Rock Song Map Of Manhattan

More trivia: Exterior shots of Tom's Diner, made famous by Suzanne Vega, were used for the diner on Seinfeld. (Source)

Morning View - Lexington & 23rd

NEW YORK CITY: Five Queer Rising Activists Arrested In Traffic Blockade

Despite New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's vehement support for marriage equality and his recent promise for a "full court press" on the issue in the state Senate, activists from Queer Rising today stopped traffic outside of Cuomo's Manhattan office. Via press release:

Five people have been arrested for blocking rush-hour traffic just outside Governor Cuomo's Manhattan office, at East 41 Street and 3rd Avenue. The Queer Rising members unfurled a 75-foot banner that reads, “Marriage Equality NOW! Call Cuomo: 518-474-8390!!!” Five members of Queer Rising members handcuffed and chained themselves in the middle of the street and refused to leave the demonstration. Those arrested were: Natasha Dillon (26, lesbian activist); Kevin Donohue (51, gay Jewish activist); Melissa Kleckner (31, straight ally); Ali Lozano (20, lesbian student activist); Robert Moore (30, gay Mormon activist).

A separate action was staged simultaneously at Grand Central Terminal in which ten drag queens officiated mock same-sex weddings.

NEW YORK CITY: Five Queer Rising Activists Arrested In Traffic Blockade

Despite New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's vehement support for marriage equality and his recent promise for a "full court press" on the issue in the state Senate, activists from Queer Rising today stopped traffic outside of Cuomo's Manhattan office. Via press release:

Five people have been arrested for blocking rush-hour traffic just outside Governor Cuomo's Manhattan office, at East 41 Street and 3rd Avenue. The Queer Rising members unfurled a 75-foot banner that reads, “Marriage Equality NOW! Call Cuomo: 518-474-8390!!!” Five members of Queer Rising members handcuffed and chained themselves in the middle of the street and refused to leave the demonstration. Those arrested were: Natasha Dillon (26, lesbian activist); Kevin Donohue (51, gay Jewish activist); Melissa Kleckner (31, straight ally); Ali Lozano (20, lesbian student activist); Robert Moore (30, gay Mormon activist).

A separate action was staged simultaneously at Grand Central Terminal in which ten drag queens officiated mock same-sex weddings.

TRAILER: Triangle, The Garment Factory Fire That Spawned The Labor Movement

Manhattan's infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred one hundred years ago this week, spawning the modern American labor movement. HBO's documentary on the tragedy and the resultant labor reforms airs tonight at 9PM.

200 Years Of The Manhattan Street Grid

Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the approval of Manhattan's street grid, a decision that some historians say did more to create the most densely populated space in North America than any other bit of urban planning.

The grid certified by the city’s street commissioners on March 22, 1811, spurred development by establishing seven miles of regular, predictable street access. It also laid the groundwork for nearly 2,000 acres of landfill that would be added to the island over the next two centuries. The commissioners concluded that New York “is to be composed principally of the habitations of men, and that straight-sided and right-angled houses are the most cheap to build and the most convenient to live in.” The grid, which incorporated some existing roads, would also prove surprisingly resilient. It accommodated motor vehicles (after sidewalks and stoops were pruned). It allowed planners to superimpose Central Park in the 19th century and superblocks like those of Stuyvesant Town and Lincoln Center in the 20th. In the 21st, the grid was extended west to include apartment houses on Riverside Boulevard. “The 200-foot-long block is short enough to provide continuous diversity for the pedestrian, and the tradition of framing out the grid by building to the street-wall makes New York streets walkable and vibrant,” said Amanda M. Burden, the director of city planning.

The reason the grid's designers created so many crosstown streets yet so few north-south avenues is because they envisioned that most traffic would go river-to-river.

Tweet Of The Day - Queer Rising

This morning Queer Rising blocked the intersection of Manhattan's 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue with a giant yellow banner as part of their protest for marriage rights in New York state. Village Voice reporter Steven Thrasher tweets: "Reactions from those held up ranged From support to amusement to rage to confusion." I'll have photos and video later this morning.

UPDATE: Queer Rising sends us this press release.

The LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising’s protest against New York’s discriminatory marriage laws ends in arrest after eight members refused to move from the intersection at 42nd St. and 6th Avenue. A 75-foot banner reading “NY DEMANDS MARRIAGE EQUALITY NOW!” was unfurled. Unwilling to wait any longer for equal rights and protection from the state of New York, the eight activists refused to let Manhattan go on with business as usual while thousands of LGBTQ families live as second-class citizens. LGBTQ people throughout the state are no longer willing to remain silent until the unjust marriage laws change. "It’s a sad thing that I have to go to such extreme lengths for rights that others were born with," said Frostie Flakes, one of the three arrested drag queens.

“We do not enjoy inconveniencing drivers on their hectic morning commute,” said Jake Goodman, a member of Queer Rising and another arrestee, “but we less enjoy living without the 1,324 protections and rights granted by state-recognized marriage. We only hope others stop the routine of their everyday lives to join us and demand marriage equality now.” Those arrested were: Kevin Beauchamp, blind gay activist; Nora Camp, queer activist; Natasha Dillon, lesbian activist; Frostie Flakes (aka Adam Siciliano), drag queen activist; Jake Goodman, queer activist; Honey LaBronx (aka Ben Strothmann), drag queen activist; Eugene Lovendusky, gay activist; Kitten Withuwip (aka Caldwell) drag queen activist.

