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By Alex Goetzfried

The infamous fire hoop.
Photo by Alex Goetzfried

On a cold February night at a beach in Sag Harbor, the last thing you would expect to find is half naked women swinging chains around their heads with balls of fire attached to the end.  But at Harbor Frost 2013 that is exactly what you would find at the beach adjacent to Long Wharf.

Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus.
Photo courtesy of www.maicar.com

Fire and dancing have been a part of human culture since our earliest ancestors learned to control fire. According to Greek legend Prometheus a Titan, and an immortal of the first pantheon, stole fire from the gods and gave it to man.  Native tribes of the South Pacific, India, and the Americas all had intense ritualistic dances involving fire in their pre-colonial pasts.

Harbor Frost is a wintertime festival to get the community out of the house, and offer some family fun with a little bit of theatrics.  What festival would be complete without some type of dangerous, primal, pagan ceremony?

One dancer creates a worm hole of fire.
Photo by Alex Goetzfried

For this purpose the powers that be of Harbor Frost brought in The Fiery Sensations as the opening act of the grand finale.  A fire safety officer was brought down to supervise and the savagery began.

The Maori Tribes of New Zealand originated the most popular form of fire dancing known as POI.  According to sacredfiredance.com POI was used to train men for battle and to keep the wrists of women flexible for weaving.  This is the only evidence of functionality for fire dancing that is on the Internet.

Encircled in flames.
Photo by Alex Goetzfried

Functional or not, the ceremony of fire dancing to intense music is wildly entertaining.  The days following a blizzard are normally spent in the throws of cabin fever and mild depression.  Watching beautiful women in belly shirts whip around fuel soaked poi balls in a dizzying inferno is a wonderful method for combating wintertime insanity.

The new Chelsea locale (200 Ninth Avenue) set to open by the end of the month. Photo by Jasel Garcia.

After much anticipation, fans of The Meatball Shop can confidently expect a Chelsea location by the end of the month.

The new digs would be the first of the soon-to-be-four locations in the city (counting the Upper East Side opening expected by the end of the season) to have a full liquor license (meatball shoppers in Williamsburg have beat the others to the punch). This news marks only the latest in a series of astonishingly great fortune to come the way of co-founders, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, who opened the first Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side a mere two Februarys ago. Their meteoric rise to the height of culinary fame seems to resemble Danny Meyer’s, the founder of the now nationally successful Shake Shack franchise.

(L to R): Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow. Photo courtesy of NYPress.com

And with good reason. The restaurant’s appeal is evident.

While crafting some of the finest meatball creations available in the city (feast your tongue on the their signature parmesan-cream glazed “naked” meatballs, and see if you don’t agree), Holzman and Chernow also decided to subvert the traditional server-customer dynamic by laminating their choose-your-own-entree style menus and providing their patrons with dry-erase markers. Instead of subjecting their wait-staff to the stress of memorizing and juggling various intricate orders commonplace in most dining establishments, Holzman and Chernow have developed a system that allows Meatball Shop servers the space to enjoy their shifts and to even engage their clients. The following thought (which, according to Chernow, Meyers perfected) is a simple one: the better you treat your staff, the better they treat your patrons.

Parmesan-cream glazed “naked” meatballs. Photo by Jasel Garcia.

Plus, the coupling of meatball-centric dishes and menu scribbling inevitably activates the dormant adolescent diner in all of us, presenting a holistically fresh culinary experience that sets the burgeoning chain apart from other equally adventurous epicureans.

And, if these features weren’t enough, the Meatball Shop also offers up a line of freshly in-house churned ice cream that would warrant a second taste whether or not it came on the heels of the restaurant’s delicious, freshly in-house ground meatballs.

A customer peruses the comic racks. Photo by Darren Castro

Everybody needs a hero.

The decision to move away from selling comics by longtime comic book shop Vector Books in the Bayonne, New Jersey area was a painful punch to the heart of the city’s devout superhero following. What was once a thriving market in the 90’s now struggles to survive in the face of digital distribution, iPads, games and movies all taking the medium’s characters to bigger and wider audiences. This has left fans of the old brick and mortar stores with a dilemma as comic book and trading card shops (often one and the same these days to help bolster sales) face tough competition from the Internet Age.

