Bagels, Pizza, Hot Dogs and Race Tracks - New York City?

I'm feeling damn sentimental when I see an episode of Cops or something silly like that (which I wouldn't even have watched in the States, but now all of a sudden it looks like home or something).

Hey we just spent some time with Bernie and Lola in Portland

but if it is New York, my response is often quite visceral. It's a very special place.

It's a very special place.

I have fallen in love with McTag's wife. But no one can know this.

http://www.slate.com/id/2168325/nav/tap1/

That's Witold Rybcznski on the proposed designs for making much of governors' island into a park (article has slide show). I've looked at the proposals quickly, n'sure which if any I like, speaking as one who hasn't been there.

Governors Island, a seven-minute ride from Lower Manhattan, ends its season this weekend with a literal bang. On Friday, the state-city agency running the island, the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, plans to demolish ten buildings with the closest view to the Statue of Liberty in order to clear 8 more acres of park space for next season.

Leslie Koch, GIPEC's president, said she scheduled the demolition on a day when the island was open to the public and "all the little boys" who relish seeing big machines at work.

Koch said "I was telling this to somebody and he was like 'what about a little 66-year-old boy? Can I come?'"

And she obviously wasn't speaking literally. There apparently is also a "little boy" in the 46-year-old woman who is behind the opening of the long-hidden island to over 100,000 New Yorkers. Koch plans to be right there with the girls and boys watching the destruction.

"I've been treating it like a normal day but I have to change all of my meetings," she said.

[Mayor Bloomberg joined her, island lovers and at least two former island residents to watch the demolition.]

October 17, 2008 New York - Shake Shack, a modern day "roadside" burger stand acclaimed for its delicious burgers, hot dogs, frozen custard, beer, wine and more, is thrilled to debut its second location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan! As of Monday, October 20th, the second Shake Shack will officially open. ...The new Shake Shack enjoys a sweet location - across from the American Museum of Natural History and a block from Central Park, at 366 Columbus Avenue, on the northwest corner of 77th Street and Columbus Avenue.

The Upper West Side menu features all the original Shack favorites, plus a selection of concretes geared towards Shack's new neighborhood: Shacky Road (Chocolate custard, Valrhona chocolate crunchies, marshmallow and almond), Upper West Slide (Vanilla custard, strawberry puree, fresh banana and shortbread cookie), and Natural History "Crunch-stellation" (Vanilla custard, malt, Valrhona chocolate crunchies, caramel and hot fudge), a portion of whose proceeds will support the American Museum of Natural History. ... For the Upper West Side location, a "C-line" will allow guests to fast track their orders for all cold items, including take-away pints of Shake Shack's dense, creamy frozen custard.