TOUCH: The seat by the radiator at the Brooklyn Inn
One winter evening not long ago, I was having a beer alone at the Brooklyn Inn before meeting a friend for dinner. As I arrived,
February 3, 2009
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SIGHT: The “Toast” of Smith Street
During my first year in New York City, I would take the F train each morning from Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn to Rockefeller Center, where
January 6, 2009
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TOUCH: Mood Designer Fabrics
Silk charmeuse. Iridescent chiffon. China silk habotai. Poplin, corduroy, and velvet. Shangtung. Houndstooth and herringbone. Tuile. Lace. These are just some of the treasures that
December 2, 2008
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SOUND: The bells of St. Martin’s Church, Harlem
Parishioners in Sunday hats trickled from the doors of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church onto the sidewalk of 122nd Street and Malcolm X Boulevard. As throbbing
November 4, 2008
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MULTISENSORY EXPERIENCE: The Terrace of Crispness
I set out for the Terrace of Crispness on an August afternoon. Traffic slunk along the BQE. A haze hung over the Manhattan skyline. My
October 7, 2008
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TOUCH: Platza treatment at the Russian and Turkish Baths
“You are very strong,” Victor the platza man told me moments after I’d emerged from the Radiant Heat Room at the Russian and Turkish Baths,
September 2, 2008
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SOUND: Mike Pallotta’s cutlery-grinding truck
One of the most wonderful things about living in New York is stumbling upon a living anachronism: a barbershop pole, a drugstore fountain, a shoe-polish
August 4, 2008
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TASTE: Glaser’s Bake Shop’s Black-and-White Cookie
I was skeptical of the black-and-white cookie. There was something obscene about their nearly half-foot diameter, the chocolate and vanilla icing: it was like having
July 1, 2008
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SIGHT: Horseshoe crabs spawning, Brooklyn
A few Sundays ago I headed out to Dead Horse Bay, in Marine Park, Brooklyn, to see the annual horseshoe crab spawning. The crabs’ mating
June 3, 2008
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