While reading this week’s New York magazine, I came across this article in the “Artifact”  section that focused on some interesting slides that accompanied a recent speech made by Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi at a conference on….um… how to make “cool” downtowns in Nassau county.  Towns that are cool enough that young, single people will want to move to, instead of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Now I know what you’re thinking-  “cool downtowns in Nassau county?  Isn’t that like an oxymoron or something?” But there is actually a very cool downtown out here on LI.  The wifey and I love going there for its great restaurants, shopping, and fun atmosphere.

That town, however, is Huntington; which, unfortunately for Executive Suozzi, is in Suffolk county.  ZING!

The interesting part of this article was the slides which were used to categorize the downtowns in Long Island that are cool, which ones are getting cool, and those with a ways to go.  Here is the list from the article:

Hold up!  My town, the Village of Great Neck Plaza, is cool?  In defense of it, yes it does have ample shopping, good restaurants, very good LIRR access to the city, gyms, and a movie theater.  It is a good downtown, but it is NOT a cool one, at least not in the minds of the single young people that Suozzi is trying to get to move to Nassau county.  The main reason why it’s not cool is that (wait for it) there is no NIGHTLIFE WHATSOEVER that young, single people would find interesting.  Actually, last I checked, there isn’t even a bar in the town.

Granted, that don’t phase me no mo’. I’m married, 32 years old, and way past my prime drinking age.  But for young, single folk, that is the common scene they gravitate towards.  If they move to VGNP looking for that, they will end up just as bored as the teenagers hanging out at Grace Ave park and loitering at Cold Stone.  At least the other cool towns listed here actually have nightlife for the youngs to hang out in.  For example, Garden City has places like Novita for people to go to at night, which has a very good cocktail lounge.

As for some of the others on the list:

On The Way to becoming cool:

• Glen Cove-  Too far!
• Westbury- Isn’t that the mall?
• Mineola- Choo Choo!

And for the ones that are not even close, this list was accurate:

• Freeport- there is only one thing that comes to mind when I think of that town
• Hempstead- J.E.T.S. Jets, jets, jets! Cool town…no, no, no.
• Hicksville- I think I went on a date there once…

When I was single, I lived in Manhattan.  And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

If anyone out there other than family actually reads this blog, they would find that I refer to my wife in my postings as “wifey.”  Now I thought that I borrowed the term from hip hop, but recently I discovered that the term had be used by my late grandpa in a post card he had sent to my bubby and my mom for Rosh Hashana while he was in basic training in Fort Shelby.

Observe the evidence, circa 1943:

Though he spelled it “wifie,” the sentiment remains the same.   Proof that even after death, Grandpa will always inspire me, even when it is coincidental.
Rest in Peace Grandpa.

Wow.  Even for my standards I’ve been really bad about updating this blog lately.  I haven’t blogged since my grandpa died a couple of weeks ago, but even I can’t blame it on that.  Maybe its:

• laziness
• too tired to write after work
• a sheer lack of narcissism

Regardless, it stops now.

Tomorrow a new post. But until then,  in honor of my brother-in-law Mordo, a video clip of this year’s Euro 2008 team of destiny.  Go Turkey!!

Earlier today, Thursday, June 5, my grandfather passed away at the age of 93.  He lived a long, wonderful life full of love, happiness and family who cared deeply about him.

Here is a picture of him with my bubby, Florence Ackerman, from around late 1942/early 1943 when he was in basic training for WWII.

Phillip Ackerman: 1915-2008

You will always be in my heart.

Love,
Scott

So for the loyal friends and family, some of which actually read this thing, I apologize for my lack of posting.

So here is a quick post- I read this article yesterday in the NY Times:

Many Florida Jews Express Doubts on Obama
By JODI KANTOR
Jewish voters are vital to Barack Obama’s hopes, but among many older Jews, he has become a conduit for anxiety about Israel, Iran, anti-Semitism and race.

What really struck me beyond the obvious generational divide between would-be young and old jewish voters, was just flat out how many old, stereotypical Broward County type Jews are ready to give Obama the hook for all of the wrong reasons. It’s one thing to hate on him for his potential policies, willingness to talk to Iran, Rev. Wright, or the uncertainty of his Israel stance. These are all legitimate issues and worthy of discussion.

I’m not even talking about the ones basing their info on Internet rumors and wrong information. That is not so bad because with a little research, viewpoints can shift. I’m talking about the ones in the article who don’t want to vote for him based on association, like this for example-

“Other voters called Mr. Obama’s endorsement by the Rev. Jesse Jackson problematic, because Mr. Jackson once called New York “Hymietown” (even though he later apologized) and has made other comments offensive to Jews.”

