ileen roos

Behavior

cold cash

Friday evening I saw a man in his 30s on 42nd Street wading in the shin high water that's sometimes a fountain outside Capital Grille to get the change people had thrown in there. It was about 20 degrees and his shoes, socks, bottom of his pants and one shirt/jacket sleeve was soaked.

145 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017

Glenn Manion (Squeaky Clean)

Behavior

Recession Blues

What if Robert Johnson were singing about today's economic conditions? His enigmatic tunes dealt with his struggles against his own personal demons (legend has it that he had dealings with the Devil himself).

Brian was very astute last week, noting the "snarky" attitude of most of the songs being composed today about the financial mess. "Snarky" is a contemporary pose that I tire of very quickly. Here is our band Squeaky Clean's contribution:

Recession Blues

I wake up in the morning and I hear the latest news
The talk is so depressing, all I want to do is snooze
You just don't feel ambitious with those mean recession blues

Everybody's worried 'bout the job that they might lose
Everyone stopped buying all that junk they never use
You hold your wallet tightly with those mean recession blues

Rich folks out of work now because Wall Street blew a fuse
They could have seen it coming, but they ignored all of the clues
Twenty-twenty hindsight won't fix those mean recession blues

Poor folks needin' help now. Will the Government refuse?
The Mayor and the Governor say they're short on revenues
No bailout for the masses with those mean recession blues.

People hurtin' everywhere
Can't just worry about you
If we all help each other then we all can muddle through
Lend a hand or lend a dollar, find something you can do
You won't feel so helpless with those mean recession blues

It's hard to keep a clear head when you're desperate and confused
But they say when you've got nothin' you've got nothin' left to lose
You'll outlast these hard times and those mean recession blues

Glenn Manion
www.gmfmusic.com

Elaine O'Sullivan

Commerce

NYC Grows Garden Festival is being suspended

Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 2:20 PM
Subject: NYC Grows 2009

Dear NYC Grows Nonprofit Partners,

National Gardening Association has appreciated your willingness to share with the people of New York City, all the benefits of plant-based outdoor actives. Your participation in NYC Grows Garden Festival is what made it such a unique and successful event. Unfortunately, hard times have hit many of our sponsors and NGA does not have the same resources it had in years past to hold the kind of superior public venue that the public has come to expect. It is therefore, with deep regret that I must inform you that the 2009 NYC Grows Garden Festival is being suspended. We look toward 2010, even now, as we meet with potential new presenting partners and anchor sponsors. For those of you who already paid your 2009 non-profit exhibitor fee, we will process your refunds next week. We are looking forward to working with all of in 2010!

National Gardening Association
802-863-5251

33 East 17th St, New York, NY 10003

Naela El-Hinnawy

Behavior

This Could Happen to Anyone

Three weeks ago, at the Chambers Street stop on the 2/3 line, an African American man stepped on and addressed the subway car. He was asking for money and food. He told us that he understood how awkward it was for everyone to listen to him. He told us that he wanted us to know that even though he does this a lot, that it is very embarrassing for him every time.

"But," he said, "this could be you. THIS could happen to anybody."

I've heard people asking for money on the subway make this claim before. However, this was the first time that I ever heard multiple members of "the audience" agree. "Yes," said a woman in a suit. Instead of bowing her head in avoidance, she was nodding it in agreement.

Chambers Street Station Stop of the 2/3 Uptown Train

Naela El-Hinnawy

Behavior

The Other Side of the Door

In the middle of the night a few days ago, a horrible scuffle in the hall woke me up. A man was being pushed out of an apartment. A door slammed. For an hour he sat in the hallway crying. "I don't have a job. I don't have anymore. I don't have a job." He kept saying it over and over, pleading to no one and everyone as he sobbed. It was very frightening. No one called the police. I suspect this was because my neighbors did the same thing I did: sat on the other side of the door and cried with him.

67 Hanson Place

Michael Sheafe

Commerce

Cash only - Goodbye Visa

As I passed by a York Avenue restaurant, the Visa / Mastercard decals were being scraped off the door. Cash only from now on. Newflash to Visa -- you ain't priceless.

York Avenue at 77th St.

christopher allen yager

Commerce

row. tater. strain

We had something of a human spectacle
They went along and wrecked it all too
Its part of a who's who in eco nomatics
Yet two factors still remain in constant
On a rotunda under some gummy gutter
He spoke to his mother merely a mutter
Sun through a fern flutter blown shutter
Should hold flowers as bagels beg utters
Except butter from bean, its less de mean

390 17th st apt 2w

Amy

Employment

Domino

I am a graduate student living off of a small stipend. To supplement my income I have been tutoring elementary aged children for about a year now. In the last two weeks alone I have lost all of my clients due to their parents getting laid off. I call it the domino effect. It's true tutoring is not my sole means of livelihood, however it is how I afford to go to a movie occasionally, buy a cheap bottle of wine, or go to whole foods for better produce. Looks like rice, beans, pesticides, and sobriety for me!

07044

Louisa

Behavior

Gym membership shifts

The YMCA has been flooded with new members in the last month or two. My theory is that people are giving up their expensive sports club memberships in favor and joining the Y instead.

