In honor of Chief Kahuna's birthday yesterday I wanted to give you my perspective on having coffee with Fred.

Coffee with Fred is a non stop idea generating, list making cacophony of the wildest ideas for Gotham (I won't mention them here otherwise guess who will be implementing them :) to the finer details and mundane admin stuff that needs to be taken care of.

Since we have coffee and bre... More >>

Today is my birthday and my son and daughter-in-law gave me the perfect present: 2 tickets to see the great American poet (and Grammy Award winner)Lucinda Williams last Friday night at Radio City Music Hall. Do you know Lucinda? Have you heard her sing her music? Have you read her words? If you have, please join Lari Schwartz and me in the Gotham Chapter of her fan club. If not, listen to he... More >>

I knew that the title would get your attention. Actually, I do walk alot. In the good old days, Fred and I used to run in Central Park at lunchtime, but now it’s just walking – usually to get from one place to another.
I enjoyed my conversations with Fred as we ran, but now I prefer to walk alone – I revel in my anonymity among the masses on the streets. But every once in a while the veil ... More >>

Last night I ate too much and drank too much, leading me to think that as much as I don't like to do it, I'd better get some exercise today. It is clear to me that some people were born athletic and, because people enjoy spending time doing things they are good at, they love to exercise. Some, like me, were born with a book in their hands and don’t really like to work up a sweat. They exercis... More >>

Our internet was down this afternoon. It was a crisis. For a while there, staff wandered aimlessly in the hallways wondering what to do next. Luckily, we quickly discovered that our email was not impacted by whatever goblins were mucking up the web and so, with a loud group sigh of relief, the wandering passed and we were all able to go back to work with clear minds.

Today’s problem made... More >>

“Hello Mr. Smith, this is my son John. John, say hello to Mr. Smith.”
“Hi Mr. Smith,” says six year-old John.
Mr. Smith says to John, “Oh no, don’t be silly, call me Joe.”
John’s mom says, “Thank you Mr. Smith, but if it’s all the same to you, I would prefer it if John calls you Mr. Smith.”
“Oh, uh, well, I really don’t mind it if your son calls me Joe,” says Joe... More >>

The news the other day about Elizabeth and John Edwards was saddening, and also empowering. Somehow I think if that news touched my life, I would crawl under a table and dissappear. They are fighters in the face of adversity; that is to be admired.

I have had my share, I suppose. We all do, sooner or later. My 30 year old brother-in-law died in a plane crash on Valentine's Day in 1986, leavin... More >>

Last week I proposed a marketing plan for a manufacturer who sorely needs one. After I explained my process he tried to convince me to reduce my price because he only wanted to know what he should do. Not all that other research stuff.

That's like building a car without knowing what shape you want or what engine you need. It's like trying a case without interviewing the defendant. It's like ins... More >>

My first "Nobody Asked Me, But" blog was a negative rant. What follows is the flip side, written while mellow on vacation in Key West. There are also things which make me happy: such as when my grandson pointed to the "Klein" printed on the back of his hockey uniform and said "I'm carrying your name", when my granddaughter allows me to hug her or climbs on my shoulders, anything about my new Gran... More >>

A few days ago after my workout at the gym I noticed a chocolate wafer bar and individual-size box of chocolate milk on the locker room bench. As I was changing, a man sat down on the bench next to the treats and began to unwrap them. As he did so, he read the nutritional labels on the packages.

" I burned 280 calories on the treadmill…let's see…the wafer bar is 180 calories and the ch... More >>

The Communist Party of the USA has announced the donation of its archives of original documents to the NYU library. This has me thinking about the stuff I have saved and whether I should be willing it to a university or museum.

For future reference, my archives could be broken down by category and chronology. From the elementary school years I have my prized green leather, zippered autograp... More >>

A few weeks ago, after spending multiple consecutive Saturdays watching 11year old girls play basketball, I wrote about girls sports and the lessons learned. As you all learned from my blog, my daughter loves sports and the winter love is basketball.

Last night, after the hard work of a long season, her team played in the League Championship game. The excitement in the gym was palpable, not t... More >>

A year ago I wrote a short opinion piece on vanity license plates that was picked up by Newsday. My opinion was that personalized plates are ubiquitous, usually entertaining, funny, and occasionally, obnoxious. I was obsessed with reading and deciphering the sometimes cryptic language.

Over the past year, however, I have noticed an increasing number of bolder and angrier messages adorning the... More >>

My original plan was to write about the Levon Helm concert at the Beacon theatre this weekend. Then Saturday morning I woke up, and tredged through the snow to do some errands, warm in my winter coat and boots. It was cold and the snow from Friday was piled high. Walking through it was fun.

At the corner was a homeless man dressed in rags. He wore an old ratty and unlaced pair of dirty snea... More >>

My son scheduled his road test yesterday which reminded me of my daughter's. We had traveled to Garden City and waited in line like so many other parents and children. My daughter, a bright beautiful girl, was a bit nervous and scared. I knew she would do well, she needed to know. We talked about everything but what was going to happen in an attempt to lower her tension. Then when we were next in ... More >>

We all know that Mitch Tobol is our crack Gotham Webmaster (also for our law firm), but did you know that he and I meet weekends for coffee to brainstorm as to ways to improve the Gotham experience (personal, virtual or otherwise)?

