DailyHeights

While many of the city’s Jews were in synagogue this week celebrating the arrival of the Jewish new year, other Jews were out asking passers-by if they were Jewish–presumably to assist them in the reciting of certain prayers.  Much to his chagrin, jgregorie was asked seven times during a five block walk if he was a Jew: “Oh New York,” he says, “You find new ways to annoy the shit out of me on a daily basis.”

whynot_31 apparently advocates the Bush Doctrine (look it up) to handle the “Are You Jewish” question during the High Holy Days: “First time, the man approached me and was about to ask, but I preempted him and stated “No, but Happy New Year”. He responded back “I was going to ask you if you were a wonderful person”. I replied “Thanks” and went down the steps to Eastern Parkway Station…

“Second time, Orthodox man begins his approach. I smile and shake my head, “no” before he asks. I then ask him “are you?”. He says “am I what?” …I respond “Jewish?”. He laughs, rolls his eyes, and says “yes”, and I say “Happy New Year”.

“…oh new york, I find new ways to amuse myself at you everyday.”

What else? Karl the Druid confesses: “i’ve been told i don’t look druish.”

Submit your score at Prospect Heights Message Board: how many times were you asked if you were jewish today? (Brooklynian.com)

What’s the only thing in town to get a boost by this week’s stock market plunge? Discussion about the stock market plunge, of course. Guvna and whynot_31 have reopened a two-week-old discussion to augur when and how we will start to feel the pain of our collapsing economy locally:

Per Guvna: “In light of today’s biggest stock market single day loss in history, I want to know ‘when’ (not if) we will officially begin to feel raped and pillaged?  Anyone?”

Perhaps a better question: when will people wake up? GOD writes: “NOT one reporter is asking people on the street (about) what is happening on Wall Street … How it’s going to impact them. The only thing being talked about is the “Lipstick” issue. No one cares. Guess we’ll have our bibles, guns and know how to field dress a moose to survive into the next century.”
Have you got the insight into where this increasingly dismal road is heading?  Do we move to Asia as whynot_31 has considered?  Bend over like Guvna advised?  Or perhaps you’ve got an even better suggestion.  Share it now at Prospect Heights Message Boards: Four Horsemen (Brooklynian.com)

joseph11 is nervous that a house fire on Classon and St. Marks is a sign of bad times to come.
“I hope that building owners aren’t starting fires because they cant sell them,” he writes.  Naturally this begets a discussion on other signs of what the failing economy will do to the neighborhood.  whynot_31 wonders “what will become of all these [WaMU] branches? You can only have so many bars called ‘The Vault’. Surely, we are going to have to be more creative.”
And a list of potential uses for former WaMu branches follows:

1. Meat lockers
2. Saunas
3. Opaque Fish Tanks
4. Rent-a-Jails
5. Day cares
6. places to cry alone in the event that McCain wins.
7. Places to make love if Obama wins.
8. Sets for magicians/escape artists to do their tricks.
9. Hardware stores? All the little drawers could hold bolts, screws and such.
10. places to hold a “free party” for Republicans from PA and OH on November 3.
11. places to announce that “due to the pending takeover of WaMu by
Chase, we have encountered a temporary lapse of service on our remote
lock release contract. We expect the doors to open at the stroke of
midnight, November 6th. Please enjoy Caahyoko’s fish and all the
vintage WaMu pens in the meantime.”

Add to the list at Prospect Heights Message Board: This Gets Me Nervous (Brooklynian.com)