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• Welcome to New York City (Sort Of)

  — You can still fulfill your wildest dreams in New York City, but if you're a newcomer, you would best tread lightly.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Adventures in Real Estate, Part 2: The Lawyer Who "Phoned It In"

  — Paying cash for my new coop and having perfect credit should almost guarantee a quick and painless closing — shouldn't it?

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Adventures in Real Estate, Part One: The Broker from Hell

  — Dishonest, greedy, and unscrupulous real estate brokers have given the industry a bad name.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Is New York "Over?" - Part Two

  — New Yorkers are perpetually dissatisfied. Some so much so, they are actually abandoning the city they once loved.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Is New York "Over?" - Part One

  — Is New York's hipness factor a thing of the past? And if so, could the next big "scene" be emerging across the river in - gasp - Jersey City?

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Hearing Poe's Christmas Bells in the Bronx

  — Poe Cottage in the Bronx - where Edgar Allen Poe lived from 1846-1849 - still resonates with the poignant spirit of the author's time here.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• Single Review: Talking Heads - "Life During Wartime"

  — "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around." Indeed.

  REVIEW in Music by Elvira Black

• New York Story: The Crackhead Next Door

  — The new "neighbor" banged on the door: "Open up punk. I want to talk to you face to face."

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• New York Story: Dysfunctional Family Reunion

  — What's a New Yorker to do when her boyfriend's cousin's uncle's dog's half-sister sends invites for an Oklahoma blowout?

  OPINION in Tastes by Elvira Black

• New York Story: Washington Square, Greenwich Village

  — Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollack, and countless other notables spread their creative wings in this boho paradise.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• New York Story: The Dark Side of Gentrification

  — As a "sketchy" neighborhood becomes more "hip" and "desirable," where do the current residents go? Aye, there's the rub.

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• New York Story: Elvira's Theory of Chinese Takeout-Related Gentrification

  — To chart the signs of a New York neighborhood on the rise, look first to its Chinese takeout menus.

  OPINION in Tastes by Elvira Black

• New York Story: Real Estate Mania

  — Far from being "worldly," New Yorkers are shockingly xenophobic when it comes to their pricey "turf."

  OPINION in Culture by Elvira Black

• John Lennon: New Yorker

  — As the mobs gathered in honor of Lennon, all I could think was: What would Lennon think of all this?

  OPINION in Music by Elvira Black

• The Day the Bottle Dropped

  — On the mean streets of the Bronx, New York, you'd best learn to hold your liquor - and grip that bottle.

  OPINION in Tastes by Elvira Black