TresSugar

What Do You Know About 400-Year-Old New York City?

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:31:18 -0700

Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to New York City. The royals are in town to kick off the festivities for New York City's NY400 week. This year marks 400 years since Dutch traders departed from Amsterdam for what would become New York City. Take a bite out of this quiz to see what you know about the Big Apple.

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Have You Ever Witnessed Someone Masturbating in Public?

TresSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0700

The one time I saw a man masturbating in public, I was so shocked that I just ran away from him as fast as possible. But a woman who saw a man pleasuring himself in the seat across from her on New York's 3 train found a way to snap back - she took a cell phone photo of him.

Armed with her evidence, she went down to the 32nd Precinct and filed a complaint. She was surprised to hear from the female officer who was helping her that this was not a matter for the police and she'd have to call 311 to complain to the city.

Considering public lewdness is a crime, the NYPD has subsequently launched a probe of the incident and released the cell phone photo of the perpetrator (see above).

Have you ever witnessed someone masturbating in public?

Splash Cans: Would You Go Swimming in a Dumpster?

TresSugar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:30:00 -0700

A few Summers ago, there were infamous pool parties in an empty, decrepit old pool in Brooklyn. (Think drinking, music, and slip 'n' slides.) Now there's a new pool in the borough - and this time it's full. One exception - there always is there - it's in a dumpster. The dumpsters have been cleaned and lined and filled with water that's not from the Hudson, so . . . what could be so bad?

The UrbanEye at the New York Times went there to check out the now not-so-secret spot. Would you jump in?

Friday Feel Good: Amma the Hugging Saint Goes to NYC

TresSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0700

Would you wait in line for a hug? Jaded New Yorkers did from Tuesday through yesterday - just to get an embrace from an Indian woman dubbed the Hugging Saint. (She probably hugged 20,000 New Yorkers by the end of it all.) Amma Amritanandamayi, 54, has been dispensing hugs for about 30 years in her travels around the world, and it's estimated that the "Hugging Saint" has given around 27 million hugs.

What's so special about her hugs? One person says it's not an ordinary hug. Another says it helps clear her mind. "Everyone comes to her," says a 38-year-old acupuncturist, "because they're in some kind of pain - cancer, love, family, kids. They want something from her. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't."

Although Amma says she's not a faith healer, one couple says it was only after Amma hugged them that they were finally able to conceive. Amma, who began spontaneously hugging people around the age of 8 or 9, told the Daily News through a translator, "The purest form of love can change people and that's what I'm trying to do." (The video above shows Amma embracing New Yorkers last year during her visit.)

Oh, Snap! Wegmanesque Photo Shoot

TresSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:33:05 -0700

Why didn't I ever see William Wegman-esque photo shoots in Washington Square Park when I lived in NYC? All I ever saw was NYU students and riff raff asking me if I wanted to buy weed.

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Oh Snap! Michelle at the Met

TresSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:00:00 -0700

The First Lady unveiled the newly renovated American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday in New York City and later delivered a speech about the importance of supporting creative fields during tough times. Judging by her look in this photo, Michelle might have preferred an afternoon at home in her sweats over yet another public appearance. And who could blame her! The first lady has a packed schedule, as she makes time for a variety of causes, like poetry, sustainable gardening, and education.

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NYC Fights Sexual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities

CitizenSugar — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:30:51 -0700

Sexual abuse is one of those problems - if acknowledged - Orthodox Jews tend to hush and handle in religious courts, which apparently exist. Stigma, shame, cultural isolation, and the more obvious fear that revelations will hurt future marriage prospects ensure secrets stay in the streets of ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhoods.

But New York City has ambitious plans to change that. The city is setting up an outreach program, which includes prosecutors visiting synagogues and a hotline called Kol Tzedek, meaning "voice of justice" in Hebrew. The voice of justice on the line will be a "culturally sensitive" social worker, who will allow callers to remain anonymous until they're ready to come forward. When and if that happens, victims can meet with social workers and lawyers who specialize in sex crimes.

The chief of Brooklyn's sex crimes bureau told the New York Times "there is a climate of change" in the ultrasecretive community. Maybe so - the number of current cases in Brooklyn is up to 19 from not enough to count in years past.

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City vs. Country: Who's Polluting the Earth More?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:30:20 -0700

I always thought cities won the CO2-reduction argument with their tiny apartments and efficient undergrounds. Turns out, I was right! Sort of.

In many countries, cities have much lower per person emission rates, compared to the national average.

The real culprit? Not the driving culture of rural areas, but the high-consumption lives wealthy countries lead. Wealth that (until last year?) started in low-CO2-emitting cities like New York, which only emits 7.1 tons of CO2 per person while the US average is 23.92.

But when you look to poorer countries, urban areas are the pollution centers. To see why, read more.

Cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which house the emission-emitting factory jobs wealthier countries shipped off, have higher CO2 emissions per capita than China's national average.

When you factor in poorer countries' lenient environmental regulations, cities seem to be the greater evil. While only half the world's population lives in cities, they consume 75 percent of global energy. UN-Habitat said cities emit 50-60 percent of greenhouse gases, but 80 percent when you factor indirect emissions from city dwellers.

Sounds like the problem is born in wealthy countries and bred in poor ones, no? Good thing China won't be "poor" much longer!

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Take That Terrorists! Plans to Reopen Statue of Liberty's Crown

LibertySugar — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:00:31 -0800

Ever since Sept. 11, visitors in search of a patriotic climb and majestic view have not been able to make the 354-stair trek to the top of the Statue of Liberty. But the Obama administration wants to change that. This week, newly minted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a study, to be completed by April, that will assess whether to reopen the crown to the public. Salazar says opening the crown is very important to him.

While Liberty Island and the base of the statue have reopened since the New York City terrorist attacks, concerns beyond an attack have kept the crown closed. The crown's stairway was not built for the public, and if a climber suffered an injury, it would be hard to get him or her down safely. But those eager to reopen the high-up hat think limiting the number of climbers to as few as 10 could solve the problem.

Do you think opening the crown is worth the security risks?

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Front Page: Investigation Begins On Downed Jet In Hudson

LibertySugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:30:14 -0800

A giant crane is set to pull out the US Airways jet that crashed into the Hudson River yesterday. Investigators will look into how the plane went down and perhaps how all 155 passengers survived.The pilot and crew are being hailed as heroes. - AP
The Senate voted yesterday to release the second half of the $700 billion bailout to soon-to-be President Obama. It was a big political win for the incoming president. -Boston Globe
Communities around the country, including Oakland, CA, celebrated Martin Luther King's 80th birthday yesterday. - Oakland Tribune

Pakistan formally informed India of the actions it has taken to address the Mumbai terrorist attacks today, hoping to ease tensions. The US says that Pakistan's investigation is a promising start. - Reuters
Bank of America will receive $20 billion of taxpayer money. The second bailout will make the government the bank's largest shareholder. - International Herald Tribune

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