How Many Rats Are There in New York, Exactly?

by Iva Skoch on

You have heard these urban legends: You are never more than six feet away from a rat in New York. There are as many as 96 million rats in the city. Even the least conservative reports suggest there are at least 250,000 of them. The truth is nobody knows how many rats there are, but everyone agrees that there is more than enough.

I, personally, don’t mind rats. I think they are kind of cool. They are the essence of what New York is: squirrels stripped down to their most efficient form. Who needs the cute furry tail, really?

Rats get a bad reputation. They are associated with poverty, dirt and disease. The video of rats scurrying around a Taco Bell/KFC in the Village don’t help. People are apparently afraid of rats biting them. Meanwhile, research shows that you are ten times more likely to get bit by a fellow human being. Makes you look at Suzy from Marketing in a whole new light, doesn’t it?

Carrie Bradshaw’s Famous Stoop Still Draws Tourists

by Iva Skoch on

Sex and the City might be long gone from HBO but its spirit is alive and well in the West Village of New York. At least its less glamorous offspring–Sex and the City tourism–is.

Yes, women from all over the world come here to make a pilgrimage to 66 Perry Street, Carrie’s brownstone apartment (which was actually supposed to be on the Upper East Side), where she used to sit on the stoop and contemplate her love life. They then go around the corner for the infamous Magnolia Bakery cupcake, which–please don’t crucify me for saying so–is completely overrated, especially considering the 100-yard-long line of people waiting to get their hands on one. (They should be selling those things at post offices to make people form lines and wait patiently. They might actually do that if Sarah Jessica Parker tells them that’s what she does.)

NY Times writer Gerri Shanahan was complaining in her article this past Sunday about the busloads of the show fans pulling up at 66 Perry daily to take pictures on the stoop because they are “like so like the characters”, sans the good shoes, of course. Somehow, I don’t feel bad for you, Gerri Shanahan. Perry Street is one of New York’s prettiest and, honestly, I would take it even with the Carrie-wannabes on the stoop.

World’s Largest Fondue Planned for New York

by Martha Edwards on

Growing up, fondue was a fixture in my house — a delight for a cheese-loving family and a bit of nostalgia for my dad who spent a large amount of time living near Switzerland. His version of the traditional melting pot involved lots garlic, wine and stinky cheese and man, was it ever good.

And if like me, you can appreciate a good fondue, you might want to head to the New York area next month, when Swiss cheese producer Emmi will try to break the world record for largest fondue. Served from a giant pot, the fondue is expected to feed around 3000 lucky people. Now that‘s a lot of fondue forks. Lucky diners will also be treated to live Swiss-themed entertainment in the form of yodelers and alpine horn players … perhaps even the Ricola dudes?

The last record-setting fondue was served in 1998. It consisted of 732 kg of cheesy deliciousness.

Restaurant Menus Available Online for Major American Cities

by Neil Woodburn on

You know the drill. You’re in a strange city, someone gives you a restaurant recommendation, but when you get there, there is nothing on the menu that looks interesting to you.

Well, a new website plans to alleviate that culinary nightmare. MenuPages.com is a database of thousands of menus covering restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, and South Florida.

The site is organized by regions and cuisines. Simply find the restaurant that’s been recommended and click on the online menu or download the printable PDF file.

The listings are long and impressive–pretty much every restaurant I searched for in Los Angeles popped up. The one disappointment is the rather lackluster review section. Few of the restaurants feature reader reviews. Hopefully this will change in the future as the site catches on.

I’m on da E train. Where da Hell are You?

by Iva Skoch on

As if the New York subway system isn’t loud enough. Now, the city is planning to get all the 277 stations wired for cell phones and Wi-Fi in the next six years. I know other cities in Europe and Asia with subway cell phone coverage, but New York?

On one hand, this could be good. The NYC subway is not the most reliable piece of public transportation known to man. It is not uncommon for trains to just not show for 30+ minutes. Calling to say you are running late might be convenient.

At the same time, the subway is about the only place in NYC where one is not exposed to people’s private conversations. The subway is also about the only place people don’t work. The 6 train will be a trip — all the Blackberry-thumb-typists trying to catch up on email even before they get to their downtown office. What happens to the time they save by working on the subway, you ask? They go on vacation to places without cell phone coverage…