(Photo via Queerty)

NEW YORK CITY: Activists Announce Plan To Block Traffic Over Marriage Rights

Perhaps taking their cue from GetEQUAL's blockade of the Las Vegas strip last summer, Queer Rising today issued a press release announcing their plan to blockade Manhattan traffic next Tuesday in a protest over marriage rights.

The LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising has planned a March 1 demonstration to protest the lack of marriage equality in New York State. A protest and civil disobedience will occur in Midtown Manhattan on the morning of Tuesday, March 1, 2011. Complete details as to the location, action and Queer Rising participants will be released to media on the morning of March 1st. "The federal government has advanced the cause of marriage equality this week, with the decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act," said Queer Rising founding member Natasha Dillon. "But New York State shamefully lags behind on the issue. Marriage equality was defeated in December 2009 and the measure was not included in Governor Cuomo's 2011 Executive Budget. LGBTQ New Yorkers refuse to be persecuted, second-class citizens any longer!"

Altruistic Punishment

It turns out there's another name for that Manhattan phenomenon commonly called "sidewalk rage."

While it sounds like an oxymoron, altruistic punishment is basically how social norms get enforced. So when you expel a huffy "Excuse me!" to the rude sidewalk clogger in front of you who has stopped midstride to check his BlackBerry, you're trying to discourage behavior that endangers other members of the society. It's called "altruistic" punishment, because your efforts to protect civility come at personal cost with little chance of personal benefit: you are far more likely to get an obscene gesture or even a punch in the mouth than a thank you.

Many evolutionary psychologists believe, however, that without altruistic punishment, cooperation could not have evolved. In simulations of "selfish" versus "cooperative" strategies for living, for instance, researchers have found that altruistic or cooperative creatures beat out selfish ones only in an environment in which the failure to cooperate is actively detected and punished. Sidewalk rage — anger over the selfish violation of a cooperative social norm that protects the group — is a nice example of that.

What's the altruistic punishment for the people who argue about their coupons at Walgreens?

NEW YORK: Race-Baiting Anti-Abortion Billboard Angers City Politicians

New York City leaders are furious about a race-baiting anti-abortion billboard just posted in Soho.

Public Advocate Bill De Blasio demanded the billboard be taken down. “This billboard simply doesn’t belong in our city. The ad violates the values of New Yorkers and is grossly offensive to women and communities of color,” said De Blasio. The anti-abortion nonprofit organization behind the billboard said its goal is to shock people and spark discussion. The spokesperson for Life Always, Marissa Gabrysch, said the group is trying to highlight its belief that Planned Parenthood targets minority neighborhoods with the 300,000 abortions it performs each year. “There’s a grave disparity and just a huge disproportion that African-Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population yet represent 36 percent of abortions in the United States,” said Gabrysch.

NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn issued a press release this morning.

“This billboard is nothing but a pathetic attempt to discredit Planned Parenthood. To refer to a woman’s legal right to an abortion as a ‘genocidal plot’ is not only absurd but it is offensive to women and to communities of color. Every woman deserves the right to make healthcare decisions for herself and I will continue to fight to protect this basic right and against this sort of fear mongering. What’s more unfortunate is that this billboard directs women to Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which are non-medical facilities that often mislead women about both their reproductive health and their reproductive rights. To give women as much information as possible about their own heath, I fully support local legislation to require Crisis Pregnancy Centers to clearly post what services they offer. Offensive rhetoric and deceptive actions against a woman’s right to choose will not be tolerated in our city.”

NEW YORK CITY: Lawmakers Refloat Plan To Charge For Driving Downtown

Lawmakers are refloating a plan to charge drivers up to $10 if they want to drive south of 60th Street in Manhattan on weekdays. Bloomberg test-drove the idea back in 2008 to little support, but with the city budget in the shape it presently is, this time the idea may get some traction.

Driver fees could also reverse some of the MTA service cuts that eliminated two subway lines and 36 bus routes last year, and help plug the system's $10 billion long-term maintenance gap. They could also delay the 7% fare hike scheduled for a year from now, backers hope. While Gov. Cuomo has not taken sides on the idea, Bloomberg aides have been working on it behind the scenes for months. "The key is devising a proposal that would win broad support across the five boroughs, the entire region, and in Albany," said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson.

Last time, the plan was largely shot down by outer-borough commuters who drive downtown and use the already sky-high parking garages.

RELATED: In 2003 London instituted a similar congestion charge in which weekday drivers pay £10 to enter the central part of the city.

Habbibi

The New York Times looks at Habbibi, Manhattan's long-running dance party for gay Arabs.

In the D.J.’s booth, Abraham kept the hits coming — mainly from Egypt and Lebanon, but also some South Asian and Indian pop. “Anything with a belly dance beat,” he said. “Keeping people on the dance floor is a natural high for me.” The dancers included plenty of non-Arab men, many of whom Abraham said were regulars. "Hummus queens,” a 24-year-old grocery clerk from Queens named Hilal joked at one of the parties. “That’s what you call white guys who go for Arabs.” Some of the guests yearned for something more than just a good time. “There’s a lot of post-9/11 baggage that people want to deal with,” Hilal said during another party. “But the only option they have is to go out to a club and dance?” Still, Hilal, wearing a “Hummus Is Yummus” T-shirt and a Mohawk haircut, took his place on the dance floor, too.

I've attended Habbibi with my beloved Farmboyz, but I don't think anybody called us "hummus queens."