125 West 14th Street, NY, NY 10011

Chana Edelkopf

Bright

Economics, Recession, Tea and Crumpets

This is from a paper that my daughter wrote for her creative writing class. It made me laugh, so I asked her if I could share this with you.
By: Esther Edelkopf
......Chrysanthemum went back to the playroom, announced her presence to the Queen of England and Mr. Snuffles and commenced her tea party. She sat on the floor Indian style placing tea and crumpets in front of Mr. Snuffles and the Queen. Her myriad bracelets jangled creating a beautiful cacophony, as her two guests began chatting.
“Oh my! This tea is delicious,” said Mr. Snuffles
“Oh yes, it is quite delicious,” replied the Queen “How has your eye been?”
A few days before Mr. Snuffle’s eye had been cruelly gauged out by the neighbor’s dog.
Mr. Snuffles let out a sigh that implied wisdom beyond his tender age and replied,
“Well, with the recession and all we can’t afford a new one.”
“Oh yes, that darn recession,” said the Queen, “Daddy said there might be a crash on Wall Street; I do hope no one gets hurt!”

“Oh my, crashes make traffic; I hope Wall Street isn’t on the way to school. We always get stuck in traffic on the way to school,” remarked Mr. Snuffles.
“Well,” pondered the Queen, “Mother said it’s going to affect the whole world!”
“The whole world is going to be stuck in traffic?!” asked a horrified Mr.Snuffles.
The Queen replied nodding gravely “if things continue this way it just might be.”

Michal

Swindlers

doctor takes long to give back money

A doctor (who will remain nameless) owed me over a thousand for several months recently, after getting money both from me and from my insurance.

So, I was basically providing an interest free loan. I did eventually get everything back, but it left me with a sour feeling.

2nd ave, east 33rd st

Nat Ward

Behavior

Teetotalism and the Gallery Gang

It was an especially dry Thursday in Chelsea this week as many galleries were found to be serving water instead of the usual wine at their openings. Of the galleries serving alcoholic beverages, most had purchased less and ran out in 45 mins.

35 Wooster St., new york, ny 10013

Betty Ng

Behavior

Medical Credit

My husband went to his doctor for a full body check up today and discovered that his doctor no longer accepted credit card for even co-pay, only cash and cheques. So it appears that:

1. In a sense the US is becoming like China, where hospitals have so many cases of "treated and vanished" patients that clinics, not just banks, are cutting credit/lending risks!

2. The govt is pressuring banks to lend. At some point should it also force essential service providers such as physicians to boost lending? Where does it end?

333 E 46th Street, Apt 7H

Mary P

Commerce

Two Buck Chuck Sells out at Trader Joe's

Giving up wine is not an option -we're just setting new lows on price of the wine we drink. The cheap (2.99) reds and whites produced by Charles Shaw usually take up the whole wall at the back of the store. This week they were SOLD OUT.

see bad fuzzy picture of empty wall

Eveline

Swindlers

Fare beaters are back, but now they're middleaged

Back when I moved to NYC in 1983 there were farebeaters, but they were all young. Turnstile jumpers mostly. But it's largely become a thing you don't see so frequently. Until yesterday afternoon: on the M15 down 2nd Ave, 3 separate farebeaters got on the bus through the rear doors of the flexible bus. They ranged in age from about 35 to 55.

I'm presuming that they were fare beaters back then who were laid low by the Giuliani regime, who are being pushed by economic necessity into cheating. I don't view this as "beating the MTA/system", either, but swindling their fellow New Yorkers who have to make up for the lost fares with higher fares for the people who do pay.

The bus driver's sarcasm was also pre-Disneyfied NYC. "And what do you want me to do about it? Take the bus out of service?" was what the driver said when I told him.

Second Avenue, bet. 34th & 14th

Eleni

Employment

urban planning indicator

I am an urban planner and i work at an architecture firm. I am still employed, but I check the job listings habitually (American Planning Association, Preservenet, etc). I was noticing in early 2008 that the job market was drying up (long before the downturn), as work in my field is pegged to real estate/construction financing. It was a harbinger of things to come. These days I am not seeing anything posted online at all, and I consider myself quite lucky.

New york, Ny, 10013

Tony Turse

Commerce

Breakfast sandwich

I am a landscape contractor in central NJ, Each morning I'll stop at the same convenience store/deli for coffee. They have a heated display, with what for years has been filled with dozens of egg and various combinations of cheese meats etc.
As fast as they could be made and wrapped, they were sold. Now the 3 or 4 lonely egg and cheese seem to remain from one day to the next.

Christian

Employment

Graduate School applications are UP

In our department at Columbia University, we have received 3 times as many applications for our masters and PhD program than last year. More and more students are considering grad school since there are so few jobs available.

116th St, New York, NY 10027

Jaime

Employment

Labor day workers UHAUL store

I am getting ready to leave NYC because I can't find a job. I've been looking since October. In early December, I started to get my moving supplies in a UHAUL store in BK and since then I have seen the number of day laborers increase in front of the store. They were mostly Latino, but now I also see men from Eastern Europe (I am guessing because the language they speak) and people of African descent offering their services to help move.

4th Ave. and 6th st, Brooklyn, NY 11693

Sam

Commerce

No More Wee Hour Shopping

My favorite groceries in Astoria come from the Euro Market on 31st St. But when I went up there after midnight last week, they were closed! Seems they have shortened their hours and I have to assume it's to save a little money.

Midnight is still pretty good, though.

30-42 31st St, Astoria