Not The Blooper Reel

Ususally I don’t go out on Friday, but yesterday I went to midtown to meet my parents again and before that I met a reader of TWM at a bar near my parents hotel. His name is Bill and he’s visiting from Georgia and wanted to meet for a beer or three, so who was I to refuse this offer. It’s always fun to meet readers of the blog when they come to town. So this is a little different than the usual random Blooper Reel that I usually do on Saturdays. Enjoy and have a great weekend, everyone!

Look at the line for the Mega Millions! Luckily I've already got my ticket and I hope it's the winning one. If so, we'll really start tripping here!

Okay, I chose this place to meet Bill at because it's just a few blocks from my parents hotel.

And happy hour has begun! Let's check it out.

It's nice in here, not your typical cookie cutter midtown Irish bar. This place is the real deal.

Large booths line the wall opposite from the bar.

Maureen, the pretty bartender served me up a beer. Love her smile!

Here's a shot from the other end of the bar.

And here's Bill, who's in town from Georgia. Bill's been reading my blogs since the 365 Bars blog and he's what I call a "silent reader." He's never commented, but reads the blogs religiously which I appreciate. We had a few beers and a nice chat about New York, bars, blogs and before you knew it, I had to get to parents hotel. Great to meet you Bill, and let's have more beers the next time you're in the city!

And here I'm making my way back to my parents hotel.

And here's the old finger on the spy hole trick. It never gets old!

And through the magic of the internet you're transported to our dinner destination, Shun Lee. Our favorite Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side.

Cheers from the Wombachers!

The highlight of going to Shun Lee for me is always seeing the "Chicken With Three Different Nuts" on the menu! Have a great weekend everyone!

Shun Lee
43 W. 65th St. (Near Columbus Ave.)
212-595-8895

Further Reading: New York Magazine, Eater NY and NY Daily News.

And now that Superman’s made a movie,
No one reads his magazine.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Birthday Wishes for “Boris!”
I found out via Gidget’s blog that TWM in-house artist, “Boris” had a birthday this week. “Boris” has been a great friend to me through the years and has done banners and design work on all my blogs and has really helped me out a lot. So take this time to wish my friend and brother, “Boris” a happy birthday! And “Boris” is also the man behind the music on DJ Gidget’s “Secret Weapon” show, he picks the tunes and DJ Gidget spins the discs, check it out at Woody Radio where there’s a lot of other great shows as well, including DJ Lokie! “Boris” has also taken up photography with a vengeance this year and has taken some fantatstic photos, check out some of his work here. Happy birthday, Daddio!

Don Ward—The Shoe Shine Dude

One of the things I like about writing and blogging is the people you meet along the way. There’s a man who has a shoeshine stand a few blocks from where I live on 6th Avenue between 15th and 14th Street. I’ve probably walked by the man and his stand thousands of times and never said anything. Last Saturday I stopped and said hi and he turned out to be a real nice guy and his shoe shines are just one dollar (the same as a slice of pizza in the joint next to his stand), so I made plans to meet with him today, get a shoe shine and take some pictures. I’ve never had a shoe shine, so I hope he’s gentle with this virgin voyage!

He's located one block down here on 6th Avenue.

And here he...isn't. He told me he'd be here, so I walked around the block, got a bottle of tea from a deli, came back and he's still not here. The guy at the fruit stand said he's usually not here on Monday's. Well, it's time to improvise!

I came back home, went to my good friend Google and typed in, "NYC shoe shine guy." The first posts were all about a guy who is supposedly the most famous shoe shiner in New York and his name is Don Ward. Then I remembered talking about shoe shines with Paul Scanlon during our Bar Exam interview and I thought he mentioned this guy. After emailing Paul, it turns out this is the guy. His stand is on the corner of 47th and 6th. Off to the subway we go, hopefully he didn't take the day off!

Just as I hit the subway, the train pulls up. I love it when that happens!

Okay, we're about a block away, I hope he's here, or this may not be much of a post today!

Look at that on the corner, yes Virginia...

There is a Don Ward! And he's busy shining Eric's shoes, who is like me and has never had a shoe shine experience. Don told me he took one look at Eric's shoes and told him to get in the chair. That's how Don gets a good percentage of his business, he's not shy and calls out to people on the street with pitches like: "If you want to save money, go to Geico, if you want to save your shoes, get on the chair!" He's been shining shoes for the last 22 years in New York and the last eleven have been spent on this very corner. Before he started shining shoes, Don was an accountant and a pastry chef, but he says having his own business is, "Priceless." I asked him if he had a job title and he told me, "Just call me the shoe shine dude!"

Eric's done with his shine and gives Don the five dollar shine fee. The five dollars is worth it just to listen to Don call people out on the street, it's like the shoe shine is a bonus to the stand up act he puts on.

Check it out, Don knows his business. Looks like I'm up next!

And here i am, up on the stand with Gumby. Gumby is just along for the ride, he doesn't have shoes. Oh, okay, he doesn't have feet. Sorry, Gumby, but I have to tell it like it is!

Don put my feet on the marks and told me not to move or I might get hurt.

And he quickly goes to work applying polish to boots that have never been shined in over a year.

As you can see, Don has fast hands, I can see why he told me not to move!

Even as he shines the shoes, he's constantly on the prowl, looking to give someone with scruffy shoes a shoutout on the street.

