There has been a huge controversy going on in my town of Oceanside for approximately three years. It began when Costco filed permits to build one of their warehouses in Oceanside. Immediately those opposed to the project began letting their voices loudly be heard, at Town of Hempstead and local meetings. Their objections were varied from traffic co …
A signature issue involves keeping our free East River and Harlem River bridges toll-free. Today, as senior advisor to Keep NYC (Congestion Tax) Free, I join elected officials and community leader at a news conference near the entrance to the Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge to remind policymakers it still makes sense to keep the status quo with re …
Is Terminator that far behind? A Japanese company has introduced a new application for their humanoid robot acting as a Buddhist priest for hire at funerals. They put the robot on display at a funeral industry trade show in Tokyo chanting sutras in a computerized voice while tapping a drum. The funeral robot could step in when a prie …
I was a Newsday carrier (on my bike) when I was a boy and have been a subscriber all my adult life. I read it every morning. I admit it's greatest draw is its Sports Section (former Sports Editor Stan Isaacs was a valued running mate and friend). With this as background, I was going through my credit card charges last Saturday when I noticed my …
I was going to blog about our star -- the Sun -- and the eclipse. Where was I, where were you? But there was another "star" on Monday worth noting. At a concert at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, Billy Joel wore a yellow Star of David (actually, he wore two -- one in front and one on his back) reminiscent of the Stars of David that Jew …
On this day in 1991, the World Wide Web was opened to the public. 1991. 26 years. No iPhones, Netflix, Amazon. No email, Macbooks, DVDs (which are now basically obsolete). No GOOGLE. No FACEBOOK. No TWITTER. No INSTAGRAM. We have come a long way (baby). Like all big changes it has its "flaws," but its a tool to be used consciously. Though I hav …
One day last week I was working my way towards the E train at Penn Station. It had been tough morning. I was running late and everything had fought with me. I walked out of my house without my keys -- which made me miss my train -- the train I did catch was running late and crowded. We all know that kind of morning. It doesn’t usually bode well f …
I agree with what Ben wrote last Thursday. A solar eclipse certainly makes you think about the universe and our place in it. But, even with a solar eclipse occurring, we still have to continue with our day to day life. I have three matters on in Family Court this morning and a settlement conference scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at my office. I spoke to …
The week past I ran two different group outings on successive days to Citifield. Both teams on the field represented New York. The first eve, we also raised some money for a Foundation I served as President for a two-year stint. The second eve, for this networking group, I connected some folks who might benefit from the introduction. I en …
I had to dig deep this week...finding a unique and funny story from around the world. This one I just shook my head. Asda, one of the UKs largest supermarket chains (and is part of the Walmart group), is selling green grapes that it says taste like 'candy floss'. The supermarket has been experimenting in recent years with varieties of fruit known …
After winning the first 3 games of the 4 game "Subway Series" against the cross town Mets at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field Wednesday night, the rubber game was last night on the Mets home field. Gotham was represented by 200 members, family and friends due to the stalwart ticket acquisition and organization by Corey (Met fan) Bearak. Attending a …
It is against the backdrop of our day to day routines and the challenges of these interesting times, that I look forward to Monday's solar eclipse. My daughter and son-in-law are heading south to be in the Path of Totality. I'll settle for the partial eclipse here in New York. As I ponder the upcoming astronomical event (some say, of a lifetime), …
All this week on Facebook I've been posting different Youtube versions of Rodgers & Hammerstein's timely song from South Pacific, You Got To Be Carefully Taught. It caused quite a controversy in 1949, when the Broadway show opened, especially in my birth region. _______________ From Wikipedia: "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" (sometimes "Yo …
I think, or at least I hope, we can all agree that hate begets evil. What we all witnessed this past weekend in Charlottesville, to me was unspeakable tragedy. I simply do not see a place for hate for the sake of itself in our country. We need unity, not separateness; positive support, not hate-speak and certainly never violence. I ha …
My household is comprised of six individuals; four are female and two are male. There is one debate that seems to be a constant argument in my house. We discuss this issue, at least, once a month and have never reached a consensus. As one might expect we split right along gender lines. So I have decided to throw this question out to the blog …
