WHAT MEANS NEW YORK OR EMPIRE STATE OF MIND?

Today, The Grandma has visited an old friend. He is New Yorker, and he talks like nobody about what it means being a New Yorker and thinking like him/her. 

In 1976 singer/songwriter Billy Joel, released the album entitled Turnstiles and on the album was New York State of Mind. Although it was initially unpopular, it quickly became a fan favorite and a regular part of Joel's on stage performances.  

New York has always been, and arguably always will be, an incredible city that never sleeps while holding out hope for dreamers who aspire to reach bigger and better things. 

But what is the New York State of Mind, and what does it mean to have an Empire State of Mind? What is it about this city that transforms the mind, body, and soul so deeply?

What does it mean to be a New Yorker?

Ah New York, a city full of dazzling lights, incredible food, and the most self-assured people in the world. Either adored or completely loathed, New York is a place where there is no middle ground. You either are or aren't from here, and you either do or don't like it here. But for the sake of argument, our personal preference for New York is nothing short of fabulous. We love everything about this city. From the way you can get a delicious meal on nearly every corner, to being able to walk wherever you need to go, there really is no other place quite like New York.

What makes New York really great, however, are the people. As a melting pot of cultures from all over the world, New York redefines what it means to be an American. Immigrants from every corner of the globe make their way to the Big Apple to live out their dreams and experience what it means to be a New Yorker. 

Living in this city isn't easy, and no one ever said it would be. In fact, before even stepping foot here people are warned about how difficult it is to make it, and they aren't lying! From the price of living to the ultra competitive job market, living in NYC isn't all fun and games. It is this that's why they say if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

The difficulties and struggles are in a way what makes the city great. It takes a certain frame of mind and attitude to push through adversity and rise above it. You can't be a wuss and live here. We have all worked hard to get to where we are, and we don't mind putting in overtime to reach our dreams. That is what it means to be a New Yorker.

What defines the Empire State of Mind?

The Empire State of Mind is defined by the ability to make our own rules. We don't follow social norms. In fact, more often than not we create social norms for the rest of the country to follow, especially when it comes to style and fashion.

Of course, we could also argue that New Yorkers don't really like to be defined by any attitude, particularly by people who aren't from here. But alas, we are our own breed, and we do have a tendency to rub off on each other.

The Empire State of Mind is easy to spot if you are from New York. In general, we adhere to the following ideas and attitudes:

-Nothing can stop us from doing what we really want to do.

-We relish in the struggle, fight, and determination in everyday life.

-Step up, speed up, or get out of our way!

-To the point and not willing to wait around for someone to do something we know we could do better.

-Jay walk. An inability to give a care about when streetlights and signs say it is safe to cross the street.

-Some Cabs also don't follow these laws, so keep your head up.

-No fear!

-Saying what you want, when you want to say it, how you want to say it.

-We Love New York, and We’d Have it No Other Way!

So many people come to New York and experience culture shock because they never imagined how different it would be from their own home. But it is. There is no other place in the world like New York. It is the one place in the world that no matter where you come from, you can still be yourself. The character, the energy, fast paced, motivated, determined, and maybe even a little bit pushy, but hey we love it that way.

When people start talking about changing New York City for the better we laugh in agreement on how so many things can be better, but deep down we feel lucky and proud to be living in such dynamic city that has so much to offer. Incredible food, world-famous art, the best live shows in the world, and people with more heart and soul than anywhere else are what define this absurdly awesome city. And that is the Empire State of Mind.

More information: Billy M. Joel, "It's nine o'clock in a Saturday"

 

 I'm just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line
'Cause I'm in a New York state of mind.

 

Billy Joel

MENTAL HEALTH, OUR MOST IMPORTANT TREASURE

Today, The Grandma has visited Bellevue Hospital in Kips Bay, a center popularly associated with its treatment of mentally ill patients, to know more about how to invest in mental health.

The greatest number of labour absences is due to reasons that have a direct relation with mental health: stress, depression, anxiety are common words in a society that never has enough and that puts its citizens at the limit of their possibilities.

Please, take care of your mental health. Live without pressure. Enjoy the present. Be honest with your goals. Do not try to be who you are not. Take care of you and of yours.

