JUNE
4, 2004 --
This writer could
not belive his eyes when he saw this parking meter in Hudson, NY.
One nickel for an hour? One dime for two hours? In New York City,
a dime gets you nothing. For the time purchased for a quarter in
Manhattan -- ten minutes, one can park in Hudson for five hours.
It gets even
better.
After taking
a picture of the geraniums in front of Theron Ware, Works of Art,
at 548 Warren Street, this writer got into a conversation with
Michael Egan, who, with partner Christopher Boslet, owns the shop.
Not only is parking a nickel for an hour and a dime for two hours,
it is free every weekend, Mr. Egan said.
This must mean
that no tickets are issued in Hudson, New York, Saturdays and Sundays
for parking meter violations. Unlike New York City where, in the
Bronx, only hours earlier, this writer received a $35 ticket while
in a bakery for a few minutes. Yes, unlike New York City where,
in Manhattan that evening, this writer observed a policeman issuing
a ticket, apparently for a parking meter violation on a vehicle
with North Carolina plates. Not the kind of thing to make New York
plates, well-liked in North Carolina, LPR suggests.
This writer headed
to the Hudson River for a glimpse of the Navy Ships in town for
Fleet Week. After taking a picture of the banner welcoming people
to Fleet Week, LPR was cautioned not to take pictures of the ships.
Spotting our flag over the piers, LPR took a picture of Old Glory--
without interference. Nor was there interference when LPR got a
picture of the facade of the Hustler Club, a few blocks up 12th
Avenue, at 51st Street.
Earlier in the
day, in Hudson, New York, about 115 miles from midtown, Manhattan,
LPR took pictures of our flag on 6th Street, between Warren and
Columbia and immediately got a sense that this flag symbolized
our freedom tradition in a city where parking meter violations
cannot happen on weekends.
LPR clicksters--
see for yourself. Compare our flag flying on Manhattan's west side
with our flag flying about 115 miles upriver. The flag in New York
City seems to be stressed out; the flag in Hudson, NY is clearly
relaxed. And this is to affirm that the photographs have not been
doctored.
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Old
Glory stressed out.
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Old
Glory relaxed.
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The finemeister
urged people in New York City to go about their business, notwithstanding
warnings of further terrorist strikes against us. The morning of May
30, someone driving to Long Island by way of the Whitestone Bridge
would have found lanes closed. Is such closure typical of the opening
Sunday of the metropolitan area's summer season? And, after taking
the bridge to the Van Wyck expressway, motorists taking the Brooklyn-bound
Belt Highway exit would have driven into a traffic jam caused by a
police scrutiny point.
When the Finemeister
urged New Yorkers to go about their business, he indicated that
we should leave security concerns to the professionals. All right,
scrutiny points are one thing. But police triple-parking to serve
a summons for double parking? This is what happened on southbound
Broadway at 90th Street, early on June 1, permitting just one southbound
lane at this point, during the morning rush hour. (The NYPD triple-parked
car is the vehicle with its lights on, in the middle of the photo,
showing the southbound Broadway lanes, at 90th Street).
People going
to the theater might also find things a bit slowed, as crowds form
outside theaters, while the professionals go about their business.
The accompanying photo shows the crowd waiting to enter the Richard
Rodgers Theater on 46th Street, to see the musical "Movin'
Out," which received a Tony last year. This scene, LPR observed,
was repeated throughout the theater district.
Here, now another
glimpse of humane Hudson, New York-- and gas prices considerably
lower than those of New York City. LPR acknowledges that the prices
at this Hudson Citgo gas station might irk the editorial board
at The New York Times and, say, David Ignatius at The
Washington Post, who prefer gas prices to be rather high.
It is not clear what country the anti-populist media believes in.
Perhaps it is a country where sovereign power is at the tip of
the pyramid, not at the base. Heavens, the "conservative" New
York Times columnist David Brooks is hoping he will still see big
things from President Bush. There goes a "conservative" falling
for Rooseveltism. Let the President be the president-- presiding
over government, not running our lives by decrees.
Or is it that
people in New York City prefer to be ruled, prefer to follow the
dictates of the elected officials. For this writer, a call to countrymen
to send some form of expeditionary force to Free the New York City
8 Million is most welcome. Should such move fail, there is, however,
the option of looking for a Federalist-57-ville. Hudson, New York
might be just one such place. |
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