People who live in New York City don't feel higher gas prices like the rest of America

People who live in New York City don't feel higher gas prices like the rest of America, because most people who live in NYC don't own cars, trucks or any form of transportation requiring gasoline from the pump.

Perhaps new york democrats don't care because they don't drive?

How many New York democrats have ever paid for gas?

Even New York Taxi Drivers who have to pay for gas, blindly vote for Obama (If they can vote)

People who pay expensive gas prices should be sick and tired of Obama not doing anything to lower gas prices/

To rich to care about expensive gas prices in NY Socialites

Why has Obama not done anything to lower the price of Gas, and do the people of New York City care? Because New Yorkers are clueless to what is going on around the country, they continue to approve Obama and everything he does, even if it is wrong. Why hasn't the democrats and their leaders gotten on Obama to do something about it?

Is it because Obama sold out to the EPA and the green energy minority, and forgot about American's who depend on Gasoline? Obama has made us dependent on EXPENSIVE foreign oil, and the prices under Obama's watch, keep going up and up. Why is Obama punishing America with high Gas prices? Why is Obama allowing foreign imports dictate how much we should pay for gas?

Why is EXPENSIVE gas prices not an issue in the 2012 presidential elections? If it was an issue, than Obama would be forced to do something about lowering the prices or would lose the presidency.

New York democrats who live and work in NYC are out of touch with America, and blindly follow Obama who is doing nothing to help us lower the Gas prices.

new york residents second home is magic city

Many new york residents think of magic city as their second home. But the familiarization  does not end there, as the lead jeffrey dean morgan reminds us all of thick new york accented brad garett.

 Brad Garett or Jeffrey dean morgan?

 Jeffrey dean morgan?

 Brad Garett?

 Brad or Jeffrey?

Growing up in the midwest and having grandparents in miami beach, I found myself in the magic city often. My entire families life seemed to center in miami beach most of my childhood. I imagine that many new yorkers also made the trip to florida, because I seemed to always meet them and canadians in miami beach, and they always seemed to be visiting their grandparents as well.

As I watch magic city, it has much to remind me of my visits to hotels like deaville, eden rock, fountainbleau and even the underground pool bar reminds me of the ft. lauderdale hotel pool bar on the 17th street causeway. As the opening girls swimming around a pool in magic city, and then we see a girl swimming past wolfies, it reminds me of my trips to rascal house, pumpernickel and wolfies.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, new york deli's are very much a part of the jewish life, even when they are located outside of new york and in miami beach.

Magic city is probably the best TV show I have seen in several years. (or since the playboy club was cancelled) While the playboy club was also similar to magic city, in that it had mob undertones, because it is not on abc, nbc, cbs or fox and is on a smaller cable channel starz, it has a much better chance to survive.

How would you describe magic city to a friend who never saw an episode?

Since many people did not see the playboy club before it was quickly cancelled, we must compare it to mad men, because of the era and the clothing. The latin flavor of cuba, also gives magic city more layers, and african american's are also represented and remind us all of our racist american history.

Perhaps the strongest character on the show is "the butcher" or a mob element, that is very graphic in the way he kills people and animals. The back history on the butcher is that he killed his first 2 wives, and the newest one, who reminds me of the beautiful rebecca grant, is on her way to being the third wife of the butcher murdered.


While this kind of show could not be shown on regular TV, do to nudity, viloence, and that the main characters portray Jews. Regular TV would need the show to remove the Jewish themes. While the violence, nudity and language could be edited, it would become a different show all together.

Not certain how many jewish new yorkers experienced passover at a miami beach hotel, maybe because you were not keeping kosher for passover, but every time I see the lobby of the hotel in magic city, it brings back memories as if I was there again.

If you are from new york and spent much of your life visiting miami beach, let me know, by emailing me or commenting here.

