Ode to the New York City Subway’s MetroCard

by Anna Breuer

For years, the New York City subway token was a kind of coin of the realm.  In 2003, as they were about to be phased out, there were some 60 million still in circulation.
When the first subway began operations in New York, paper tickets cost five cents. The city discontinued paper tickets with the introduction of the turnstile, which required the insertion of a nickel and, starting in 1948, a …

Review: ‘Camelot’ – ‘A More Congenial Spot for Happily Ever-Aftering’ at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center

by Jonathan Spira

“I saw it in ’77,” one theatergoer said to his companion as they entered the Vivian Beaumont Theater to see the 2023 revival of “Camelot,” the 1960 Lerner and Loewe musical based on T.H. White’s Arthurian tales.  “It’s very different,” was the snappy reply… and indeed it is.
While I’m far too young to have seen the original Broadway production, I did see both revivals, in 1980 at Lincoln Center with …

Today is English Language Day: Celebrate the Most Spoken Second Language in the World

by Jonathan Spira

Some 25% of the world’s population speaks English to some extent, with almost 400 million speaking it as their mother tongue and a similar number speaking it fluently as their second language, thus making it a candidate for the world’s language, ostensibly an Esperanto for the 21st century.
Indeed, some pundits have predicted that, by 2050, half the world will be more or less proficient in it.
In addition to being World …

Here Are the Electric Vehicles That Are Eligible For the Full $7,500 Tax Credit

by Paul Riegler

Only 12 electric and plug-in hybrid cars will qualify for the full tax credit in the U.S. out of 90 available EV options on the market under the latest Internal Revenue Service clean-vehicle tax-credit rules.
The clean-vehicle tax credit program offers an incentive of up to $7,500 for the purchase of a new battery-electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid, or a hydrogen fuel cell EV, albeit with certain conditions including the automaker …

Pay Attention: Don’t Go to the Wrong House, Enter the Wrong Car, or Drive Into the Wrong Driveway

by Jonathan Spira

In recent days, a 20-year-old Saratoga County woman was fatally shot after her friend pulled into the driveway of a home that they mistakenly believed belonged to another friend, two cheerleaders in Texas were shot after one of them mistakenly got into the wrong car and a 16-year-old boy was shot by an 84-year-old man after the former rang the wrong doorbell while going to pick up his younger brothers.
Meanwhile, …

Review: Ordering a Pizza from Domino’s With Apple CarPlay’s New Pizza Functionality

by Anna Breuer

Regular readers of these pages know the basics around the Apple CarPlay infotainment system that was introduced with great fanfare at the 2014 Geneva International Motor Show, so going forward, we’re going to delve into specific new features and functionality without rehashing the basics.
CarPlay has many uses beyond navigation, entertainment, news and messages.  A driver can find a nearby EV charger with apps such as ChargePoint and PlugShare and find …

‘Phantom of the Opera’ Closes on Broadway After 35 Haunting Years

by Kurt Stolz

The chandelier fell for the last time on Andrew Lloyd Weber’s long-running show “Phantom of the Opera” Sunday evening.
“Phantom,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, has seemingly been a part of the Theater District landscape forever – it opened in the West End in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988 – but no show, even “The Fantasticks” – runs forever.
“Phantom” reached its 10,000th Broadway performance on February 11, 2012, the …