More information: Mental Health America

Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighbourhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to the south, and Third Avenue to the west.

According to The Encyclopedia of New York City and the New York City Department of City Planning, Kips Bay proper is generally bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th Street to the south, and Third Avenue to the west.

City documents have also used New York City census tract 70 (from 29th to 34th Streets, First to Third Avenues) as an approximation for Kips Bay, and referred to tract 66, immediately below it, as Bellevue South.

The American Guide Series defines the combined Kip's Bay-Turtle Bay area as running from 27th Street north 59th Street, and from Third Avenue to the East River, excluding the neighbourhoods of Beekman Place and Sutton Place.

For its entry on Kips Bay, the American Institute of Architects' AIA Guide to New York City uses the area from 23rd Street north to roughly 38th Street, and from the East River west to just past Second Avenue.

Other popular definitions of the neighbourhood, such as that by The New York Times, include 23rd Street to the south, 34th Street to the north, Lexington Avenue to the west, and the East River to the east. To the north is Murray Hill; to the west is Madison Square, NoMad, and/or Rose Hill; and to the south is the Bellevue area or the Gramercy Park neighborhood and Peter Cooper Village.

More information: Urban Areas

Kips Bay was an inlet of the East River running from what is now 32nd Street to 37th Street. The bay extended into Manhattan Island to just west of what is now First Avenue and had two streams that drained into it.

The bay was named after New Netherland Dutch settler Jacobus Hendrickson Kip (1631-1690), son of Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, whose farm ran north of present-day 30th Street along the East River.

The bay became reclaimed land, yet Kips Bay remains the name of the area. Kip built a large brick and stone house, near the modern intersection of Second Avenue and East 35th Street. The house stood from 1655 to 1851, expanded more than once, and when it was demolished was the last farmhouse from New Amsterdam remaining in Manhattan.

Iron figures fixed into the gable-end brickwork commemorated the year of its first construction. Its orchard was famous, and, when first President George Washington was presented with a sip of its Rosa gallica during his first administration (1789-1793), when New York was serving as the first national capital city, it was claimed to have been the first garden to have grown it in the Thirteen Colonies.

The neighbourhood has been rebuilt in patches, featuring both new high-rise structures often set back from the street, and a multitude of exposed party walls that were never meant to be seen in public. A nearly forgotten feature is the private alley called Broadway Alley, between 26th and 27th Streets, halfway between Lexington and Third Avenues, reputedly the last unpaved street in Manhattan; it is not known what this alley is named after, since it is not near the main Broadway.

More information: The New York Times

Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health+ Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States.

One of the largest hospitals in the United States by number of beds, it is located at 462 First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City. 

Bellevue is also home to FDNY EMS Station 08, formerly NYC EMS Station 13.

Historically, Bellevue was popularly associated with its treatment of mentally ill patients such that Bellevue became a local pejorative slang term for a psychiatric hospital.

This is long past the case as the hospital since developed into a comprehensive major medical center over the years, including outpatient, specialty, and skilled nursing care, as well as emergency and inpatient services. The hospital contains a 25-story patient care facility and has an attending physician staff of 1,200 and an in-house staff of about 5,500.

Bellevue is a safety net hospital, providing healthcare for individuals regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. It handles over half a million patient visits each year.

In 2014 Bellevue was ranked 40th overall best hospital in the New York metro area and 29th in New York City by U.S. News & World Report.

More information: The Bowery Boys History

Bellevue traces its origins to the city's first permanent almshouse, a two-story brick building completed in 1736 on the city common, now City Hall Park.

In 1798, the city purchased Belle Vue farm, a property near the East River several miles north of the settled city, which had been used to quarantine the sick during a series of yellow fever outbreaks. The hospital was formally named Bellevue Hospital in 1824.

By 1787, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons had assigned faculty and medical students to Bellevue. Columbia faculty and students would remain at Bellevue for the next 181 years, until the restructuring of the academic affiliations of Bellevue Hospital in 1968.

New York University faculty began to conduct clinical instruction at the hospital in 1819. 

In 1849, an amphitheater for clinical teaching and surgery opened. 

