Reader Alert

Dear Friends,
Thank you for reading Retired in New York--Alive and Kicking at blogspot.com. I am now blogging at wordpress.com and would love to have you join me there.

You can read my new blog at www.shellysretirementadventure.com

best regards,
Shelly

Participatory Budgeting is Here and Waiting for You

We live in a neighborhood but we become part of it if we engage in local politics--"of, for and relating to citizens" -- on the micro level.

(School of Athens Revisited: adrianeisenhower.blogspot.com)

While the country worries about the Affordable Care Act and the deficit,

(Source:  dailykos.com)

 

(Source: nydailynews.com)                    

we may also be worried about the bicycles that nearly mowed us down or the garbage. 

 

(Source: myfoxny.com)

At our meeting last night, the group discussed whether there should be an uptown bike lane on Amsterdam to match the downtown bike lane on Columbus with cyclists, small business owners and senior pedestrians voicing points of view.

(Source: nydailynews.com)

Our Councilmember introduced the concept of participatory budgeting and said she plans on turning over $1M of the $2M she gets to spend to her constituents--that would be us. We get to come up with ideas on how to spend it and vote for our choice--whether for youth, seniors, schools, housing or transportation. This is a good idea. Otherwise, we might not like the choices people make for us.

(Source: cheesburger.com)

Whatever our choice, we have to show up to get it done. And I was impressed by how many of our elected representatives did show up. Our Councilmember, Assemblyperson, Community Board Chair, District Leaders and Congressman all made an appearance along with a lot of our community.

Here is the most important part--we need to vote and November 5 is the day. We shouldn't say--well, our candidate has a lead of 40 points--and think our vote won't matter. Believe me, the other side is counting on that. Let's make sure to find our local polling place, be there and be heard.

(Source: townhall.com)

NOVEMBER 5.

#retiredinnewyork
#localpolitics
#voteonnovember5
#GOTVnewyork

New York City's NYPL for the Performing Arts--It's Ours and It's Free

Doubtless, you made the acquaintance of your nearby New York Public Library branch but did you know about these free and accessible special libraries?

Science, Industry and Business Library at Madison and 34th,
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at 515 Malcolm X Blvd,
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street (Main Branch) where Patience and Fortitude, nicknamed by Mayor LaGuardia, guard the entrance,

(Source: goodbooksforyoungsouls.blogspot.com)
and the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.

 

(Source: kosboot.com)

There, within the Billy Rose Theatre Division, you can review the working script for Orson Welles's African-American Macbeth,

 

 (Source: poster by Anthony Velonis)

see what makeup Nijinsky wore in Scheherazade in the Jerome Robbins Dance division, view rare manuscripts in the Music Division,

(Source: nypl.org)

or look at the Theatre and Film on Tape Archive (These divisions require an appointment).

In the circulating collections, you can listen for hours to any recording, view videos and DVDs, and take out musical scores, a boon to impoverished musicians everywhere.

 

(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

But some of the best things at this library are the free lectures and music programs almost daily in the Bruno Walter Auditorium. Go to www.nypl.org/locations/tid/55/calendar to see what's current

A quick sampling for the next couple of weeks includes:

Barber and Moore, with pianist Benjamin Bradham,

Songbook at LPA's new Broadway music,

Dixieland Jazz on Tuesdays with the Gotham Jazzmen,

(Source: nypl.org)

An Afternoon of Opera and Song,

Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, Men and Hope, a lecture by the Smithosonian's Richard Kurin, and

Certainly Known Yet Hardly Shown

These programs take place afternoons and early evenings and are listed as being for Adults 50+, Book Lovers, College & Graduate Students, and Adults. That includes us.

#retiredinnewyork

#nypl

#lincolncenterlibraryfortheperformingarts

#LPA

#brunowalterauditorium

Destination Bakeries II

Some of those who have eaten their way across Greenwich Village and Little Italy (see  Destination--Italian Pastries, Pastas and Cheeses) might like to know about outstanding bakeries on the Upper East Side. We took on this onerous task and on our way, discovered some of Old New York's treasures.

We started with the 110-year old Glaser's Bake Shop on First Avenue at 87th Street.

It's still there baking wonderful everyday familiar specialties including cinnamon buns,

cheese Danish, and marble pound cake that tastes really good on the second day toasted. Rita tells us with her lovely smile that on Wednesdays they have sour dough bread, on Thursdays challah and on St. Patrick's Day, Irish soda bread. Don't miss this landmark.

The next stop on our pilgrimage was decades-old Andre's Cafe and Bakery on Second Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets where we lunched on a vast appetizer portion of chicken paprikash palazcinta (crepes) and cabbage (yes cabbage) strudel. One of the few Hungarian restaurants left in Manhattan, the bakery offers lekvar (fruit butter, often prune) and poppy seed (an acquired taste but very good) pastries.

At 78th Street we turned East and found Orwasher's bakery, sitting quietly in the middle of the block as it has since 1916.

West Siders can get some of their artisanal breads at Zabar's, but you should visit the original. Try the sour dough baguette, rustic breads, and filled to order jelly doughnuts.

We walked across beautiful townhouse-lined 78th Street

to Third Avenue and continued our explorations, passing FP Patisserie (Payard) at 74th

and a brand new Belgian bakery and cafe, O Merveilleux, also on Third, specializing in meringues and Belgian favorite, gingerbread-spiced speculoos.

We finished up at Maison Kayser, a busy cafe and bakery with genuine French favorites,

including the yummy brioche au sucre that we loved and lost on the Upper West Side.

