Drama's Tour Guide

Over the course of the last week, we had a visit from the newly christened Major Drama First Class, who is, amongst other things, a roller derby girl in San Francisco. One of the things I most enjoy about out of town guests is getting to show them around. As much as I like showing them the things I love about the city, I really enjoy the chance to see the city through their eyes as well. I find it helps me appreciate aspects of the city I might never otherwise consider.

The Astoria portion of the trip was largely covered by food from Blue Restaurant and Cup, and too many drinks at Blackbird's. We have many fond wishes for the Blackbird's waiter who is off North Carolina. Fond wishes and a complete confusion as to why anyone would ever want to live in North Carolina.

Thursday afternoon, we took some time to wander the East Village. We browsed through Trash & Vaudeville for a bit. This is probably one of my favorite stores in Manhattan. Their racks are chock full of everything you could need to dress a rock band for a world tour. Or play Rock Band at Hell Gate. I'm kind of thankful that they don't sell more things sized for me, as I'd spend even more money there than I already have. There are only so many club clothes you can own once you've crossed 30 and your club excursions are less and less frequent.

We searched for birthday gifts for Drama's boy, but came up empty. Not that we didn't find a few thousand dollars worth of outrageous shit we could have bought for ourselves (but didn't).

We stopped at the Joe Strummer mural outside Niagara. Joe wasn't a NY native, but his spirit resonates strongly with the place. I like to stop by and say hello every time I'm in Thompkins Square.

Photo from Forgotten NY, who has an excellent feature on Thompkins Square.

NYPD Dishonor Roll

Harrassment? Graft? Certainly not from the NYPD.

The Gotham Gazette follows the allegations that NYPD officers have been arresting middle-aged gay men at sex shops under false pretenses. More than 200 people gathered to discuss the situation at a recent town hall meeting at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center.

Robert Pinter, a 52-year-old gay man who was arrested for prostitution at the Blue Door in the East Village on Oct. 10, spoke at the town hall meeting. He said a young man — a 29-year old undercover cop who, Pinter said, looked even younger — cruised him in the store. He was "charming and persistent, and we agreed to go home for consensual sex, but as we were leaving he said, 'I want to pay you $50 [to have sex].' I didn't respond, but I thought it was strange," Pinter recounted. As the men left the store, Pinter said, a group of men who did not show police identification pushed him against the wall

"I thought I'd been set up by a gang," he said. "I asked them why they were doing this to me. I was totally clueless. They handcuffed me and said, 'Why the f--- do you think we're arresting you — loitering for the purpose of prostitution.'"

Gothamist and the Post both check in with stories on a YouTube release of surveilance camera footage (seen below) that may have several NYPD officers in hot water. The footage, from a November 14, 2007 raid of Beer Goggles, a Staten Island bar, shows officers putting stacks of bills taken from a video poker machine into their pockets. The officers are on record as having confiscated approximately $700. It remains unclear if all of the money in their pockets was accounted for, but that is certainly not an official procedure for storing evidence.