By Eric Wolf Schoen
What better way to end Summer 2024 than to reference Ella Fitzgerald, the lady from Yonkers, New York who sang Summertime, one of the most covered songs of all time with over 25,000 recordings to be exact. Her original jazz ballad from George Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess is a summer classic.
So how was your summer? I was thinking about the last week of summer, a time when my family made our annual pilgrimage to the Catskills to our favorite hotel, Brickman’s in South Fallsburg. Summer 2024 is by far the warmest summer we have had in a while. The temperature as we go to press is scheduled to rise to 94 degrees. But for some reason, when we would trek up to the beautiful Catskills as a kid, the weather the last week in August was 15 to 20 degrees below 94. Cooler at night.
Dad and I loved the outdoor Olympic sized pool at Brickman’s, but if the weather cooled we were quite often the only ones in it. But on warm days like last week and 94 this week, everybody would be in the pool. It was so refreshing, and as the daughter of the owner of the hotel pointed out on Facebook, she would be in the pool too. Check out Patti Posner’s book, ‘My View from the Mountains’ available on Amazon, a true thriller about the Catskills experience.
This has been a busy summer. After I wrote last week about the crazy NYC Congestion Pricing game played by Governor Hochul we learn that 50% of those who take public transit are not paying their fares! And she wants the motorists to pay the bill! Let the Governor and all those in favor of congestion pricing go down to the subways and onto the buses and teach the people that in America, when you use heavily subsidized public transit you still have to pay your fare.
I am hopeful that Congressman Elect George Latimer gets on the House Post Office and Civil Service committee because my article about the postal service drew complaints from all over the country. My latest Yonkers Post Office drama. My sister found some old stamps that required a 25 cent stamp to bring them up to 73 cents. The 10704 and 10710 Post Offices only had 1, 2 and 3 cents stamps. Using a 1 and 3 cents stamps, that meant 10 stamps on the envelope.
I went to the Scarsdale Post Office, and they had 28 cent stamps, the price for a second ounce
On a first class envelope. There are still many people who must mail things, many with a second ounce.
The 10704 and 10710 don’t have 28 cent Stamps. Unbelievable. I have a nice mail carrier, but for some reason there is a delay in him getting the mail. The delay? Postmaster General DeJoy is playing games delaying the mail to save money. This man has got to go.
In the radio news business, the sudden loss of WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 is sad. You could at certain times of the day pick up WCBS at points all over the country! It is now a sports station. Just what we need. The only other news station is WINS, which covers New York City news, not suburban and New Jersey and Connecticut or regional news like WCBS, 3 weeks short of its 100th Birthday.
You want to fight back? Listen to 880 and jot down the advertisers and call the advertisers and tell them you want more news brought back together with the sports on 880 or you won’t listen to the new station.
The mighty dollar talks loud and clear! By the way text AM TO 52886 to show your support to keep AM radio in cars, something car manufacturers want to do to cut down the costs of producing cars.
Boars Head cold cuts had one of the biggest recalls of deli meats in history. Merchants cleaned their deli cases, threw old deli out and brought new meats and cheeses back into stores. A proactive move on Boars Head and delis part has restored consumer confidence in the brand. As we go to press we learn that Stop and Shop will stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products. Very smart move.
The political scene. We got a New Democrat in Kamala Harris as the party nominee for President, and sadly some deranged individual got close in his attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. We learned what we have known for years. Democrats or Republicans in Control, the secret service is severely flawed. And a Kennedy, member of a Democratic family endorsed a Republican. Unheard of, absurd!
The political parties had their conventions, exciting but not as exciting as in 1980 when as a greeter for a local organization I shook the hands of a peanut farmer from Georgia as he arrived in New York. All the WESTCHESTER delegates had a great time. It’s a once in a lifetime experience everyone should have.
The issue of Cell phones in schools still plagues America, particularly in this post 911 world. Bottom line is students and parents will continue to do as they please. We have the technology and people want to feel safe.
We lost Hollywood Squares Peter Marshall, the man responsible For the format for many daytime talk shows the great Phil Donahue, Bob Newhart who entertained us on his own shows and others and the great baseball player Willie Mays. They had a Willie Mays night that I attended at Shea Stadium before his retirement winning tickets from a team sponsor, Dellwood Dairies from Saw Mill River Road in good little old Yonkers.
Our schools open next week, a time when we know Summer is officially over. I hope summer 2024 was easy for you and your family, and that we will have a fall and winter that is extra special for you, those you love and our country.
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com, or friend him on Facebook Eric Schoen…just look for him in the picture with Joan Rivers!
