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New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Where to Eat: Kitsch Is King
One of the highlights of making our '25 Years of Dining in New York City' timeline was that everyone involved was struck by nostalgia. Brian Gallagher once tracked the line at the original Shake Shack via livestream from his desk. Mark Josephson, who edits this newsletter, has a crazy story about an impromptu takeout potluck at International Bar during Hurricane Sandy. Our designer, Umi Syam, fondly recalled eating a ramen burger in the early days of Smorgasburg. I remembered being terrified and thrilled in equal measure by Mars 2112, the bizarro Midtown theme restaurant. The host stand was in a sleek, silver space station and the elevator simulated a rocket trip to Mars, where the cavernous, cratered red-rock interior was inhabited with roaming alien servers. Was the food any good? That's beside the point. (Mars 2112 closed, maybe deterministically, in 2012; the space is now the world's largest Din Tai Fung.) In the spirit of that unadulterated, full-throttle kitsch, here are three places that make me feel, if just for a fleeting moment, as if I'm a kid at a theme restaurant. Here, though, the food will be worth remembering. I have no hesitation awarding Trailer Park Lounge the crown for campiest bar in New York. Since 2000, the room has been packed with Americana on every surface: plastic lawn flamingos, Elvis memorabilia, hundreds if not thousands of light-up signs for beer and soda. The food is on theme and heavy on the fried stuff, like perfect tater tots and fries, an excellent BLT, and — the ideal thing to eat after two or four margaritas — the 'mother-in-law's revenge burger,' topped with chili, cheese, sour cream and jalapeños. It's tough to be serious while drinking a frozen drink with a flamingo straw, and it's even harder to be in a bad mood in a room so lively. The last time I went, the bartender slid my beer 10 feet across the bar to me, like in a movie, and the crowd went wild. 271 West 23rd Street (Eighth Avenue) Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
At least 15 face charges after Megan's Law compliance checks in Scranton
Checks by law enforcement officials for violations of Megan's Law resulted in more than a dozen individuals facing charges. The Pennsylvania State Police Megan's Law Unit organized a law enforcement detail Wednesday to perform unannounced compliance checks for registered individuals in Scranton pursuant to the Pennsylvania Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, the Lackawanna County district attorney's office announced in a news release. During the investigation, state troopers, Scranton police detectives, Lackawanna County detectives, state parole agents and county probation officers knocked on doors in all the city's neighborhoods to confirm registrants provided accurate information such as residence, place of employment, vehicle and internet identifiers. Authorities found that of the 240 individuals investigated, at least 15 were found to be in violation of their registration requirements and are facing additional felony charges, the office said. In addition, county detectives made one drug arrest during the checks. There are approximately 40 rechecks that need to be conducted, the office added. 'Strict compliance with registration requirements is imperative to maintaining safe neighborhoods and communities, and violations will not be taken lightly in Lackawanna County,' District Attorney Brian Gallagher said in a statement. 'For the safety of our children, it is critical that parents and grandparents know if there's a convicted sex offender living nearby.' It is the second compliance check conducted by authorities since January to make sure all registered sex offenders in Lackawanna County are complying with Megan's Law. Authorities checked the registration compliance of another 200 sex offenders in other Lackawanna County municipalities in January. Of those, at least 12 were found to be in violation of their registration requirements. Participating in January's detail were members of the state police, district attorney's office, county probation office, and officers from the Carbondale, Mayfield, Blakely, Dunmore, Taylor and Moosic police departments.
