpoint. We all have different ones.
The other factor here is the origins of the bear community. I have done my researched and watched documentaries on them as well. That is how I gathered information to write the article that I did. I think the bottom line is people are so hell bent on figuring out what their label is that they forget who they are in the process. It is like that scene in “Mean Girls” where the lunch room table is mapped out as to who sits where. It is very similar in the gay community. We should all just be ourselves and get along with each other so these raging hypocrisies and stereotypes can settle down a little bit.
I am more than welcomed to one or two people writing a rebuttal on this. Once again thanks to everyone that let their voices be heard and spoke their minds on this.
A ‘bit too much’ jewelry styled outfit is a love of HonestFrugalChaos… called the Gaudy Grandma style. If done right (by avoiding the ‘I’m wearing all the jewelry I own’ look) it can actually be a very fabulous look. Think of it as if your Grandma raided your closet but still piled on the clip-ons and pins for the early bird special! It flirts with ‘over the top’ which is why I love it!
[Read more…] about Give The Gaudy Grandma A Whirl: A HonestFrugalChaos Style
I always keep my compact camera in my pocket every where I go. It’s so convenient to take out and snap pictures when the moment is right. It’s quicker to point and shoot and less clumsy on a crowded sidewalk than my iPhone or Nikon D90.
Recently, I took a walk down 5th. The setting sun was dead in my eyes as I walked down town from my apartment on 55th to the Library. I had my compact and was snapping as much as I could on the way.
