Weekly Weird in New York City
I'm starting a thread about oddities of all kinds in this city--people, places, events--a kind of annals of the strange and wonderful in New York, which I hope everyone will contribute to at least once a week. Considering the rich diversity of this city, it shouldn't be difficult to add to the list.
Question asked via StreetAdvisor
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of Douglas Elliman.
17 people following
this discussion
this discussion
- Follow
- Share
139 Comments
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
Here's my first offering:
Capitol Fishing Tackle (132 West 36th, at Broadway and 7th Avenue) has a huge and imaginative array of fishing paraphernalia and equipment. It's also a place for people who enjoy the beauty of simple mechanisms and well-made objects.
Capitol Fishing Tackle (132 West 36th, at Broadway and 7th Avenue) has a huge and imaginative array of fishing paraphernalia and equipment. It's also a place for people who enjoy the beauty of simple mechanisms and well-made objects.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
How about Manhattan Table Tennis. Does it fit the category of strange? Its unique because it's the only place where you can play the "official' version of table tennis, not ping-pong. It's on Broadway near 99th Street.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
I have a great one: Death Bear. Death Bear is a dude in a bear suit that you call upon - via text message - to come over and rid your apartment of anything reminding you of your recent ex. The man behind Death Bear also runs Chinatown garbage taxidermy tours and offers free bouncy rides in the subway whilst dressed in a fish costume. Oh, and he offers a candy crack delivery service on weekends, going for a dollar per bag.
http://clubanimalsnyc.blogspot.com/
http://natehillisnuts.com/
http://clubanimalsnyc.blogspot.com/
http://natehillisnuts.com/
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@ BroadwayBK Okay, you definitely got the spirit of this topic. I had to laugh out loud at Death Bear dude.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
I've been meaning to somehow fit Death Bear into these forums for a while now - so thanks for the opportunity!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
Wow what strange and weird things to see in the city. I have to admit the Death Bear sounds like an intriguing way to make part time income. By the way, ajadedidealist, I like your thinking. I have a friend who is into Wiccan stuff and does Tarot cards and all that stuff. She actually taught me to read Tarot. I still do it now and then, but my writing keeps me busy enough.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
The "Polar Bears" are pretty weird - every year a group of New Yorkers actually go swimming on Coney Island for the New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim.This has been going on for over 100 years, but this year more than 1,000 people showed up this year to take the plunge.
Seems I keep running across strange topics involving bears.
Seems I keep running across strange topics involving bears.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK the Death Bear dude is hilarious and I agree about the Polar Bear swim.. insanity to say the least.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
There's also a Turkey Trot (in Prospect Park, I think) where people who can't sit still get up early on Thanksgiving Day and all go running together. I was invited last year but declined and chose to linger in bed...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
Oh, and who can forget about the Naked Cowboy? He may be a tourist icon, but I don't care! He's one of the many things that come to mind when I think of New York, and the idea always makes me stop and think "God, I love this place."
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
Yeah, I heard of the Naked Cowboy. What happened to him? I have not heard about him in a long time? Where was he hanging out at? Was it in the Times Square area?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
He actually has a webiste -http://www.nakedcowboy.com/ and tweets about his whereabouts regularly too
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
I love that the Naked Cowboy is hip to the ways of merchandising and has got himself a whole line of products that he offers for sale...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish That dude is still around? Reminds me of the Carson Daly days of TRL....
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Magg
2yrs+
I don't know if you would classify this as weird, but the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade is certainly unusual and a great pageant of highly imaginative costumes. :-)
I LOVE watching this parade. Any one ever catch it?
I LOVE watching this parade. Any one ever catch it?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
Catch it? I've BEEN on it - at the tender age of thirteen. Which reminds me of another weekly weird - the Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight screenings in Chelsea on 28th Street. Every Fri/Sat night - with a live stage show cast. It's very much a watering hole for disaffected teenagers - isolated either by being goth/LGBT/alternative/any other thing you can think of that makes life hard in high school, but who can't get into nightclubs - and slightly more edgy/savvy twenty-somethings, and can be a lot of fun, in a cheesy sort of way!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@Mayeg I've never seen the Halloween Parade as I'm not that big into what I consider outright drinking holidays, but that actually sounds really awesome. Is it mostly just a gaggle of people in elaborate costumes?