New York Times
16-04-2025
- General
- New York Times
How a Reporter Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Steak Fries
At first, I had nothing more than a rant in mind. It was January, and I had been to two restaurants in the span of a single week that had served me steak fries, first alongside some lamb chops, the second time next to a burger. On both occasions I had felt the instant pang of disappointment, followed by an unhappy sort of wonderment. Doesn't everyone hate these things? Thick, often undercooked and typically without crunch, they hardly seem to qualify as a fry. But I was genuinely curious. I wanted to know what was going on in the mind of the chef who considered steak fries a smart addition to any menu. This was a perfectly natural sort of inquiry for me because I am the chief French fry correspondent at The New York Times. That was a joke. I write features for the Business desk, and I have written about restaurants on a few occasions. Most recently, I went long on the surprisingly fraught demise of Red Lobster. But one of the pleasures of working at this newspaper is that it is filled with editors on many different desks who will take a pitch from anyone. In this case, that editor was Brian Gallagher, on the Food desk. 'Any interest in a piece about the mysterious persistence of steak fries?' I asked in an email. 'I like this!' he wrote back. My first step was to call David Burke, owner of Park Ave Kitchen in Manhattan, the second of the steak fry-offering restaurants I had visited. He sounded every bit as flummoxed as me. This was the doing of his chef, William Lustberg, he explained. Soon, Mr. Lustberg joined our call, and then he said something surprising. He had added steak fries to the menu on purpose. Nostalgia was part of it; the steak fry heyday, as far as anyone can tell, had been in the late 1970s and early '80s, and Mr. Lustberg figured that they were so out of favor now that they were due for a comeback. You should try our Midtown hipster fries, he said, which are topped with Camembert cheese and maple-soaked bacon. My plan, which was simply to fulminate about steak fries — I imagined a tone poem, filled with rage and starch — was over. Here was a chef who had found redeeming features in steak fries, and was showcasing them in a novel way. This left open the possibility that he wasn't alone. Maybe my article should be about the rum band of chefs who were proud to serve the world's least loved French fry. Before going further, I had to determine whether my distaste for steak fries was a personal quirk or a widely shared opinion. So I called Sysco, the Houston-based food giant, which sells to restaurants, hospitals and just about everywhere else. I found myself on a Zoom call with Neil Doherty, the company's senior director of global culinary strategy. Sysco offers a steak fry, he said, and it is either dead last or close to it on sales ranking lists in the United States. It has a following among people who want the taste of potato rather than crispy coating. 'That's why steak fries are still big in the U.K. and Ireland,' said Mr. Doherty, 'especially in bars and in fish-and-chip land.' Get in touch with someone at Red Robin, he suggested, referring to a burger chain of nearly 500 restaurants that has long put steak fries at the forefront of its menu. About a week later, I took a bus from Manhattan to Secaucus, N.J., and met Andrew Birkbeck, a Red Robin culinary product developer, who'd flown in from the company's headquarters in Greenwood Village, Colo. In a test kitchen there, he said, he and two other recipe developers spend their days in culinary mad scientist mode, whipping up new menu items, which include different sauces for steak fries. He fried up a batch and we sat at a table dunking them into the sauces. The appeal was instantly, blazingly clear. Simply putting salt and ketchup on steak fries is to miss their point. They are designed to carry big, bold flavors. Three days after this tasting my brain was still occasionally firing neurons bearing a message. 'Go back to Red Robin,' it said. 'Eat steak fries.' The next week I returned to Park Ave Kitchen and tried Chef Lustberg's so-called hipster fries. Obviously the name is a terrible idea, but the pile of ingredients atop the dish, in tandem with the fries, proved irresistible. I am still convinced that the undercooked steak fry, with a bit of salt and ketchup, is a disaster. But that is not the fault of the steak fries. It's the fault of chefs. When my article was published, steak fry fans showed up by the dozens in the comments section and in my inbox. One contested the very premise of my story. 'This article must be a hoax,' wrote someone identified as Corey, who then helpfully hinted at a solid idea for a follow-up article. 'Seasoned curly fries are an abomination.'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Yahoo
Juvenile arrested in possession of altered automatic weapon
