There are 8 Million Smells in the Naked City

New York is a city of strong smells that go along with its loud noises and powerful tastes. Some of the smells are bad, some good, some nostalgic and some are so new it's hard to categorize them.

Let's get the bad smells out of the way first (and this is just a scent sampler, so to speak): subway stations on hot, summer days (ditto piles of garbage), manure (rare and attributable to either carriage or police horses), faux butter in movie theaters, the former Fulton Fish Market, the peroxide smell of hair salons (sorry, hair spas) and the ubiquitous city "sewer gas" (I don't know what causes it and I don't want to know!).

Good smells include but are not limited to: fresh cut flowers on the sidewalks outside greengrocers, roasted nuts sold by street vendors, freshly baked bread (still produced by some storefront bakeries), the cool earthy smell that many old stone churches have, coffee stores and the air after a strong rain. Note: the smell of manure can be considered a good smell by some nature-starved city dwellers and tourists from the Midwest.

Nostalgic smells include places that are still imbued with scents from earlier lives such as the vinegar, Chiclets and Silvercup factories and the meat-packing district (not all nostalgic smells are good), the beach at Coney Island and egg creams.

Then there are the smells that are so new I'm not sure how to categorize them...for example, the smell of the vinyl seat cushions in pedi-cabs.

Whew! or should I say phew! How do you spell P U?

A Good Cup of Coffee for 50 Cents!

Yesterday, I was scheduled to observe a student teacher in dance education at a high school in East Harlem. I arrived early (I always do, especially if I'm going somewhere for the first time!) and asked if there was a place to get a cup of coffee. I was directed by the school's security staff to a deli just around the corner at St. Nicholas Avenue and 135th St.

I took the fact that the shop was filled with students getting made-to-order breakfast sandwiches as a good sign, but I have been to too many places where the coffee just doesn't match up to the rest of the menu! I am particular about my coffee. I like it brewed strong. I take it light with no sugar. By the way, when I spent a few weeks in Toronto years ago, it took me a while to learn that in that lovely city, they do not serve light coffee! When I asked for it, I was told by very pleasant but obviosuly confused counterpeople, that none of their coffees was dietetic! In Toronto, they let you add the whole, 1%, 2%, skim, soy milk or half-and half yourself.

Anyway, to get back on track...I am, I think, a connoisseur of coffee. I buy whole beans from a wonderful store called the Porto Rico Importing Company (in NYC and online), grind them myself and then brew my coffee in a french press. When I'm out and about, I like Starbuck's coffee because it is strong (and since I add milk...it must start out strong!) and flavorful. I usually drink one grande latte a day, costing me $4.06 with tax. So after I ordered my large, light coffee at the deli on St. Nicholas Avenue, I started taking out some singles from my wallet. Imagine my surprise when the guy behind the counter asked me for 50 cents! Now I had to decide whether to even risk a taste. How good could it be? And bad coffee is worse than no coffee. So I popped open the tab on the plastic no-spill top and a rich, distinctive aroma wafted out (sorry, but it was poetry!). It ended up being one of the best cups of coffee I've had in a long time...and you can't beat the price!