@ajadedidealist Yeah, it seems like every city I've ever lived in hosted a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening at which you absolutely must dress the part, mostly attended by teenagers.
@ajadedidealist Yeah, it seems like every city I've ever lived in hosted a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening at which you absolutely must dress the part, mostly attended by teenagers.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Mayeg I too love watching the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. I find it totally fun and mad though havent ever taken part in it. Just love watching all the weird and wacky costumes and the whole spooky atmosphere.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
I never got to see the Greenwish Village Halloween Parade, but it sounds like fun. Hopefully, I'll be able to go see it this year.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@Mayeg Well it sounds pretty cool.. I'll put it on my to do list for later this year.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
Yeah, and with diagrams! I'd like to see who can beat that for the weekly weird challenge.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I'm going to have to concede to your Weekly Weird; it looks as if you've won this week....
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
Thank you BroadwayBK, but don't fret, this new week isn't claimed yet.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
I dont know if this qualifies in the weekly weird column but last night as I walking down 81st street in the bitter cold I came across two huge planters which along with the plants in them were completely covered in shrink wrap. Now I dont know if the owner was trying to protect his/her plants from the arctic air that is currently swirling around or he/she was following some new planting trend. It definitely struck me as weird and I would have snapped a pic if it hadnt been so cold that I couldnt feel my fingers even with my gloves on.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
What about this. Last night my friend and I came home from shopping on Long Island and as we were unloading the car, two things broke. I told her everything happens in threes. As such, soon after she noticed a small bag was missing. And being it was the full moon, I would say it was a weird situation.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
The full moon last night was supposed to be the biggest it will be all year...yeah that was weird.
Here's one related specifically to New York. One place I went to see in my apartment search this week had been converted from a one-bedroom to a three bedroom, so that the "room" for rent was a kind of glorified closet, the door to which didn't even shut properly. Aside from that the entire place was Filthy. I knwo different people have different ideas about clean, but this one would qualify for Filthy in everybody's book, I'm pretty sure. So the weird part of the story is the helplessness with which the kid--he can't have been more than 30--said that he didn't understand why he'd been unable to find someone to move in. I can only shake my head in wonder at the total lack of perspective it must take to be that clueless.
Here's one related specifically to New York. One place I went to see in my apartment search this week had been converted from a one-bedroom to a three bedroom, so that the "room" for rent was a kind of glorified closet, the door to which didn't even shut properly. Aside from that the entire place was Filthy. I knwo different people have different ideas about clean, but this one would qualify for Filthy in everybody's book, I'm pretty sure. So the weird part of the story is the helplessness with which the kid--he can't have been more than 30--said that he didn't understand why he'd been unable to find someone to move in. I can only shake my head in wonder at the total lack of perspective it must take to be that clueless.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@uraniumfish Isn't it a known fact that a full moon makes people do crazy things?maybe he was 'loco' and to try and rent a filthy room/closet :) sacrilege doesnt he watch any HGTV where staging is all the rule?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
Ahhh... during my years working in restaurants there was always a strange but noticeable shift - and not for the greater good - in clientele during the full moon. I'm still not sure if it makes people crazy or if it just makes the crazies come out. :)
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
Looks like this forum was abandoned? Maybe this will revive it! http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/04/2010-03-04_dogwalker_gets_burned_brooklynite_splashed_with_acid_after_dog_barks_at_man_in_b.html
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
ajadedidealist: I love Enchanted! I go there to get candles all the time as gifts for people. They'll custom - make them! It's the coolest place
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps I wouldn't classify an acid attack as weird but seriously scary!!! In third world countries it is often used by men to subjugate or take revenge on a woman. Why when I was in Hong Kong in January there were serious acid attacks in popular markets.. its awful!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps Yeah, I would have to say that is pretty horrifying, especially because the guy wasn't really doing anything....
@uptowngirl That is horrible, but not as horrible as bride burning!
