Gotham is the GOAT 🐐
But no like, literally
The fall weather we’ve been having is absolutely giving me life, even though the sun is setting earlier and it’s dark by 5pm. Every daylight savings I internalize the mantra “live in the time that it is, not the time that it was” and it helps me to stop doing time math and imagining “what could be” so that I just accept “what is.” Switch that mind frame, babes!
This weekend three of my absolute best coworkers-turned-friends are coming into town and we’re having our first team offsite. I made swag bags for everyone and am in the midst of planning the ultimate NYC weekend, which is so incredibly difficult. For every one place I decide that we’ll visit, I have another five equally awesome places I want to go. How do you bring your friends to all of the best ice cream places when you only have a few days and finite stomach space? I don’t know, but I’m going to try.
I’ll probably default to some of the same spots I took Heidi to over the summer, with a few different spots added in that are good for groups. Peep my previous itinerary and stay tuned for a recap of what we get up to this weekend!
1. Noshing 😋
Multiple people sent me this video of a new dessert spot in the East Village - Hello Yam. They’re a Japanese dessert shop who make very instagrammable yam parfaits that hit perfectly in my venn diagram of “person who loves potatoes 🤝 person who loves desserts”. I feel like ube flavored desserts have primed us for this new iteration of potato dessert, which is made from sweet potatoes imported from Japan. Japanese sweet potatoes are much sweeter than our American version and it’s pretty standard for folks to just straight up eat a sweet potato wrapped in foil as a tasty snack.
I was a bit skeptical going in just because of the focus on the “cutesy” aspect of this dessert. The staff there knows that you want to record them squeezing the potato like play-doh, so they sort of pause and make sure you’re ready, which is both kind and reminds me of how silly a world we live in. I was surprised that on one else was in the shop when I got there, so my potato parfait was served super quickly. The inside of the shop is super small, so I took it outside to share with Lorenzo.
The parfait is layered with little chunks of roasted potato, ice cream, corn flakes, and potato squiggles. It’s one of those desserts that’s just naturally sweet enough, though it was pretty filling since it was 50% potato. It’s not a dessert to have after a big meal, since it’s like another mini meal itself. It also costs $16, which is about the price of a meal, so it’s not cheap at all.
I don’t think this will make it into my regular dessert rotation because of the price, but it is the perfect treat for when you don’t know if you want a sweet or savory dessert. It kind of hits like chicken and waffles for that in between craving. I can definitely see myself eating this for breakfast and telling myself it’s healthy because it’s 50% vegetable.
2. Watching🍿
The strike is over! SAG-AFTRA + the AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement and so far all signs point to this being a pretty good deal. The strike officially ended today which means that folks will start getting back to work and we might actually have some new movies and tv shows to watch come the new year.
I had myself a little weed gummy and a double feature last week, so please consider that my impressions of these movies were made while I was under the crushing influence of 2.5mg of THC (I’m a lightweight).
I watched the most 80s film that ever did 80s - The Wraith. It stars Charlie Sheen as The Wraith, even though he’s only in about 15 minutes of the whole movie. The plot requires a pretty big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to accept some of the story elements because they don’t quite make sense, but you’re not watching this movie for the plot. You’re watching for the epic 80s tunes, car racing, explosions, and some booby shots. Allow me to elaborate:
Jake (Charlie Sheen) appears in a town and begins to woo bad boy Packard’s girl, Keri. Packard is the absolute typical 80s bad boy - leather jacket, says stuff like “you’re my girl!”, forces people to race him and then takes their car when they lose. Through some pretty terrible flashbacks, we learn that Packard and his goons killed Keri’s ex-boyfriend, Jaime, and we later see the exact same injuries that were inflicted upon Jaime visible as scars on Jake. This is the first indication that they’re the same person but also 🤷 how are they the same person??? Oh and Jake also engages in Morphin Time™️ to turn into a super cool driver who races Packard’s goons and ends up killing them. In the end, Keri finds out that the Wraith is her reincarnated boyfriend who for some reason looks like Charlie Sheen. She doesn’t question this at all which is good because this movie wouldn’t have provided any answers. They ride off into the sunset together, obviously.
Anyways like I said, you’re not watching for the plot. The soundtrack to this movie is an absolute banger. Every song feels like something Kevin Bacon would dance out his emotions to and it manages to elevate the weak story elements just enough to make them enjoyable. This movie is great if you are high and don’t want to think critically about anything other than why Motley Crue thinks they’re so cool for smokin in the boys room.
The second movie I watched was No Hard Feelings, which seems like it kind of came and went. Incredibly troublesome plot aside, this movie was surprisingly funny. Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) is hired to date 19 year old Percy so that he can gain some experience and come out of his shell before starting college. This sounds like a pretty formulaic plot and it’s not ground breaking for sure, but what struck me was that Percy didn’t seem as helpless as his parents thought. He had some social gaps, but he kept up with Maddie’s erratic character pretty well so to me this was just a commentary on how parents just don’t understand and truly have no idea what’s going on in their kids’ minds.
