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Alexa, play Hard Times by Paramore 🫠

Big City, little friend had an unplanned outage last week because I got hit in the sads. This time of year has always been my favorite (end of summer, start of fall, pumpkin everything) but the last few years have turned it into a season of loss. I’ve lost family and friends all within the span of a few weeks around this time so the memories sort of come up one right after the other. It’s made the last week a bit difficult and I honestly expect the next few weeks to be pretty blah too.

Writing this newsletter is my happy place and I hope it’s able to bring me the joy that’s very needed right now. But you know when a thing makes you happy and even though you know it makes you happy you simply don’t have the energy to do it? Ugh. This is me saying that I might miss a week here and there and that’s ok and I’m not sorry about it. I wrote nearly all of today’s issue last week and simply couldn’t find the will to finish. So if you see me and I’m not my normal ray of sunshine (lol), stick a cookie in my hand or talk to me about city planning for a minute to bring me back.

If you’re also feeling blah for whatever reason, may I suggest pre-planning a bunch of little activities for yourself so you have fun milestones to look forward to? Buy movie tickets a week out, make a haircut appointment, just get it on the calendar and it’ll practically happen all by itself. I signed up to volunteer for Bushwig a couple weeks ago and getting out of the apartment for a night of drag performances was just what the doctor ordered. I was lucky to be stationed right next to the stage and got to watch the whole night’s show for free. Afterwards, I sang the praises of volunteering to attend events for free to my uber driver and it felt so good.

I was at the artist check-in table and can I just say, I love all of the creative drag names. Fagtasia was a favorite.

1. Noshing 😋

I was so excited to attend Send Chinatown Love’s first Supper Club hosted at 886 in the East Village. SCL is an organization that started around the beginning of the pandemic to help support NY’s Chinatowns. Have you noticed the paper lanterns that popped up in Manhattan’s Chinatown a couple years ago? Their funding was largely organized by SCL’s Light Up Chinatown initiative! SCL also partners with restaurants to secure meals to donate via their Gift-A-Meal program. 886 is one of the restaurants that they partner with to donate meals, so it was very fitting that they partnered with them to host a Supper Club!

I’ve eaten at 886 before, but only during the pandemic, so this was my first time actually sitting inside the restaurant. The meal was served family style and I was so happy that I ended up sitting with two volunteers from Send Chinatown Love because they were able to tell me so much more about the organization! They also teased a second supper club coming soon at Potluck Club (their food is amazing) and a book launch party for their first cookbook (I already pre-ordered mine and am so excited for future me to receive it).

Owner Eric Sze showed us the 886 tattoo he finally got

The food at 886 was so freakin good! We started with a tangy cucumber salad that was so refreshing. My mom and brother have been growing cucumbers all summer and I’ve been making all kinds of cucumber salads with their bounty. I think my favorite dish was what came next though - the honey glazed popcorn chicken. It was crispy, sweet, and just a tiny bit spicy. 886 Owners Eric Sze and Andy Chuang are famous for serving a BDSM Chicken dish at their other restaurant, Wen Wen, and my dinner buddy told me that this popcorn chicken is very similar (and much easier to obtain - Wen Wen only makes a few BDSM chickens a night).

This was my first time having three cup chicken, a dish that I always saw on menus but thought “how good can it be?” The answer is very good. It’s like a Taiwanese Adodo chicken with super savory soy marinated meat falling off the bone. Their scallion pancake beef wrap was another highlight and I honestly wonder why we don’t wrap everything in scallion pancakes. The only miss for me was their beef noodle soup - Ho Foods is still my #1.

I wish I took better pictures of the meal, but I was honestly enjoying eating it too much

2. Watching 👀

In disappointing strike news, Drew Barrymore recently resumed filming her show and people are not happy about it. Two guests who attended the taping and wore pins in support of the WGA were actually asked to leave. On the flip side, some late night hosts have launched a podcast whose proceeds will benefit workers currently on strike so that’s good-ish.