In 1861, the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, the first medical college in New York with connections to a hospital, was founded.

By 1873, the nation's first nursing school based on Florence Nightingale's principles opened at Bellevue, followed by the nation's first children's clinic in 1874 and the nation's first emergency pavilion in 1876; a pavilion for the insane, an approach considered revolutionary at the time, was erected within hospital grounds in 1879. For that reason, the name Bellevue is sometimes used as a metonym for psychiatric hospitals. Mark Harris in New York called it the Chelsea Hotel of the mad.

Bellevue initiated a residency training program in 1883 that is still the model for surgical training worldwide. The Carnegie Laboratory, the nation's first pathology and bacteriology laboratory, was founded there a year later, followed by the nation's first men's nursing school in 1888. By 1892, Bellevue established a dedicated unit for alcoholics.

In 1902, the administrative Bellevue and Allied Hospitals organization were formed by the city, under president John W. Brannan. B&AH also included Gouverneur Hospital, Harlem Hospital, and Fordham Hospital. B&AH opened doors to female and black physicians. In the midst of a tuberculosis epidemic a year later, the Bellevue Chest Service was founded.

In April 2010, plans to redevelop the former psychiatric hospital building as a hotel and conference center connected to NYU Langone Medical Center fell through.

More information: Thrillist

We need to start identifying the triggers
that aggravate mental health issues in our society
-bullying, social media negativity and anxiety,
gender based violence, substance abuse,
stigma around issues such as maternal issues, etc.,
and we need to speak up about these more
and get to the source of the problems.

Sanam Saeed

'FOREVER', DR. HENRY MORGAN WILL LIVE ETERNALLY

Today, The Grandma has been enjoying one of her favourite TV Series of all time, Forever, the American fantasy crime drama centered on the characters of Dr. Henry Morgan and Detective Jo Martínez created by Matt Miller.

 

After this, she has revised some English grammar with The Grangers, Future Simple and Prepositions of Place, again.

More info: Future Simple

More info: Prepositions of Place

Forever is an American fantasy crime drama television series that aired on ABC as part of the 2014–15 fall television season.

Created by Matt Miller, it centers on the character of Dr. Henry Morgan, an immortal New York City medical examiner who uses his extensive knowledge to assist the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in solving crimes and to discover a way to end his immortality. Flashbacks within each episode reveal various details of Henry's life.

The series' network aired a sneak preview on September 22, 2014, and resumed the series at 10 p.m. EST on September 23, 2014. Reception of the series was mixed.

In the United States, television critics were divided over the series' similarity to other crime dramas and its premise. In contrast, voters in several online polls ranked the series as one of the best of the television season. Forever's broadcast was well-received in France and Spain.

Although ABC gave the series a full-season episode order on November 7, 2014, it cancelled Forever after one season. ABC cited the show's low ratings as the rationale behind the decision. Television critics believed that other factors explained the network's decision, as the show gained viewers who watched up to seven days later on their DVRs. Fans of the series reacted strongly, creating a social media campaign to save the series; despite these efforts, the series remains canceled.

Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is a New York City medical examiner who studies the dead for criminal cases, and to solve the mystery of his own immortality. His first death was 200 years ago while trying to free slaves as a doctor aboard a ship in the African slave trade. Each time he dies, Henry disappears almost immediately and returns to life naked in a nearby body of water. He has also stopped aging.

Henry's long life has given him broad knowledge and remarkable observation skills which impress most people he encounters, including New York Police Department Detective Jo Martinez (Alana de la Garza). Only antiquarian, Abe (Judd Hirsch), whom Henry and his now-deceased wife Abigail found as a newborn in a German concentration camp during World War II, knows that he is immortal. Henry is stalked by Adam, who is also an immortal, and claims to have been alive for around 2,000 years.

 

As sad and dreadful as death may be,
it forces us to cherish every moment because the truth is...
Life is precious because it's finite.

 Dr. Henry Morgan

 

Ioan Gruffudd as Doctor Henry Morgan.

Born in 1779, Henry is a New York City medical examiner who studies the dead for criminal cases and to solve the mystery of his immortality.

