Big Apple Blog

In brief, our trip to Canada rocked. We drove about 1,300 miles in 5 days and had a righteous time. Each day was totally different in it’s own way and I’ll recount some of our experiences in future postings.

To the fellow denizens of NYC I will say this: don’t be afraid to rent a car here. The entire time I have lived here I have thought renting a car would be the equivalent of setting money on fire. I guess it all has to do with a Sex in the City episode Ariel and I watched where a character rented a car in Manhattan for $100 per day.

Initially I had thought about taking a train outside the city somewhere to rent a car but on a whim I started doing searches on renting a car at the airport. Enterprise was my first choice, but get this: they won’t rent cars to people at the airport who do not have a plane ticket. Strike one. It did not take me long to hit pay dirt though.

Budget has fewer restrictions and I was able to rent a car for a week for less than I paid for a car in Southern California for the same time span last year. A one-week rental for an economy car was a very reasonable $179. I spent more than that on gas.

So my fellow NYC citizens who do not own cars, fear not. If you wish to escape the rat race, Budget car rental near LaGuardia not only has cheap cars, the M60 stops mere feet from their location.

Driving a car was fun and all, but a huge smile spread across my face when I climbed on my bike to commute to work again. Bikes rule.

Niagara Falls -

I know Mayor Bloomberg reads my blog. I mean how could he not? He is interested in what concerns the denizens of New York City, right? I’m all about the people. He probably doesn’t comment on my blog because he is busy. But since you are out there Mike, I thought you’d like to see this picture I saw today on my Yahoo! news feed. It concerns those crazy European people who are into a concept often referred to as “Alternative Transportation.” It’s weird, but there are actually independent means of transportation other than the automobile. Check it out:

I thought you would be interested in this since New York City was recently bestowed with the honor of the city in the U.S. with the worst air quality. Yes, that’s right, you got nothing on us LA! The youth of New York City have higher asthma rates than anywhere else in the nation. Why? Because a lot of our youth here walk and breath in all fumes from cars.

So, since I’m sure you are worried about the health of the citizens in this fine city Mr. Mayor, please feel free to set up a committee to discuss how we can make the city friendlier to methods of transit other than the gas combustion engine. I’ll be happy to sit on the panel. I look forward to your invitation.

The habits of some people baffle me. Take this for example; I see it far too often at coffee places.

I mean how hard is it to go the extra few inches and hit the hole huh? And if that was one person’s coffee, WOW! Talk about a sugar rush.

Trash in New York City is one thing I just cannot figure out. Almost daily I see taxi drivers open their doors and dump trash onto the street. And cigarette smokers, how do you justify tossing cigarette butts into the street? Would you just toss one on the floor at home? Would it hurt to hold the thing you have put in your mouth a minute or two in your fingers until you find a trashcan?

But the worst has to be those who chew gum and toss it on the ground. There is one corner by my apartment that literally is no longer concrete – it is one disgusting giant wad of gum that you walk on.

This topic reminds me of a lecture given by one of my professors in college on what is referred to as The Tragedy of the Commons. Not many individual lectures stick out in my mind, but this one did. If you want to make the cells in your brain spin a little, click here for more.