@uptowngirl That is horrible, but not as horrible as bride burning!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
@Jenmac - they've got really nice-smelling things of all varieties! Herbs, oils, candles. But it means my clothes always stink whenever I go inside...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
Yeah, it is a little stinky. But, it's a pretty cool place. The only thing I don't like is all the cats running around. . . . because I'm allergic. And, I was pretty surprised at how cool all of the, ahem, witches are. Friendly and not judgmental at all which for some reason, I kind of expected.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@uptowngirl @BroadwayBK Okay, it's horrible. But totally weird and completely random - in a horrible way.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: I also like Enchanted, although I don't go into the store as often as I like to.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps I guess it is rare for someone to just have acid thrown on them for no apparent reason... unless you are in Hong Kong, like uptowngirl said.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
This is not as weird as the classic Death Bear, but here goes: there is apparently exactly one drive-in movie theater in Manhattan, but there's a catch: it only has room for one car. So if you want to reserve the space, you have to do so up to ten days in advance: http://www.driveinnyc.com/
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
That's a crazy, disturbing story, @neversleeps.
Wow, how does the drivein movie theatre afford to stay in business, @BroadwayBK? Surely they can't sell more than 2-4 tickets a day?
Wow, how does the drivein movie theatre afford to stay in business, @BroadwayBK? Surely they can't sell more than 2-4 tickets a day?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: What is the point of using acid? What is the payoff? What does the person throwing the acid get out of it, except to be considered a jerk or evil person. The victim unfortunately suffers the most.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@hhusted Doubt that there's a payoff, it's just easily obtained and can do some damage if that's what you intend to do. Also, it's easy to just throw it and run, without having to worry about any real retribution. It's a coward's weapon, really.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@NeverSleep: With every action someone undertakes, there is always a payoff. This payoff may be to see someone suffer, or to get revenge on someone. But there is always a payoff. When I studied the human mind in college, there is one thing our professor told us, and that was that no matter who you are, whatever action you perform, you have one aim for it. And that aim is considered a payoff.
When you said it was a coward's weapon, that is the payoff for the perpetrator. He wants to see if he can do harm to another person and get away with it. It is like "catch me if you can." In my therapy sessions, I've seen this type of characterization way too often.
To me, anyone who throws anything at another person to inflict harm should see a psychiatrist or psychologist, for that person shows signs of being unstable. Sorry. I just can't accept the idea of someone hurting someone else for whatever reason it is.
When you said it was a coward's weapon, that is the payoff for the perpetrator. He wants to see if he can do harm to another person and get away with it. It is like "catch me if you can." In my therapy sessions, I've seen this type of characterization way too often.
To me, anyone who throws anything at another person to inflict harm should see a psychiatrist or psychologist, for that person shows signs of being unstable. Sorry. I just can't accept the idea of someone hurting someone else for whatever reason it is.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@hhusted the intention at least in the case of men who use acid to hurt women is to cause disfigurement to such an extent that the woman has no hope of ever attracting another man. The many acid attack cases that I have read about have almost always involved a spurned/ scorned male who has used the deadly liquid to wreck havoc on the victim's life
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: Are most men that way in India, or just some. I can't see a person hurting another one out of spite justified. I just can't.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: Only in NYC do you see such things that go practically unnoticed. I have found that New Yorkers don't pay any mind to anything strange. But if you look at anyone looking at weird stuff, may just be a tourist, since they really haven't experienced stuff like that much.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
Hah. Maybe we New Yorkers aren't as cynical and jaded as I thought, eh @uptowngirl? My favorite NY weird moment was the random guy dressed as Spiderman who came up to me and a friend a few years ago and threw some webbing at us, then ran away....
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: You are right about bad apples. It really only takes one to cause a problem. Remember the old saying "monkey-see, monkey-do." This is usually the case with many people. So when one does it, others follow.
@Ajadedidealist: Did you ever see the human robot? The last time I saw the human robot was at Times Square about three years ago. I haven't been in the area for a long time, so I don't know if the human robot is still around.
@Ajadedidealist: Did you ever see the human robot? The last time I saw the human robot was at Times Square about three years ago. I haven't been in the area for a long time, so I don't know if the human robot is still around.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@hhusted I have never seen the human robot or the naked cowboy for that matter.
@ajadedidealist how did you react? were you spooked or did you just burst out laughing?
@ajadedidealist how did you react? were you spooked or did you just burst out laughing?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: Too bad. You missed one funny show. He actually moved like a robot. He did not talk at all. He just simply moved in a robot like way.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
I've never seen the human robot myself, but he sounds like quite a character! Very awesome! As for Spiderman, we were in Times Square, which is crowded enough that I wasnt spooked. Would not like to have met him on a dark alley, though (although I suppose a superhero is precisely who you want to be in a dark alley!)
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: Well, any time you have someone throw a web at you will be kind of scary, no matter you are or who is doing it. You are thinking what is going on here.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
Oh, the naked cowboy is definitely still around, uptowngirl. You hang around Times Sq - Herald Square in between area for 20 minutes and you are bound to see him.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@JenMac: Is the Naked Cowboy around even in winter. I would think he would get awful cold standing around playing his guitar in the dead of winter like that.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@hhusted good point!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
So, getting back on topic, my weird for this week is the experience of walking around a predominantly Hassidic neighborhood and feeling that I'd been suddenly whisked to another planet. To be fair, I've had a similar feeling walking through certain parts of deep Chinatown.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: Wow, what an experience. Can you give details as to why you felt walking through a Hassidic neighborhood felt like you were on another planet?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
He's not around as much. But, he's definitely around.
My weekly weird is seeing a man having his head stitched in a sports bar.
My weekly weird is seeing a man having his head stitched in a sports bar.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@JenMac ooh painful! A bar brawl fallout I presume
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@JenMac: Probably a typical bar room brawl. A bunch of guys get drunk and start a fight.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish Which neighborhood?
@JenMac Was this in Williamsburg?
@JenMac Was this in Williamsburg?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
I think some guys were clowning around and one got hurt but didn't want to leave during the game. It was pretty funny.
Not in Willy. It was at the Pourhouse.
Not in Willy. It was at the Pourhouse.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
I haven't seen any kind of bar fighting since my days in a southern college town. And I don't miss it.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK; Since I don't drink, I don't go to bars. But I have seen bar fights and know they can get way out of hand.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
Wasn't a bar fight. But, I've seen my share of them. And, yeah, they are always started for something completely ridiculous. I saw a guy get stabbed once because he told a dude to stop hitting on his wife.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@JenMac Yeah..and too often a bar fight about nothing turns tragic.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
I think the hiChristina folks get my Weird vote for this week:
http://www.hichristina.com/calendar2009.html
and
http://www.hichristina.com/
Near as I can make it out, they put on live soap operas, in which the audience gets to participate and determine the outcome of the action. And everyone, apparently, gets a glitter mustache. Sadly, saw the posting too late and missed out going to the show.
http://www.hichristina.com/calendar2009.html
and
http://www.hichristina.com/
Near as I can make it out, they put on live soap operas, in which the audience gets to participate and determine the outcome of the action. And everyone, apparently, gets a glitter mustache. Sadly, saw the posting too late and missed out going to the show.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@Urainumfish That just seems cool? The glitter mustache is a bit weird, though.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
Reading this - http://gawker.com/5508187/real-housewives-of-new-york-the-manhattan-murders?skyline=true&s=i - made me think that Real Housewives of New York probably belongs in this forum.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK more than weird this seasons episodes are catty and bitchy and quite boring ...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
MONUMENTAL
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK Now that is a weird variety!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@uptowngirl That Gawker article made the show sound really absurd - but then again that is the one reality show I never really got into.
@msQT Avatars like humans posing as those blue people from the mythical planet of Pandora?
@msQT Avatars like humans posing as those blue people from the mythical planet of Pandora?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
This week I realized how many of my friends are married and I had to go sit down for a minute.
Weird.
Weird.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
landee
2yrs+
Haha i love this thread! It makes me really want to live in New York! BroadwayBK's original post way at the top was a funny one! I think that death bear idea is really unique and neat....sorta or maybe just weird...hmmmmm
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Landee: NYC can have its funny moments as well as bad moments.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@DBlack What made you consider such a thing?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@DBlack being married is not weird:) an endangered species for sure but not weird..
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@msQT can't agree more nothing in this city shocks me anymore.. the other day I saw a woman of a certain age dressed head to toe ( really from the top of head to her toes) in gold.. bleached bright blonde hair, gold leather jacket, skinny gold jeans, gold peep toe shoes) walking along Lexington Avenue in the 70's. She was quite the sight in such a chi-chi neighborhood..but nobody paid any attention to her.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: I agree being married is not weird. It is trying at times, but definitely not weird. It actually can be an enjoyable experience if the two are compatible and really love each other.
I guess people are so used to seeing strange things in NYC that nothing phases people these days.
