This Sunday is Easter Sunday and that always makes me think of one thing: The Mars Bar! Sadly, it’s not there anymore, but I’m meeting friends at an alternate bar and you can read all about that next Monday. In the meantime, the other thing Easter always makes me think of is candy. I thought I’d get some to take to the Easter party. I’ve always wanted to check out, Economy Candy store in the East Village. I’ve heard it’s a classic old time candy store and its been in business since 1937, so let’s go. I want candy!
Here it is, Economy Candy. Check out the colorful front windows.
It's a collage of colorful candy boxes!
The store's open, let's go inside and check it out.
It's a long narrow store packed with candy-loving people.
This is the original scale from when they first opened.
Beneath the scale is scoopable candy that brings back memories of penny candy stores.
How great to see candy cigarettes! I thought they stopped making them in this politically correct world, but in Economy Candy, it's like a trip back to a sweeter time.
Here's a bucket of colorful swirly pops.
With Easter less than a week away, I knew I'd see some Peeps in here and here's a pile of the spongy bunnies.
And here's some Peeps with chocolate on the bottom. For some reason that makes me think of yesterday's post, but that's just me, my mind tends to wander. Let's just move on.
A shot from the back of the store.
Some signature chocolate lollipops on display.
There's jars and bags behind the counter with more candy than the mind can comprehend.
Delicious hand-dipped chocolates can be bought by the pound here at this glass counter.
In addition to candy, they also sell vintage toys, gumball machines and other tchotchkes.
A Sock Monkey lunch box is neighbors with Batman on a shelf in the store.
Here's a display of specialty Pez dispensers.
Stars, they eat candy too! Here's a photo of Mike Myers on the wall with owner Jerry Cohen.
And here's Jude Law with Jerry the owner. From the look on Jude's face, it looks like he's sucking on a sour ball.
And here's a fellow who looks familiar after looking at those pictures...
It's the owner, Jerry Cohen. Here he poses by a black and white photo of him and his father who started the store in the East Village back in 1937. I asked Jerry when he started working in the store and he told me, "When I was born."
Walking around in the store is like a time warp and makes you feel like a kid again. Nice to know there's a sweet store in the East Village that will send you back to a time when candy would make everything better.
I’ve recently been reading up on public toilets in New York City (hey, someone’s got to do it) and have uncovered, supposedly, the best public bathroom in New York City and the worst. And the funny thing about it is, they’re right next to each other! Kind of like a bathroom version of Goofus and Gallant. According to this online article in Reuters, Virtual Tourist, an online travel website, named the public restroom in Bryant Park, not only the best in New York, but the best public bathroom in the world! There must be some high class porcelain thrones in there!
The flip side of this toilet tale can be found over at Atlantic Cities where writer Eric Jaffe has named the men’s room in the New York Public Library as the worst public toilet in New York City. Here’s a line from his article: “Where to begin with that men's room. For starters, it's in the most remote part of the building. That's great for the smell, which is potent by early afternoon, but it also means you're slightly out of breath from climbing the stairs to get there, and therefore inhaling more generous drags of this odor than you'd prefer.” Yikes, that sounds bad!
So today I thought we’d check out the best and the worst that New York City has to offer in public toilets. It’s an assignment that’s flush with possibilities!
It's a nice day, so I thought we'd just walk up there. Straight up Sixth to 41st Street and we're there.
And here we are at Bryant Park. It's a lovely day in the park.
Hello! Is the outside bar open?
It sure is! Friendly bartender, Romulo pours me a beer. He told me the bar was open all winter and he's working today as well. If you're in the area, stop by and say hi. Tell him I sent you and maybe you'll get a discount, or maybe he'll charge you double, who knows?
Alright, I've had a couple of beers, and I'm ready to go, in more ways than one. Time to test out the fabled public restrooms here at the park.
Here it is, the public restroom at Bryant Park. Is it me, or is it leaning a little bit to the right?
This building houses both the women and men's toilets.
Well, the front room certainly is nice, check out the fresh paint and the flower pot. Nice! It smells like a garden in here. The Men's room is to the right, let's go check it out.
As you can see, the urinals are very popular in here. Everything's very clean for a public restroom. Let's go check out a stall, I think I'm making some people nervous with my camera. I'm just glad that Larry Craig's not in here, that could be trouble!
Wow, this is the cleanest public toilet I've ever seen! If it was filled with beer, I'd be tempted to make like Marmaduke and drink out of it!
This is a nice feature, a button that automatically revolves the plastic on the toilet seat.
The sinks are just as spotless as the toilets and there's fresh cut flowers in here as well. Nice!
Usually I'm not a big hand dryer fan, I prefer a towel, but these things are amazing. It's like they have a jet engine in them and your hands are dry in seconds. This was a wonderful toilet time experience!
