jpreardon.com

Finally…

Corner of Waverly & Christopher, in the West Village.

Thank you New York Motorcycle and Scooter Task Force!

There is some confusion among New York City motorcyclists and scooterists about how to legally park (e.g. avoid parking tickets) at a muni-meter. Some think that motorcyclists should pay and attach the receipt to the bike, others hold that one should pay at the muni-meter and hold on to the receipt in case a parking ticket is issued, while others claim there is no need to pay at all.

According to the DOT, motorcyclists must pay at muni-meters AND display the receipt on on the motorcyclists:

Like other motorists, motorcyclists using Pay and Display Muni-Meters, must display their receipt on their vehicle. To prevent theft or damage to the receipt, DOT recommends using clear plastic holders attached to the motorcycle with a lock or other mechanism. Devices made especially for this purpose can be found in specialty stores.

The locking mechanism pictured above seems a little ridiculous. But, if you really want one, you can purchase a locking parking permit holder from Login Parking.

In this video, John Leguizamo gives us a few pointers on how to keep the rubber side down on the mean streets of New York. In the process, he almost gets doored by one of New York’s Finest.

via Streetsblog

All sorts of cyclists inhabit our streets and parks. Learn how to identify five of cycling’s subgroups, visually and aurally, with this handy feature from the New York Times.

They really should have featured a delivery guy–pictured with his silent but deadly, sidewalk cruising, electric bicycle.

via City Room

The bench in my garden is an excellent gauge of how much snow has fallen:

Here it is at 11:27 today:

Sometime in the winter of 2006, my good friend Jonas and I had a couple burgers and some wine at Café Loup. Burgers so good in fact–and wine in an adequate quantity–that we decided to write about the experience. A short time later, Burger & Bordeaux (burgerandbordeaux.com) came online. The idea of a burger blog was, and continues to be, far from original. For us, however, it was less about informing the public and more about giving us an excuse to eat burgers and drink wine on a semi-regular basis. Yes, we are selfish people.

We had a reasonable run, ate some quality burgers and quaffed our share of wine. And, in the process of writing about it, we used my favorite food blog word, devoid, on four separate occasions. But, as of this writing, it has been nearly a year since out last post. After a brief conversation, we decided that it was time to retire Burger & Bordeaux.

I know this loss may be tough to swallow for all one of our reader. But, there are many, many others out there eating and writing with much more frequency and doing a more thorough job. So, It’s not as if the burger eaters of NYC will be uninformed in our absence.

Thank you for reading our little burger blog and happy eating–don’t forget to put bacon on it.

Everyone is tired of hearing about New Year’s Resolutions by now–it’s the second day of the year after all. But, this is one we would all do well by:

Cut down still further on American fast food.
–Dave Cook (Eating in Translation)

Photo: Partially whitewashed McDonald’s ad, First Avenue, New York © Dave Cook

I’m not posting any resolutions this year, although, I do have a couple. We’ll see if I can stick to them for more than a few days.

If you’re feeling a bit rough this New Year’s Day, take some pleasure in knowing that you must feel better than the twenty-something guy that was urinating on the F platform at York Street at about 1:30 this morning. This cat was so far gone that his date had to prop the poor bastard up while he messily went about doing his business. Discretion? Not necessary for this guy. He just let it all dribble out about 6 feet from the stairs, directly on the yellow line. The unfortunate people that walked through this puddle later would have been delighted to know that his fashionable, paper “happy new year” hat landed squarely in the middle of said puddle about halfway through this pathetic display. He’s going to have an epic hangover when he wakes up today. And his shoes, well, let’s just say that they won’t be wet from walking in the snow. I’m also thinking that his girlfriend may be resolving to find someone that can hold their liquor. So, hat’s off to you, dude, for making all of our commutes just a little more entertaining.

Happy 2010!

This is the scene at the bus stop on 2nd Avenue at 34th Street around 17:30 on Tuesday the 15th. Sorry, the image quality here is quite poor, but you can see how the buses are forced to stop in traffic. What you can’t see is that there are at least 3 or 4 of these police vans parked side by side (behind the one shown). I’m sure there’s a good reason for the police to be parked here with their lights flashing; I’ve seen them doing the same thing in this spot once before. But, it seems like fewer people would be inconvenienced if they set up on the other side of the avenue when they are doing whatever they are doing.

Here’s a short list of what is wrong with this picture:

• Major bus stop is blocked forcing busses to pick up and drop off in the street. If this were a better picture, you could see the woman with a cane that would have had an easier time boarding from the curb.
• Police vans backed up onto the sidewalk are blocking about half of it.
• Busses stopped in one of the travel lanes cause other street traffic to back up for blocks.

Those visiting any of the Open House New York sites next weekend may find themselves in strange and unfamiliar neighborhoods. If you think you may find yourself in that situation, keep this OHNY Food Map from Serious Eats close at hand–just in case you get hungry.