NEW YORK TIMES

Monday 10/07/2007


I have mentioned in past postings that I love the NY Times. I spend many a happy hour reading the NY Times Sunday edition. It contains numerous inserts covering everything from cars to style.
The Sunday ‘Styles’ insert both attracts and repulses me at the same time. Styles are a collection of stories about who, what and where is hip in New York City. Sunday's (10/07) had a story on an unknown 'boite' in the East Village in New York City where a reservation is necessary to drink in the bar. Clients and not patrons have to walk through a telephone booth in the back of a diner to get into the bar. The signature cocktail for the bar is "The Reverend Palmer"; a black tea infused Elijah Craig 12-year-old bourbon with lemon and Angostura bitters. Is there anything more pretentious than unknown bourbon and Angostura bitters in a bar where you have to make a reservation and then pass through a telephone booth to get in? I guess there must be some folks, part of the faux and fabulous, kicking themselves because they never heard of this hidden getaway? Will there be a rush to make a reservation? I bite my nails in anticipation.

Styles has a section called the ‘Nite Gala’ that covers New York’s elite; the movers and shakers, the rich and powerful attending charity events all over New York City. This page displays black and white photographs of older men in back tuxedos accompanied by younger women in ball gowns attending charity events at the likes of Lincoln Center.

At the end of a 10-page insert come the wedding announcements. These are a charm. You can read the short life biography of Emiley (even the spelling is strange) Elizabeth Zalesky, 30, and Keith Lockhart, 47, who were married Sunday, Oct. 7th. Zalesky is an Assistant Attorney General in Boston who attended Georgetown Law School and Lockhart is a conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Sadly missing from these announcements is the local fireman marrying his high school sweetheart. The NY Times wedding announcements are for the children of the privileged with stellar academic credentials.
I am not sure why I am attracted to the ‘Styles’ insert? I suppose its because I get to see how the stylish, trendy and powerful live their lives. I am a voyeur looking into a rarefied world.

Monday (10/08) marks Columbus Day in the U.S., a federal government/federal holiday marking Christopher Columbus discovery of the United States back in 1492. It also marks another American tradition; Christopher Columbus Day sales in department stores (shops) and car dealerships. What could be more American than a sale. NYC has a little attended parade down Fifth Avenue. Most private employers do not give employees the day off reports Columbus Day as the least observed holiday for employers. Public schools, government offices and banks are closed. .

Patrick McGeehan from the NY Times (10/07) (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/nyregion/07columbus.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)