NYCeek

Here is an except of Cracked.com’s “5 Tiny Mistakes That Lead To Huge Catastrophes”

My favorite being: One Switch Leaves New York City in the Dark

Apparently because a conEd operator hit a few switches out of order all of New York went dark for 25 hours in the middle of July with a serial killer on the loose.

Excerpt:

“After all was said and done, 1,616 stores were damaged, 1,037 fires were set, and 3,776 arrests were made. A Congressional study estimated the total damage to the New York City area at $300 million. Also, as a bizarre side effect: hip-hop was born. Seriously. The looting apparently resulted in the first access to DJ equipment for poor inner city youths, launching the movement.

In the aftermath of the blackout, ConEdison implemented changes to make sure the same problem never happened again (which it totally did in 2003). We’re assuming this involved something along the lines of a few sequentially ordered labels above those switches.”

5 Tiny Mistakes That Lead To Huge Catastrophes | Cracked.com

Tags: newyork, 1977, hip-hop, power outage

Co-Ed Magazine just put out this article on best practices for tourists. It’s so dead on I think a copy should be handed out to everyone stepping off a plane @ JFK. This is my favorite.

“J-walking is not only allowed in New York, it’s both expected and necessary. If people didn’t do it, there would be massive crowds at every corner. But it’s your responsibility to not get run over. Even though most streets are one-way, look both ways every time before crossing–a bike messenger going the wrong direction can take you out as easily as a daydreaming cabby.”

Tags: tourists, time square, douche

From Gawker

“Dark Knight opens at midnight, and as the previews show, the city gets beat up pretty bad in the epic battle that ensues. New York is always getting destroyed over and over again in movies. Why? Because it looks awesome! Here are clips of the 15 best films featuring New York getting annihilated, curated by Nick McGlynn.”

If any of these ever happen *knock on wood* I hope it knocks out the Meat Packing District. I hate that fucking place.

Movies: New York, Destroyed 15 Different Ways

Tags: newyork city, destroyed

It’s been a minute since I’ve ventured up to Time Square but next time your in the area check out the new LED billboard by Toshiba. Apparently the resolution on this thing is top notch and it uses a lot less energy than comparable billboards. As fancy as that screen is it’ll NEVER be able to claim that it’s more tasty looking then than the old school Nissin Cup Noodles billboard that used to smoke with ramen goodness.

LEDs: Toshiba’s LED TV Screen Lights up Center Stage in Times Square

Tags: nissin, noodles, times square, billboards, toshiba

I have no idea who Alan Richman is or why he’s qualified to rate hamburgers but Gothamist just posted up his top burger joints in the city.

Shake Shack - Never been but with that line the shit must be good
Burger Joint - I think there was one of these on 3rd ave in Gramercy but perhaps “Burger Joint” is a pretty common name for these types of places
Peter Luger - Haven’t been here either but best believe I’ll be getting the steak and not the burger
Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint - Upper West Side? Not anytime soon (UPDATE: Wait I’ve been here! But I didn’t get the burger… ok well UWS mehh..)
Blue Smoke - This one is on my way home, I’ll check it out this week

Here are the burgers I’ve actually had in NYC

Spotted Pig - Best burger I’ve had. Sure it was $15 but it makes Bay Area places like Burger Bistro and Barney’s taste like fast food
RARE - Also a delicious burger. Paired with their spicy Bloody Mary and Deep Fried Oreos this made for a fine brunch
McDonald’s - These taste the same pretty much anywhere you get them. Only difference is that they’re x2 the price in NY.

Gothamist: Alan Richman on NYC’s Top Five Burgers

Tags: burgers, food, new york

The Brian Boitano triple somersault onto hardwood floor last night (see below) was enough to traumatize me for a week, now I gotta deal with 1 foot rats laying dead on the fucking street on my way to work??? I snapped this photo with my camera phone, it may be a little shaky as I feared this nasty beast would suddenly wake up and start scarfing down the leather on my shoes.

I’m not sure what it is about my block but there really seems to be a disproportionate number of vermin holding it down. It’s times like these that I’m really glad I live on the 14th floor.

N-A-S-T-Y. thanks thats all.

Tags: rat, new york, dead

I love my new bed. It’s nice and firm, the sheets are soft, the comforter is warm yet light — sometimes I wonder why I ever leave my little dream enabler. This makes what happened last night even more of a mystery.

I’ve never been a person who has vivid dreams but something really crept into my conscious last night and provoked some violent body contortions. I don’t have the play by play but the highlight of last night was my half naked double corkstrew directly onto my laptop and the floor below. My mattress is about 4 feet off the ground and since I was 1/2 asleep and didn’t know WTF was happening of course I didn’t brace myself.

We’ll after I took the epic tumbling a surge of pain shot up my right leg with most of it centered around the calf region. I was absolutely panicked — the pain, the WTFness, the darkness really had me thinking that I broke my fucking leg. Trying not to yelp reached down to my leg and made sure everything was where it was suppose to be and after a while the pain became tolerable enough for me to shamefully limb back to bed.

Well this morning I woke up 100% aware of what happened the night before. My leg is still a complete wreck, it feels like I either had the worst cramp in the world or I tore something. Oh well, I can walk so I’m sure it’s not that bad. Certainly not as bad as my laptop which now displays a wonderful assortment of ROYGBIV colors that resemble nothing even close to an operating system.

This is the wildest night I’ve had in NYC in a few weeks and I didn’t even need to leave my room.

Tags: falloff bed, apartment, dreams

Just saw this on Gawker

“Driving down the neon-lit strip in New York is like “surfing porn sites without an ad-blocker.”

Tags: timessquare, advertising

Crossed paths with Dame Dash and the Capo aka One Eyed Willie aka The Kufi Smacker Jim Jones outside of the Barnes & Noble on 18th and 5th Ave.

Jimmy ain’t down with Cam anymore and rumors are that he’s been hanging out with 50. What I thought was interesting is that Dame was with Jim and if this means he’s choosing sides. (Note to Dame: You’re on the wrong side AGAIN)

I’m not a foodie. I don’t get excited about eating at the hottest restaurant, I don’t Yelp, I don’t know what truffles taste like. When it comes to food what impresses me much is a solid meal at a decent price. If you want to WOW me give me a quality meal at a cheap price. There are only a few places that have ever fit the latter category, these include:

- $2 Vietnamese sandwiches in Milpitas off Able St.
- $4 Mario’s Super Burrito in Berkeley
- $1 Small FroYo on Irving St, SF
- $2.50 Mamouns Falafel on St. Marks
- $1 for 8 Dumplings at Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge St

Prosperity is a serious trek deep into Chinatown but well worth it especially if you’re jones’n to throw down on some tasty dumplings (boiled or fried) for a little bit of coin. It’s a mystery how they keep the prices so low but by the looks of the cashier’s (owner?) bloodshot eyes my guess is that he, his wife, his children, and his extended family are making these little doughy delights 20 hours a day.

Customers also have the option of buying frozen dumplings in bulk, either 50 for $8 or 100 for $15. On my last visit I bought a bag of $50 pork and leek dumplings to store in my fridge as a quick dinner alternative. This should last me at least 2-3 weeks maybe even more — I’m all set.

Well not so fast. The missing variable I failed to factor is my roommate and his considerable appetite. I’m all for sharing and am not going to get bent over some food but today I looked in the freezer and found there are only 10 dumplings left. I’ve hardly had any chance to enjoy them and now I’m going to have to drag my ass back down to Chinatown to get another bag? Bollocks!

This time I’m going to buy a bag of 100 and tie the most complicated and impossible knot a plastic bag has ever seen to save my $15 investment.

Tags: dumplings, new york, chinatown