He got a laugh from this woman as he called out to her and said, "Seriously, you're going to let him walk around the city with shoes in that shape?" Most people smile as Don hurls out his pitches, but not all are amused. He told me that he occasionally gets grief from people and a couple years ago he even got hit with an attache case. "There's always going to be a certain percent of miserable motherfuckers out there," he told me while shining and looking for new targets on the street.

Okay we're in the final stages of the shine right now.

It's a real sight watching him work the towel and buffing up my boots. I can't capture it with pictures, but he's moving at lightning speed.

Okay, we're almost done as Don puts the finishing touches on the boots.

Wow, look at the shine on those boots, they look like new!

Here's the tool's of the trade, located beneath the chairs on top of the shoe shine stand.

And here's a sign listing Don's services. In addition to shoe shines, Don will shine and clean anything leather and for 100 bucks you can have a year of unlimited shines. There's also a drop off service available.

Within minutes of myself stepping down, two regulars climb aboard the shoe shine pedestal. Kevin and Eddie are bus drivers who are regulars and friends of Don's. They said he's the best in town and I have to agree.

Here they are scoping out potential customers, I can almost feel a one-liner brewing in Don's brain.

And here I am, headed for home with a new shine on the boots. Ah, there's no business like shoe business! Oof, sorry, I just couldn't help myself!

Don Ward—The Shoe Shine Dude
Southwest corner of 47th and 6th, from 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Saturday.

Further Reading: New York Times, Ask Men and Denver Post.

To steal violets from your crown,
Glue them to her wrist,
You have to spit to see the shine.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

The Bar At The Warwick Hotel

Okay, today is “Casual Free Food Friday," but today it’s not so much about free food and more about a visit to an iconic hotel and the bar within—The Warwick Hotel. The hotel was built in 1926 and actor Cary Grant lived in this hotel  for 12 years and some celebrities that stayed here regularly back in the day were, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, who had a famous “junior” press conference here in 1966 before their second and last time playing Shea Stadium. The Rolling Stones and lots of the bands that played on The Ed Sullivan Show stayed at this hotel through the years. I’ve stopped in the bar here before and the bartenders are always nice people with some good stories. It’s a classic, nice dark, cozy hotel bar. And there’s always a decent snack mix available on the bar for free, and who knows, I might even spring some cash for a snack at the bar. We’ll never know till we go!

Here it is, the majestic Warwick Hotel. It kind of looks like you've stepped back in time while looking at this classic NYC hotel.

Here's a section of the front lobby.

There's photos on the walls of some of the famous people that stayed or lived at the hotel in the past. This is actress Marion Davies who was the mistress of William Randolph Hearst who built the hotel in 1926. Hearst set her up with a floor on the hotel. Times sure have changed, back then if you were rich and famous you built a hotel to house a mistress in, these days you get a hooker and destroy a room in a hotel. Progress?

Here's a shot of a young Liz Taylor who was a regular at the hotel in the '60's and '70's.

Here's the aforementioned Cary Grant with actress Natalie Wood Audrey Hepburn.

And here's the Beatles who stayed here whenever they played on TV shows in New York or at Shea Stadium.

And here's the main attraction, at least for me, the bar at the Warwick Hotel.

The bar itself is small and highly polished wood and seats about twelve people.

I found a seat at the end of the bar and here's Jack the bartender with an ice cold bottle of Budweiser.  Jack's been a bartender here for 13 years. We talked about the history of the hotel and some of the famous people that have stayed and lived here. Jack told me that gangster Meyer Lanksy lived in the hotel and that Paul McCartney has an apartment down the street and frequently comes in to the bar to have a margarita when he's in town. He said that the roof scene from the Seinfeld/Jay Leno Superbowl commercial was filmed on the roof of the hotel. Jack told me that Seinfeld, who lives nearby, stops in the bar occasionally as well.

Here's a newspaper clipping that Jack keeps behind the bar of Elvis walking into the Warwick back in 1956. It seems Elvis wasn't fond of New York and that he felt rejected in the big city. I know that feeling, I've amassed a whole stack of rejection letters through my years here!

And, as promised, free snacks at the bar! it's the classic triple bowl, pretzel, cracker, nut, wasabi thingy presentation. I wonder why the DOH allows this at bars, yet bans the cheese bowls at Sardi's? It doesn't make sense, but what the hell, I'm going to enjoy the free snacks before these get taken away!

Here's the spot I staked out at the bar.

Everyone is texting away at the bar...

Meanwhile, my notes are taken the old-school way, on a cocktail napkin.

Check out this jackass, he's got his iPad and iPhone going at the same time. iHate him.

And a final long shot of the Warwick Hotel Bar.

I found some vintage photos online of the Warwick Hotel. Here's one of Elvis in his suite at the Warwick, reading fan mail.

This is a photo from 1965 of Beatles fans rushing the hotel when they were staying there.

Here's the Beatles, safely inside their suite at the Warwick, being interviewed by Cousin Brucie.

And here they are at their final press conference at the Warwick Hotel in 1966. Soon after they would sprout moustaches, become psychedelisized and morph into Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heats Club Band a year later.

The Warwick Hotel
65 W. 54th St. (Near 6th Ave.)
212-247-2700

Further reading: WABC, Famous Addresses (Last item down) and Beatles Interviews.

Now I find I've changed my mind, I've opened up the doors.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!