DailyHeights

We were in touch with DailyHeights.com regular SterlingGuy, who’s working as a crisis counselor in Louisiana for the United Way. He’s not ready to talk about specifics, but gave us permission to post the following:

“I have one day left here … It has been one of the most difficult jobs of my life.”

“I am working at a call-in center trying to get people into shelters and to food distribution sites … I am beyond my limit and have heard too much suffering to really go into it.”

“There are still ways to volunteer … I would advise calling Lifenet (1-800-543-3638) and ask them for referrals to the Red Cross and other volunteer centers.”

“Overall, I will say this: the resilience and good spirit of folks in Louisiana are a testimony to the power of human survival. I have been consistently amazed at folks who have lost everything, but are able to remain calm and kind and even share a joke. I wish I had come here before these hurricanes.”

Look for SterlingGuy at the DH cigar meetup (coming soon): “As soon as I return, I am sure I will need a big fat stogie to dry me out after all this rain.”

Pictured: Malik Rahim, New Orleans Green Party activist, sometime after the hurricane Katrina. Huge photos of the New Orleans aftermath by Jacob Applebaum at archive.org.

MORE: SterlingGuy in [Prospect Heights Message Board]

Citynoise.org writes in the Daily Heights message boards: “I love how many different sorts of people live in Prospect Heights!” Go check out his photo montage…

“I’m not saying ALL Chinese people look alike. I’m just saying, like, the ones that all got long hair… and… you know, stuff like that.” -Black teenage girl in Hood Hing Chinese takeaway on Underhill Ave.

An Englishman in New York – a freelancer who spends an inordinate amount of time window-gazing on deadline – captured candid shots of that knife-sharpening guy in his van as he cruised the Streets of ProHo on a recent April afternoon. While Mr. Del Re wouldn’t sit for an interview, the New York Times had already profiled the guy, way back in 1997–in a time when there was no American Idol, low-carb pasta, nor JFK shuttle. A time so remote that not one episode of Sex and the City had ever been broadcast (and NONE were available on DVD). A time when … anyway, Mr. Del Re was born in Mola, Italy and is about 49 years old: He work as a commodities trader until the 1987 Wall Street crash, when his firm went bust.

Link: Cutting Edge [An Englishman in New York]

Thank sje for calling to your attention the terrible, just terrible, the way New York Press just railed on Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President:

“Once upon a time, when the Board of Estimate ruled graft and contracts in New York, the five borough presidents had power. Today, it’s a no-show job. The bad news with Markowitz is that he shows up, and so do his 116 employees, his multi-million-dollar budget and his four SUVs equipped with police sirens. Not content with doing nothing, Markowitz finds time to advocate for the downtrodden, such as Ikea, Home Depot and developer Bruce Ratner in their noble quest to cannibalize mom-and-pop neighborhoods. The porcine oaf is also known for racing around the city in HOV lanes with police lights flashing, en route to handing out a plaque. Markowitz is up for reelection next year. Instead, he should save taxpayers millions of dollars and fire himself, fire his employees and turn Borough Hall into a methadone clinic. At least then we’d have a better class of people hanging around the place.”

PICTURED: Marty Markowitz and “AB2IZ”

OF NOTE: Markowitz narrowly edged out Weblogs, Inc. chairman Jason Calacanis, who is #23 on the list: “His is a blog company that will make money from advertising while allegedly paying his army of typers a pittance in a ‘partnership’ that promises a payday from future earnings. Hmm, where’ve we heard that before? … it’ll be tough to find talent out there when all of the naive bloggers holding their breath for their big breaks will have long since reconciled themselves to temping.”

Last night at Amorina: Ruth shows a blatant disregard for grammar while ladling red sauce. In addition to being St. Patrick’s Day, it was also her birthday. Happy Birthday! [Photo: LQ]

Amorina (Cucina Rustica) | 624 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

Freelancer Julie Gilgoff interviewed Peace Corps volunteer Irene Porges for Newsday: “… at age 62, Porges decided to leave the comforts of her brownstone apartment in Prospect Heights and joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Bulgaria.”

“…(in) a mountain community of about 10,000 people, she felt she was going against local customs just by doing her job as a community economic development volunteer. ‘If you’re over age 60 in the community where I lived, you’re sent out to pasture …You don’t work.'”

“… Over time, however, Porges said she got to know the other female professionals in town … During her stay, Porges created a business center where she helped train local artisans to market their goods.”

[IMAGE: Bruce Gilbert for Newsday]