His first death was in 1814 while trying to free slaves as a doctor aboard a ship in the African slave trade. Since that time, Henry disappears each time he dies and returns to life naked in a nearby body of water.

He has been married twice; his first wife Nora, whom he married before he became immortal, had him committed to an asylum, and his second wife, Abigail, whom he met during the Second World War and remained with until 1984, when she left to find somewhere they could be together without being judged for Abigail's apparently greater age.

He abandoned his original career as a doctor in 1956 after he and a butcher were shot; Henry chose to crawl away and die instead of trying to save the other man because he feared others finding out his secret. Although knowledgeable about many topics, Henry demonstrates a general lack of knowledge about modern popular culture. He also dislikes cell phones but will use one if necessary.

Alana de la Garza as Detective Jo Martínez.

Jo is a sharp, no-nonsense, determined detective with the NYPD who is both intrigued and disgusted by Henry's detailed medical knowledge when examining a corpse.

She finds his behavior to be out there, but still relies on his insight for solving homicides. Originating from a rough background with a law-breaking father, she is also a recent widow; her husband was a lawyer who died of an unexpected heart attack while running on a treadmill on a visit to Washington a year before she met Henry. She is stationed at the 11th Precinct.

Joel David Moore as Lucas Wahl.

Henry's assistant in the Medical Examiner's office, who expresses uncertainty about how little he knows about his boss, and an uncanny memory for his daily activities. He studied film in college before working in the medical examiner's office. He makes horror films in his spare time.

Lucas tends to use popular culture references in his speech, many of which Henry does not understand.

 

Donnie Keshawarz as Detective Mike Hanson.

Jo's partner, who is stationed at the 11th Precinct. He was in a band when he was younger. He is married and has two sons. He also has a brother.

 

Judd Hirsch as Abraham "Abe" Morgan.

Henry's adopted son and main confidant. No one knows Dr. Henry Morgan better than his son, Abe. The keeper of Henry's immortality secret, although he has claimed that he worked with Henry's father to explain their association to strangers. At the end of World War II, he was rescued from Belsen, after surviving a death march from Auschwitz.

He currently owns an antique store where Henry uses the basement for his immortality research on himself. Abe fought in the Vietnam War and has a two-time ex-wife named Maureen Delacroix (Jane Seymour). 

Abe's research into his family tree revealed that he is a distant relative of Henry's, as one of his ancestors was the illegitimate son of Henry's womanizing uncle.

 

Lorraine Toussaint as Lieutenant Joanna Reece. 

Jo and Hanson's supervisor at the 11th Precinct.

 

MacKenzie Mauzy as Abigail Morgan.

Henry's second wife and Abe's adoptive mother. 

Henry met her toward the end of World War II when they were working as medical personnel near one of the Nazi concentration camps. Over the years, she worked as a nurse in addition to being a housewife.

The latest time period in which Abigail has been shown is 1982, when she was still married to Henry but looked a generation older than he (Janet Zarish); in 1984, she vanished without a trace despite Henry's best efforts to find her. Henry has acknowledged that the end of his relationship with Abigail caused him a lot of pain that prevents him from dating anyone for whom he has real feelings.

 

Burn Gorman as Lewis Farber/Adam.

A 2,000-year-old immortal who claims that he has been here since the beginning and that he has not found a death for himself. Analysis of his blood revealed that he had contracted several extinct diseases, including the bubonic plague.

Adam was tortured as part of the Nazis' research into his immortality, leaving him with a hatred of the Nazis and a sympathy for other Holocaust survivors, including Abe. Adam first appeared as Henry's appointed psychiatrist and convinced a patient that he could pass on his immortality.

Adam continued to try to find a lost dagger, one that not only caused Adam's first death but also was used to kill Julius Caesar. Adam appears in five episodes.

More information: Nine

Yes, some memories are precious...
and we need to hang on to them.
But Emily Dickinson wrote,
'Forever is composed of nows,' and she's right.
If we root ourselves too deeply in the past,
we'll miss what's right in front of us.

Dr. Henry Morgan

FREE PRESS, THE NEW YORK TIMES VS. NEW YORK POST

Today, The Grandma has visited The New York Times headquarters in New York City. 

It has been an interesting visit to talk about modern journalism, fake news and free spech.

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership.

It was founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, and was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The Times has won 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national newspaper of record. It is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S.

The paper is owned by The New York Times Company, which is publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 1896, through a dual-class share structure after its shares became publicly traded.

A. G. Sulzberger and his father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. -the paper's publisher and the company's chairman, respectively- are the fifth and fourth generations of the family to head the paper.

Since the mid-1970s, The New York Times has expanded its layout and organization, adding special weekly sections on various topics supplementing the regular news, editorials, sports, and features.

Since 2008, the Times has been organized into the following sections: News, Editorials/Opinions-Columns/Op-Ed, New York (metropolitan), Business, Sports, Arts, Science, Styles, Home, Travel, and other features.

On Sundays, the Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review (formerly the Week in Review), The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine.

The New York Times was founded as the New-York Daily Times on September 18, 1851. Founded by journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond and former banker George Jones, the Times was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. Early investors in the company included Edwin B. Morgan, Christopher Morgan, and Edward B. Wesley.

The New York Times switched to a digital production process sometime before 1980, but only began preserving the resulting digital text that year.

In 1983, the Times sold the electronic rights to its articles to LexisNexis. As the online distribution of news increased in the 1990s, the Times decided not to renew the deal and in 1994 the newspaper regained electronic rights to its articles.

On January 22, 1996, NYTimes.com began publishing.

The New York Times has had one slogan. Since 1896, the newspaper's slogan has been All the News That's Fit to Print.

More information: The New York Times

The New York Post (NY Post) is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City.  

The Post also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.

It was established in 1801 by Federalist and Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, and became a respected broadsheet in the 19th century under the name New York Evening Post. Its most famous 19th-century editor was William Cullen Bryant.

In the mid-20th century, the paper was owned by Dorothy Schiff, a devoted liberal, who developed its tabloid format. In 1976, Rupert Murdoch bought the Post for US$30.5 million. Since 1993, the Post has been owned by Murdoch's News Corp. Its distribution ranked 4th in the US in 2019.

The Post was founded by Alexander Hamilton with about US$10,000, equivalent to $162,860 in 2021, from a group of investors in the autumn of 1801 as the New-York Evening Post, a broadsheet. Hamilton's co-investors included other New York members of the Federalist Party, such as Robert Troup and Oliver Wolcott, who were dismayed by the election of Thomas Jefferson as U.S. president and the rise in popularity of the Democratic-Republican Party.

The meeting at which Hamilton first recruited investors for the new paper took place in Archibald Gracie's then-country weekend villa that is now Gracie Mansion. Hamilton chose William Coleman as his first editor.

The most famous 19th-century Evening Post editor was the poet and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant. So well respected was the Evening Post under Bryant's editorship, it received praise from the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, in 1864.

In 1996, the New York Post launched an Internet version of the paper.

More information: New York Post

  'The New York Times' is inherent in what we are,
but not worn as 'what we are';
it's important and crucial to all of us,
but not something that was drilled in,
in any specific ways.

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.

THE CHRYSLER BUILDING, ENJOYING ART DECO IN NYC

Today, The Grandma has visited the Chrysler Building, an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan, and one of the most popular icons of New York City.

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in the Turtle Bay neighbourhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

At 319 m, it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930.

As of 2019, the Chrysler is the 11th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.

Originally a project of real estate developer and former New York State Senator William H. Reynolds, the building was constructed by Walter Chrysler, the head of the Chrysler Corporation. The construction of the Chrysler Building, an early skyscraper, was characterized by a competition with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to become the world's tallest building.

Although the Chrysler Building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for its construction and never owned it; Walter Chrysler decided to fund the entire cost personally so his children could inherit it. An annex was completed in 1952, and the building was sold by the Chrysler family the next year, with numerous subsequent owners.

More information: Chrysler Building

When the Chrysler Building opened, there were mixed reviews of the building's design, ranging from views of it as inane and unoriginal to the idea that it was modernist and iconic. Perceptions of the building have slowly evolved into its now being seen as a paragon of the Art Deco architectural style; and in 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1978, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The land was donated to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1902. The site is roughly a trapezoid with a 61 m frontage on Lexington Avenue; a 51 m frontage on 42nd Street; and a 62 m frontage on 43rd Street.