Okay, just around the block from Bryant Park is the New York Public Library, supposedly the home of the worst public toilet in New York City. Let's go see if this is true.
The revolving doors will lead us into the library.
Eric Jaffe wrote that it was in a remote part of the library and he was right. I had to walk up three flights of stairs, then zig-zag down multiple sets of hallways, got lost a number of times, had to ask directions twice and I finally found it.
At last, here it is.
Okay, time for the moment of truth. Whoa, I just got hit by a whiff of stink from this place! I wish I had a gas mask, I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty in here.
Unflushed and dirty! This is one bad looking urinal.
Oh my God! Check out the toilet in the stall. It's filthy, clogged up with toilet paper and it smells worse than Gary, Indiana after a bean eating contest.
The floor is filthy and I don't even want to know what that wet substance is. I feel like I'm going to get sick, but I don't even want to vomit in here.
The weirdest thing is that among the dirt, the stench, the filth and probably every germ know to man, there's a drinking fountain in here! I don't care if I was dying of thirst, I would not quench it in here!
And it's down into another toilet of sorts, the New York subway system.
Lovely. And now for the ratings!
Bryant Park Men’s Room Overall Ratings: Smell—Flowery and fresh. Kind of like Snow White had just farted in there. Ambiance—Nice, the fresh cut flowers are a wonderful touch. Force of the flush—Forceful, but it’s automatic, which I guess is nice, but it kind of creeps me out. Hand washing facilites—Clean sinks and hand dryers that are turbo-like and dry your hands in seconds. TWM Toilet Rating: Four out of four Ty-D-Bol Men. Summation: Excellent! A royal urination station if ever there was one!
New York Public Library Men’s Room Overall Ratings: Smell—Pretty gross. Kind of a combination of a homeless wino who hasn’t bathed in seven years mixed with the smell of stagnant ass. Ambiance—The hole that the Senator’s daughter was imprisoned in, in Silence of the Lambs. “It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” Force of the flush—I wasn’t about to touch anything in there, much less the toilet flusher! Hand washing facilites—Once again I didn’t use them, but there was a drinking fountain next to them that probably outputs rat piss if you try to take a drink. TWM Toilet Rating: One out of four Ty-D-Bol Men Summation: Bad! I wouldn’t take a dump in here with my worst enemy’s ass.
Okay, tonight’s the night, my parents are coming over to my freshly cleaned apartment for drinks and then it’s off to dinner. There’s the buzzer, let’s go let them in!
Down the stairs to the front hallway which leads to...
The front door and my parents. Uh, oh, my mom's got her rain hat on, it's started to rain outside. I bring them into my dry building.
Once inside my dad went to work mixing up a couple drinks in my narrow kitchen.
He's adding the water now. Note the water bottle that doubles as their flask.
Cheers from my mom and dad! We had a nice visit and a couple of drinks and it was time to catch a cab to dinner. I was a little worried it might be tough to get one in the rain.
And I was right. It took us a little while to snare this one and we changed dinner plans in the cab. We were going to go to The Water Club, one of our favorite spots that overlooks the East River, but we were afraid that it might be tough to get a cab after dinner. So we decided on Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, which is within walking distance of their hotel and an old standby for occasions like this. The food's always good there.
I didn't get a shot of the outside because of the rain, but here's one off the internet. Just imagine it's darker and rainier.
And here we are going inside. Whenever we go to Ruth's Chris, we always end up telling a story about the night we met Elton John's lead guitarist, Davey Johnston in this restaurant years ago. I'll share the memory with you now as we eat our dinner.
My Davey Johnstone Ruth’s Chris Memory Davey Johnstone has played guitar for Elton John for years. When I was a kid I was a big Elton John fan. I followed his music from Tumbleweed Connectionto Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. After Goodbye Yellow Brick Road I felt his music went downhill and I stopped listening. So while a lot of people would have no idea who Davey Johnstone is, I do. In the winter of 2002 my parents came to visit me here in New York. We were out to dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse in midtown, having a few drinks and enjoying dinner. The three of us were seated at a table in the bar, because back then you could still smoke in bars in New York and my mom smokes and so do I. Right in the middle of dinner an older guy with long blonde hair past his shoulders wearing red-tinted, wire rim glasses and an expensive, shiny suit walked by our table and sat down at the bar with a good looking woman with fiery red hair, who looked young enough to be his daughter. I mentally thought that this guy looked like an old man version of Davey Johnstone, the lead guitar player for Elton John's band.
After he walked by my dad laughed and said, “Geez, did you see that weirdo?” I laughed and we continued on with dinner and drinks.
About ten minutes later, the blonde hostess walked up to the blond-haired guy and said, “Mr. Johnstone, your table’s ready now.”