And again, problematic story elements aside, the jokes about the age gap here really hit this elder millennial hard. Maddie (and J Law) are 32 years old and in her mind she looks mid-young 20s, but characters in the film are constantly calling her out for being older. Watching movies as you get older is weird because at some point I know I’m supposed to stop identifying with the kids and start identifying with the parents, but I’m not there yet and I don’t know when that transition will happen.
This movie also features an amazing cover of the song Maneater that is part of one of the most thoughtful story elements in this film. It was at this point in the film that I realized maybe this film was trying to be something more than just a cringe comedy (that, or my gummy kicked in). I don’t think No Hard Feelings will put Montauk on the map quite like Eternal Sunshine did, but if you wanna watch something a little goofy this is a solid choice.
3. Exploring 🛼
I organize monthly Lunch + Learns at my job and a coworker just signed up to teach us about chess! I’m not much of a chess person because it’s one of those games that goes on for longer than my brain can focus for, but chess is such a ubiquitous part of NYC. Walk through any park and you’ll see rows of folks lined up ready to take on anyone who wants to challenge them. I asked my coworker if he knew about the world's largest chess board on the side of a building and he did not, so I told him about it and now I’m going to tell all of you about it.
The giant chess board is located in a POPs area (you remember those 😉) outside of 767 Third Ave. Every Wednesday at noon a piece is moved via a cherry picker to recreate famous chess matches. A flag to the board’s left indicates which side has the next move or whether the game has reached its conclusion. So, they basically figured out how to make a slow game even slower.
This fun feature was dreamt up by Melvyn and Robert Kaufman of the William Kaufman Organization. These folks were known to put a lot of care into their design of public spaces and some of their other spaces have really cool features, too. If you’re ever in the area and want more information about the game that’s currently being played, you can pop inside the lobby of 767 Third and speak to the concierge.
4. Learning 🧠
Last week I wrote about a building in which nothing happened and this week I want to write about that building’s neighbor - 11 Commerce St aka The Washington Irving Home. More specifically, I’m going to write about Irving’s lasting impact on NYC - he’s the reason it’s referred to as Gotham and it’s probably not for the reason you think!
The name “Gotham” dates back to a November 11, 1807 issue of Salmagundi, a satirical periodical that Irving and some of his buddies wrote. The content in Salmagundi was akin to what you’d read in Mad Magazine, so it was kind of goofy and poked fun at NY culture, politics, and residents. In the Nov 11 issue, Irving wrote that “Gotham was an antient, wonder loving, and most enlightened city, whose sapient inhabitants lavish their attention with such wonderful discernment!” But how did Irving coin the term “Gotham” as used here? That answer is goats.
Let’s talk etymology! The word “Gotham” comes from the Olde English “Goat Town”. And while NY did have goats in it back in the day (and sometimes they come back to help trim the Great Lawn), the Goat Town we’re referring to here is actually across the pond in Nottinghamshire. In 1565, a collection of stories called "Wise Men of Gotham” told nonsensical stories of the residents of this village performing foolish tasks like “drowning an eel in a pool of water, tumbling cheeses down a hill to be sold in Nottingham, and painting green apples red.” Another tale of the Gothamites paints them as strategic fools, performing these silly tasks in order to discourage King John from building his hunting lodge in their town. This is the type of chaotic good energy we need to start employing in NY to stop the construction of luxury housing…
Washington Irving used the term "Gotham" in this way to make fun of some of the absurd NYers he encountered, but as time went on Gotham came to signify a darker noirish city, like the Gotham made famous by Batman. It’s not clear exactly how or when that shift happened, but how’s that for reclaiming a derogatory nickname?
Longtime readers of this esteemed publication may remember reading about Washington Irving way back in the second issue because he gave us not one, but two nicknames for NYers. The second of course, being Knickerbockers!
5. What’s Good 😎
A new Basquiat X Warhol exhibit recently opened and will be on display until Jan 7. I had no idea these two artists worked together for a time!
OMNY vending machines have popped up in a few subway stations which has folks scratching their heads wondering what’s the different between that and a metro card machine. I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that now the JFK Airtrain and the Roosevelt Island Tram accept OMNY payments and I love that.
Recreate Collective is hosting a few great events this month. First up is a Clothing Swap on Nov 18. Tickets are $15, but they’re also open to trading volunteer time for free entry. I’ve volunteered at their swaps before and it’s so worth it. They’ve also got a Still Life Drawing Class on Nov 20. At $40, this feels super affordable and all art materials are provided!
Soft Skills Creamery is popping up Sat and Sun this weekend at Brooklyn Roasting Co in Williamsburg. They make soft serve ice cream with the animal-free milk that my job makes. You all know I’m an ice cream person and trust me when I say that this soft serve is really fuckin good.
I plan on taking my friend to Win Son Bakery this weekend for their delicious scallion pancake sandwiches, but you can also go there to adopt a dog this weekend! Hearts + Bones Rescue is pulling up with pups who are looking for their forever homes.
Yes to my fellow 2.5mg friend! The perfect amount!