What's new

There are a couple of websites under heavy subway advertising - Zipcar and Seamless. Both are disruptive, Zipcar rents cars by the hour or the day, so you don't have to put up with "the sucky bits" of car ownership. Seamless allows you to order pickup or home delivery from nearby restaurants; not a new idea (it's been a long time phone service in most big towns) but this site is well executed - it says what's open now, and available ASAP to your address. So at 12.30am local time there are 28 instant options for me on Hudson Street and another 300 in my immediate area that are currently closed.

A pet products website offering overnight delivery in NYC is cleverly marketed. "Click the mouse to feed your cat" and similar jolly slogans. Pets.com famously failed in the dotcom days, so it'll be interesting to see whether pet owners find a single-purpose grocery website compelling. There are lots of pet parlours, pet daycare centres and specialist pet shops in NYC so perhaps they're on to something.

We haven't watched much television, but the medical adverts are a surprise - Big Pharma markets direct and cancer treatment centres are very competitive ("Results May Vary"). Generally the TV adverts have high production values and over-lawyered disclaimers.  

We've been surpised by the number of people walking around with casts and protective coverings on (it seems invariably) the right leg. Is there a risk to limb (at least) that we don't know about?

The mullet dress (short at the front, long at the back) is quite popular and will haunt memories for years to come. There's a boy's variant where the shirt is tucked in at the front but hangs out on the back and sides.

Colour coordination is exact, down to matching acrylic sunglasses and one-inch nails. Stretch pants are quite common, and often containing buttocks the size of volkswagons. Did I mention that obesity appears to be a soda-guzzling, cake-scoffing, fried and sweetened issue? Your humble narrator has in fact lost a few kilos walking around but only as a consequence of resisting temptation and supersized meals.

I've found a bunch of keen restaurants to try and will list them here as my checklist:

Redfarm - a no-reservations brasserie crossed with a dim sum restaurant.
Mas (Farmhouse) - modern take on French cuisine.
Frankies 570 Sputano - solid Italian nonna cooking with a modern twist.
Amelie - French and mixed European cuisine.
Perla - fussy nose-to-tail cooking.

fx: to the tune of "The Boy From New York City"

"Nom-nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom-nom..."