About Eric Shapiro
Eric Shapiro
I am a lifelong New Yorker who spends a good portion of my time gorging on and regurgitating big meaty hunks of culture, musical and otherwise. I try my best to avoid the cliches that come along with wearing skinny jeans and flannel shirts in a cosmopolitan locale, but I'm writing for a website called Indie Shuffle, so it's probably useless. My life has its own personal soundtrack, but feel free to borrow a few tunes. Feedback is always welcome.
Election Fever Strikes the Flatiron Neighborhood – A Sampler
November 6, 2012 | Eric ShapiroAll eyes in the Flatiron district and its environs, as well of the New York City Seminar and Conference Center and its patrons, turn to the elections! Pundits and experts on both sides of the aisle have weighed in on how “superstorm” Sandy would affect voter turnout in regions most directly impacted by the devastation. Many have speculated that exhaustion and/or logistical issues at the polls would prevent citizens from casting their ballots, likely to the detriment of President Barack Obama, who faces the prospect of losing the popular vote even if the swing states deliver him a narrow Electoral College victory.
Help for Storm Afflicted Flatiron Area Businesses – From the Flatiron 23rd Street Parnership Offices …
October 31, 2012 | Eric ShapiroEditor’s Note: Our Friends at the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership BID sent an e-mail around with this useful info for area businesses coping with the aftermath of the storm, which has impacted all of us in the neighborhood – we are passing it on forth with …
Buckyball Makes Its Presence Felt in Flatiron – Villareal’s Light Sculpture a Sight to See at Madison Square Park
October 26, 2012 | Eric ShapiroNo, it’s not an updated version of the Unisphere from Flushing Meadows Park come to the Flatiron District – its Buckyball! Our friends at the Madison Square Park Conservancy have done themselves proud once again. Their latest effort, and part … Read More
Philips Sonicare Digs a Good Sandbox Near Madison Square Park
October 25, 2012 | Eric ShapiroIt’s not easy to catch New Yorkers off guard. Walk down the street and prepare to be accosted by promoters dressed as foodstuffs, cellphones, or whatever odd item they’re trying to sell. Take a ride on the subway, and be regaled by impromptu performers as diverse in musical form as in talent. Deposit your empty coffee cup in a garbage can and jump back as an over-excited resident squirrel launches itself into the stratosphere.
William Galston and Nick Eberstadt Debate Entitlements at New School’s John Tishman Auditorium
October 23, 2012 | Eric Shapiro
Nicholas Eberstadt and William Galston
debate Entitlements at the New School in NYC
On Thursday, October 19th, esteemed scholars William Galston and Nick Eberstadt met at the New School’s John Tishman Auditorium to discuss entitlements, an issue that lies at the center of an American ideological battle that has raged for decades. Although billed as a “debate,” anyone who was expecting an event resembling Tuesday’s Obama-Romney brawl at Hofstra University probably left feeling disappointed. Instead, the two scholars confronted the audience with two drastically different perspectives on what has, over the course of the 20th century, come to define U.S. politics, particularly since the economy tanked in 2008.
Flatiron Business Community Converges for Night of Networking at 230 FIFTH
October 19, 2012 | Eric Shapiro
Horns blaring. Taxi drivers spouting off obscenities. Pigeons jostling for crumbs. Streams of frantic pedestrians wordlessly weaving about the busy streets. All of this is enough to confirm some of the worst stereotypes about New York City and its residents. But beneath the noisy tumult of daily life in the bustling metropolis lies a strong sense of community.
The Flatiron Hot! Pundit: How Obama Should Have Hit Romney in Last Night’s Presidential Debate
October 17, 2012 | Eric ShapiroOur disclaimer: FlatironHot! News and Bulletin is not a political blog per se, but all of us in the Flatiron District should recognize that the outcome of the Presidential election will have broad implications for the nation as a whole and the community that we love – so here at FlatironHot! News, we have no compunctions about adding in our two cents … and so is born the Flatiron Hot! Pundit … and of course, it is a two-way conversation, so feel free to comment and respond …
Mad. Sq. Eats Market Reflects Flatiron Diversity
October 11, 2012 | Eric Shapiro
- Mad. Sq. Eats.
The vendors of the Mad. Sq. Eats outdoor market were not blessed with the best weather when FlatironHot! decided to investigate rumors of delectable delights a block away from NYCSCC. One would expect that a chill breeze and the threat of rain would deter New Yorkers from seeking food outside (with the obvious exception of Shake Shack), especially with the vast array of indoor dining options in the neighborhood. Conditions turned out to be more than adequate.
Flatiron Hot! Critic: Athol Fugard Play “Train Driver” Reveals Horrors of Apartheid
October 3, 2012 | Eric ShapiroIt should go without saying that South African playwright Athol Fugard’s works are not for the faint of heart or the apathetic. Typically set in apartheid South Africa, they confront the audience with the horrors of a well-documented historical moment, while simultaneously appealing to the full spectrum of universal human emotion.
Renowned Historian Talks Anti-Semitism, Holocaust at Local Event
September 27, 2012 | Eric ShapiroIn a recent lecture at the Center for Jewish History at 15 West 16th Street, aptly (albeit long-windedly) titled “Anti-Semitism and Judaeophobia: A Critical Analysis of the Development in European Anti-Jewish Sentiment During the Interwar Period,” John Lukacs, 88, showed himself to be a historian in the truest sense of the word. Sponsored by the YIVO Center for Jewish Research, the talk was trim, concise, and focused, almost to a fault at times.