Good morning. What a pleasure it is to start the working week on Tuesday. We hope you had a fun long weekend.
President Carter and his wife will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary tomorrow. The Carters are the longest-married presidential couple in American history. Since leaving the Oval Office in 1981, he’s often said that his most important decision in life was falling for Eleanor Rosalynn Smith in 1945 and marrying her the following summer. “My biggest secret is to marry the right person if you want to have a long-lasting marriage,” the 39th President said.
In 1984, Hell’s Kitchen was still not a neighborhood that could be considered presidential. But in the September of that year, just three years after he had left The White House, President Carter arrived on W40th Street, not for a state dinner or high-powered negotiations, but to sleep on the floor of a church. More here…
Broadway star Telly Leung left Hell’s Kitchen nearly two weeks ago to head to Japan. Tomorrow, he will leave the confines of his apartment in Tokyo for the first time after a strict 14 day quarantine. “No walks, not trips to the store. The producers make grocery runs and garbage disposal trips for us. I’ve not been outside this apartment for 14 days,” said Telly. More here…
What we’ve been reading
Is three the magic number for vaccinations? (New York Times)
There are moves being made in New York to protect workers from at-will firing. (Bloomberg)
MTA’s cashless proposals are facing pushback. (Queens Chronicle)
New York now has the worst traffic in the US, topping even LA. (CBS)
“FEVER” — a photo collection of New York at the dawn of AIDS. (Brooklyn Magazine)
Freeze Frame
Thanks to Shannon Patterson for this picture of Birdland back in action this weekend with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. “New York City is back baby! The most amazing thing is that Birdland almost didn’t survive the pandemic but was saved by a community Go Fund Me. We are so thankful to return for their reopening weekend!” she said on Instagram.
Happy Birthday to Ruth Walker and Jesse Kirshbaum — and belated wishes to Johnny Livanos.