Silent Majority "campaigns against the worst aspect of New York City life: the car alarm." Their site is filled with lots of interesting information about the effectiveness of car alarms and the efforts afoot to ban car alarms in the City. There's also a link to a great old Tom Tomorrow cartoon about car alarms.

While I agree that car alarms are obnoxiously noisy and degrade one's quality of life, I'm not sure it's the "worst aspect of New York City life." In fact, I suffered much more from errant alarms in San Francisco because I lived less than a block from a parking garage, where cars would go off many times a day, and night. Still a city without car alarms would be a more pleasant city, and I'm all for that.

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. is the second (and last) <a href="
http://www.metopera.org/Parks.html”>free Met Opera in Central Park this season. Additional performances are still to come in the other boroughs and CT, with NJ performances upcoming in August. Tonight on the Great Lawn in Central Park (just south of the 86th Street transverse), the Met will perform Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with Edoardo Müller conducting; Elizabeth Futral (Lucia), Frank Lopardo (Edgardo), Bruno Caproni (Enrico), Dimitri Kavrakos (Raimondo), Diane Elias (Alisa), Charles Reid (Arturo), Eduardo Valdes (Normanno). And the weather looks like it'll be good, so pack a picnic and bring your blanket and enjoy.

Aaron writes to report that the City Council is considering a ban on car alarms. Woo hoo, I hope this passes. I mean when was the last time a car alarm stopped a theft? Like 1983?

It's sandal time of year again, and you know what that means, time to get your feet in shape! If you're looking to splurge, the Sweet Lily Spa in Tribeca is offering a new Pretty in Pink pedicure ($55 for 60 minutes). Your soles will be soaked in a cocktail of grapefruit, mint, and essential oils and the treatment also includes reflexology and of course, application of polish. Your feet will smell delicious for days.

Walking to work this morning I passed the setting up of NYU's Strawberry Festival (scroll down page). Promising a "Big Fun DAY!", the Festival will take place on W. 4th Street between Washington Sq. and Mercer from 11 AM – 3 PM. It's free and requires an NYU or government-issued photo ID. There will be cotton candy (yippee!) and all sorts of other street fair delights, a DJ, and they promise strawberries. What's odd is that they must be California strawberries, or some sort of import. It's too early in the year for local berries, isn't it? Regardless, it could provide a fun alternative to deli sandwich lunch if you're nearby.

Last night as I exited the subway, I stopped at the booth to have more money put on my MetroCard. As my transaction was being processed, a train pulled in. Several people began exiting through the turnstiles, while at the same time a woman came rushing into the station, mumbled about being in a hurry and missing the train, and got on line behind me. Just then, a woman exiting called out,

"Hey lady! Lady!"

We both turned.

"I just swiped my card so you could go through. Hurry! Don't miss your train!"

And with that, one woman dashed through the turnstile, calling out her thanks, and onto the uptown train. The other headed off into the evening. And I walked the whole way home with a smile, my mood brightened by what I'd witnessed.

I subscribe to all sorts of daily and weekly emails but none please me as consistently as the Manhattan User's Guide. It's always the perfect length. It arrives in a timely fashion. It covers topics of interest to me (food & restaurants, shopping & services, neat things to do, etc.) and it does so with humor and insight. As a new New Yorker, it provides me with a wonderful blend of practical and special, giving me insider-like knowledge of all things Manhattan even though I've lived here less than six months. Best of all, it's free. If you live in NYC and you're not subscribed, I'd say you're missing out.