Radio Interview

My October 31st radio interview is available online. Thanks to Bob for recording it. You can listen to it here. To save the file, right click on the link and select "save as." The file is 17MB large. It's 35 minutes long.

Transit Strike 2005

Last day of the transit strike. It doesn’t really affect me too much, since I bike everywhere. But it’s kind of a pain when, say, you have to get your wife to the hospital. There wasn’t really any problem in Manhattan. There were plenty of cabs. But getting to and from the City was close to impossible, at least during the day, except by foot and bike.

There’s a kind of street-festival atmosphere crossing the bridges. I got to ride on the other (South) side of the Queensboro Bridge. A nice new view and there’s no ugly fence there (and they’ve just put up a nasty chain-link fence on the bike-path side for no good reason other than to ruin the view). It’s just annoying that pedestrians have no respect at all for the bike lane.


Bikes need so little space. And since we will get by, it would be better for everyone involved if people could say, just stay off two feet of the bike path.

Disaster relief.



Giving out hot chocolate.



It was nice of them to cone-off a bike lane coming off the Queensboro Bridge. This is one of the annoying parts of my normal bike ride home, because you’re forced to go against traffic for a short block. Even though the street is lightly traveled and there is plenty of room to say, cone-off a lane for bike.






Even more annoying there is a permanently closed lane they could use as a bike lane. Instead they block it off with Jersey Barriers (on the other side), keeping bikes out of a never-used lane and into oncoming traffic.



And then, quicker than I can say “Union” and you can say “Power,” they removed the cones so that the lane could revert to it’s normal function: space for illegally parked cars.



There are so many things the city could do to making biking better. Things that would cost nothing and have no downside. But they don’t. It’s very frustrating. The entrances around bridges are key, because every biker from an outer-borough has to use them.

The basic problem is the crappy Department of Transportation has the wrong prime directive: maximize number of cars on the road. Rather than say, trying to reduce the number of cars on the road. The fact that they still allow cars on the roads in the major parks, and it took them over a year to remove dangerous bumps on the Williamsburg Bridge bike path, doesn’t give me much hope or enthusiasm to fight City Hall.

It also doesn’t help that the good people at Transportation Alternatives are much more focused on Brooklyn to Manhattan access (I suppose because a lot of them live there). Don’t get me wrong, most things are getting better for bikes in New York City. It’s just a glacier’s pace. And there’s so much that could be done so easily.

But I took the South side, because it’s normally a (crazy) traffic lane. A new view.



South side path.



Sun over UN.



Roosevelt Island and Queens.



They also opened 5th Ave. to traffic today. Yesterday bikes and pedestrians had the whole street to ourselves. It was great. The right lane was for emergency vehicles.


Some cops shooed you off to battle with cars. Other didn’t care. There were no emergency vehicles. And if there were, I would have gotten out of the way. Bikes, unlike cars, can pull over and out of the way. It is not, or should not be: “same road, same rules.” Different vehicles, different rules. Rules that make sense for large and deadly multi-ton motorized vehicles, really don’t always make sense and shouldn’t be applied to bikes and pedestrians.

There was a long line for the just starting Q60 bus. A very long block-and-a-half line that went around the corner.






Some may wonder why Queens buses end at 2nd Avenue—where there are no transportation connection—when 3rd Avenue is so close, and there is a Lexington Avenue subway entrance there. Well, gentle reader, 50 years ago the Steinway Street Car ended here, at the 2nd Avenue Elevated. Never mind that neither exists anymore. The bus the replaced the streetcar still dumps people off where there used to be a El Train. And in 50 years, nobody has thought to reroute the bus to somewhere logical and convenient. It amazing how many buses still follow the routes of long-dead streetcars. Even when it no longer makes any sense. But you can’t fight City Hall.

How’s Zora?

You won’t find out here anymore. I’ve moved all Zora related posts to a new location. Then I can reclaim my blog for the much lesser imporant issues of dinner parties, trains, and lamb roasts. All future information about Zora's health will be at: http://howszora.blogspot.com/. Please make a note of it.

