My heart goes out to the family of Kayla Mueller. I am not sure that I can add anything to the story of her idealistic journey that brought her into captivity and death at he hands of ISIL. When I think of Kayla and her family -- when all this is seen through the eyes of parents -- the question of ransom cannot be far behind. The President is being …
Recently, I was at a seminar in one of the midtown hotels. You know, a few hundred people in neat rows of seats behind narrow tables. Since this was a high-end seminar, coffee was served. I took a cup back to my seat and placed it on the table in front of me. No sooner had I done so when a women - seeking to find a seat in the row in front of …
This past Tuesday marked the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in 1945. My Mother had been transported from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp a few months earlier. Her “liberation” would not come until a few months later. In conjunction with this anniversary, there has been press …
I expected that it would be an easy flight. I smiled as the family with young children slid into the seats behind us. Two children who were about three or four years old. The father sat in the middle of the three-seat row. The mother, and another child, sat in the same row on the other side of the aisle. Shortly after takeoff, the kicking again …
I saw the headline in the Metro section of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal -- “The Politics of Apology: A Standoff”. On Tuesday, Victoria Drogin commented at the Long Island Women’s Group meeting that women tend to apologize, whereas men generally don’t. And I recall being instructed by a Senior partner at my first law firm never to apologize. A …
As I brushed the snow off the car the other morning, I thought of family and friends who have left New York for warmer parts. I am fond of kidding my Mother -- who spends the winter in Florida -- that the happiness of New Yorkers in Florida is inversely related to the weather: the poorer the weather in New York, the happier they are. (As any mot …
I have a date stamp on my desk in the office. The old- fashioned kind. You change the date, month and year with plastic wheels. Changing the date is part of my morning ritual. I’ve had such a stamp on my desk for many years. I use it to stamp mail. I don't use it as much now as I used to. Yesterday morning I checked to make sure that the stamp h …
It was to be expected. The other evening we were caught in one of the many protests in New York City after the non-indictment in the death of Eric Garner. We were in our car, leaving the City and traffic came to a halt. Protesters, accompanied by police, blocked the road, walked past our stopped car in the opposite direction and were gone. As t …
Let's congratulate Gotham's Networkers of the Year -- Liz Saldana and Larry Sprung and this year’s recipient of the Red Bandana Award -- Cindy Somma. When someone asks me what the Red Bandana Award is about, I respond that it is our Gotham family's way of recognizing the best fulfillment of our mantra -- “It is better to give than receive...” I …
I'm a traditionalist and one of the things I like most about Thanksgiving are the traditions. One of our traditions is a football game before dinner. Given the rain and wet field conditions, this tradition may be in jeopardy this year. And there are the food traditions. Except for the tradition of family, Thanksgiving is mostly about the food t …
It’s not every day that a new species of frog is discovered -- especially in New York City. And it’s not everyone who is related to the person who discovers a new species. So we’re proud of Jeremy and “Rana Kauffeldi”. (There’s some really great coverage -- and cute pictures -- on this discovery. Just google new NYC frog.) Jeremy discovered the …
It’s not every day that a new species of frog is discovered -- especially in New York City. And it’s not everyone who is related to the person who discovers a new species. So we’re proud of Jeremy and “Rana Kauffeldi”. (There’s some really great coverage -- and cute pictures -- on this discovery. Just google new NYC frog.) Jeremy discovered the …
I’m happy that the nurse from Maine was released from the isolation tent in New Jersey. I’m not happy that she is resisting the 21 day voluntary quarantine that seems to be the prudent suggested course of action. Not for a moment do I dismiss the inconvenience that goes with isolation but the “experts” can’t seem to agree that anyone is conclus …
I can't remember the last time we were in a Buy Buy Baby store. But we found ourselves in one last weekend. Shopping for a status symbol. They only had one starter Scooter to choose from. A take off on the Flexible Flyer sled of old. We passed on the scooter -- for now at least. We were in search of status. So many choices. Some more versatile t …
It was a large group -- about forty people -- invited to cocktails in the penthouse apartment on the sixteenth floor with a nice view of the city (not New York). The sole elevator came down to the lobby to carry a second group to the penthouse. We watched as the elevator loaded. It looked a little too crowded. We weren't going to make it on for …
