Remembering 9/11 in 2009

I was not here in New York during that now infamous day. Having lived, shopped, conversed, and shared public frustration with the lack of physical resolve at the WTC site with many of whom have, I feel a connection with the event that I wouldn’t have still being in California. It’s eight years after that tragic incident and this year I have the time off to come down and experience the memorial live.

The city is in mourning not only by it’s people, but the sky’s darken, weeping along with those that have lost family, friends and colleagues. I missed the public reading of all the lost names, however, a list is walled up at the Deutsche bank construction site near Ladder Co. 10 for all to read, comment and add condolences.

This is the interim site for the WTC memorial. Patriotic flower wreaths stand next to plaques of remembrance calling for everyone “Never Forget”, flags and posted firemen standing at attention to the throngs of mourners paying respect.

After snapping a few photos, I joined most of the firefighters at O’Hara’s Pub for a pint, some song, and a cheer for the families of loved ones lost. Here are a few of my pictures and the rest of the few can be seen in the Gallery.

Minetta Tavern no longer available to pedestrians

It’s a sad day in any food and bar epicenter when a classic location is purchased from the original owners, refurbished and then reborn as a haute celebrity joint where the exclusivity garners more attention than the actual purpose of the location; in this case the focus is on the food. Minetta Tavern was once ranked (by Esquire magazine) as a top bar of America but after glorious reviews from the Times and NY Mag, it seems the location is back to tops in NY and now according to Eatery, it’s closed to pedestrians. Apparently here’s as close as you will get:

NY’s latest Enemy: Fat juice

fat juice“Are you pouring on the pounds?” asks the ad, which urges viewers to consider water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead, and warns: “Don’t drink yourself fat.” That’s right folks. Soda, juice drinks and anything that contains sugar are the new enemies of the state. Well not NY State as they just canceled a proposed tax on these drinks but that doesn’t mean Bloomberg and the City of New York can’t do something about the growing fat problem here.

According to the Times, the city is spending $277,000 on a new ad campaign to educate the public on links between high-calorie beverages and your growing waist line. 1,500 subway cars will run for three months which targets those that walk to work… wait… Wouldn’t billboards at the bridges and tunnels for those fat ass commuters be better “targets”?

Of course the ABA objects as Kevin Keane states “The ad campaign is over the top and unfortunately is going to undermine meaningful efforts to educate people about how to maintain a healthy weight by balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with calories burned through exercise.”

fatNot a surprise anything that limits the sale of your product is detrimental but this is like a tobacco lobbyist stating that a health dose of pipe smoke and snuff is a good balance between cigarettes.

Personally I think adding a tax to sugar drinks is attacking the problem at the symptom not the solution. The problem in this country is the over subsidization of corn which contributes to an abundance of product that gets converted to corn syrup. This creates a huge surplus of cheap sugar substitutes that go into our cheap processed foods. I urge everyone to rent/download and watch King Corn to get a broader picture of the industry and how Federal subsidies of certain industries are what’s driving the market for cheap, unhealthy products in this country. We should be subsidizing organic, healthy and sustainable farming efforts, not destructive ones.

BTW I still love Tree Top juice, its what Grandma gave me and I’ll continue to suck it down in between Brita filtered water and Soda Xi Muis at home.