Miami Beach, New Year's Eve, 1958-1959. Castro's rebels seize Havana, while the Kennedys, the mob and the CIA all hold court at the luxurious Miramar Playa Hotel. This is Ike Evans' (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) place, and he used mob boss Ben "The Butcher" Diamond to finance it. With diving clowns by day, and escorts at night, nothing's what it seems in Magic City. Premieres April 2012 on STARZ.

magic city pool bar

Full Name: Olga Kostyantynivna Kurylenko
Birth Date: November 14, 1979
Birth Place: Berdyansk, Ukraine
Ethnicity: Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)


Jeffrey dean morgan and brad garett look very much alike, don't you think?


magic city is my favorite TV show

New York Deli takeover by boar's head brand

New York Deli takeover by boar's head brand is not limited to NYC territory.

Jewish American's all over the country, have an ethnic food that will always be associated with new york deli food. While a bagel and lox sandwich with cream cheese, is also associated with Jewish American's and the NY Deli, this article is more about Meat than fish. With the NY Deli industry under attack, and the costs involved with keeping the deli open, the deli owners have turned to cost cutting measures to keeping the doors open. NYC at one time had over 1,000 kosher deli's. (some sources say there used to be over 4000) Now there are about two dozen or less.

While New Yorker's who write about the disappearance of their beloved deli's, they don't realize that the deli is not dead, and the issue is a takeover of much more than New York City.

Enter Boar's head brands, and the American takeover over the deli industry, not only in New York City, but the entire country. The most interesting part of the Boar's head takeover of American deli's, is that they did it while branding everything with a pig's head.

What you have here is a pig head logo, on the deli outside sign, then another pig head logo on the deli counter and another pig head logo on the cheese counter.

What this means to a non jew is brand recognition, but what this means to a jew is that you are breaking traditional kosher dietary laws, and you are not only mixing meat and milk, in violation of jewish dieatary laws, and that pork is served in this deli, and cut on the same deli slicing machine as turkey, chicken and what not, but the biggest thing that all this boar's head branding is to put jew's on notice, that you are being warned of your wrong doing, every time you eat at a non-kosher deli.

New York deli food is ethnic because at one time it was all kosher, and the customers were all jewish. Over time, many american  Jews slowly became less strict about their observance of jewish dietary laws, and jewish deli owners wanted to gain a larger audience. Maybe, these deli owners first decided they needed to be open on friday and saturday, so then came opening on shabbat, then came cheeses in the deli. Cheese was foreign to the deli of New York, because new york deli food was associated with MEAT. (Separating meats and cheeses is a jewish kosher dietary law, and also a rule for kosher restaurants.)

What foods were once found in a kosher deli?
Brisket, pastrami, kugel, matzo balls, beef tongue, liver, egg salad and gefilte fish, can be found there. As well as hoagies and hot sandwiches to order, without cheese, which under kosher law cannot be served with meat. This also means that coffee with non-dairy cream will be served.

Boar’s Head Placards: Placards bearing an unauthorized OU symbol and the Boar’s Head logo have been distributed to delis. These placards are not an indication of the Kosher status of their corresponding products. Corrective action is being taken. Consumers spotting these placards are requested to contact the Orthodox Union at 212-613-8241 or via email at kashalerts@ou.org.


Jews might have been tricked by "jewish style" or "kosher style" signs that seemed to make eating non-kosher ok. This trickery does not last long, but the damage is done.

Another disgusting aspect of the boar's head brand takeover is the product kosher dill pickles. Why would someone buy a kosher pickle with a pig head logo on the container? Its revolting and quite disgusting that someone could get away with doing it. I realize that the process involves kosher salt, and not kosher laws, but it is still disgusting and tasteless on their part.

I am thouroughly disgusted, and why I choose kosher new york deli's over a pig's head brand called boar's head.

 “People, when they go to a deli, they want to eat, they want to enjoy themselves.”

Before I rant on, let me just say this: There is one deli brand responsible for making jews realise that they are not eating within the jewish dieatary laws.

While some jews rationalise that as long as they don't eat pork, they are ok to eat cheese on their sandwitches.

The one brand responsible for taking the blinders off of jews who eat in new york deli's is the brand with the pig's head logo. Boar's head brands not only is big in deli meats, they are also equally as big in cheese's sold at the deli counter.