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A juvenile was arrested in Lackawanna County on multiple drug and weapons charges. According to the Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office, a 17-year-old male juvenile. was arrested after allegedly possessing multiple altered automatic weapons and fentanyl. According to District Attorney Brian Gallagher, an undercover law enforcement agent purchased fentanyl from the juvenile's home on the 900 block of Prescott Avenue. Two arrested, facing charges after alleged home invasions Credit: Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office Officials then conducted a search warrant and allegedly found two Glock 9 mm handguns loaded with a drum/extended magazine, one Draco AK-47 style firearm with a loaded magazine, and one Tauras handgun. The release states that both Glock 9 mm handguns allegedly had been modified to fire as fully automatic weapons with a single pull of the trigger. 'There is an alarming increase in firearm offenses committed by minors, particularly thoseinvolving the illegal modification of semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic firearms usingGlock switches,' said District Attorney Brian J. Gallagher. 'This is not a trend we will are working with our state and federal partners to implement heightened investigativestrategies and will not rest until we remove this threat from our streets and bring this thoseresponsible to justice.' The District Attorney was assisted by Lackawanna County Detectives, Scranton Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office Gun Violence Section. The juvenile was transported to a juvenile detention facility where he was incarcerated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In the running: Primary election candidate list for local offices in Lackawanna County
Primary election voters will decide May 20 which candidates for local public office will secure party nominations to appear on November's municipal election ballot. But the deadline for candidates to file nomination petitions to appear on primary ballots passed Tuesday, shaping contests that will play out across Lackawanna County this spring. The following list includes all the candidates for the offices of mayor, borough council member, township supervisor and school director who met the filing deadline. It's based on a spreadsheet provided by the county Elections Department. A 'D' or 'R' next to a name indicates which party's nomination, Democratic or Republican, that candidate seeks. School board candidates often cross-file, meaning they seek both parties' nominations in the primary. In those cases 'D/R' will appear beside the candidate's name. The number of seats listed next to each office reflects the number of seats up for grabs on that governing body this year. The list of candidates is subject to change, as the last day to file objections to nomination petitions is Tuesday. Objections could knock candidates off primary ballots. Candidates also have until March 26 to withdraw. Here's who's filed to run as of now: Lackawanna County District Attorney: Brian Gallagher (D) County Sheriff: Mark McAndrew (D) County Recorder of Deeds: Evie Rafalko McNulty (D); Sharon Soltis Sparano (R) County Register of Wills: Fran Kovaleski (D) Scranton Mayor: Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (D), Bob Sheridan (D); Trish Beynon (R), Bob Bolus Sr. (R), Lynn Labrosky (R) Scranton City Council (three seats): Virgil Argenta (D), Patrick Flynn (D), Frankie Malacaria (D), Sean McAndrew (D), Todd Pousley (D), Tom Schuster (D), Gerald Smurl (D); Marc Pane (R) Scranton School Board (four seats): Joe Brazil (D/R), Danielle Chesek (D/R), John Howe (D/R), Jenna Strzelecki (D/R), Mary Walsh (D/R), Julien Wells (D/R), Carol Cleary (D) Abington Heights School Board: Region 1 (one seat): Shannon Kehoe (D/R); Region 2 (one seat): Gretchen Henderson (D/R); Region 3 (one seat): Anthony Abdalla (D/R); at large (one seat): Emily Karam (D/R) Archbald Mayor: Shirley Barrett (D), Cynthia Snyder (D) Archbald Council (three seats): Marie Cooke Andreoli (D), Francis Burke (D), James Moran (D), Tom Aniska (D), Kimberly Simon (D); Bruce Walder (R), Louis J. Rapoch (R) Benton Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Bonnie Rosiak (R) Blakely Mayor: Jeanette Acciare-Mariani (D) Blakely Council (three seats): Louis R. Parri (D), Joseph Munley (D), Jeffrey Cruciani (D) Carbondale Area School Board: Region 1 (one seat): James Dovin (D/R); Region 2 (two seats): Bill Boyle (D/R), Sara Tolerico Lynady (D/R), John Jigger Jordan (D/R), Marcella Kaczmarcik (D/R); Region 3 (one seat): Jeffery Magistro (D/R), Peter Turonis (D/R) Carbondale City Council: 4-year term (two seats): Dominick Famularo (D), Walter Martzen (D); 2-year term (two seats): Tom Voglino (D), Harry M. Smith (D) Carbondale Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Richard Colosimo (D) Clarks Green Mayor: Louis A. Nivert (D), Joe Barrasse (D) Clarks Green Council (three seats): Olga Trushina (D), Mary Anne Lucas (D), Timothy J. Pryle (D) Clarks Summit Mayor: Harry Kelly (D) Clarks Summit Council: 4-year term (three seats): Doug Craig Jr. (D), Susan Fitzpatrick Grady (D), Gerrie Fitzgerald Carey (D), Josh Mitchell (D); Bob Bennett (R), Erika Williams (R); 2-year unexpired term (one seat): Eugene Hallinan (D) Clifton Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Matt Gruenloh (D) Covington Twp. Supervisor: 