Zoo York

"A car is useless in New York, essential everywhere else. The same with good manners." - Mignon McLauglin, American journalist and author

One of the first things I heard about New York is that if you need cheap entertainment, you can't go wrong with a $2 subway ride. When I first started riding the subway I was seeing something I had never seen before. That is until I started seeing it over and over, and I became one of those native New Yorkers who wouldn't even blink if a streaker came through the train.

But here are some examples of things you might see on a typical train ride or on the platform:

• People playing all sorts of instruments: guitar, drums, accordion, violin
• Lady singing opera
• Breakdancers in the station AND in moving train carriages!
• Homeless beggers proclaiming their homelessness and asking for donations
• People who work for homeless shelters looking for donations
• Kids who are selling candy
• Barbershop/doo-wop groups
• Magicians - very good ones too
• And if you're lucky - Borat and his chickens

Strangest things I have seen:

• Sitting on the 1 train on my way home from a long day, and I was looking at the guy next to me. He was a younger, Eminem-type guy, listening to beats on his headphones and writing lyrics on a notepad. Across from me there was a middle-aged man sitting down, trying to write compose music, scribbling on sheet music. What are the odds?
• Sitting on the 1 train on my way downtown, sitting across from me is an older man who has head twitches and uncontrollable tongue and mouth movements. As his head and neck move around awkwardly, he is trying to roll a cigarette - only he has no paper, tobacco, or filter - only a train card. So he keeps rolling and licking this train card, with no result. I must have watched him the entire train ride.
• One day I sat down quickly on a train, only to find a large dude lying across the seats next to me. Absolutely no movement from the dude. I watched him for over a minute, and I was starting to think he was dead. I look at the other people on the train, there's a few people looking at him. Just as we start considering CPR, the dude snorts himself awake, then back to sleep. Phew.

And probably one of the most annoying things is that most people don't let passengers off the carriage before they jump in. Crazy.

But all that said, I have never seen so many random acts of kindness on public transport. So many people offering directions to people just look lost. People giving up seats. Bus drivers who wish everyone well as they change shifts. I think it's one of the safest PT systems I've been on.

Best $2 I ever spent.
DN

Just for kicks

So today I went to go buy some new basketball shoes as I am playing with a NYC basketball league that raises money for charity called ZogSports. One of my teammates recommended that I buy some Starbury basketball shoes. These shoes have been released by NBA basketball player Stephon Marbury, who currently plays for the NY Knicks (and incidentally used to play for the Phoenix Suns). These shoes is that the price is only US$15, and he wears them for every NBA game. Marbury has had some media support for his shoes, whose quality is comparable to high-end sneakers, but affordable for everyone (including myself).

So I went to go buy these shoes exclusively at Steve & Barry's, which sell quality sports clothes for a much lower price than competitors. This day happened to coincide with the release of the new Starbury II sneakers on the same day. And guess who came to promote the launch of the Starbury II's - none other than Stephon Marbury! I got there about 20 min before he did, there was already a crowd in the Manhattan Mall where the shop is located. So I'm in the middle of trying on shoes, when he just walks right past! Though there was a strong security/cops presence around him, he was happy to greet customers and hug kids, etc. There's video of the appearance here. I am actually in the background in the video - but you will have to slow it down and squint a little. I'm wearing the red fleece jumper.

It's a great marketing idea, bringing cheap shoes to the masses. American kids get good shoes, but I wonder what those kids in the Chinese sweatshops get...

DN