Drink Coffee and Destroy

Well, at least they're honest about it.

At the Coffee Den in Brooklyn.

Sam Ash Row

I guess, with Manny's Music Shop having closed in June, building owner and onetime competitor Sam Ash wouldn't leave its big sign up there forever. Still, it was a shock to see this big red stripe against the sky on W. 48th Street the other night. Not exactly what I'd call in good taste. Other the other had, you can see it a mile away!

Inside, all the old photographs of famous Manny's patrons are gone and the walls and floors have been scrubbed to an antiseptic sheen. The only evidence this was Manny's in the store's name embedded into the sidewalk just outside the door. Music Row is truly Sam Ash Row now.

The Shoe Shine Shop at Night

Somewhere along Madison in the 30s.

Lost City: Tennessee Edition: Gerst Haus Restaurant

This sign, on an otherwise charmless intersection in Nashville, Tennessee, caught my attention during a recent visit to the city.

The eatery—German, obviously—has been around since 1955, but the Gerst family goes further back. They owned the Gerst Brewery from 1890 to 1955. The back bar in the restaurant was brought over from the original brewery. One early Gerst owned Donau, the Kentucky Derby winner of 1910, the only Nashville horse to ever win the Derby.

The Gerst Haus used to be located near the Nashville Courthouse, but relocated on Woodland Street in 1970. However, it had to be demolished in 1998 to make way for the Tennessee Titans stadium, so it move a few doors down Woodland. It offers wiener schnitzel, bratwurst, and corned beef and cabbage, and has the "Best" Reuben sandwich in Nashville. (What's their competition, I wonder?) They feature giant frozen fishbowls of our own Gerst Amber beer, as well as 26 draughts and a large selection of imported beers.

No Gersts are involved anymore. Jim and Jerry Chandler bought the place in 1988.

Atlantis Has Sunk

Atlantis was not an old business, but the antique store was one of the first shops to stake out a claim on Red Hook's Van Brunt Street when it was still a No Man's Land. It quietly closed up shop at the end of September. Too bad.

Had to See for Myself

It's back. The Armado's neon lobster sign is really back! And it looks like it's been scrubbed down for the first time in a half century. Looks damned great.

For God's Sake, Let the Poor Bust Out!

In the wilds of Red Hook.

Surprise: Murdoch Endorses Bloomberg

A billionaire media mogul looks at a billionaire mayor and says "What's not to like?"

And, so, Rupert Murdoch has endorsed Michael Bloomberg for a third term as mayor of New York City. Or, rather, the Brooklyn Paper and the Community Newspaper Group have endorsed Bloomberg, which is pretty much saying the same thing, as Murdoch runs both entities. Both puppet organizations came out with mealy-mouthed paeans to our criminally inclined, richest citizen this week, accompanied by an awful picture of Bloomberg smiling (ugh!) And to show you exactly how independently minded those two bodies are, it's the exact same endorsement!

The endorsement skated over the main reason people oppose Bloomberg for a third term—because he's running for a third term!

Granted, Mayor Bloomberg’s quest for a third term has not been the prettiest thing to watch. First, the billionaire mayor, a former Democrat, renounced his Republican Party affiliation during a flirtation with the presidency in 2008 as an independent.

Then, when faced with the obstacle of New York City’s two-term limit, he spent a considerable sum of money to overturn the inconvenient law.

For many voters, that disqualifies Bloomberg from further service.

But for us, it is but a blemish on an otherwise stellar record.

They should have stopped that passage before the last sentence.

And it rolls out this continuing fiction:

And best of all, he’s not a politician.

Indeed, critics complain that the mayor’s personal fortune is bank-rolling his re-election and silencing democracy, but it is that wealth that frees Bloomberg from the affliction of so many other popularity-craving, poll-watching politicians. He can truly answer to the people of New York because he doesn’t need to answer to anyone else.

Jesus. A popularity-craving, poll-watching politician is just what Bloomberg is. He's pure politician from top of his diminutive frame to his well-shod toes. Anyone who doesn't realize that is a fool or a willful toady.

Well-informed people that I talk to have stopped reading any political reported done by these publications. I suggest you do the same.

Lost City: Cincinnati Edition: The Gold Star Chili Cafe

No matter how depressingly anonymous they can be, one can, if one searches, find regional idiosyncrasies in every airport. (And, no, I don't mean the gift shops that sell "Virginia Is For Lovers" t-shirts as opposed to "I Love New York" t-shirts.

In the Cincinnati airport, its the Gold Star Chile cafe. Gold Star is one of the local fast food chains in the area that serve chili "Cincinnati-style." That style is basically finer and grainier than typical, thicker chilis (it's more a liquid than a solid), with an emphasis on cumin and other spices, and a lack of kidney beans. Also, Cincinnati-style chili tends to be serves more like a topping, over pasta and other ingredients. You can have it "three-way," served on spaghetti with mounds of shredded cheddar; "four-way," which adds onions to the mix; or "five-way," which includes the neglected beans.

Gold Star's main competition is Skyline Chili. People argue bitterly over which is best. Skyline is older, was founded by a Greek family and is the "official chili" of the Reds. Gold Star was founded by four Jordanian brothers and is the "official chili" of the Bengals. Others include Empress and Dixie. The Gold Star concession at the Cincinnati airport is huge, taking up a central position in the food court. You can get your chili all the "ways" you please. You can also buy cans of Gold Star and Skyline chili is the nearby gift shops to take home with you. I bought one of each. I ate them on successive days for lunch. Having no cheese, I made an unorthodox "three-way" or pasta and onions.

To tell the truth, I liked both. I don't know which was better. Funny, I tried Cincinnati chili a while back and didn't think much of it. This time I thought it was kinda great. Now, where can I get the stuff in New York....

What The Hell's Going on on the Union Street Bridge

Sometime in the past week, a big, hulking, army-green metal tank took up residence on the south sidewalk of the Union Street pedestrian and car bridge that crossed the BQE gulch. It's loosely cordoned off by a haphazard collection of construction cones, orange plastic netting and yellow tape. Several large plastic tubes snake from the metal megabox over the south fence and down toward the BQE, where they disappear somewhere inside the tunnel under the bridge. A big sign tellers walkers to use the other side of the sidewalk.

What the hell is this thing? Who knows? But it ain't good. There's a big orange sign saying "Warning: Hazardous Material Storage Area." Cool! That makes me feel all warm and cozy as I walk my son past the contaminated thing on our way to school every morning. Another sign says there a fire extinguisher on hand. In case the thing catches fire, you mean? Is that a possibility?

How about a little more information of the Big Box of Waste? The only other forms taped to the site mention some sort of traffic congestion relief project. Could it be that the tubes are sucking up car and truck exhaust and storing it in that green container? Someone suggested to me that they might be cleaning the underside of the bridge. It's bizarre.