Topical stoop on our block.
The three stooges. Kavanaugh with Corona beer. Gay pride flag for Gorsuch. A Hanger for Barrett. RIP RBG. And. Melania’s coat.
Well done, neighbor!
Vote Early & Often
Eyewitness early voting reports.
2 hours North Fork
2 1/2 hours UWS
1 hour LES
3 hours UES merging with 1 hour line for Citarella
TriBeCa line let an over-55 couple cut to the front
20 minutes Pound Ridge, Westchester
Too bad they aren’t all in Wisconsin or Ohio instead of New York.
Al Fresco All Year
One of the most uplifting scenes in this otherwise dismal year is the creativity of restaurateurs in NYC. Bubbles, plants, umbrellas, lights, dividers to expand dining outdoors onto sidewalks and streets.
Now al fresco spaces can continue all seasons according to a City ruling today. Heaters. Awnings. Who knows what inventive solutions they’ll come up with. But. Yay! Even Gramercy Tavern has re-opened.
We’ll take it.
Desolate City
Return to the City disappoints. Scaffolding, noise and toxic air from across the street endure with no end in sight. Outdoor dining is marred by a homeless guy sucker-punching a diner at Pappardella on Columbus Avenue a block away. Bikers meander up and down sidewalks past boarded-up storefronts as dog walkers return to dominate the streets. Many more pedestrians are maskless than in June. Note to Governor Cuomo. This is why rich people are not returning from their vacation homes. Some never will. Is it depressing? Yes. Sorry.
Maybe Tiger will do well at the PGA?
Back to NYC
Yes. Back to City reality. The good news is. Restaurants have become more and more creative in setting up barriers and making outside space as appealing as possible for diners. Plants, plexiglass dividers. Hope the weather holds through October so they can recover and stay in business.
So far. 3 favorite Taverns gone. Oxbow. Gramercy. On the Green.
Back to politics. Today Dem Veep candidates having their final auditions. Booked on Sunday news shows. Just hope it’s not Kamala. And. These days don’t think it can be a Karen. It will be a woman. That we know.
Limonata Here
Viansa Sonoma. Pink lemon granita al fresco next to the airport.
Happy 31 mAd Ben. See ya soon out East.
Quaran Quandary
Risk. Reward. There’s a tension now in many New York City neighborhoods about opening restaurants to outside dining and fear of more virus spread.
Local economies depend on businesses making money to survive. Boarded up storefronts are becoming the norm. Extended closings will result in more Oxbow Tavern-like desolate corners. Dystopian landscapes.
Covid avoidance avoidance conflict.
Whaddya do? 
Just Another CPW Saturday
Longing for Saffron
Christo is now gone as are his 2005 Saffron Gates in Central Park. Happier times. No Covid hospital tents then or Park cops enforcing social distancing, or putting up barricades to keep out marauding protestors.
Half Mask
The country is in crisis. Peaceful protesters. As well as infiltrating inciters in cities large and small. Car fires as selfie shots. Mobs in close contact. Most with masks below their noses. Many under their chins. The pandemic has become background noise. Who could have ever thought.
Businesses like the Apple Store on the UWS already abandoned because of Covid are now boarded up. A rock thrown through Starbucks window on 81st & Columbus. And. Yes. On a beautiful Sunday, most families came to town to enjoy Central Park. Masks? About half.
Meanwhile, today. Joe Biden is addressing a church group in Delaware with his mask half-covering his mouth and you can’t understand a word he is saying. Where are his people?
Side Trek . NYC 