Recession?

This was a really busy weekend.  Josh and I kicked off the weekend going to puppy camp.  Swear.  One hour with a group of other new puppies and their owners socializing and learning some discipline.  An hour well spent.  Josh is still rising to the Ollie occasion.  Yahoo! 

Fred and I met up with some old friends at San Ambreous for lunch in the West Village.  Crowded.  Their business has not slowed up one bit.  The afternoon was filled with getting Josh's suit fitted for his bar mitzvah coming up.  Barneys was packed although they were very interested in us using a Barneys card at every transaction as they are running into some credit problems with vendors.  So, not surprising. 

Went to see the movie my brother was involved with on Saturday evening.  Gigantic.  Seeing his names in lights was actually pretty cool.  John Goodman and Ed Asner steal the show.  There are 2 scenes with each of them independently which were hilarious.  The movie has a kind of Wes Anderson feel to it.  Indie flick with no purpose.  I am sure there is one in there but I might be too pedestrian to get it.

Afterward, Fred and I ( we had the car because we had dropped Josh off near Wall St before the movie ) looked everywhere to find a seat for dinner.  Restaurants in the West Village were packed.  Bars were 3 deep and waiting for a seat was up to an hour everywhere.  We ended up at Craft Steak on 10th avenue only because I knew there would be a seat.  The place is huge and the food is really not good.  Although quite busy we easily got a seat at the bar.  The streets were hopping. 

Sunday after doing a major grocery shop ( getting ready for Passover ), I went to see my friends daughter dance.  She dances at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center.  A brand new facility with programs from ballet to hip-hop.  The performance was really impressive.

Jess and I left after and headed down to a new store on the LES.  After I picked up Fred and hauled it back uptown to sit shiva.  We are entering that stage where our friends parents are passing away.  Not easy. 

Then we went to see the documentary We Live in Public at the MOMA which was fantastic.  We walked down to the Modern for a small bite and a drink afterward.  Strange neighborhood for a Sunday evening.  But the place had people in it.  The food is always delicious.  Small plates, full of flavor and very creative.  Since I was young, I have found that people love to tell me things.  I was asking the manager about business.  He was quite frank, actually.  Theater really makes an impact on their dinner business.  But, Saturday night they were packed until 1am.  Yet, Sunday is a hit or miss.  Business is still good. 

The LES was packed earlier in the day.  People were flowing on to the streets and the traffic was insane.  The restaurants are busy, and I mean seriously busy or they are dead.  This period has almost been a flushing out of the places that were barely cutting it.  Movies are still packed.  Not a seat in the MOMA on Sunday night.  It was pretty cool walking up the stairs to the Modern after the movie.  Nobody was there, the art just takes your breath away. The Modern is still alive and healthy.  Not sure if we had seen rock bottom but I do believe a lot of the problems are still psychological. 

Don't get me wrong, there are a very large handful of people who have lost their jobs and not sure where these people will end up.  It might be new industry or jobs that don't provide the same income, but this won't be the first time that this has happened.  The tech industry lost 75000 jobs in 1999.  We will certainly return to a different way of life but here in the village people are certainly getting out, going to dinner, going to the movies and doing a little bit ( only a little bit ) of shopping on the side.