At the end of the day and a long walk, we surveyed our goodies, realized we didn't have the face to eat it all ourselves, and invited our friends to dig in and share. They had to force themselves but they are good friends so they came and helped us out.

#retiredinnewyork
#uppereastsidebakeries
#newyorkbakeries
#glasers
#orwashers
#andres

La Nouvelle Vague and Us

If you are a film buff or if you haven't yet seen any films by Jean-Luc Godard and you are a bit of a Francophile (food, chateaux, cathedrals, and yes the people, etc.), you will want to try to catch the last 10 days of the Godard retrospective at one of the Lincoln Center Film Society theaters. Says Godard, "There is no point in having sharp images when you have fuzzy ideas." How true.

(Source: esquire.com)

Today, I still ask Rory, aren't there any nice French films around? and he usually says no. The days when a new Truffaut, Godard, or Chabrol appeared as if by magic are gone. As are my other favorites, the great Claude Berri (Jean de Florette) and Philippe de Broca (Man From Rio).

(Source: screenrush.co.uk)

But here we are with one of the original founders of the French New Wave cinema (the eponymous Nouvelle Vague of the title), who is still alive by the way, right in our backyard. I almost missed it but fortunately, thanks to the kindness of our children, we are the proud possessors of a membership to the Lincoln Center Film Society and often check their website.

 

(Source: filmlinc.com)
You really have to be on your toes not to miss this stuff. Or as Alice said in Through the Looking Glass, "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

(Source: worldofwallstreet.us)

Good news--there is a senior price--$7/pp--for these great films. If you still haven't seen Vivre Sa Vie or Two or Three Things I know About Her or the film called La Nouvelle Vague, this is your chance but move fast--these great moments in New York life don't last forever.

#retiredinnewyork
#godardretrospective
#filmsocietyoflincolncenter

The Government Wants You to Retire in New York

First, a disclaimer--I am not an accountant but I have looked a lot things up And yes, you heard correctly. The government Wants you to retire in New York. How do I know this? well, for one thing, did you know that the first $20,000 that you draw each year from your pension is New York State and New York City tax free? even if you have a private or out-of-state public pension.That's for each of you--your spouse, partner, etc.

(Source: recycledpetsnorcal.org)

New York allows residents 59½ and older to exclude up to $20,000 of private or out-of-state public pensions from taxes, regardless of their total income.
Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T006-C000-S002-tax-friendly-places-to-retire.html#As3FlCT80qUO2uO2.99

And, New York is one of 10 states that exclude all federal, military, and in-state government pensions from taxation (Kiplinger).

exclude all federal, military and in-state government pensions from taxation
Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T006-C000-S002-tax-friendly-places-to-retire.html#As3FlCT80qUO2uO2.99

exclude all federal, military and in-state government pensions from taxation
Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T006-C000-S002-tax-friendly-places-to-retire.html#As3FlCT80qUO2uO2.99

exclude all federal, military and in-state government pensions from taxation
Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T006-C000-S002-tax-friendly-places-to-retire.html#As3FlCT80qUO2uO2.99

exclude all federal, military and in-state government pensions from taxation
Read more at http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T006-C000-S002-tax-friendly-places-to-retire.html#As3FlCT80qUO2uO2.99

(Source: retirementincomevisions.com)
Plus, New York is one of 27 states that does not tax Social Security. Or Railroad Retirement benefits.

(Source: railroadhow.com)
There are also property tax benefits for New Yorkers 65+ with income limits--STAR--see http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/star/index.htm or your accountant for more info on that.

On the other hand, New York is one of 12 states that has the highest tax on cigarettes. If you fall into this category and you don't want to leave New York, you should stop smoking immediately; the taxes are terrible.

I'm not saying that if you quit, you will look like Gwyneth

(Source: healthline.com)
or become president

(Source: healthline.com)
but it couldn't hurt.

#newyorktaxbenefits
#retiredinnewyork
#stopsmoking

Bee Bim Bop and You

If you should find yourself on your way to Macy's, the Empire State Building, Penn Station or the eye doctor, make a slight detour to walk along 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue to Koreatown, which features restaurants, grocery stores, supermarkets, bookstores, and electronics outlets

(Source: wikipedia.org)
along the strip officially named Korea Way.

More than 20,000 Koreans live in Manhattan (200,000 plus in the New York Metro area) and 100 businesses surround the main street, delivering hundreds of workers into the myriad restaurants and bakeries such as Tous Les Jours, French pastry with an Asian twist.

We sauntered in to a restaurant with a beautiful mural on the outside

and proceeded to have an excellent lunch at Muk Eun Ji and Son.

We noticed that Korean Bar-B-Q meals started at about $22/pp and go stratospherically high so we chose Bee Bim Bop, an old favorite. If you haven't tried it, you can walk into most restaurants and you will pay about $15/pp. First, they served us seven relish dishes plus egg drop soup

followed by two huge stone bowls of rice topped with meat and vegetables and a fried egg, all heated very hot.

(Source: koreataste.org)

What happens is that the rice on the bottom becomes crisp as you work your way down and you then chow down the crispy rice at the end. If you're fortunate, your server will be Ann who explained which Bee Bim Bop selections were very hot, hot, or my tolerance--totally bland.

I heard a rhythmic slapping at the back and deduced either pizza, puff pastry, noodles or bad plumbing. It turned out to be noodles made to your order.

 Next time we will have noodles; they looked really good.

(Source: mightysweet.com)

#retiredinnewyork
#handmadenoodles
#beebimbop
#newyorkkoreatown
#newyorkkoreaway