By Steve Fey

Actually I haven’t been to New York City in several years. But as I sit around my job watching flashing lights all night I sometimes check out things to do to while away the hours. One thing I found that can be fun is webcams. In particular, this one: Earth Cam Times Square. Go ahead and click the link if you have a broadband connection. It might even help you understand the rest of this rambling rant, in fact. Go ahead; I’ve set it to open a new window.

If you can now see the streaming video, that’s great. Tell those other people with the dial-up connections how unlucky they really are, will you? Anyway, as you can see, or not, these video pictures from New York do beg some questions.

One: There’s still an Howard Johnson’s open somewhere? Wow.

Two: Who in heck eats hot dogs from a street vendor at four in the morning? What are you sick? Well, you probably will be, and it serves you right!

And Three: Why is there a French tricolor flying over the ticket stand?

Now check out behind and above the ticket stand. (It’s called TKTS, for those of you not in the fast lane. Clever name, huh?) What in the world are those people doing? That one guy, lower left corner, seems to be hammering something. Then there’s the guy who looks like he’s walking a tightrope, right in the middle of what sort of looks like concrete steps on a public plaza. Only it’s not. I think it’s an ad for something, but it’s an odd one.

A lot of people would probably wonder why it’s so bright. I’m sure you could read a book right on the corner with no trouble at all. Why, a lot of people would wonder, do they waste all that electricity? That’s a lot of people, but I’m not a lot of people. I live in Vegas. I wonder why it’s so dark there.

As I’m writing this, it’s 04:23 in New York City. That’s 4 in the morning to you benighted souls who don’t know how clocks work. So? So it’s not crowded, but it’s not deserted either. There are stores open. There are restaurants serving food (even besides Howard Johnson’s I mean.) There is a big glob of people hanging out between Broadway and 7^th avenue, on that triangular bit of concrete with the big planter in the middle of it. Most of the people look like tourists, because they’re wearing comfortable shoes and are a bit overweight. I’ve got to say, I admire a city that stays out late. The place where I grew up, at that time of day, you’d be lucky if the guy making rolls in the bakery was up yet. (They didn’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts™ while I was growing up, so that guy was never around "making the donuts.") New York apparently really does "never sleep." ‘Course, neither does Vegas. Nor, for that matter, do I or so it seems. Lucky for me I’ve got free entertainment, huh?

But, one more question: Don’t those two realize that they’re on worldwide video feed? Get a room, will you?