Father and son browse the DC Comics section. Photo by Darren Castro

Manifest Comics looks to fill the gap left by Vector and other long-gone shops such as Bayonne Comics by being leaner and smarter than the stores of old. Located on the second floor of an apartment complex between 33^rd and 34^th street on Bayonne’s Broadway district, Manifest is a humble little shop that seeks a more intimate connection with its customers.

From card game jockeys to comic book aficionados, Manifest hopes to excite the city’s fanbase with special product launch events that let the people of Bayonne enjoy their much beloved hobbies with familiar friends who have been through all the unfortunate closings of the past.

Owner Michael Chen with a customer. Photo by Darren Castro

Owner Michael Chen is not afraid of the digital age encroaching on traditional shops. “I wanted to make sure that people could have a place to hang out,” says Chen. “People buy their books online because they don’t have a place like this.” Manifest has a spacious area with couches, tables and chairs to facilitate both comic readers and card players.

Chen says, “I know how much a comic shop means to a community. There’s something really visceral about holding really great art in your hands.”

The Crown Heights Revolution

By: Jeanette Knotts

Two decades ago, the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, could be described as gritty, poverty stricken, strife and murderous. There were moments during the early-to-mid 1990s where you couldn’t get anyone to walk the gloomy and dreadful blocks of Crown Heights, let alone live there.

Police try to diffuse a rowdy crowd during the 1991 Crown Heights Riot
(Pic courtesy of: Angel Franco for NYTimes)

Most known for its 1991 riots, this neighborhood’s crime rates reached roughly about 7,000 major crimes per year, according to dnainfo.com. Longed were the days its residents wished the streets could get safer, where innocent children could play outside without worries.

Having to live with such an abundant amount of fear of a dangerous community was all too familiar to me. I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Crown Heights during this neighborhood’s violent era. I can remember being told to stay indoors once the sun was down because most of the murders, random shootings, rapes and robberies happened at night.

Newly renovated apartment buildings on St. Johns Place
Photo Credit: Jeanette Knotts

The sound of helicopters hovering closely above my apartment building, with blinding search lights fishing for suspects instilled a fear in me that will never go away.

It is now 2013, 20 years later, and the desperate call for change in the community has been answered. The streets are now glowing with light, even when it’s dark. Old, run down buildings have been renovated, condos have been built alongside crisp green grass and tall trees, and crime rate has decreased tremendously within the past decade.

A newly built condo (2007) located on St. Johns and Grand Army Plaza
Photo Credit: Jeanette Knotts

I recently spoke to an old neighbor of mine, Willie Mae Terrell, and asked her how she felt about the new neighborhood; she said “I’m very pleased with the change in this community. Having lived here for nearly 30 years, it’s been a long time coming!” she continued, “I witnessed so many muggings and violent fights living in Crown Heights, I’m just thrilled to see that a change has finally come, although I’m not too happy with the major raise in rent”, she laughed. People who wouldn’t dare to breathe in the once dreadful Brooklyn neighborhood are now packing up with their families and migrating to Crown Heights. This is the revolution that has been televised!

Emergency Fund Piggy Bank, Photo by Gelayne Blyden

According to a report released by The Consumer Federation of America and The Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards, Inc. 38% of households live paycheck to paycheck. This means if you don’t get paid once, you’re in serious trouble.

You need an emergency fund. An emergency fund is exactly what it sounds like, an account that is funded for the purpose of emergencies. An emergency fund has 3-6 months worth of expenses in a liquid, or easily accessible account.

Dave Ramsey went bankrupt at age 30, four years prior he had a $4 million real estate portfolio. Since then Ramsey has used Biblical principles to build wealth and get out of debt, his course Financial Peace University, FPU teaches others to do the same. Baby Step One at FPU is building a baby emergency fund of $1,000 if you make more than $20,000 annually or $500 if you make below $20,000 annually. Saving has to become a priority.