I guess people are so used to seeing strange things in NYC that nothing phases people these days.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
Maybe he meant that time flies and all of the sudden your friends are all married? I can understand feeling sort of weird about it in a sense that doesn't actually mean that being married is what's actually weird.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
Last week I saw a dude in Clinton Hill walking around in a fluffy pink pimp costume, top hat and all. Inexplicably. And naturally no one else paid attention to him.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
Here's another one: I saw I big mound of garbage on a curb and on the ground sticking out from underneath it, somebody's foot. Scared the daylights out of me, till I looked closer and saw that it was a discarded prosthesis. Very realistic, very wacky sight.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish OMG!! I can totally imagine how spooked you must felt...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
@uraniumfish: thank god it was just a prosthesis!
I overheard two friends talking this morning. One of them said to the other, "well, how long ago did you guys break up? Now that she's single she's just not that appealing to me. But, thanks for the heads up." Ummmmmmmm
I overheard two friends talking this morning. One of them said to the other, "well, how long ago did you guys break up? Now that she's single she's just not that appealing to me. But, thanks for the heads up." Ummmmmmmm
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
Haha, at first I thought the visible foot was someone who had dived headfirst into the garbage and didn't want to come out. I guess all this nice weather is making me delirious.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@JenMac That is really creepy, and yet it sounds like something some of the dudes I know would say. Gross.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
Ahahahahah, @broadwaybk: don't you hate it when you dive headfirst into garbage and don't want to come out?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps Yes, that's exactly what I meant about all my friends now being married. It seems like it happened overnight.
@Uraniumfish The foot story is so wild! That would creep me out too! I bet you're not the only one who did a double take...
@Uraniumfish The foot story is so wild! That would creep me out too! I bet you're not the only one who did a double take...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish That foot thing...ugh! Even the thought of a fake body part in the trash really creeps me out...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
As a footnote (ahaha ha, punny) to that story: later that evening I walked back on the same street and the prosthetic leg was propped upright against the mound of garbage. So I guess it had caught other people's attention too, and they had dragged it out to examine it. I don't know about you all, but I would never put my hands on somebody else's discarded leg.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
I am always interested in "Dumb Laws" I've read about them for years but I can't seem to find the books. Luckily, we have the internet. After all dumb laws can fall under the category of weird. I am listing three here and then I will post a new thread for the rest.
1. It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing “body hugging clothing”.
2. Citizens may not greet each other by “putting one’s thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers”. (Think of the whole bit in Romeo and Juliet, "Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" It's about the same isn't it?)
3. A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. (Seriously?)
1. It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing “body hugging clothing”.
2. Citizens may not greet each other by “putting one’s thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers”. (Think of the whole bit in Romeo and Juliet, "Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" It's about the same isn't it?)
3. A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. (Seriously?)
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@Freyja4 Hah! Great! But I bet you didn't know that it is NOT illegal for women to go topless in the subway. Why? Because in the 70's a bunch of bra-burning feminists challenged this particular law by....going around topless on subways, until everybody said enough was enough and struck that law from the books.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
I wish I could have seen that. Still it was something worth bringing up. In many other countries women can wear bathing suit tops and shorts to school. I think that was . . . Switzerland. I think. I had a friend in high school who told me that. If I correctly recall she was from Switzerland.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@Freyja4 OK, fair enough, but at least they're not going to school topless in Switzerland or wherever, which would really be a little weird. I'm okay with nude beaches, but the subway? The thought is so silly it makes me laugh.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish wow can you imagine the pandemonium it would create if someone did go topless on the subway today?? bet the perpetrator would be arrested, marched off and thrown in the slammer for isnt there a law governing nudity in public places?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Freyja4 bathing tops and shorts? I dont think that's uncommon is it? during the summers you do happen to catch scantily clad women in the parks and elsewhere in NYC...but I guess schools need to draw a line somewhere..
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
JenMac
2yrs+
Yeah, a bathing suit top to junior high seems a little ridiculous.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@uptowngirl Nooooo, they wouldn't get arrested for going topless on the subway. That's just the point of what I was saying above, the law was challenged in the 70's and removed as a result of those feminists. So we are all free to go around topless on the subways if we want...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish oh golly!!!!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
LeoG
2yrs+
The Butterfly Conservatory at the American Museum of Natural History. Celebrate the eleventh annual return of this re-created tropical forest environment filled with over 500 live butterflies. This is a great way to spend a day. Make sure you take a camera with you.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
AlifKhan
2yrs+
Crif Dog on St. Marks has an extradition collectible Jesus and Moses action figure. There is also the... =)
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/women-abreast-of-rights-on-subway-1446171.html
Women can go topless in the subway,"as long as they don't smoke cigarettes, beg for money or chew gum". Love it. But I am never going to do it.
