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Video: Kissena Velodrome Bike Ride
01/17/2012

Had the opportunity to ride a few laps at the Kissena Velodrome in Queens. Video shows five laps around the track at 4 times the normal speed. Video was shot on a weekday when there were no races or events scheduled (Track schedule) Kissena Velodrom website view more videos from NYC Bike Maps View Kissena [...]

NYC Century Bike Tour: September 13th 2009
01/17/2012

The NYC Century offers five route options (ranging from 15 to 100 miles) to provide all cyclists a great way to see New York City and explore some of the City’s best greenways and parks. This year the NYC Century Bike Tour will take place rain or shine on Sunday, September 13th, 2009. For more [...]

Video: Bike Ride Across The Queensboro Bridge
01/17/2012

Bike ride across the Queensboro Bridge (59th Street) from Manhattan into Queens. Video is played back at 2x the normal speed. view more videos from NYC Bike Maps View Queensboro Bridge on NYC Bike Map view video at YouTube Filmed with a GoPro Helmet Hero Wide 5 MP Digital Camera

Video: Bike Ride Across the Brooklyn Bridge
01/17/2012

Bicycle ride across the Brooklyn Bridge going from Brooklyn to Manhattan on Friday August 21st. The ride starts at the entrance to the Brooklyn side of the bridge’s path at Adams Street and ends near City Hall at the end of the bridge’s bike path. Play back at 2x the normal speed view more videos [...]

Video: Bike Ride Across The Manhattan Bridge
01/17/2012

A bike ride across the Manhattan Bridge from Manhattan into Brooklyn. The eight minute trip is played back at double speed in this four minute video.

Book: “Bicycle: The History” By David V. Herlihy
01/17/2012

Google Books has a sizable portion of David V. Herlihy's book "Bicycle: The History". A very interesting read for anyone interested in history and bicycles.

2011 Five Boro Bike Tour Photos
01/17/2012

a few of the best pictures of today’s 5 Boro Bike Tour posted to flickr.

New Amsterdam Bicycle Show 2011
01/17/2012

The New Amsterdam Bicycle Show was held April 30th and featured a variety of New York bike shops and bike makers, amongst other loosely bike related vendors. New Amsterdam Bike Show (official site) About The New Amsterdam Bicycle Show The first bike show in New York City was in Brooklyn in 1897, and 114 years [...]

Five Boro Bike Tour: Sunday, May 1st, 2011
01/17/2012

New York’s Five Boro Bike Tour is the largest recreational cycling event in the United States. Every year on the first Sunday of May, over 30,000 riders participate in the 42 mile ride around New York City. The route, closed to automobile traffic, takes riders through all five boroughs of New York City, across five major bridges, and finally across New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry.

NYC Century Bike Tour: September 12th 2010
01/17/2012

Escape New York: Saturday, September 25th 2010
01/17/2012

Escape the crowds and ride out of Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge and into West Hudson Highlands of Bergen, NJ and Rockland, NY with the NYCC’s Escape New York bicycle ride on September 25th. Routes: Three clearly marked Escape New York options: 1. 7:00 am: Century Challenge, 100 miles. A rolling full century through [...]

2010 Summer Streets
01/17/2012

For the next three Saturdays in August, New York City will have a 6.9 mile car-free path leading from the Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan to the East 72nd Street entrance of Central Park. The street closures will occur from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays in August, the 7th, 14th [...]

Grand Rounds Vol 8:No 15 – The Twitter Edition
01/12/2012

ONCE UPON TIME… Before Facebook and Twitter and Google+, and long before the word “social media” became religion, something called the Medical Blogging made its appearance on the world-wide web. In those days, there was a small, close-knit community of medical bloggers, who read and commented on one another’s blogs, held long discussions in the...

TBTAM 2011 – The Year in Health Blogging (Plus Two Songs)
01/12/2012

Asking a blogger to pick her top posts of the year is like asking a mom which of her children she loves best. Because I love them all. Finding out which posts you love most is not possible – my stat counter only reports details on the last few days. So I picked the posts I...

Art vs. Medicine
01/12/2012

I came across this compelling little dyad in a pop-up gallery on 57th St on New Year’s Eve. Artist Kristian Glynn compares his own financial status – ”Empty” to that of his surgeon girlfriend – “Loaded”. I’d love to have bought them both,...

I’ll be Tweeting Grand Rounds on January 3 – Call for Submissions
01/12/2012

A New Year calls for a new Grand Rounds. Let’s see if we can move this blogger-era dinosaur into the new era of social media by integrating it more fully into Twitter. Submit your post to tbtam@rcn.com by 11:59 pm on Jan 1. Include your twitter @profile name and a shortened url for your post...