Gimme a break! You can only take guilt by association so far. I mean Obama was like 23 at the time and nowhere near public office when Jackson said that. How is that even relevant?

But if you read between the lines, ultimately most of these old school Jews don’t want to vote for him because as some would put it- “He’s a schvatza!”

Black and Jews haven’t had the greatest relations in the past couple of decades, but this old type of racism  doesn’t really help.   My people are always very keen on remembering the past and that is a great thing when you can learn from it to move forward.  But it is unproductive  when you still live in it, letting it always decide how you should proceed in the future.

With this in mind, it should be interesting to see how Obama does in Florida when he really starts to campaigning down there.

You probably know by now that the Dolan family, Cablevision’s overlord/proud owner of NY Rangers (and…um…that other team) are now the new owners of Newsday, the paper of record for the island I call home.

What you might not of heard about was how the family reacted when the paper went to make an offical editorial introduction to the family.

See here for this great article by John Koblin of the New York Observer about how Newsday reporters got treated like they were Knicks beat reporters when they tried to interview the new boss man.

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on this blog about wifey and I’s visit to the 3rd annual Coffee and Tea Festival NYC. Well, the other day I get an email from the festival producer, a post event an email highlighting what occurred at the festival.

Here is the beginning of the email:

…wait a minute… let me take a closer look at the photo in the SW corner above-

OH MY GOD! That’s the wifey and and I! How the hell did we get in this newsletter? I mean, my left bicep looks totally ripped and all, but it looks I’m sleeping or in deep, mediative thought. At least wifey looks engaged in coversation.

For the full email newsletter, click here

Though I am a New York State resident, for some reason I keep receiving spam emails from the committee to elect Rob Andrews, who is running as a primary challenger against incumbent Senator Frank Lautenberg in, you guessed it, New Jersey.

Now the first time I received this type of email, I didn’t mind so much. In fact, I even followed the instructions noted at the bottom of the email:

So I followed the instructions and even said in the e-mail- “I am not a Jersey resident so this is meaningless to me. Remove me from this list.” Maybe I could have been more polite, but I wanted to get to the point. That took place on Monday, April 28.

naturally, what email did I receive this evening:

Dear Neighbor, At a time when our community and our nation are facing overwhelming challenges — an economic recession, historical foreclosure rates, and millions of Americans without access to healthcare — we need leaders who can chart a course to solve these problems. A whole new generation of challenges awaits us - here in Burlington County and across New Jersey - and we need leaders like Rob Andrews to fight for us in the Senate. Rob started his race to give New Jersey a choice for the U.S. Senate and to change the status quo. He’s starting with his campaign, hosting Town Hall meetings in every corner of New Jersey. Rob wants to hear directly from residents and to share his vision for the future. I want to invite you to the Burlington County Town Hall Meeting in Evesham on Saturday, May 3rd at 12 noon. We’ll get the chance to see Rob, to ask him questions, and to hear how he can bring the change we need to the Senate. Here are the details: Town Hall Meeting for Burlington County with Rob Andrews Gibson House Community Center 535 East Main Street Evesham on Saturday May 3, 2008 at 12:00 noon This is going to be a great afternoon, so bring your family and friends and come prepared to see why Rob Andrews is the change we need right now. Hope to see you there, Mayor Randy Brown

Okay, so I might be jumping the gun- it’s only the second email and it’s been just two days since the first one. My real concern here is that his primary season is starting to hit its peak. If I don’t nip this in the bud and get unsubscribed, I will likely get inundated by emails from this Congressman as the season unfurls, particularly if he dethrones Lautenberg in the primary and is up for the top prize in November.

So Congressman Andrews, if you have any college interns working for you whose job it is to scour the internet and the blog-o-sphere to search for news/posts about you- and they see this one, please give them the carte blanche to unsubscribe me from your mailing list.

Thanks,

Scott

P.S. Thanks for invite Mayor Brown, but I will have to pass on this one. I will be in a far sunnier place at that time.

Radiohead did an amazing performance on Conan O’Brien the other night for Earth Day, performing their fantastic song “House of Cards” from the album In Rainbows. First saw this on Pitchfork, but I enjoyed so much, I had to post as well.

Just when you thought it was safe to to read your your local LI paper owned by an American plutocrat…

Word has it now that Rupert Mudoch has struck a tentative deal to buy Newsday.

For the full analysis- see this rundown at Gawker

In the meantime, we shall continue to watch as old white people buy and acquire old media, as ad dollars shrink and people flock to online news. Meh.

UPDATED- The bid for Newsday just got saucier as reports are coming out that Mort from the Daily News might still be bidding for it as well.