Women can go topless in the subway,"as long as they don't smoke cigarettes, beg for money or chew gum". Love it. But I am never going to do it.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
@jmsurprenant LOL Oh, yes, the Mermaid Parade, and I have witnessed the disturbing nudity of which you speak...I think they still do it--how could they stop??? It's one of those things that has to go on forever. We need our disturbing nudity! But I haven't been to CI in ages, so...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
LeoG
2yrs+
King Tut is back in town again...I attended the first exhibit way back in 1979 and still remember how cool it was. I am not sure how much from the original exhibit will be here in the city but I might just go to check it out and see for myself. I will update if I do. The info is as follows.
Discovery TSX is located in the former New York Times Building on 44th Street
between 7th & 8th Avenues, directly across from Shubert Alley.
Discovery Times Square Exposition
226 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
Telephone: 888.9TUTNYC (888.988.8692)
» [email protected]
Discovery TSX is located in the former New York Times Building on 44th Street
between 7th & 8th Avenues, directly across from Shubert Alley.
Discovery Times Square Exposition
226 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
Telephone: 888.9TUTNYC (888.988.8692)
» [email protected]
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Neversleeps that's so totally wild... unbelievable!
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps: If the women are gorgeous looking with decent bodies, I wouldn't mind seeing them. But, I think that is the natural reaction for most men.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@hhusted Don't need to know.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps Ditto.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
I wouldn't want to go topless on the subway. But I have no problem with topless sunbathing (not only is it more comfortable, it creates a more even tan line) and often regret that such a thing isn't possible where I live
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@ajadeidealist Yeah, well, topless sunbathing makes sense in a way that topless straphanging doesn't quite make sense. You also don't see many men without shirts on the subway, for the simple reason that it
s a little bit icky and inappropriate.
s a little bit icky and inappropriate.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
Yeah, I think I would be offended if a bunch of dudes were constantly wandering around the subway half naked. There's no need for that.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@uptowngirl Nudist colonies are pretty creepy.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK Totally agree with you , I wouldn't be caught dead in one..I am the sort who even likes to go to a female gynecologist.. rather than a male one.. weird aren't I?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
@uptowngirl: Me,too. In fact I like all my docs with the exception of the dentist and the eye doc to be female. I had an uncomfortable experience as a child. I don't wish to disclose anything about it.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
Guys, I think this attitude about bodies is pretty typically American, whereas Europeans aren't all that hung up about the issue. I've been to nude saunas and nude beaches in Europe, and creepily enough it was the Americans taking photographs as though there was some spectacle going on. Now, THAT was creepy. That said, I would never have anything to do with nudists in the US, they do strike me as a little pervy on the whole. But it's remarkable how worried Americans are about their bodies in contrast to Europeans. It's such a non-issue across the pond. It was funny coming back to the States and realizing I'd have to wear a bathing suit at the sauna. I had never thought of doing so before, since all my first sauna experiences were in Europe.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
Women go topless in Miami - and I've been to plenty of European beaches... And I'm not weired out by locker room or sauna nakedness in the least; I see it every day. But there is something about nudists that is definitely creepy. I don't know if there is a different breed of them outside of the US, but why would anyone in their right mind want to be naked in front of a hot stove or grill? Can you imagine being naked and exercising? Maybe it's just my love of self-decorating that puts me at disease of a culture that participates in all aspects of the modern world without wearing clothing. Can't help it.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
You remember that whole controversey about Janet Jackson's wardrobe mishap at the superbowl? I think it was funny. I may not be a nudist, but I am not worried about what Janet did. In fact I wasn't paying attenti at the time becuase I was changing a diaper.The Euorpeans were having a hayday about the American reaction to the whole deal. I don't blame them.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
@Freyja I thought it was pretty tacky... and lame. I definitely was not worried about it either!
@everyone I don't think nakedness is what's offensive, it's just that there is a time and place for it, you know? Like nakedness in a locker room or in advertisements is not a big deal. But who wants to be naked all winter? I think it's the cult-ishness of nudist colonies that makes them weird, kind of like vegans who preach their beliefs all the time.