So I finally saw American Pies 1+2 for the first time. I know, I’m about 24 years late. I’ve seen the memes, I’ve heard the jokes quoted, I actually attended band camp one summer, so I felt like I basically knew what happened. And, mostly I did. The late 90s/early 00s were a time filled with coming of age movies that defined a generation. You’ve got Can’t Hardly Wait (top tier, fight me), Dazed and Confused, She’s All That, Superbad, Van Wilder. Most of these center around either 1) a party or 2) losing one’s virginity (usually at a party). So like, I know the formula.

I can’t even describe what a hold this movie, and specifically this scene, had on my development as a human

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many of these movies and was so familiar with the formula that American Pie just didn’t hit for me. I’m sure in 1999 it was doing something novel, but in 2023 it felt like just another teen movie. And like most movies from 20+ years ago, it also featured some pretty cringy stuff (streaming a girl getting changed without her consent, getting her deported, her not being upset, and literally coming back in the second movie??).

Something that both movies suffered from was a meandering plot. Each movie gave the impression that a party would be the big climax (teehee), but each movie largely forgot about the party until the last minute and then suddenly they’ve just thrown together a banger out of nowhere. My little film school ass wanted to see a classic three act structure: introduce the concept of the party and the goal to get laid, watch characters take actions towards creating the party/inviting people/probably infighting with one another over details, then the party happens and fucking (or not fucking, because character growth) ensues. Instead of that middle part containing actions related to the conclusion of the movie (party), it mostly contained a bunch of seemingly random (though funny) moments.

I did really enjoy every interaction between Jason Biggs and Eugene Levy, though. I have never experienced so much secondhand embarrassment in my life. And even one moment that I thought I knew (the pie fucking) was so much more embarrassing than I thought it would be (why wouldn’t he take the pie to his room before fucking it?). Eugene Levy was the real MVP here, just fully supporting his son no matter what weird ass shenanigans were going on.

I also enjoyed seeing John Cho in this movie! I am a Harold & Kumar stan and will support those two crazy kids no matter what they do. Apparently this movie also popularized the term MILF? Who knew? I sure didn’t. Thank you, John Cho, for your service.

The plot was super predictable for the most part but maybe that’s not a bad thing. Movies like this are supposed to unite us in our shared experiences. We all went to high school, we all tried (and usually failed) to get laid, we all had that one friend whose parents seemingly didn’t care that they constantly threw parties. While watching this movie I was able to recognize so many high school movie tropes, but also so many experiences that I actually had. It’s true what the kids say on tik tok, I’ve truly never had a unique experience in my life. Except, I’ve never fucked a pie.

But I guess never say never?

3. Exploring 🛼

I spent my Saturday seeing two movies back to back at the FiDi Alamo (my fave) and in between I went for a walk to a park that is kind of hidden in Lower Manhattan. Set back from the street is a double escalator (and wheelchair lift, yay accessibility) that’ll take you up to a pretty unique space - The Elevated Acre! This is one of the nicest privately owned public spaces (POPS - more on that later) in the city and is such a hidden gem in the area.

A very unassuming entrance

The park itself is, as the name implies, an acre of space filled with tables, benches, trees, and a large lawn. There’s public wifi available, which makes it a great place to work outdoors if you need to escape your downtown office for a bit. The lawn also hosts yoga and outdoor movies when the weather is nice. You’d think there would be a great view since it overlooks the water, but FDR Drive runs just below it and the Brooklyn Bridge is just too far away to get a nice picture - I tried.

I think this view is meh, but maybe I’m just a grinch. Brooklyn Bridge is all the way on the left.