Consumer Cards, Photo by Gelayne Blyden

The thing about life is emergencies happen, so expect them.You may be thinking I can’t afford an emergency fund. But can you really afford not to have one? You and your family’s welfare are important, and the emergency fund is there so that you can get things done when facing the unexpected or crisis. For example, what if you lose your job and your severance pay is not enough to even pay your rent. With an emergency fund you’ll be able to meet your obligations while looking for another job.

Money Tree,
Photo by Gelayne Blyden

See an emergency fund as an investment in your security, not an extra financial burden. Think of what would have happened if you had cash when you faced a bind? A good piece of advice is to actually define what an emergency is. This will help you decide what you can and cannot spend the money on in the future. If you’re married, you and your spouse should be on the same page. If you’re single, maybe you could try getting an accountability partner to keep you on track.

By Rumi

Jackson Heights is an example of the melting pot in New York. People from the East, Mid-West, and West live in the neighborhood for a long time. They bring and share new cultures into the neighborhood. People who moved into the neighborhood are cultural lovers and like to enjoy its colorful atmosphere.

Kabir’s Bakery, a popular Bengali bakery in Jackson Heights. Photo by rumi.

If you like to explore about new cultures, you can certainly go to Jackson Heights. And if you start walking from the 74th street towards to 82nd street on 37th Avenue, you will be amazed to discover within one avenue how many different cultures shifted one to another. They have so many Indian, Bengali, Italian, Thai, Chinese and Hispanic restaurants, clothing stores, groceries, and small coffee shops there.

Jackson Diner is a famous place for authentic Indian cuisine. Photo by rumi.

Everyday people come Jackson Heights from other cities, states and countries for visiting, shopping and dining. It is a popular place for women’s accessories and clothes. It is also one of the most searchable places for Asian foods and restaurants.

Feeling to have pasta at lunch? Armond’s Italian Restaurant is a great place to go. Photo by rumi.

Jackson Heights has a big MTA subway station. It has several train and bus services, including 7, E, F, R, M trains and Q33, Q47, Q48 and Q32 buses. Therefore, it is pretty easy to get there by public transportation.

Sari, traditional clothing for South Asian women. Photo by rumi.

So, if you are an adventurer who likes to know about different cultures, Jackson Heights will be a great place to start.

What was once home to trains running up and down the elevated track on the west side until the 1960s is now a place for pedestrians to roam around and enjoy the views of the city.

The High Line above 19th street. Photo by: Tim Ahmed

The High Line opened a mile to pedestrians in 2009, and expects to complete the entire 1.45 mile by 2014.

According to the High Line’s official website, the original railway was first built on street level in 1847.  This was not safe in Manhattan during the early era of the automobile. Collisions between freight trains and automobiles were frequent in the West Side.  The city hired men on horses to direct traffic.

In 1929, the city and the New York Central Railroad decided to elevate the entire railway on the west side, making automobile traffic more convenient and safer.

Relaxing on the elevated public space on the high line.   Photo by: Tim Ahmed

Thirty years after the project, the southern part of the railway was demolished due to the increase of interstate trucking.  Freight trains were no longer used in Manhattan.  The track from Gansevoort Street to 30th Street was abandoned.  In 1999, residents in the neighborhood advocated for the transformation of the High Line into a pedestrian walkway.  Ten years later,  the high line was finally open to the public.

The Empire State Building fills the skyline from the west.  Photo by: Tim Ahmed

Some compare the walkway to Paris’ Promenade Plantée, coined as the first elevated park in world.   The High Line is a modern approach to the classical and elegant Promenade.  This is a great place for visitors and even residents of the city.  Pedestrians are able to view the city from a different perspective.  During the winter season, the high line is bare without their colorful flora, but the sightseeing is still breathtaking.  If you ever wondered what it felt like to walk on an elevated train track, this is your chance.  Only this time, you can admire the skyline and walk safely.