Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

November 21, 2022

Buffalo Six Feet

This sort of reminds me of the record six feet of snow in Upstate New York this last week.

Snow, ice...it's cold, same thing!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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August 9, 2017

Nuke Fear Turning To Action?

What sane person would not be afraid of the incredibly destructive power of nukes (and other weapons of mass destruction)?

Currently, there are about 15,000 nukes either stockpiled or poised to strike around the world. 

Enough deadly weapons to kill the entire planet!

After a frightening series of 5 nukes tests since 2006 plus 18 technologically progressive ballistic missiles tests over the last 6 months, things are escalating after new sanctions imposed to try to contain the threat--with North Korea rattling it's nuclear arsenal with a shrill threat of attack moving to "physical action" and the U.S. shooting back "fire and fury,


As to further North Korean mad progress, it was reported that they are developing a powerful new H-bomb with immense destructive power, especially towards our density killing fields:

- If such a weapon would strike, G-d forbid, Washington D.C., it could mean 500,000 dead and another 900,000 injured--let alone what this would mean in terms of a destructive decapitation to the very functioning and continuity of our government and country. 

- Even worse fatalities would occur should it strike our financial capital, New York City, with estimates of 1.7 million dead. 

Hence, the news that this is no joking matter anymore (as if it really ever was). 

Fears typically first get expressed in rhetoric, but then with greater and ever potent means for them to become reality, the risks increase for them to actually make the horrific leap. 

What happens next with the ever menacing dangers from rogue Axis of Evil nations, North Korea and Iran--and will we ever feel and be safe again, absent any meaningful social progress while they continue to absolutely and speedily advance their ever more deadly weapons programs and the means to deliver them, first class. ;-0

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 30, 2016

Gopher At The Metro

This was a funny picture of a gopher's a*s.

The gopher's is climbing along the side of the Metro. 

In NYC, they have rats almost this size.

Thank G-d, in Maryland, it's more about bunnies, gophers, and deer. 

Not sure how this gopher gets any rest next to the trains zipping in and out of the station.

Maybe if you burrow further enough underground, you got a decent snooze zone. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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November 4, 2014

100 Times Harassed!


After my last blog on stopping sexual assault, a colleague brought this other video to my attention.

32 million views and 120 thousand comments and counting. 

This young lady walks around the streets of New York for 10 hours in jeans and a t-shirt and is verbally harassed a 100 times--not including winks and whistles. 


Women (and men) should not have to live in fear, shame, or be abused doing nothing but living their lives peacefully and respectfully. 

Darn, can the folks out there show some respect and decency.

This could be your mother, wife, sister, or daughter...think about it.

Video sponsored by IHollaback
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April 14, 2014

NYC at Passover

I love this picture of NYC. 

My daughter, Michelle, took this photo while visiting there for Passover. 

The skyscrapers, taxis, people -- all the hustle and bustle. 

New York, NY - it's a helluva town. ;-)

(Source Photo: Michelle Blumenthal)
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April 10, 2014

You Mess At Your Own Risk

This guy is obviously pretty serious about not messing with his car. 

"Touch this car again. You are laser sighted. You will be shot in the face!!!"


I remember in NY, people messed with the cars all the time--nasty stuff like backing or plowing into your bumpers when trying to park, keying cars, slashing tires, knocking off the mirrors, egging the cars, and one guy I remember even had his car stolen and the couple actually had sex in his back seat!


The stupid steering wheels locks to the brakes were a joke for security, the noisy annoying car alarms were so routine no one looked or cared, and LoJack helps you find the clunker again although you may never want to drive it anyway after what the crooks would do to it.


Not sure this sign will help ward off all the crap that people do--somehow they always find another way to be jerks with someone else's stuff.


Aside from James Bond's car that would explode if you tried to mess with it, does anyone else have any good ideas for car protection?  ;-)


(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

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January 19, 2014

We Can Fly


Totally awesome viral video.

Looks like 3 flying people. 

Really they are drones in the shape of human figures. 

If only we could really fly that way--wow we!  ;-)
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August 17, 2013

New York?

This is not the New York I remember (dirty, crowded, dangerous--ugh!). 

My daughter went on a Shabbaton to the Big Apple.

They put her up in an amazing multi-million apartment overlooking Central Park. 

The contrast between the city and the nature-y park is stark and stunning. 

I guess the have and have nots are alive and well in NY. 

But wow, this would be nice to wake up to in the morning. ;-)

(Source Photo: Michelle Blumenthal)
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March 31, 2013

Meshuga Mints

So my daughter goes to New York for break and brings me back "Meshuga Mints."

"Meshuga" in Yiddish and Hebrew means crazy. 

On top it says they are "Crazy Strong!" and it has a picture of fiddler on the roof on it. 

She got these at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, which has restored apartments and shows how immigrants lived when they came to this country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries--over 7,000 people from 20 nations lived in this 5-story building of just 22 apartments. The units were very small and housed between 6 and 14 people each. Most were sweatshop workers and people just trying to improve their lives. It's eye opening to see how people got by with so little. 

The mints themselves were a perfect gift, and I am so glad she had a great time visiting Times Square, Coney Island, the Staten Island Ferry, the 9/11 Memorial, and more. 