The site bordered the old Boston Post Road, which predated, and ran aslant of, the Manhattan street grid established by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. As a result, the east side of the building's base is similarly aslant.

The Grand Hyatt New York hotel and the Graybar Building are across Lexington Avenue, while the Socony-Mobil Building is across 42nd Street.

In addition, the Chanin Building is to the southwest, diagonally across Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. National Historic Landmark in 1976.

The Chrysler Building was designed by William Van Alen in the Art Deco style and is named for one of its original tenants, automotive executive Walter Chrysler.

More information: Classic New York History

It is constructed of a steel frame infilled with masonry, with areas of decorative metal cladding. The structure contains 3,862 exterior windows. Approximately fifty metal ornaments protrude at the building's corners on five floors reminiscent of gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals.

The 31st-floor contains gargoyles as well as replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps, and the 61st-floor is adorned with eagles as a nod to America's national bird.

In the mid-1920s, New York's metropolitan area surpassed London's as the world's most populous metropolitan area and its population exceeded ten million by the early 1930s.

The era was characterized by profound social and technological changes. Consumer goods such as radio, cinema, and the automobile became widespread.

In 1927, Walter Chrysler's automotive company, the Chrysler Corporation, became the third-largest car manufacturer in the United States, behind Ford and General Motors. The following year, Chrysler was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.

The economic boom of the 1920s and speculation in the real estate market fostered a wave of new skyscraper projects in New York City.

The Chrysler Building was built as part of an ongoing building boom that resulted in the city having the world's tallest building from 1908 to 1974.

More information: Town and Country

 I like to build things. I like to do things.

Walter Chrysler

THE GRANDMA MEETS THE CORLEONES IN LITTLE ITALY

Today, The Grandma has visited Little Italy in Lower Manhattan to meet the Corleone family, some American-Sicilian friends of her who lived in this beautiful neighbourhood.

Little Italy, also in Italian Piccola Italia, is a neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, once known for its large Italian population. It is bounded on the west by Tribeca and Soho, on the south by Chinatown, on the east by the Bowery and Lower East Side, and on the north by Nolita.

Little Italy on Mulberry Street used to extend as far south as Worth Street, as far north as Houston Street, as far west as Lafayette Street, and as far east as Bowery. It is now only three blocks on Mulberry Street north of Canal St.

Little Italy originated at Mulberry Bend south of Canal, in what had formerly been the Five Points area but is now the heart of Chinatown. Jacob Riis described Mulberry Bend as the foul core of New York's slums.

During this time period Immigrants of the late 19th century usually settled in ethnic neighbourhoods.

Therefore, the mass immigration from Italy during the 1880s led to the large settlement of Italian immigrants in lower Manhattan. The results of such migration had created an influx of Italian immigrants which had led to the commercial gathering of their dwelling and business.

Bill Tonelli from New York magazine said, Once, Little Italy was like an insular Neapolitan village re-created on these shores, with its own language, customs, and financial and cultural institutions.

Little Italy was not the largest Italian neighborhood in New York City, as East Harlem (or Italian Harlem) had a larger Italian population. Tonelli said that Little Italy was perhaps the city's poorest Italian neighborhood.

In 1910 Little Italy had almost 10,000 Italians; that was the peak of the community's Italian population. At the turn of the 20th century, over 90% of the residents of the Fourteenth Ward were of Italian birth or origins.

After World War II, many residents of the Lower East Side began moving to Brooklyn, Staten Island, eastern Long Island, and New Jersey. Chinese immigrants became an increased presence after the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 removed immigration restrictions, and the Manhattan Chinatown to Little Italy's south expanded.

In 2010, Little Italy and Chinatown were listed in a single historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Little Italy, by this point, was shrinking rapidly.

Little Italy was home to dozens of restaurants that serve authentic Italian cuisine.

Since 2004, Sorrento Lactalis funds neighborhood cultural events in Little Italy.

