I LOVE NY Van posted by Suzannah B. Troy

Time to report some joyous NYC vehicle news like this adorable Lilliputian van the perfect size for parking on the Lower East Side.  I am sure many New Yorkers envy the neat organization of this little shop on wheels. I know I do.

I also went to a wine tasting on the Lower East Side at Inoetca which is Italian for Wine Bar.  Inoteca is delicious and affordable including their wine tastings and is located on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington.   Just a note of irony.  My maternal grandfather was born down the street in the early 1900's in a tenement house and living conditions were unpleasant and crowded to say the least.  Times have changed and so has the neighborhood.

Marco Fay came to introduce his wines to a diverse group of New Yorkers including a New Yorker born in India.  I had a fun lively time talking about NYC politics and city living with these wonderful people.

The wines were delicious and Marco Fay was really easy on the eyes looking like a younger smaller Eric Bana.  Like all wine makers I have encountered he take pride his wines, the land and history.

The wine maker hails from Consorizio Tutela Vini Valtellina and I was given this information....

"A valley surrounded by a tall and terrible mountains, it makes really powerful wines."  In that brief but fundamentally exhaustive description, Leonardo Da Vinci summed up Valtellina when writing his "Codice Atlantico.""

We tasted three red wines all delicious with a depth and lightness I truly enjoyed and the all under 30 dollars.  It was a success;  rich wines with light food and Italian history.

The mayor won't cut NYPD post by Suzannah B. Troy

The mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg, a man  many consider the developer's mayor, not the peoples', has come to his senses, in the dollar and sense nightmare of an economic meltdown and massive lay-offs and cuts to come and the NYPD are no longer on the chopping block.

Could you imagine if there was an APP on your phone to report suspicious packages, vehicles, etc. like the MTA ad campaign that the hero t-shirt vendor, Viet Nam Vet, Lance Orton actually quoted and followed to the T.  It would be faster than 911 and you can send photos or in the case of the car parked in time square even run you phone over the registration code in the window like traffic ticketing police do.  There is an APP for everything on state of the art phones these days, why not one for fighting terror attacks? 

That is good to hear but the bottom line is the NYPD is the smallest it has ever been in NYC's history policing the largest NYC population ever so we don't need cuts but we also need more NYPD and high tech equipment with the tech- training to accompany preventing further terrorist attacks here in NYC.

Last night Notify NYC, the text messaging program I signed up for reported, "Due to police activity the RFK/Tri-Boro Bridge is closed in both directions.  This morning I read in The New York Daily News that the police where investigating an abandoned u-haul.  Drivers reported seeing a man flee.  The Bomb Squad responded and X-rayed the u-haul and it was empty.

The NY Daily News has more background information on the Time Square Bomber and like the WTC bombers he had his share of disappointments and anger over U.S. policies in the middle east but as I recall the bombers that carried out suicide missions were upper middle to wealthy and had problems with women and spent their last night in a strip club.  Shahzad the Time Square Bomber never intended to blow himself up and it is clear he did not come from poverty but also comfort.  He is married and has a young daughter and The Daily News says they are possible in protective custody.

Everyone this time around is safe but this was a wake-up call and it is clear NYC needs more funding from Washington, D.C. if we are going to continue to try and stop attacks here in NYC.  Here is my YouTube I made yesterday The Time Square Bomber Sings & New York holds up tin cup to The White House for Federal Funding.