More about boar's head brand, and how their target is American's who have no connection with jewish traditons or dietary laws.

Boar's Head has been dedicated to quality, offering on the freshest, best-tasting meats and cheeses.  Boar's Head products are made the old-fashioned way, without fillers or artificial flavors.  Dozens of Boar's Head products are certified heart-healthy.

Boar's Head Brand meats and cheeses are upper tier deli selections.  They use whole muscle, while others use 3 to 4 parts of other muscles, and pack them together with fillers.

Boar's Head also has an entire line of lower-sodium products, that we slice here at Market Place.  You can find more nutritional information here, or pick up the Nutritional Guide at the Deli.
Custom Sliced

Boar's Head meats and cheeses contain no by-products, no cereals or fillers, and no artificial flavors or colors. They use pure beef, pork and poultry, and real spices. The ham is trimmed by hand the old-fashioned way, and their turkey and chicken is oven roasted, just the way you roast yours. Most importantly Boar's Head maintains unwavering standards of quality.

Some remaining New York Delicatassens (if you know of more, then let me know) Also, if you see the boar's head brand logo taking over your favorite deli, send me a photo.

Manhattan
Artie's Delicatessen: 2290 Broadway (83rd Street); arties.com
Carnegie Deli: 854 Seventh Avenue (at 55th Street); carnegiedeli.com
Katz's: 205 East Houston Street (at Ludlow Street); katzdeli.com
PJ Bernstein Deli & Restaurant: 1215 Third Avenue (70th/71st streets); 212-879-0914
Sarge's: 548 Third Avenue (36th/37th streets); sargesdeli.com
Stage Deli: 834 Seventh Avenue (53rd/54th streets); stagedeli.com
Queens
Ben's Best: 96-40 Queens Boulevard (Rego Park, near 63rd Drive); bensbest.com
Queen's Deli: 12209 Liberty Avenue (Jamaica, at 122nd Street); 718-845-2626
The Bronx
Leibman's: 235th Street (Riverdale, between Johnson/Oxford streets); 718-548-4534
Brooklyn
Adelman's Kosher Deli & Restaurant: 1906 Kings Highway (at East 19th Street); 718-336-4915
Mill Basin Kosher Delicatessen: 5823 Avenue T (Mill Basin, at East 58th Street); mssk6.bizland.com

Remaining Appetizing Stores

Barney Greengrass: 541 Amsterdam Avenue (at 86th Street); barneygreengrass.com
Murray's Bagels: Sixth Avenue (12th/13th streets); murraysbagels.com
Russ & Daughters: 179 East Houston Street (Allen/Orchard streets); russanddaughters.com



--------------------
Pastrami Sandwich From Ben's Kosher Deli


The pastrami was excellent and plentiful. This was a great sandwich.

Bens's Kosher Deli & Restaurant
209 W 38th St
New York
-----------

-----------
BOAR'S HEAD DELI MEATS

BOLOGNA

BRAUNSWEIGER

CORNED BEEF

HARD SALAMI
HEAD CHEESE (SOUSE)

HONEY HAM

LIVERWURST

PANCETTA

PEPPERONI

ROAST BEEF

SWEET HAM

TURKEY OVEN GOLD

TURKEY PASTRAMI

TURKEY SAUSILITO

BOAR'S HEAD MUSTARDS

-------------------
DELI CHEESES

AMERICAN

BABY SWISS HA LO: Regular and low fat

CO-JACK

CO-JACK PEPPER

COLBY

COLBY PEPPER

FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHEDDAR

HOT PEPPER

PROVOLONE

REGGIANO PARMESAN

SMOKED CHEDDAR

SUPER SHARP
============
There's a certificate on the wall at the deli's entrance that confirms it's been given the seal of approval by the Scranton Orthodox Rabbinate. Two local rabbis come in for regular inspections to make sure everything is, well, kosher.

Gentiles are only allowed behind the deli counter if Mr. Blatt or another observant Jew is present. Upon the deli's closing every night, a row of windows comes down and seals it off from the rest of the store, and no other store employee, including Mr. Riccardo, has access to it.