It is like a creative game of tennis as we volley ideas back and forth (and sometimes "off the wall"). It is very fruitful (creatively stimulating and satisfying). ... More >>

Side One: I sometimes take the 7:57 am LIRR train from Hicksville to Hunterspoint Avenue. If I could, I would take that train every day -- if only for the conductor. I don't know his name. He's a friendly, always-on-the-up person who clearly loves what he does. He's a throw-back to the train conductors of days-gone-by. Always smiling. You get the sense that when he asks for your ticket he ... More >>

My original plan for this week was to complain about the misery of airplane travel or the glorification of bad news by the media. Both things bother me a lot, but, in the interest of fair play, after reading Fred's and Nancy's blogs, I’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate fifteen things that make me happy. Feel free to add to the list. or to complain about what I wrote. I like:

1-... More >>

Recently I saw a news story about a town that had given up complaining. That’s right – not a complaint, not a whine, not even a whimper permitted by any participant for three weeks. Each wore a plastic wristband to remind them of the commitment. When a breach of the covenant ensued, which it invariably did, the band moved to the other hand – with the three week count starting all over ag... More >>

My father is 69 years old. He grew up in Brooklyn, the baby of the family with two sisters and one brother, all of whom are at least 10 years older than him. His parents were Italian immigrants: his mother a seamstress who spoke broken English her entire life, his father an ice delivery man who died at 42 when my father was 4 years-old.

He started smoking with some neighborhood punk kids at a... More >>

When we last left our heroine, she was looking to merge onto the dating highway without causing too much disruption to life in the front seat. Meeting people you’ve never met with the idea of “getting to know each other” is a terrifying prospect.

Anyway, been on three dates, liked all three guys, but all three share lives of particular complication. One is caring for an elderly father wit... More >>

I enjoy almost everybody I meet and rarely encounter people that rub me the wrong way.

My friend was and is having difficulty with an individual. I found it fascinating that he continues to have problems. He needs to interact with this person on a daily basis so I gently recommended he change his behavior.

This reminded me of a college class I took with a teacher I didn't care for. She was ... More >>

Things that really bother (piss me off in street parlence) me are bicycles riding on the sidewalk (emphasis on "walk"), jerks who stand in subway doors when they open, other jackasses who rush into the subway car before I can exit, takers (another whole story for a whole blog), people who constantly send things back at restaurants, people who call me and ask for info readily available on our web s... More >>

First of all, I want to thank all of you for the heartfelt comments to my last week's blog about my random meeting with a friend of my father.


I have to admit that I got caught up in the Mega Millions madness that surrounded Tuesday night's drawing…I participated in the office pool. Almost everyone in the office contributed $5.00 and thereby dramatically increased their ... More >>

I like to search for treasures at Salvation Army. Not only does the money go for a good cause, but there is an element of uncertainty and surprise when you find just what you need at the time. Over the past five years or so, my one dollar purchases have included: one painted Haitian school bus pencil holder, one blue jewelry box with butterflies on the lid, one Hulk action figure, a crawlin... More >>

Every day since October 1988, I have traveled to and from the same subway station, enter and exit the train in the same spot and often travel with familiar faces. Every day since October 1988, in a classically New York experience, one familiar face on the platform is a middle aged homeless man who articulately and passionately espouses the most outrageous commentary on life and being.

His ra... More >>

Inspiration. I never know when it is going to rear its beautiful head. And sometimes, I cannot figure out why. In any case, I was inspired by the following circumstances.

Every Friday, a bunch of moms who are nursery school friends and acquaintances, many of them Bunco girls, gather for breakfast to gab and eat at IHOP in Manhasset.

There can be anywhere from 3 to 12 of us in attendance... More >>

Ever since I was a kid I loved riding a bike. In 1971, when I was in high school my parents bought me my first real bike, a ten speed white Peugot. It was my treasure and my friend. On that bike I would soar above all the ups and downs of my high school years. When I was 16, I took it on a nine week trip through five countries in Europe.

The following Fall I would ride to school every mor... More >>

In college I took a test to see what careers match my personality. There were three matches. The first one was racecar driver. The administrator of the test smiled and said that's probably because you haven't matured.

Well...guess I'm not there yet. I love to drive fast. It's not only a thrill but it just feels good. I don't get much of a chance around here to feel the g force push me back into... More >>

In my December 29, 2006 blog I said my New Year's resolution was twofold: "to ween myself from my Blackberry and not be so competitive". We'll leave competition for another day, but my first resolution was rediculous and so counter productive and so not me. So let me admit it: I'm addicted "(positive addiction" is a good thing according to the literature) to my Blackberry ("BB"). So much so that ... More >>

On Tuesday morning, I was walking along 34th Street (my usual walk from Penn Station to the office) and noticed an elderly gentleman walking ahead. As I passed him, I realized that he was an old friend of my father who I haven't seen since my father's funeral and shiva more than eight years ago. I slowed down and glanced back at him, making sure he was who I thought and giving enough time to see i... More >>