It’s messy out there! Photo by David Brotsky.
February 1, 2021 Weather: Blizzard conditions, with a high of 35 degrees.
Notices:
Our calendar has local and virtual events.
Restaurant Week has been extended until Feb. 28!
News:
Was the appearance of a rare snowy owl on a ball field in northern Central Park last week an omen of a blizzard to come? Birders and others flocked to see the little wise one in what was “probably the best-behaved big group around something this rare, and this marvelous,” one watcher told The Wall Street Journal. “The snowy owl’s popularity is soaring, in part due to its role as Hedwig in the Harry Potter series. They often migrate south from the Arctic and look for winter hunting grounds, including in beachy areas (thus, the ball field?) This week’s visitor was believed to be the first documented sighting of a snowy owl in Central Park since 1890.”
Who are the main sources in the New York Post’s sequel to our story about Al Franken’s recent appearance in Fairway? West Side Rag commenters! “Nearly three dozen readers weighed in on the Franken sighting. ‘MAYOR FRANKEN,’ shouted one. ‘He should run for Mayor,’ another posted. And still another: ‘We miss you, Senator Franken! Mayor Franken? hmmmm…interesting idea. Think about it, please?!’”
“Mark Horn, a tarot card expert who uses his knowledge of kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in his readings, has been busy lately,” The New York Times reported. “People have been anxious,” said Mr. Horn, who works in corporate marketing during the week but spends much of his free time on Zoom doing readings. “Everyone is home, thinking about their lives and what’s really important. I get more questions like, ‘What should I do with my life?’ rather than, ‘Is this guy right for me?’… Horn lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (where else?) with his dog, Freddie.”
Also from The Times, a Brazilian woman got a lesson on how to do the Hokey-Poky in an elevator. “I could not help smiling as I read the slogan on the woman’s shirt: ‘What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about?’ ‘What does that mean?’ my Brazilian friend asked. How to explain it? I looked at the woman. She looked at me. Then [I] did what any respectable New Yorker would do…”
Enjoy the snow!
Franken for Mayor? Outstanding idea. He should recruit Andy Stein to run for reelection to his City Council presidency, and we could have the Franken-Stein ticket.
You must have been sitting on that one for a while!
Well done.
Very funny.
Franken for mayor….ahhhhhhm….
Really?
Please state his qualifications, please.
Congressional approval ratings have been in the teens for many years so it surprises me that one would want a Congress member to be the executive of a large City like NY. The qualities needed for either position are radically different. Many people can be Congressional representatives but not executives.
He was a U.S.Senator, has a brain and personality unlike our present mayor. Next question.
Uh, United States Senator? Usually you go from mayor to statewide office to is Senate, but this would be going the other way around. You might call him OVERqualified.
Indeed, where else would I live? I’ve lived in different apartments as far south as 69th street and as far north as 110th street since 1974, with only a short sojourn to Chapel Hill for grad school, and 6 years in Japan (during which time I sublet that apartment).
My first job was on the Upper West Side, as an usher at the Delacorte Theater in 1969 (with 5 days away for Woodstock). It was the year Stacey Keach was in Peer Gynt.
My second job was at Cake Masters on 72nd street, and I worked all their stores until I landed my first corporate job.
Yep, I am a committed Upper West Sider. After all, I read the Rag!
Franken should run for Killibrand’’s seat. She was in the forefront of getting g him to resign. He’d win….karma!
What a great idea, Marsha!! Karma is right!
So Mark, how do we connect with you if we are interested in a reading?
Hi Mark!
I live in Chapel Hill now, but for 10 glorious years I lived on the UWS. I try to stay in touch with the neighborhood by reading the Rag. I miss W 90th Street!
Which UNC grad school did you attend?
I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey. But then I turned myself around!
Years ago a bunch of us cousins, spouses, kids, and friends spent our summer vacation in a huge house on a lake in New Hampshire. One night there was to be a lunar eclipse and we all gathered on our dock to ‘have a magical moment”. At the suggestion of one cousin, a nun, we all held hands and ooh’d and ahh’d when totality came. Another cousin then piped up with “Hey, let’s do the Hokey Pokey”, and there we were, dancing around and having so much fun. And then one spouse danced himself right off the dock and into the lake. No harm, but that ended the “magical moment”. Those of us still around always get a good laugh still.
If Franken decides to make NYC his home & run for mayor, I’d vote for him without question. is voice, his intelligence and—I must add—his wit have all been missing from the halls of national government. Those accusations that brought about his resignation seem puny, indeed, and I’ve never forgiving his principal accuser.
I agree that Franken is an interesting idea for mayor. I’d certainly give him some serious consideration if he were interested.
You left off the punchline on the Times Hokey Pokey story. They explained the Hokey Pokey: They did the Hokey Pokey and turned themselves around.
Franken for Mayor? The last thing we need is another smarmy liberal destroying what’s left of our city.