Teen Mom Kailyn Gets Mirena – Contraceptive Choice or Product Placement?
01/12/2012

In this week’s episode of Teen Mom 2, Kailyn heads to her gynecologist for birth control and leaves with a Mirena IUD in her uterus. The entire encounter, obviously edited, ran more like a commercial for Mirena than a contraceptive counseling session. Other contraceptives were mentioned generically only -”a patch”, “a ring”, “the pill” –...

Fairytale of New York – Happy Christmas, Everyone
01/12/2012

Sing along,now, everyone - “It was Christmas Eve babe In the drunk tank…” Best Christmas song ever. Can’t believe I just now discovered it, thanks to Boerewar’s Emergency Medicine Chronicles. (He’s got a very funny video cover and all the lyrics there. ) The Telegraph has a nice write up about the song.

Night Float Schedule vs Traditional OB Call = Improved Obstetric Outcomes?
01/12/2012

As a result of mandatory work hour restrictions, residency programs have moved from the traditional call schedule, where they worked up to 36 hours at a time, to a night float system with distinct day and nightime shifts similar to the ones nurses have worked for years. While no work restrictions exist for attending physicians,...

Basa Filets with Pine Nut, Parmesan and Basil Pesto Crust
01/12/2012

It hasn’t been easy. I’ve been married for almost a quarter century to a man who eats whatever he wants and is still the same weight he was in high school. That means having to sit next to him at Sunday morning breakfast watching him sop up the yolks of his two sunny-side up eggs...

ATM $10 Bills
01/11/2012

This was somewhat a replay of my experience in Harlem visiting the churches known for gospel singing. People, places, and things are not zoo specimens for the voyeur. I always feel conflicted when visiting areas where I am clearly the outsider. Worse with a camera. I am sure that even my sincerest efforts to be part of another's world for a short time is perceived as slumming. And to some extent, it is.

However, I was curious about Canarsie. For no reason, except that in all the years I have lived in New York City, I had never been there. I had one friend who had lived there for some time, and he painted a much less than glamorous picture. Slumming is not admirable either for the curious or photojournalist, but I went anyway to see what I could see. I thought I would combine the outing with a meal and found Armando's Pizzeria to be highly recommended. Some said it was the best in Brooklyn.

I was chasing the sun as one does this time of year, and by the time I got to Canarsie, it was already dark. Bad for photography and bad to really get a feel for a new place. And bad neighborhoods just look worse at night. Before heading north into the center of the neighborhood, I saw a turnoff for Canarsie Pier. I was right there, so no big investment of time to explore this little waterside park. I was blessed with one of the most spectacular moons I have ever seen. So much so that I was going to call this story Moonrise Over Canarsie (see Ansel Adams Moonrise Over Hernandez). I ran out of my car. The night was frigid, and my hurried snapshot does not do the moon justice.

From there, I headed north on one of Canarsie's main thoroughfares, Rockaway Parkway, where Armando's Pizza was located. Initially, the bungalows and smaller homes just spoke of a neighborhood that appeared to be modest but tidy. When I arrived to the main shopping area, the gritty reality of Canarsie made itself abundantly clear. Dollar stores and discount shops dotted the main avenue. I drove to Armando's, at 1413 Rockaway Avenue. This was not at all how I had envisioned the place. It was essentially a slices-to-go type of operation with a few seats. I was clearly the interloper.

In a flagging economy with 10% unemployment, visiting neighborhoods like Canarsie is not going to lift one's spirits. Slapped over their menu specials, as if it were more important, a sign in the greasy windows said it all: ATM $10 Bills…

Related Posts: Moonrise Over Hernandez, Dot My I, Back to Our Main Feature

, the Miracle on 34th Street, and their Santaland. Fifth Avenue and its neighboring flagship stores with their extraordinary store window displays: Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's, Cartier, Saks, B. Altman, Lord and Taylor, FAO Schwartz, Barney's, Bloomingdale's. Ice skating in Central Park, Bryant Park, and Rockefeller Center. The lights of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. The Nutcracker with the New York City Ballet.

A remarkable list, since any single one of these would be bragging rights for any city or town. But in New York, we offer all, making this city an urban mecca for Christmas. Nearly all of these sights are on or near Fifth Avenue, an easy stroll from each other and one of the most pleasant walks one could make during the holiday season. I have done stories on all but one of the aforementioned major Christmas things to see and do.