6-year term (one seat): Melissa Kearney (D); 2-year unexpired term (one seat): William Beavers (R) Dalton Mayor: Mary Jane Peters (R); Harrison Wolff (D) Dalton Council (four seats): Leonard C. Peters Jr. (R); Timothy R. Ronchi (D) Dickson City Mayor: Robert W. MacCallum (D) Dickson City Council (three seats): Rick Cesari (D), Robert E. Hall Jr. (D), Stanley J. Prushinski Jr. (D) Dunmore Mayor: Max Conway (D); Josh Perrins (R) Dunmore Council (three seats): Tom Hallinan (D), William Trip O'Malley (D), Katherine Mackrell Oven (D), Drew Marion (D) Dunmore School Board (four seats): Joseph Luciano (D/R), Chris Murray Sr. (D/R), Amy Haun (D/R), Deanna Leo (D/R), Heidi McDonough (D/R), Corey Pregmon (D/R) Elmhurst Twp. Supervisor: 6-year term (one seat): Warren Kramer Jr. (R); 2-year unexpired term (one seat): no candidates Fell Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Gary Wetzel (D); Dale Ulmer (R) Glenburn Twp. Supervisor: 6-year term (one seat): Jennifer Graham Partyka (D); Bernadette Rubino Menendez (R), Daniel B. Farnham (R); 4-year unexpired term (one seat): no candidates Greenfield Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Trevor Walczak (R); Ron Jenkins (D) Jefferson Twp. Supervisor (one seat): John Peters Sr. (D) Jermyn Mayor: No candidates Jermyn Council (two seats): Bobbiann Davis (D) Jessup Mayor: Joseph J. Buckshon Jr. (D) Jessup Council (four seats): Roberta Pitoniak Galati (D), Thomas Fiorelli III (D), Ronald Richard Kordish (D), Robbie Martin (D), Gregg Betti (D) Lackawanna Trail School Board: Region 2 (one seat): Susanne Green (R); Region 3 (two seats): Tracy Nelson Wescott (D/R), Brendan S. Dwyer (D/R) Lakeland School Board: Region 1 (one seat): Mark Solomon (D/R) ; Region 2 (two seats): Patrick Gallagher (D); Region 3 (one seat): Joseph Sullivan (D/R) La Plume Twp. Supervisor (one seat): No candidates Madison Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Andrew Nazarenko (D); Jason Canjar (R) Mayfield Mayor: Alexander J. Chelik (D) Mayfield Council (three seats): Diana Campbell (R), Jennifer Collins-Rossi (R), Dennis Ross II (R) Mid Valley School Board: Region 1 (two seats): Rebecca Krott Alunni (D/R), Steven Vituszynski (D/R); Region 3 (two seats): Frank Galli (D/R) Moosic Mayor: Robert Bennie (D) Moosic Council (four seats): Charles Maurer (D), Molly Abdalla (D), Tim Healey (D), Andrea Krivak (D) Moscow Mayor: Rosemarie Warner (D) Moscow Council (four seats): Arthur Pencek (R), Dennis Cawley (R); Nichole M. Musewicz (D) North Pocono School Board: Region 1 (three seats): Pia McLaine (D/R), Maura Maros (D/R), R. Mark Powell (D/R); Region 2 (one seat): Elizabeth Walsh (D/R), Ashley Messoline (D/R) Newton Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Robert Naegele (R) North Abington Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Thomas Mundrake (R) Old Forge Mayor: Robert J. Legg (D) Old Forge Council: 4-year term (three seats): Allison McCawley (R), Andy Beaver Butler (R), Mario Nese (R), Mike Lettieri (R); 2-year unexpired term (one seat): James J. Hoover (R); Charlene Chickey (D) Old Forge School Board: 4-year term (four seats): Michael Faris (D/R), Megan Sallavanti-DiBileo (D/R), Laura Zajaczkowski-Shumlas (D/R), Alisha Marmo Hudak (D/R), Jenna Derenick (D/R), Michael Zupon (R); 2-year term (one seat): Megan Sallavanti-DiBileo (D/R), Jenna Derenick (D/R), Michael Faris (D/R), Laura Zajaczkowski-Shumlas (D/R) Olyphant Mayor: Jonathan Sedlak (D) Olyphant Council (three seats): Dave Mitchko (R); Eric Hartshorn (D), James Baldan (D), Rosemary Davis (D), Joseph Collarini (D), David R. Krukovitz (D) Riverside School Board (four seats): Ronald A. Gallagher (D/R), Daniel Nenish (D/R), Karla McKeel Perks (D/R), Carol Kaminski Armstrong (D/R), Barbara Fedor (D/R), Lisa Balcerzak (D/R), Mary Burke (D/R), Marion Maurer (D/R) Roaring Brook Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Eric Schield (R) Ransom Twp. Supervisor (one seat): no candidates Scott Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Brian Brenzel (R) South Abington Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Dean Faraday (R), Giles W. Stanton (R) Spring Brook Twp. Supervisor (two seats): Steven A. Slesh (R) Taylor Mayor: Loni Kavulich (D) Taylor Council (four seats): James Digwood (R), Roberta Crosby Bowman (R), Edward J. Fortuna (R); Jeanie Sluck (D), John Fox (D), Dick Nezlo (D), Adam Piasecki (D), Kenneth F. Mickavicz (D) Thornhurst Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Elaine Evans (D) Throop Mayor: Anthony Amico (D), Joe Tropiak (D) Throop Council (four seats): Vince Tanana (D), Richard Kucharski (D), Matthew Chorba (D), Melissa Lokuta-Fazio (D); Jeanine Chomko Chapman (R) Valley View School Board: Region 1 (two seats): Tom Owen (D/R), Joseph A. Farrell (D/R); Region 2 (one seat): James Rodway (D/R), Joseph F. Mondak (D/R); Region 3 (one seat): Kenneth Gale (D/R), Dominick J. Perini (D/R) Vandling Mayor: Thomas Prince (D) Vandling Council (one seat): John Carachilo (D) Waverly Twp. Supervisor (one seat): Eric Parry (D) West Abington Twp. Supervisor: 6-year term (one seat): no candidates; 4-year unexpired term (one seat): no candidates; 2-year unexpired term (one seat): no candidates.
