Is there an income ceiling?

My neighborhood has been constantly changing over the years.  For a very long time, when I first moved here, the neighborhood was 'bad', lots of crime, drugs and violence.  According to the latest census reports, Manhattan is the wealthiest county in the U.S.  Median income in Manhattan, which means that half are above and half below, is $64, 217.  The mean income, which means the average [add all the income of Manhattanites and divide it by the number of people living here] is $121,549.  The richest are on the Upper East Side.  72 of Forbes 400 richest people live in NYC.  To be considered rich your worth has to be over $1billion.

Mars Bar on 2nd Ave. and  1st Street officially served it's last beer.  The rule was: "never order a drink that comes in a class at Mars Bar".  The old crusty East Village is going to make room for "luxury Rentals".A One bedroom of 520sq. feet rents for $4471 per month.  That's what the city now calls middle income housing. 

  I can't tell you what others are renting for because rental prices are only offered upon request.  What's great about the location is you can leave your luxury rental and just a few doors away visit the Tenement Museum.
One of those middle income apartment buildings has just leased space to a new restaurant; it's named Heart Break.
Not funny because right across the street is the Church of The Nativity.  The Church has been serving the community since 1842, and they have just recently put up this sign: "Due to State and Federal Budget Cuts The Food Pantry will be closed until further notice."  We're ready for Trump.  He could build residences for
David Koch who according to Forbes, is the richest man in the U.S.  He's worth $17 billion.
The median income for the richest people in Manhattan is $188,697 for the poor it is $9,320.  30% of the poor are below 18 years of age.  18% are over 65.  My numbers are from the US Census Bureau and Forbes Magazine.     

What I'm Reading

The Economist this week has an article on research about employment opportunities for women.  Researches have determined that the opportunities for women outside the home are directly related to the country's farming methods.  Does the history of your country favor a plow or a hoe?  If you're a female looking for work you want to be born in a country that farmed using a hoe.  The plow, heavier, is for man's work, according to the scientists.  Countries that historically used the hoe like Burundi have 91% of their women working outside the home.  The Arab world, historically using the plow, has less than a quarter.  The Second World War changed some of the attitudes regarding gender and employment.  Still, even today with worldwide industrialization in farming, traditional attitudes remain.  Among groups in America, those who prefer a male President or believe during a recession a man should get that job before a woman, are descendents of immigrants whose farming culture was based on the plow.
In the New Yorker:
"the U.S. shouldn't have and doesn't need a debt ceiling.  Every other democratic country, except Denmark, does fine without one"  The only reason we need to lift the debt ceiling is to pay for spending that Congress has already authorized.  If the debt ceiling is not raised the President will be breaking the law by not paying for those things Congress has authorized, and if he does pay for them he will be breaking the law that instituted the debt ceiling."
More on Murdock, the 38th richest person in America:
Piers Morgan was sacked by Murdock in 2004 for publishing pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqis.  He was sacked because the photos were fake and had caused retaliation against the military from Iraqis.  So Piers Morgan went on to host Britain's Got Talent and then America's Got Talent, and now Larry King's job on CNN.  Morgan also published a fake photo of a celebrity comedian, Spike Milligan, showing him to be "a shadow of his former self".  His lawyers contacted the paper and Morgan said: "I can't believe how prickly Spike is being."
Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of Murdock's "The Sun" from 1981 to 1994, published an "interview" with the widow of a hero of the Falklands' War.  She never gave an interview or spoke to anyone at the paper.
The News Of The world whistle blower, Paul McMullen, wrote a story about Jennifer Elliott, the daughter of English actor Denholm Elliott.   Her father died in 1992 and he wrote in 1995 that allegedly because of her drug addiction she was living on the street and prostituting herself.  The 'tip' came from a policeman who was paid by the paper.  Jennifer committed suicide.  When asked if he thought his story had anything to do with the suicide he said: "Yeah, I totally humiliated and destroyed her.  It wasn't necessary, she didn't deserve it. ... If there was anyone to apologize to I would.  But they're all dead."
"That's about played out, any way, the idea of sticking up a sign of 'private' and thinking you can keep the place to yourself.  You can't do it - you can't keep out the light of the Press.  Now what I'm going to do is to set up the biggest lamp yet made and to make it shine all over the place.  We'll see who's private then."
Spoken by George Flack from Henry James' novel "The Reverberator"  published in 1888.   The Reverberator is the title of an American tabloid, and Flack is a columnist.

Unnatural Acts

The Classic Stage Company on 13th Street is presenting this original docudrama.  I saw it yesterday.  It is written by a group called "Plastic Theatre".  They are described in the program as a rolling ensemble of multidisciplinary artists led by Tony Speciale.  Mr. Speciale is the co-author, but his primary work has been as a director.  The NY Times' Ben Brantley didn't care for the play.  One of his issues was with the dialogue.  At times it did seem stilted but that may be because some material is taken from the actual sources of 1920.
I would like critics to at least approach a work with some humility.
The play is about the "trials" at Harvard University in 1920 against suspected homosexual students and teachers.  38 men were charged and 14 were convicted.  The 14 were not only removed from Harvard but they were banned from the city of Cambridge for life.  The play's focus is on the story of 8 students and 2 teachers.  One student is found not guilty and one teacher is found not guilty.  The tragedy begins when one student commits suicide and leaves some incriminating letters behind about sexual exploits with others at Harvard.  The end of the play has an epilogue about the students' lives after the "trials".  It is particularly moving because it includes the two who were not found guilty.  Their lives were highly successful.  Some of the guilty students "disappeared" from the public record, committed suicide, or had fatal car accidents.  The play was supposed to close on July 10th but is still running and has been extended another week because of excellent word of mouth.  It is that good.  It is funny, sexy, frightening, absorbing and tragic.


A few words about the Judge, President Abbott Lawrence Lowell of Harvard 1909-1933.  The Lowells of Massachusetts were if not Mayflower passengers close to it and among the Brahmins of New England.  President Lowell while at Harvard reformed undergraduate education by establishing majors in a particular discipline.  He integrated the housing of the social classes and because of that was called a traitor to his class.  He opened classes to the adult community in the area.  He was a strong supporter of the League of Nations.
He also tried to limit the number of Jews at Harvard and ban African-American students from living in Freshman Hall.  He was overruled in both.  He has been described as "the passionate theorist of democracy whose personal conduct was severely autocratic."  He opposed the nomination of Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court which many considered motivated by antisemitism.  Brandeis said it best about men like Lowell: "who have been blinded by privilege, who have no evil purpose, and many of whom have a distinct public spirit, but whose environment  - or innate narrowness - have obscured all vision and sympathy with the masses."
President Lowell was also the brother of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Amy Lowell.  Her erotic poetry is believed, by her biographers, to have been written for the actress Ada Dwyer Russell.  There is a term used in 19th and 20th century New England called a "Boston Marriage".  It is used to describe two women living together.  Amy and Ada had a Boston marriage from 1912 to 1925.
Amy Lowell didn't go to Harvard.  The family thought it unseemly for a woman to go to college.