For those seeking Santa himself, there are many options. There are the well-known venues such as Santaland at Macy's, but for those looking for the more special and lesser known, of course, New York also offers that too. Santas abound, but many herald the Santa at ABC Carpet and Home as one of the most authentic and snuggable in the land. The Victorian set is beautifully appointed, as one might expect from ABC - it's like a boutique Santa experience. For prudent parents and impatient children, one of the huge pluses is the much lesser number of people in line, if any at all. It comes highly recommended and is likely the ultimate Santa photo op in New York City, and it's Easy as ABC :)

Perhaps not so sad, since I later learned that playing with mercury is not the most prudent past time. Silver would be a much better candidate for elemental curiosity, and later as a young adult, I became intrigued with silver - here was a precious metal that was affordable and attainable, and although it was not as much fun as mercury, it was at least non-toxic. Unlike gold or platinum, a person of ordinary means could obtain large chunks of it. It is inexpensive enough that it can be used in pure form to fabricate items of jewelry and other commodities.

It has many unique properties and has served as a storehouse of value as currency, dating to 700 BC by the Lydians. Like gold, it has positive connotations, and applying a label of silver to anything, such as the word cream, implies great things. The reflective properties of silver also makes the word synonymous with glitter, glitz, sparkle, shine, and shimmer. So, what better word to use in the name of a skyscraper in New York City?

The day I discovered the buildings in today's photo, they were glimmering in the light of sunset with a look of metallic gleam, like the mercury of my youth and the silver of my adulthood. However, the photo was taken some time ago at quite some distance with no thought of their precise location or future use - until today, when I became enamored of their silvery sheen and wanted to identify them for use.

I often have taken photos of buildings where the subject must be identified at a later time. Fortunately, using online resources - mapping, street views, satellite views, image searches, etc., one can usually positively identify any building in New York City. However, this may require more or less time depending on how distinct its character is, the photo, other nearby structures, and a myriad of other factors.

Today's quest was easy. Here, the first impression that came to mind was silvery towers, and a search for "silver towers" in New York City. It immediately returned images of the buildings in question, conveniently and appropriately named Silver Towers.

I learned that these buildings were in planning for an extraordinarily long time. The property, developed by the appropriately named Larry Silverstein, took 25 years to bring to fruition. You can read more about them here. But what I really wonder about is if Larry ever played with mercury, or was it Only Silver :)

Related Posts: 'Tis a Sight to Behold, Buy Magnesium, Dot My I, New York Rockies, Where Sleeping Giants Lie, One Fifth Avenue

01/11/2012

It certainly is spectacular, isn't it?

On Sunday, after my excursion to the Garabedian House on Pelham Parkway North in the Bronx, I decided that I would again go all the way to Bayside* to see what has been said to be the finest example of Christmas illumination and ornamentation of any home in Queens and, to some, the finest in all of New York City. The house is located in Bayside/Whitestone at 166th Street and 23rd Avenue, an intersection sometimes referred to as Santa's Corner.

Although the display is certainly over-the-top, I found the lighting more elegant and tasteful than that of many well-known Christmas extravaganzas found in places such as Dyker Heights or the Garabedian House. The front of the Bayside home is broken up into three sections -Toyland, the nativity, and music land. The side of the house has animated cartoon figures.

The owners are extremely congenial, allowing visitors access to the entire property, including the porch, which sports various displays depicting wintry Christmas activities and figures. Santa himself was, of course, represented. The owners provide music, and as I perused and explored the displays, my meandering was accompanied by the Beach Boys classic, Little Saint Nick. See my complete photo gallery here.

On my return to my office on Monday, I suggested to my office manager, a Queens resident, that she may want to visit the spectacular home. Interestingly, even though she already resides in the borough, she immediately responded, "I'm not going all the way to Bayside."
There's something about Bayside, Queens, that elicits the phrase "all the way." Even a spectacular Christmas display is apparently inadequate to lure some to making the pilgrimage. Not even for Santa's Corner :)

*On November 27, 2009, I wrote All the Way, a story about a confrontation between a store manager and customer, who insisted she be let in before the shop's opening hours, defending her need for special consideration because she had come ALL THE WAY from Bayside, Queens.

Related Posts: Bergdorf Holiday Windows 2010, Have a Witty Holiday!, Worth Seeing Again, SantaCon, Christmas Spirit, Dyker Lights

01/11/2012

After touring Dyker Heights at Christmas time, it is reasonable to feel that one has seen it all regarding holiday light displays, ornamentation, and animation. On Sunday, however, a friend and native New Yorker asked if I was familiar with "the house" in the Bronx. I was not, and she assured me that it was a must see. If this house was how she represented it, I imagined that an online search with only a vague description would return my query, and it did. That research led to an article describing the various top holiday house decorations in the five boroughs in New York City.

