Author Archives: B.P.

New York City MTA’s Select Bus Service – A Decent Idea, Poorly Executed

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SBS Should Stand for Stupid Bus System

It has been several months since the Metropolitan Transit Authority replaced Limited Stop Bus Service on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan with Select Bus Service to speed up trips.

Having used it for most weekdays since its inception in October 2010 I’m ready to offer a judgment – it still needs a lot of improvements.

Now remember, this is the MTA. This is the organization that cannot determine if it has a deficit or a surplus in a year.  They are the organization that has announcements on the subways that say, “Thank you for riding with MTA New York City Transit!” As if we have any choice but to use this bureaucratic monopoly. If they were a business entity they would be out of business or the board members would have all been fired.

So I should not expect the MTA to do much right, but foolishly I believe they will figure out the shortcomings of the SBS system by observation or complaints and make adjustments.

Apparently they will not.

Narrow Aisles

First the buses themselves.  The bus aisles were designed by a groper. The aisles are so narrow that two people cannot pass each other without rubbing into one another.  Either that or Nova Bus, a subsidiary of Volvo, hired Japanese transit designers.  From what I’ve seen of the Japanese transit system they pack them in like sardines and actually have “pushers” to  squeeze everyone into the trains (if someone did this to me I’d freak out.)

The articulated buses can supposedly hold 60 passengers. Providing that they are under 120 pounds each.

Don’t Yell Fire in Here

The buses get so crowded that I have seen people actually Continue reading →

Old New York in Postcards #2 – Old Hotels Of New York City

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A Longer Tour Around Old New York

Today we will look at the old hotels of New York.  In some cases these buildings still stand. For others the names have changed. Some have been converted to apartments or other uses. And some are just a memory.  Working our way from south to north let’s look at a dozen of the lesser known of New York’s hostelry’s.

Hotel Marlton just off of 5th avenue circa 1920. The center of Greenwich Village and now a street of endless cut price shoe stores, 8th Street was once a fashionable residential neighborhood. Many famous literary and artistic figures resided at the Hotel Marlton at one time. Starting in 1987 the Marlton was leased as a residence for students of The New School of Social Research. It is now closed as a hotel and a dormitory, and its future is undecided.  Notice on the side of the hotel there is an advertisement for the hotel proclaiming it “absolutely fireproof.” There was a  good reason for touting this feature. On St. Patrick’s Continue reading →

New York Jewish Cemetery Vandalized

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Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn Had Over 200 Monuments Desecrated and Toppled in December 2010 – Crime Still Unsolved in April 2011

Somehow or other this story did not make much of an impact in the news when it occurred in December 2010. This was done by a group of vicious, uneducated creeps. The words I would like to use to describe the vermin who did this I will not publish here.

The damage probably amounts to hundred of thousands of dollars. It also looks like more than 200 graves were harmed from the video posted below. With all the evidence Continue reading →

The Best Heavy Metal Band That You Never Heard Of

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Wargasm –Thrash Legends To A Handful of Fans

Incredible riffs, great songwriting and a blistering live show. Those are the ingredients that usually add up to music immortality and lots of money and success.

They should be up there with the all-time greats of heavy metal. Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth.  But they are not.

They started out being called Overkill and then Maniac. A name change to Wargasm was probably not for the best.  When I told people Continue reading →

Old New York in Postcards #1 – Around NYC 1900-1915

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A Short Postcard Tour Around New York circa 1900-1915

How much has New York City changed? If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a postcard worth? These are all about 100 years old. Let’s start with these five views. We’ll be doing this feature regularly.


Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street looking North approximately 1915


Broadway looking North from Union Square circa 1910 Continue reading →

Movie Review – Atlas Shrugged: Part I

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Attempting to Turn Ayn Rand’s Love Letter to Capitalism and The Battle of the Individual vs. The Collective into a Three Part Movie

This is probably obvious; if you are a fan of Atlas Shrugged you will want to like the movie Atlas Shrugged: Part I.   If you are unfamiliar with the book or not a fan you will watch and make your decision about the movie on the most important components; story, acting, cinematography, sets, and music.

So does it work?  How can you turn a 1,171 page book into the first part of a serialized one hour and forty minute epic?

The answer is, it is Continue reading →

Talent Personified – The Beach Boys Without Their Instruments

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How The Beach Boys Sounded Without Their Instruments

Brian Wilson photo: audio-eclectic.com

Brian Wilson is a genius. The proof is at the bottom of this post.

Andy Warhol said everyone would have 15 minutes of fame. With hits songs I believe it is more like 15 seconds.

Will anyone ever remember most of the “music” that has been on the pop charts during the last 30 years – 50 or 100 years from now?  I’m asking rhetorically, because the answer is no. I believe most music is transitory and of the time. To be remembered 100 years or 200 years from now, the way Mozart and Beethoven are or The Beatles and Duke Ellington will be, is unlikely for the majority of musical artists.

The Beach Boys Brian Wilson used session musicians to record a lot of the songs on their albums. But the singing was all theirs.

Here are three songs from the album Pet Sounds;

God Only Knows

Sloop John B

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Now here are The Beach Boys performing those three songs sung a cappella.

This is what separates Brian Wilson from 99.9% of rock n’ roll musicians. Brian Wilson’s genius at arrangement and harmonies.

Old Time Crime In New York – Prostitutes And Panel Thieves

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19th Century Prostitution and a Sly Trick of the Trade

Every so often we will look back at the history of New York City.

Secrets of a great cityToday’s entry is from “The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City” by Edward Winslow Martin published by Jones, Brothers & Co. 1868

Edward Winslow Martin was the pseudonym of James Dabney McCabe and he published this book or a slightly altered version of it many times beginning in 1868 under various titles and through different publishers until 1883 when he died.  The illustrated book is a 600 plus page turner of practically every sleazy Continue reading →

Babe Ruth – Lou Gehrig Film Footage – Identified

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An Iowa Family Recognizes Their Family In Recently Discovered Film Footage Of Babe Ruth And Lou Gehrig In 1927.

As this story continues unfolding, the film footage of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that was recently found was recognized by a family member as being their family with the two Yankee greats.  The New York Times reports the family of one of the men seen in the film has identified the little boy shown in the film. He is Phil Donohue and he was 9-years-old when the film was shot. Donohue is now 92, but he remembers that day very clearly. He is also the only person in the film that is still alive.

The Donohue family also had what they thought was the original copy of the film. But R.C. Raycraft who had purchased the film containing Ruth and Gehrig’s meeting with the Donohue family is sure he has the original.

One thing is certain parts of the film footage have been seen before in two HBO documentaries in the 1990’s.  This means one thing- this new old footage, is not so new.