Some version of this park has existed here since the 1970s, though the current incarnation was only completed in 2005. The Municipal Art Society and the developer of 55 Water St held a contest to see who could create a beautiful park out of the janky deck occupying the space. I feel like I need to do a deep dive into park design contests because it seems like so many of our major parks were born out of competitions. Anyways, Ken Smith and Rogers Marvel Architects won and I think they did a really great job of transforming the space into something you wouldn’t expect to find in this area. The space is always really well-maintained and in fact, it has to be because as I mentioned earlier, it’s a POPS! So let’s talk more about that….

Trees in FiDi, what a sight

4. Learning 🧠

I was truly so excited to write about POPS in NYC last week and then I just lost all the will to function. So I’m digging up my bookmarked tabs and carrying on! Remember when I wrote about zoning laws? Well this is sort of a part 2, so I recommend going back a couple issues and brushing up on that because it’ll factor into what I’m writing about now.

POPS were introduced after the 1961 Zoning Resolution. To recap, the 1916 Zoning Resolution decreed that buildings must contain setbacks after a certain height so that they don’t block all of the air/light on the sidewalks. 1961’s law made it so that developers could include large public plazas around their buildings and have the buildings naturally set back from the sidewalk so that they could build up nice and tall. These public areas are called POPS and while there are about 590 of them in NYC, most are found in FiDi and Midtown Manhattan (because that’s where they want the really tall buildings - remember offices?).

If you see this sign, or one listing specific hours of operation - congrats, you’re in a POPS!

POPS come in many forms and may include residential, urban and sunken plazas, arcades, sidewalk widenings, open air concourses, covered pedestrian spaces and through block arcades. Some are certainly nicer than others, but all of these spaces must be open to the public and contain a certain amount of amenities, depending on the zoning concessions grated. Generally, most POPS contain seating, tables, landscaping, and lighting; some spaces even contain food vendors or wifi!

While the idea of POPS creating little oases in the city sounds delightful, the sad truth is that nearly 20% are in violation because the space was closed off, occupied by a private business, or did not contain required amenities. If you see a POPS that’s not holding up its end of the bargain, report that shit! You’re not being a snitch for reporting a rich ass developer who isn’t following the law, you’re being a hero. POPS are for the people!

If you love interactive maps (🙋 it me), then check out this map of all the POPS in NYC! And check out one of my favorite park accounts on tik tok discovering a POPS!

5. What’s Good 😎

• Shana Tova to all my friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah this weekend 🍏🍯 My absolute favorite place to get provisions for Jewish holidays is Breads Bakery. They always have amazing seasonal offerings, including an apple babka and marzipan honey. And I don’t know if you’ll find this morbid or cute, but when my grandpa passed away, I made sure we buried him with his favorite rugelach from Breads. Breads Bakery sponsor me?

• After eating that delicious Taiwanese meal at 886 I’m really hoping I’ll have time to attend Taiwan Fest this Sunday 9/17. They’ll have the usual street fair offerings of food and craft vendors.

• Speaking of street fairs - The Feast of San Gennaro runs from 9/14 - 9/24 in Little Italy. While the event does have some historical and religious significance, I mostly stop by to enjoy the classic Italian delicacies, like fried oreos!

• Remember how I mentioned my life hack of volunteering to attend events for free? Thrifty queen Ilana Glazer is offering volunteer opportunities in exchange for free tickets to her upcoming shows!

• Sep 15 - Oct 15 is Hispanic + Latinx Heritage Month and the NYPL has a bunch of events scheduled! Events range from film screenings to talks with authors, some are in person and some are virtual.

• One time I went down a rabbit hole reading about how to rename streets in NYC. TL;DR: the person being honored must be dead, and they must have made significant contributions to the community. So in recent news, the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets was just dubbed “Beastie Boys Square.” This skirts the rules a bit since most of the Beastie Boys are still alive. But the corner was featured on the cover for the group’s 1989 album ‘Paul’s Boutique and we’re in the midst of celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, so I guess rules be damned. No sleep til LES?

Thanks for bearing with me while I had a tough time. My therapist said I could show her every single picture of my cat at our next session so things are looking up.