Gifts from the Orient

Katie came back from Dubai. She was there for the second time for a film festival. She came bearing gifts, including my sexy arab gown, coffee (instant, for frappes), and chocolate. The fez I just happen to have laying around.

Chinatown to Jamaica

Chambers Street. Man, this station is old school. Like “Warriors” style. Abandoned platforms. Bad lighting everywhere. And give everywhere. I think they should keep this station as a museum piece of the bad old 1980s. Sorry the pictures are so blurry, but it was very dark.

Old school. And not in a good way.

Then you come above ground and cross over the Williamsburg Bridge. It’s a beautiful view. Then you past Peter Lugers and the last exit to Williamsburg. Next thing you now, it’s bars, fried chicken, liquor stores, and nail salons. Ah, the ghetto.

Graffiti and abandoned buildings don't seem very New York to my sheltered Astoria life.



Approaching station.

Housing.

Chicago either was two or four tracks. But nevertheless, this shot reminds me of Chicago.

East New York (or thereabouts).

Approaching Broadway Junction.

Three lines cross here.

Sign for the future L train.

Ghost track to heaven.

Station under construction.

Houses off to the side.

More houses.

London Squire.

Woodhaven.

Houses.

On the J line.

Finally underground in Jamaica.



Earlier, on another day, I biked out to Woodside/Jackson Heights to get Asian goods. I love that area.

I needed some black pepper.


This is the warning on the back.


Do not eat as snack? Uh, OK. Rinse for 5 minutes and boil for 30? I just wanted some for my salad. I guess I can wait 35 minutes. Boiled pepper corn? Maybe that is a snack food.

Is there another toxic spill in China I should be aware of. I think I’m going to be a rebel and pop them like Altoids.

There was also some baking-soda looking powder that was meant to be taken for "heatiness." It came in regular, orange, and lemon. Made by Glaxo-Smith-Kline for the Hong Kong market.

Another roasted lamb

There’s not much new to this story. We’ve pretty much got it down to a science. This was our fourth time. And the teamwork is tight. We couldn’t do it without Tamara (and her place). And I couldn’t do it without Karl. He’s top-notch in tying down the lamb to the souvla in the beginning, and carving it up in the end. In fact, I’m not quite sure why I’m needed. Perhaps to yell every now and then at whoever is slacking on the lamb turning to, “keep turning!”

The tying down the lamb system (I was paying more attention this time, but don’t have pictures—your hands are kind of greasy at this point) involves jamming the first piece of meat onto the impaling fork at the handle end of the soulva. Then the next piece is skewered and tied to the first piece. Each addition piece is tied to the previous piece. This forms a tight little chain with the first piece as anchor. It works.

So along with the notes from the previous lamb roast, here are the 10 quick and easy steps to another successful lamb roast:

1) Buy lamb. This baby was 70lbs at $3.50/lb. Our biggest yet. The head and innards were thrown in for free, on request.

2) Buy vegetables.



3) Carry vegetables and lamb on bike. The butcher, an older man whose parents are also from Northern Epirus, assured me that though he had sold many lambs, he had never had one carried away on a bike. That’s 70 pounds in 4 bags. Seems like a lot when you’re buying a lamb. Doesn’t look like that much in the picture. It’s not that hard to carry on a bike. One bag in each basket. One on top. One in my messenger back. Vegetables in hand. But then I’ve never carried anything on my bike that I thought was difficult to carry.




4) Fire up grill and 5) Grill vegetables.



6) Skewer lamb.



7) Season lamb.



8) Turn lamb. 160 degrees internal temperature is a nice rare to medium rare.



9) Carve lamb.



10) Eat lamb.



And potatoes!



This lamb roast was special because some of my students were there. I invited my foreign students. In fact, the lamb roast was in their honor. I have 10 this semester. About half came.







There was also an exciting infrastructure improvement. I bought a new light so we could see the damn grill at night (see background). It helped.


Now just because we have it down to a science doesn’t mean it wasn’t wonderful, as always. The lamb was great. Especially the chops. There were many happy eaters. And there was a lot of very good food. Imagine that.