@everyone I don't think nakedness is what's offensive, it's just that there is a time and place for it, you know? Like nakedness in a locker room or in advertisements is not a big deal. But who wants to be naked all winter? I think it's the cult-ishness of nudist colonies that makes them weird, kind of like vegans who preach their beliefs all the time.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
The trains were packed today because of construction work on the 2/3 line out of Brooklyn, and one guy got on without a shirt. I thought of this thread just then, and how inappropriate it was at that moment, with people squeezing up against each other. There's a time and a place, man.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
Americans get very weird about nipples showing though shirts, but no one cares in France ans women walk around without bras all the time.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@DBlack Ew, yeah. I didn't even think of having to touch some dude without a shirt in a crowded car. Jeez.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
Yes @DBlack double yeow.. gross..
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
DBlack
2yrs+
@ajadedidealist, Freyja4 No arguments from me on that fashion trend.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
It's a style that one it came in, it wont come out (pun intended). Curse back i those days of the roaring 1920's we would have been called brazen for such dress. I wouldn't care.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
Should look good @uptowngirl.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@hhusted That may be true of many French men, but it was my experience that French women sort of rolled their eyes when men ran after them in the street.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Freyja4
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: I'd put myself in that category. Though of course I have the strangest ways of meeting men.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: Oh, that is interesting. Is it because the French women are so used to the French men coming on to them that they have gotten to the point now where they rolls their eyes, as if to say, "Not again," or "That's old, guy."
What do you think?
What do you think?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@hhusted I'd say it was something like that, yes.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK: I see. Thanks for the insight. Interesting the different cultures and how they can teach us things.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
However tongue in cheek the come-ons may be, I sure got tired of being stalked on the street, being invited on wine country getaways by total strangers, and having guys blatantly try to sleep with me.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy my fair share of little coffees and glasses of wine with some of the nicer guys that I met.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy my fair share of little coffees and glasses of wine with some of the nicer guys that I met.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
Uraniumfish
2yrs+
@BroadwayBK Totally agree with BroadwayBK on this one, and it very much matches my own experience when I lived in France. It was, quite frankly, fatiguing to be hit on ALL THE TIME by random slimy men. And, sadly @uptowngirl French men are not much to look at. They are typically small, scrawny, and have bad teeth.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Everyone going back to the topic of weekly weird in the city, just came across this report of wild phallic mushrooms growing in an Inwood park in Upper Manhattan. Have a look
http://dnainfo.com/20100920/washington-heights-inwood/phallic-mushrooms-grow-inwood-hill-park
http://dnainfo.com/20100920/washington-heights-inwood/phallic-mushrooms-grow-inwood-hill-park
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
ajadedidealist
2yrs+
Haha! This would have been even funnier were it in Chelsea...
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: Are you serious. French men are small and have bad teeth?
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
hhusted
2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I guess us cowboy types have some advantages and usefulness after all. :)
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
uptowngirl
2yrs+
@Everyone the first weekly weird for 2011 definitely has to be the No Pants annual subway ride..
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/09/new-yorkers-take-off-their-pants-in-the-subway/
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/09/new-yorkers-take-off-their-pants-in-the-subway/
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
NeverSleeps
2yrs+
Here's one for the urban legend files: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-curious-case-of-the-unscathed-scooter/
Apparently an unmanned Vespa had been lurking on Sutton Place South for months without being ticketed or removed by the city. The occasional driver would use the thing to reserve a parking space for themselves by turning it parallel to the sidewalk. Naturally, when the story was picked up by the NY Times the city (almost) immediately set out to rid itself of the abandoned scooter.
Apparently an unmanned Vespa had been lurking on Sutton Place South for months without being ticketed or removed by the city. The occasional driver would use the thing to reserve a parking space for themselves by turning it parallel to the sidewalk. Naturally, when the story was picked up by the NY Times the city (almost) immediately set out to rid itself of the abandoned scooter.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
BroadwayBK
2yrs+
@NeverSleeps Haaa. That would never happen in Bushwick; they are crazy with the ticket-writing out here.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...
HegelFischer5
2yrs+
There are lot of weird things everyday here in New York. But I'm still enjoying staying here. Even though, I have some problems but New York is still my home.
- Comment
- Share
Add a comment...