He and the woman got up and they walked by our table again and were seated two tables away in the bar. He or she must’ve been a smoker as well. I also realized it had been years since I’ve seen a photo of the guy, so naturally he looks a lot older. I told my folks that he was Elton John’s lead guitarist and that he had been with him way back before Elton John was very famous. We laughed about the young woman he was with and I said she was probably a groupie. Soon we were done with dinner and we stood up and I said I’d get the coats from the coat check. My dad said, “I’m going to go over there and say hi to him.”
Now my dad’s a big jokester, he’d had a few drinks and I thought he was kidding. It’s kind of a rule not to bug stars in New York, but you really don’t bother someone when they’re eating.
I laughed and said, “Yeah, right,” and went to the coat check.
I assumed my folks would meet me in the lobby. Well I get there and they’re not there, I look up, while clutching our coats and they’re standing in front of Davey Johnstone’s table! I ran up there to escort them away from what I thought would be an angry rock star. Instead I heard my dad saying to him, “Now you’re one of the originals in Elton’s band, right?”
He was parroting what I had told him and Davey Johnstone was amazed that this 70-something-year-old knew who he was and his history.
“Yeah, that’s right, are you in the business?” Johnstone asked my dad as I walked up.
“Oh here’s our son, now, Marty, met Davey Johnstone,” my dad said as Johnstone stuck out his hand.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand.
“Likewise,” he said smiling.
“So what are you doing in town?” my dad asked him.
He told us they had played Madison Square Garden that week and Elton wanted to stay in New York for the week for a little vacation for he and the band. Then he asked where we were from and my dad told him they lived in Peoria but I lived in New York. Then he started asking me all about New York, where I lived, isn’t it hard to find a place, and on and on and on. It was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.
After about five minutes I had to say, “Well, listen it sure was great meeting you, but we have to get going, we’re meeting some people” or we’d probably still be there talking to the guy!
We laughed about it later and realized he probably hardly ever gets recognized and he got a big kick out of it. And so did the woman, she was beaming at him. I’m sure they had some fun later on in his hotel room. So, Davey, if by some miraculous chance you’ve stumbled onto this via the internet, there’s no need to thank me. Just send me a gold album or something I can sell on eBay.
After dinner, the rain had stopped and we went back to their hotel room for a beer.
And after a bit. my parents were ready to go to sleep, they're flying back to Peoria tomorrow. It was nice spending time with them in New York. I had time for one last obligatory elevator mirror shot.
On my way home I shot this photo of some neon lights in Ray's Pizza. See you all tomorrow.
This Sunday is Easter Sunday and that always makes me think of one thing: The Mars Bar! Sadly, it’s not there anymore, but I’m meeting friends at an alternate bar and you can read all about that next Monday. In the meantime, the other thing Easter always makes me think of is candy. I thought I’d get some to take to the Easter party. I’ve always wanted to check out, Economy Candy store in the East Village. I’ve heard it’s a classic old time candy store and its been in business since 1937, so let’s go. I want candy!
Here it is, Economy Candy. Check out the colorful front windows.
It's a collage of colorful candy boxes!
The store's open, let's go inside and check it out.
It's a long narrow store packed with candy-loving people.
This is the original scale from when they first opened.
Beneath the scale is scoopable candy that brings back memories of penny candy stores.
How great to see candy cigarettes! I thought they stopped making them in this politically correct world, but in Economy Candy, it's like a trip back to a sweeter time.
Here's a bucket of colorful swirly pops.
With Easter less than a week away, I knew I'd see some Peeps in here and here's a pile of the spongy bunnies.
And here's some Peeps with chocolate on the bottom. For some reason that makes me think of yesterday's post, but that's just me, my mind tends to wander. Let's just move on.
A shot from the back of the store.
Some signature chocolate lollipops on display.
There's jars and bags behind the counter with more candy than the mind can comprehend.
Delicious hand-dipped chocolates can be bought by the pound here at this glass counter.
In addition to candy, they also sell vintage toys, gumball machines and other tchotchkes.
A Sock Monkey lunch box is neighbors with Batman on a shelf in the store.
Here's a display of specialty Pez dispensers.
Stars, they eat candy too! Here's a photo of Mike Myers on the wall with owner Jerry Cohen.
And here's Jude Law with Jerry the owner. From the look on Jude's face, it looks like he's sucking on a sour ball.
And here's a fellow who looks familiar after looking at those pictures...
It's the owner, Jerry Cohen. Here he poses by a black and white photo of him and his father who started the store in the East Village back in 1937. I asked Jerry when he started working in the store and he told me, "When I was born."
Walking around in the store is like a time warp and makes you feel like a kid again. Nice to know there's a sweet store in the East Village that will send you back to a time when candy would make everything better.
Economy Candy
East Village, 