It's interesting for me, having been a native New Yorker, to see my daughter go back and experience life there even for just a few days. 

New York City is definitely an exciting and meshuga place. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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May 28, 2012

A Little Nostalgia For NYC


A little nostalgia for the talent and creativity of New York. 

Sing loud.

Dance in the streets. 

Show what you can do.

Do it! 

Yearn to be your best.

Don't let anyone else spoil your dreams. 

Live forever.

Thanks Fame--Thanks Irene Cara.

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January 7, 2012

Occupy Subway

OMG, I must still be a New Yorker at heart--I love it.

People coming together, randomly on a NYC subway and playing beautiful music together.

Love, harmony, brotherhood.

Go NYC!

(Thanks to my friend Max Cacas for sharing this video on Facebook)


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August 14, 2011

Ten Years After 9/11

This video on the 9/11 memorial in NYC opening on 9/11/11 speaks for itself.

Enjoy and remember!

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November 27, 2009

Right In Front of Us, but We Are Blind to It

Last week, there was a 13-year-old boy, with Asperger’s syndrome, who ran away from home and rode away in the NYC subway system for 11 days undetected!!!

The boy went missing with $11 dollars in his pocket. “According to CNN, the boy's mother says he survived on fast food and candy he purchased in the subway system. He spent the majority of his time riding the trains. He wore the same clothes for the duration and lived underground, sleeping in subway cars and using underground restrooms.”

Many people were out looking for this boy, including the police, but neither the searchers nor the extensive surveillance apparatus in New York picked him out. Apparently, no one on the trains reported seeing this kid riding endlessly around 24x7, and the boy was invisible to the myriad of hardworking transit workers and officers who are all over the transit system, until day 11 when finally one officer recognized the boy from his missing picture.

How can a boy be there for almost two weeks, but be seemingly invisible to the thousands of riders and workers passing thru the subway system and what can this teach us about leadership and organizations?

Information Overload—This is truly the information age. We have morphed from not having enough information to being flooded with it and not being able to process it. With the missing boy on the NYC MTA subway system, he was literally lost amidst the more than 5 million riders a day and 468 stations. This is a common situation these days where we have access to stores of information, on databases and through the Internet, yet we frequently struggle to find the golden nuggets of information that really mean something. Post 9-11, our military and intelligence communities are being flooded by sensor information from a vast network of resources, and the challenge now is to find innovative ways to process it quickly and effectively—to find the proverbial “needle in the haystack” and to stop the next potential attack. Our organizations in the public and private sectors need faster, more accurate, and finely tuned systems to find the dots, connect the dots, and see the picture.

Process Matters—According to Digital Journal, “the disappearance was reported to police immediately, who treated it as a runaway. After five days had passed, it was being treated as a missing persons case.” The police were following their processes in handling this little boy, but it resulted in five days passing without the assumed more intense search that occurs with a missing persons case. Lesson to note is that having standardized, documented business processes are important in efficiently managing operations, but we should not get so caught up in the process that we become rigid and inflexible in handling cases according to the specific situation. While I am not an expert in this, the question does come to mind, whether the search for a child with a known disability may have been escalated/elevated sooner? And the point, I am really trying to make is that we need to keep our organizations and processes agile and responsive so that we can act meaningfully and in time.

Break through the Apathy—Having been a former New Yorker (and I suppose, it never truly leaves your blood), I am well aware of the accusations and jokes made about rudeness and apathy from people in the “city that never sleeps.” NY is a tough town, no doubt. The people are quick and sharp. They work and play hard. They are good, productive people. But living in a city with 8.3 million people in one of the most dense urban centers of the world can take a toll. Even with major clean-up efforts in recent years, NYC still has its fair share of crowding, pollution, and crime and this can take a toll on even the best people. I remember daily sights of panhandling, poor and ill people, aggressiveness not limited to the yellow cabbies. I suppose, one disabled boy could get lost amidst the city chaos, but the challenge is to break through the apathy or callousness that can easily overtake people and continue to care for each and every person that needs our help. This is no small challenge in a city with a 21.2% poverty rate (US Census Bureau 1999), let along in a world where 1 in 4 (or 1.3 billion persons) live on less than $1 a day. As leaders, we need to push for caring over apathy and for seeing and acting versus blinding ourselves to the pain and misfortune of others.

Could we have found this little boy sooner? Maybe. Could it have ended a lot worse? For sure.

While this missing persons situation is now over, we need to prepare ourselves for future events and contingencies. We can do this by continuing to create better systems and mechanisms to process information better, faster, and cheaper—it’s not longer just the quantity of information, but the quality and it’s timeliness and relevance; by reengineering our business processes so that we are alert, nimble and responsive—rigid processes lead to hard and fast rules that serve no one; and building camaraderie with one another—seeing that we are more the same, than we are different—and that everyone matters—even a kid underground in a subway system spanning 656 long and winding miles.

And lest anybody think I’m giving New Yorkers a hard time, believe me when I say – it is “the city” that has given me the street smarts to navigate the Beltway and challenge anyone who says that something can’t be done!


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