My first stop was the Garabedian house, at 1605 Pelham Parkway North in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx. I was not prepared for what could easily be called outrageous. If you view my video, you will hear a stunned man repeating words/phrases such as outrage and over the top. See my complete photo gallery here.
There were characters that made no sense as far as Christmas is concerned - celebrities, Disney, etc. The whole thing was an unexpected assault on the senses. In 2008, the New York Times did a story on the home. Here are some excerpts:

For those who worship instead at the altar of celebrity, the site displays glittering lifelike versions of their saints as well: Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Hepburn, Vivian Leigh, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor, all exquisitely dressed in gowns fit for the runway, designer handbags on their arms.

The Garabedian house, on Pelham Parkway North in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx, is sort of a cross between Madame Tussaud’s and the Vatican, a chockablock vision of the figments of fantasies, many of them moving, all of them sparkling, either with lights or cubic zirconia or other stones — even the harness on a camel on the roof deck is strung with twinkling Swarovsky crystals.

The display, which goes up on Thanksgiving and stays until Jan. 6, inspires an overwhelming sense of wonder. One wonders, for example, why? The extent of the effort is apparent, the imagined Con Ed bill staggering. What would compel a family to devote so much time, money and energy to this particular form of Christmas camp?

The reporter for the Times was able to glean that there was a secret reason for the year-round effort, which has been part of the Garabedian family since 1974:

“Something special happened to the family on Christmas Eve in 1973,” explained Mr. Garabedian, a 44-year-old man with, it must be said, a cherubic air… The Garabedians started decorating the house the following year, and every year grew more ambitious. … This is our way of showing thanks to the Lord for what he did for us,” said Mr. Garabedian, who was 9 when he, his sisters and their parents witnessed this miracle.

However, when asked about specifics of the miracle, Gary Garabedian was vague and unwilling to divulge the family secret:

Could Mr. Garabedian perhaps be more specific about just what this miracle was? He shook his head: No. “The family wants to keep it special for ourselves,” he said.

Perhaps, then, he could be persuaded to illuminate the category of miracle? Was it a financial miracle? Did someone win the lottery or otherwise come into a windfall at a desperate time? “No,” said Mr. Garabedian.
A health miracle? Did someone throw down his crutches and start waltzing around the tree? Mr. Garabedian shook his head.
Perhaps, then, it was less like a magic trick and more like ... a vision? A visitation?

At this last question, a long pause. By then Mr. Garabedian’s sister Linda, a petite woman with flowing red hair, had joined him. “A vision?” she asked, then looked off into space for a moment. “You could say that.”
Mr. Garabedian, apparently the hard-line guardian of the secret, shook his head again. “You could be right, you could be wrong,” he said. All he would allow was that it was a religious miracle. “We’re a very religious family,” he said.

Here is what the Garabedians have to say about the display and its role in their lives in what appears to be the quintessential symbiotic relationship:

For the past 29 years, the Garabedian family—parents Nellie and Eugene and children Linda, Elise and Gary—has provided a family-friendly holiday activity right in their own front yard. Nearly 200 animated figurines dance to upbeat holiday music in a festive celebration of the holidays.
Almost every inch of the Garabedian's house is decorated with Disney characters and chicly-dressed dolls, many in floor-length gowns and most bejeweled and coiffed like Hollywood models.

It was Nellie who originally came up with the idea of giving back to the community by hosting the incredible display, their gift to neighbors for a blessing which none of the Garabedian clan will reveal. Since then, what began rather modestly has gradually expanded, taking on a life of its own.

The Christmas display is truly a family affair. Only one brother, Michael, has married. The remainder of the family lives at home, working for the family fashion design business when they’re not helping Gary with the dolls used in the Christmas spectacular. For decades now, it has been Gary’s job to dress, repair and store each doll each year. Unbeknownst to many, the display is labor-intensive, as the main stage of the ornate production has to be dismantled each night and re-mounted each evening, weather permitting.
"Look, they’re like our children. We’re married to the dolls," Gary joked. "We feel this makes the Bronx have something special to feel good about."

It's Christmas time in New York City. Not to be outdone, it is time for New Yorkers to pull out the big guns. Whether it's Fifth Avenue, Dyker Heights, Bayside, South Slope, or the Bronx, we got the spirit, Don't We? :)

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