But for all my knowledge of Jewish delis, the roots of the foods served there remained a mystery to me. I'd learned that the word delicatessen derives from German and French and loosely translates as "delicious things to eat." And I knew that when they began appearing in New York and other North American cities in the 1870s, Jewish delicatessens were little more than bare-bones kosher butcher shops offering sausages and cured meats. But as the American Jewish experience evolved away from that of eastern Europe's, so did the Jewish delicatessen's menu. Its flavors assimilated, and it turned into an American sandwich shop with a greatest-hits collection of Yiddish home-style staples: chopped liver, knishes (see Recipe: Potato Knish), matzo ball soup.

Joe's Meat Market proudly serves Boar's Head Brand products.

Boar's Head products contain:
NO Artificial Colors
NO Artificial Flavors
NO Cereals
NO Fillers
NO Pork & Beef By Products

========
Premium Meats
                                                 
Boar's Head     Deluxe Ham
                               
Boar's Head     Tavern Ham

Boar's Head     Black Forest Ham

Boar's Head     Ham Capicolli

Boar's Head     Pastrami

Boar's Head     Olive Loaf

Boar's Head     Bologna

Boar's Head     Liverwurst

Boar's Head     OvenGold Turkey Breast

Boar's Head     Honey Maple Turkey

Boar's Head     Chicken Breast

Boar's Head     B.B.Q. Chicken

Boar's Head     Pepper Turkey

Boar's Head     Cajun Turkey
=======
Premium Cheeses

Boar's Head     American Cheese
          (yellow or white)

Boar's Head     Provolone

Boar's Head     Muenster

Boar's Head     Mozzarella Slicing
=======
Boar's Head     Giant Beef Franks

Boar's Head     Beef Franks

Boar's Head     Sauerkraut (1lb)

Boar's Head     Mustard

Boar's Head     Horse Radish

Boar's Head     BBQ Sauce

Boar's Head     Hot Sauce

Soul Cycle West Hollywood is a claustrophobic nightmare imported from NYC

Los Angeles, CA

As I walked through the entrance of Soul Cycle on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA, (310-657-7685) it looked like a cross between a retail clothing store and a bowling alley front desk, with what looked like rows and rows of bike shoes, behind the desk. Soul Cycle is a New York import into LA made for the spinning enthusiast with a fat wallet.

Soul Cycle West Hollywood

The front room with the check in desk looked very white and very clean, and the staff was very eager to please and very knowledgeable about spinning. I was offered everything from bike shoes, water bottle, towels, chewing gum, ear plugs, and even a cupcake. While I brought my own SPD clip bike shoes, the staff recommended I try their Look Delta clip bike shoes. Bike shoes are required to spin at Soul Cycle (free for first class, and $3 rental afterwards, per class).  The clothing available for purchase was shirts that I was told last longer, and made to sweat and wash without being destroyed. Does that quantify the extremely high prices of $44-$77 dollar price range? The staff said, cheaper t-shirts are coming.

Soul Cycle Rules

After leaving the front room, I saw some suggested rules on the wall that mentioned because of closeness of bikes, that a strong odor ruins the spinning experience for those around you. Another rule mentions to treat the staff with respect. While the last of the rules deal with spinning etiquette which calls for no talking during the class and no texting or using cell phones while the class is going on. Something else I saw just about everywhere on the walls was framed press clippings from newspapers and magazines. (No doubt a publicist was hired, who did a really spectacular job) The website contains what seems like hundreds of press clippings and TV footage.

I made my way to the locker area, which I learned was unisex and an open area made for men and women to use at the same time. There are about 100 or more lockers that don’t need a key or lock, because they have it built in. The locker area is a very tight space and is very uncomfortable because I am used to separate locker room for men and women, and one with a bathroom, and space to undress and change my clothes. Soul cycle locker area is not a changing room, but a place to change your street shoes and maybe lock up your purse or keys and cell phone.  I recommend coming dressed and ready to spin, and get used to leaving with wet clothes and socks while waiting to shower at home, though I would never leave like that.