The Feast of San Gennaro originally was once only a one-day religious commemoration. It began in September 1926 with the new arrival of immigrants from Naples. The Italian immigrants congregated along Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy to celebrate San Gennaro as the Patron Saint of Naples. 

The Feast of San Gennaro is a large street fair, lasting 11 days, that takes place every September along Mulberry Street between Houston and Canal Streets. The festival is an annual celebration of Italian culture and the Italian-American community.

Little Italy residents have seen organized crime since the early 20th century. Powerful members of the Italian Mafia have operated in Little Italy.

More information: Untapped New York

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same name. 

The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy. 

The story, spanning from 1945 to 1955, chronicles the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando), focusing on the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone (Pacino), from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.

Studio executives had trouble finding a director; the first few candidates turned down the position before Coppola signed on to direct the film but disagreement followed over casting several characters, in particular, Vito and Michael. 

Filming took place primarily on location around New York City and in Sicily, and was completed ahead of schedule. 

The musical score was composed principally by Nino Rota, with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola.

More information: Smithsonian Magazine

 

International affairs is very much run like the mafia.
The godfather does not accept disobedience,
even from a small storekeeper who doesn't pay his protection money.
You have to have obedience; otherwise,
the idea can spread that you don't have to listen to the orders,
and it can spread to important places.

Noam Chomsky

THE GRANGERS VISIT ATLANTIC CITY, ROLL OF THE DICE!

Today, The Grangers and The Grandma have travelled from New York to Atlantic City in New Jersey. Before this trip, they have studied the Future Simple, and Zero and First Conditional clauses. 

Finally, they have continuing reading Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost and they have predicted the future.

More info: Future Simple

More info: Zero Conditional & First Conditional

Download The Numbers

Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches.

In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township.

it is located on Absecon Island and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, Egg Harbor Township, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantic City inspired the U.S. version of the board game Monopoly, especially the street names.

Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant.

In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978.

For many years before the city was founded, the island site of the future settlement was the summer home of the Lenape. While the precise date of the first permanent occupation of what came to be Atlantic City has not been precisely determined, it is commonly thought that in 1783 Jeremiah Leeds first built and occupied an all year home on the island. However, it was not until 1850 that the idea arose to develop the location into a resort town and in early 1853 the name Atlantic City was adopted.

More information: Atlantic City

The history of gambling in Atlantic City traces back to prohibition and the 1920s, with racketeer Louis Kuehnle running an underground hotel and casino. Enoch "Nucky" Johnson followed and furthered Atlantic City's rise through the Roaring Twenties as a destination for drinking, gambling, and nightlife.

In 1974, New Jersey voters voted 60%-40% against legalizing casino gambling at four sites statewide, but two years later approved by 56%-44% a new referendum which legalized casinos, but restricted them to Atlantic City.

Resorts Atlantic City was the first casino to open, in May 1978, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Governor of New Jersey Brendan Byrne.

Atlantic City is considered the Gambling Capital of the East Coast, and currently has nine large casinos.

In 2011, New Jersey's then 12 casinos employed approximately 33,000 employees, had 28.5 million visitors, made $3.3 billion in gaming revenue, and paid $278 million in taxes. They are regulated by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

In the wake of the economic downturn following the Great Recession and the legalization of gambling in adjacent and nearby states (including Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania), four casino closures took place in 2014: the Atlantic Club on January 13; the Showboat on August 31; the Revel, which was Atlantic City's second-newest casino, on September 2; and Trump Plaza, which originally opened in 1984, and was the poorest performing casino in the city, on September 16.

Executives at Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose sole remaining property at the time was the Trump Taj Mahal, said in 2013 that they were considering the option of selling the Taj and winding down and exiting the gaming and hotel business. Trump Taj Mahal closed October 10, 2016, after failing to come to terms with union workers.

Caesars Entertainment executives have been reconsidering the future of their three remaining Atlantic City properties (Bally's, Caesars and Harrah's), in the wake of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the company's casino operating unit in January 2015.

In 2020, Bally's Atlantic City was acquired by Bally's Corporation.

More information: Atlantic City Free Public Library

 Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Bruce Springsteen