New York City

PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center present: Iran: A Conversation About the Elections, Protest and the Future With Shaul Bakhash, Roger Cohen, Haleh Esfandiari, and Karim Sadjadpour [Note: Karim Sadjadpour is my cousin!] Wednesday, July 15, 2009 New York City—Only one month following the start of Iran’s civilian uprising, PEN American Center joins forces with The New York Review of Books and 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center for New…

On October 5, 2007, there are two fantastic discussions going on in New York for The New Yorker Festival. Fortunately I don’t have to choose between them as I can’t make it to either of them, but if you’re in the tri-state area, you definitely should go: Salman Rushdie and Orhan Pamuk on Homeland Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay and educated in England. His novels include “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” “The Satanic Verses,” “Shame,” “Shalimar the Clown,” and “Midnight’s…

Becky and I just got back from a week-long trip to New York. Here are a few highlights:

Until Tuesday. I’m holding court for drinks on Friday night, which is the best time to see me. Email me if you want to join us.

The Grey Lady has just published a piece, in the Fashion section no less, about how (shocker!) people in hipster Brooklyn drink Fair Trade (omg!) coffee! No freakin’ way! Seriously guys, was it that much of a slow news day? Amid the wine bars and boutiques that line Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Jonathan Coulton, 36, a musician wearing black rectangular glasses, was hunched over a laptop at Gorilla Coffee, where a blackboard proclaims all its coffees are fair trade.…

AP: NEW YORK (AP) — It was an ordeal that lasted 19 hours. In that span, a man bound a Columbia University graduate student in her apartment, raped her, doused her with hot water and bleach, slit her eyelids and finally set a fire before fleeing, police said. Police pressed a manhunt for the assailant in the April 13 attack, with investigators hoping any surviving DNA and a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest would produce fresh leads.…

When I lived in New York, I was invited to get cheap drinks and attend some great live music once a week at The Underground Lounge by my good buddy and Columbia cohort Jennifer Weiss. She had a regular gig rockin’ the back room on piano and killer vocals. Jen and I also shared a radio class together at Columbia, and after having been exposed to various musical performances at the Underground, and in dire need of a subject for…

A Columbia cohort of mine, Sam Gustin, has just penned a sweet article for The Village Voice on Google’s plans to expand in the Big Apple: For the time being, by installing itself above Chelsea’s broadband “fiber highway” at 111 Eighth Avenue, St. Arnaud explained, Google can bypass many of the major telecommunications firms and interface directly with Tier 2 service providers such as Level 3 Communications or XO Communications, which also are located in the building. This will significantly…

NYT says that the 2nd Ave. Deli in the East Village may have to close forever. That’s really sad, and while no, I don’t live in NYC anymore, it’s sad to see one of my favorite joints gone. I made it there a few times when I lived there. I hope they find somewhere else to relocate. They make fine sandwiches, yessir.