For those willing to go through the hassle of showering at Soul Cycle LA, they do have separate men and women small bathrooms with 1 toilet, 1 shower and 1 sink. Amenities include, large shower towels, hair blower, deodorant, disposable razors, hair spray, Q tip’s. The shower has shampoo, conditioner and body wash.  Plastic laundry bag was also available.

I took my belongings out of the locker, walked to the bathroom, and was lucky enough to have the little bathroom to myself, but I could not lock the door. Women kept trying to open the door and see if anyone was in the men’s bathroom. It could have been the cleaning staff, but it was still disturbing me. When I got out of the shower, I saw the bathroom had large towels to use for showering. I started drying off, when a man entered the bathroom and started changing in the same small space that I was trying to change. That became very awkward. He asked why I was staring at him, and I said it’s like you completely ignored that I was here first and trying to change in the same place. When I got out of the bathroom to get the rest of my belongings in the locker area, I could not enter, because there was so many people using the space.

I entered the room for spinning and saw about 45 Schwinn spin bikes, which had nothing special on them (besides branding stickers on the fly wheel and frame), and reminded me of the bikes I used more than 5 years ago, with a handlebar that I could not put my water bottle into, and adjustments that were not lettered or numbered for a quick adjustment. In the old days, we had to count holes, and that’s the way it still is at Soul Cycle. The bikes are all numbered, and you can reserve for the whole week by paying in advance. Bikes 5-10 are front row, in front of the instructor, who has a bike facing us on a platform. The plastic holders on the side of the bike cannot hold a large bottle and seem to work best with a 23.7 ounce bottle or smaller. In boxes next to the instructor platform are weights, gel seats, towels. The wall behind the instructor is mirrored, and the wall behind the bikes have a huge photo encompassing the entire back wall of a road. The side wall has a saying or mantra of Soul Cycle. The mantra is also available on t-shirts.

The instructors are well trained have a high energy, and have you doing much more than riding. They work the upper body with varying positions and weights, and Soul Cycle says they actually work the entire body. The class I was in had a couple of hills, some sprints and upper and lower body workouts, with small weights. The instructor appeared to be using around 60% intensity on her bike on the hills and did not stress more of her class. I was told by staff, the instructors include visiting instructors from NYC, special classes with music themes like GLEE themed music.

Maybe Soul Cycle customers come because the prices are so high per class, that it makes it very exclusive, or maybe Soul Cycle attracts celebrities. Others think that Soul Cycle is attractive only because it’s so new, and the rich want to try new things. When the rich realizes that instructors are better or the same at much less expensive places (like Crunch on Sunset crunch is a much better place to spin than soul cycle because it has superior instructors Edward, Bob, Andrew, Teri Ann, Derek, Matt, Kirk, Tommy, Ryan, Colin, Christina, Brian and Beth. Better bikes, better locker room, better music, better staff, better atmosphere, better sound system, better mood lighting and a better price) Soulcycle will not always be so new anymore, that it will either have to change its prices or close within a year (depending on their lease). Some spinning only facilities do make it a couple years, but let’s be realistic, Soul Cycle opened in the same small complex as the exclusive Equinox, that’s entrance is only a few feet from Soul Cycle’s entrance, and Equinox has reserved bikes online as well. I really don’t understand what attracts people to this claustrophobic nightmare called Soul Cycle. I didn't buy into any of the spiritual or soul stuff that they were trying to push in the media, but I did sweat, had a good workout, and liked that the bikes were in good condition because they were so new. 

My overall experience felt like a small NY sweatshop, full of people in a very tight space. I was told by the staff that the NY locations are even smaller.

Prices:

Shoe rental $3

1 class $25

5 class series $125

10 class series $250

20 class series $500

30 class series $750

50 class series $3000

Parking $2 with validation

Contact:

Soul Cycle

8570 SUNSET BLVD 

AT SUNSET PLAZA

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA 90069

310.657.7685

yoursoulmatters@soul-cycle.com