The Christmas Edition
Some tunes and a request for your personal highlights of the year, #66
A panettone and some coquito at work.
Before I get into the fun holiday stuff – and a request to my readers (don’t worry, it’s not for money!) – let’s get into a little news.
I helped my colleague Reuven Blau on this but defer to his expertise on all things jails. The interesting thing about the ban is that the city’s Department of Correction, and the mayor, say solitary confinement is not used as punishment. Rikers officials still isolate incarcerated people for long stretches, Reuven reports, even though officials say there isn’t solitary.
Some lawmakers who opposed the bill pointed to violence at the city’s jails, especially against the city’s corrections workers.
“These are people who are in the jail system who have then decided to go out on a limb and assault, stab, slash, murder, sexually assault another inmate or a correction officer,” Staten Island City Councilman Joe Borelli, a Republican, said before the vote.
But others said the punishment is a form of torture. Former councilman Danny Dromm, who introduced the measure years ago, said the process was inhumane.
“I’ve always said that Rikers is a hell hole, but imagine being tortured in a hell hole,” he told THE CITY.
And Tamara Carter, whose 25-year-old son Brandon Rodriguez died in a shower by an intake housing area, praised the passing of the ban.
“Amen Brandon, we did it,” she said. “Mommy made sure no one will ever suffer like you did.”
Read more at THE CITY.
Other interesting stories
→ The latest on the migrant site at Floyd Bennett, from how they fared during last weekend’s storm to how nearby neighbors are helping them. [THE CITY]
→ More Turkey-tied donors found amidst FBI probe into the Adams campaign [POLITICO]
→ New York City will not meet its 2025 climate law deadline [THE CITY]
🎥 If you have any time off over the next week, go see some movies! I loved this very comprehensive list from Screen Slate that features rankings from dozens of people of not just newly-released films but the “new to me” movies they happened to see this year. It’s a rundown of everything they watched and saw, regardless of when it came out. [SCREEN SLATE]
🎄 🎧 CHRISTMAS MUSIC! 🎧🎄
Last year I embedded a playlist of some of my favorite Christmas songs, but I’m doing it a little differently this year, sharing a handful of songs and one whole live Christmas concert special. Please share your favorites in the comments, we can play Christmas music all year if we want to.
The Roches Christmas Special at The Bitter End, 1990
I know and love The Roches because of my friend Mary Ann, whose dad John was a big fan and friend of the sister trio (Suzzy even sent him a care package after Sandy.) Terre still plays music in the city, including an annual caroling event under the Washington Square Arch just yesterday that I sadly missed. Their music is really unlike anything I’ve heard (the harmonies, the shift from folk to at times punk, the jokes.) They’re a really underrated band and I’m sharing this holiday special from more than 30 years ago because watching it made me nostalgic for something I never even experienced. It’s playful and fun and heartwarming. Enjoy!
“Dominick the Donkey” by Lou Monte
This is an obvious pick. I’ve always respected the way he managed to rhyme “Brooklyn” into the song.
“The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey” by Ed Ames
Another song about a donkey? But this one is very personal to me. It was performed at every Christmas Eve mass growing up by the husband of one of the directors of our youth choir, and while I loved listening to the song for music’s sake, it also meant that mass was almost finished. My family or another family friend would host the post-church Christmas Eve party, and by the time we clapped at the end of his performance I knew the pigs in the blanket weren’t far behind
Although I don’t suggest finding your validation and self-worth solely through service like this low-self esteem donkey did, it is still a sweet song.
“Rich Man for Christmas” by Lady Saw
The gift that keeps giving all year long!
“Father Christmas” by The Kinks
A fun little song about crime
“Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg
What was this man thinking when he wrote this devastating holiday song? What am I thinking including it? There’s something about this depressing song about two old lovers running into each other on Christmas Eve and wistfully catching each other up on their lives that sticks with me. It might seem like a corny Lite FM hit but the writing is perfectly sparse. It captures the yearning so well.
When his old girlfriend tells him about her husband, the architect who keeps her warm and dry, he sings “she would've liked to say she loved the man/But she didn't like to lie.” And then at the end, he watches her drive away as the the snow turns into rain. And here comes the sax. It’s poetry.
ONE MORE THING
I think about my friend Katherine Creag every day but especially around Christmas, since her birthday is December 26th. I wrote about her around this time last year and everything I said then remains true. She was a gift to so many people, and she’s still bringing us together even though she’s not here on Earth.
I think of Kat most in the early mornings, when she’d usually be at work. What sort of advice would she give me right now, what would she suggest I do when I have questions about where I’m going? Kat had a great perspective on things. Her husband and I talked once about how often she moved throughout her life, usually in pursuit of what she wanted, and all of the relationships she formed along the way. She moved as a little kid from Manila to Warsaw, Ind., and then by herself to Chicago as a teenager because she wanted to have a different high school experience. Then it was New York University and a bunch of other cities before she landed back home, here. When I feel myself getting too sad about Kat I remind myself of the blessing it was that I knew her, of all the people she brought to me, and try to focus on the positive.
Which leads me to a request to my readers. This year has been objectively crappy for many, many reasons. But what was one positive thing you experienced in 2023? It could be a trip, a TV show, falling in love, having a baby — whatever you can look back on with some happiness. Share in the comments or email me and I’ll include in my year-end newsletter next week (if you don’t want to be named let me know!) Reading about other people’s joy cheers me up and I think we could all use it
Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating, and thanks for reading! Here’s my tree:
