steveb leatherworks: the blather

Check out these worn granite steps outside of Grand Central Station. This is a back entrance used primarily by commuters. That is some serious wear, or maybe not considering those steps are probably 75+ years old.  If you stood at this spot from 515p to 730p, Mon-Fri, you’d think you were in the middle of a human salmon […]

Saw this car type thing on the street, just the other day…call me crazy but I don’t think that this is so “SMART”. Driving around NYC streets in one of these silly little electric death traps is plain dangerous.. especially when the going gets tough and metal meets..ahhhh.. plastic and foam rubber. Talk about “Unsafe at any […]

So, I don’t know about all of youse, but I dont get to see my friends nearly as much as I’d like to. Work, family, our own “chores o’ life” and our own individual circuits of activity often conspire to keep us from the folks we’d most like to see and spend time with. Peckering at a keyboard or […]

I think our obsession with messaging and screen based stimulation has reached a new and absurd height. This picture below was taken in Union Square Park/ NYC.  The building is the Shake Shack – a pretty good place to get a snack believe it or not, even thought the park itself is a squirrel and rat infested box of dirt. The tables at […]

Saw this piece of vintage British street meat in Brooklyn recently. From what I understand the owner leaves it outside year round and blasts about the streets on it like a man possessed.

The queen and i went to a very nice dinner party for 50  at a very nice and tony place. This dinner soiree was in honor of a pals milestone birthday party, the party given to him by his wife. The spot, LeCirque is a very fancy pants kinda upscale NYC joint if ever there was one. This was not steveb taking ya […]

I can find something to love with almost any two-wheel machine. I mean, I look at bicycles with the hairy eyeball for chrissakes, so when i come across any kind of motorcycle, i stop and scope it from stem to stern..just as i would if i were to judge it in a show – short of running my […]

I know what the worst job is:

I see the old city disappear…right in front of my eyes.. every day.  It stopped existing at street level years ago, with “for sale” signage and cleared, gutted street level space, with Plywood roofs above – if your looking for the old “hood” you need to look up to catch the last bits of what was…like this […]

Staying on the NYC natives getting screwed by the price of wood theme – I have for your perusal – the not so good wood vendor. You can get a plastic wrapped bundle worth 1.75 in my neck of the woods, for about $20 NYC dollars or you can get a couple of log fakies for […]

NYC is the last stop on the train for alot of stuff. Alot of this stuff gets sold by the ounce, gram or dollar. These 6-8″ diameter, 6-8″ tall Aspen/Birch chunks of whatever you want to call it wood is pretty pricey at this rate. $7.50 for a chunk…a branch is $55… amazing what city folks will pay for country folks trash thats […]

  this is it – the best!   I am ending this series on NYC Hot Doggery with a shot of the one and only – Nathan’s Famous. Still the best, and if you’ve never caught a parking ticket trying to get one of their dogs – you’ve not lived a large and “durty” life.  Shame on you!  Let me know next […]

I got started on this hot dog thing, now i can seem to let it go..ha!… finding out that my obsession with all things NYC and hot dog, is well settled in my DNA as a NYC native. I came acrosss this shot of Ebbets Field (Brooklyn, you knew that right?), during a game of some sort, (baseball perhaps?) on Shorpy’s.  Unfortunately as we found out […]

Saw this BMW, parked in the garment center under one of those “overhead” plywood deals. Chained up, ridden regularly – but treated well, this is a prime example of an NYC warrior.  Enough dings and dents to ward off the trophy spoilers, enough class to warrant a second look. Good stuff!

Now we all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to “forbidden food”.  As a NYC native, I’ve got a few “best of breed” forbidden foods:pizza, fried dumplings, Cuban & pastrami/corned beef sandwiches, Challah french toast, Sopressata sausage, Eggplant/Chicken parmigiana, all kinds of crazy stinky cheeses..you know – stuff you just know is bad for you, and most of the […]

 The Flatiron Building is without a doubt one of my favorite landmarks, beautiful architecture and a cool location. When the lighting is right (as it was today) it is a dramatic sight to behold and since they cleaned it up some few years ago -it is a snarky hi-tone beautiful son-of a beeotch. Furthering my trek west, I […]

Been seeing lots of scooters lately. I am rethinking my position on them due to the fact that you can pretty much park them anywhere (yank the license plate when you do, an old NYC trick) and they let you stay above ground to get around, thereby avoiding the subway and other odious methods of NYC travel. They are good on […]

Wandering around the city (with eyes open) causes me to reflect on the hard life everything in the city experieinces. This is no place for pussies, or pussy bikes. If you ride in NYC, you’d best be bullet proof, cause this place can put a hurtin’ on ya if your not up for it. Bikes […]

More in the continuing series of NYC street food…  I dont know why it has me fascinated..but it do! I love the Big Shitty, there is absolutely a million things to see everywhere you look. If you take the time to look…  

New Yorkers by and large know food. The city is stuffed with all manner of nationalities and these newcomers bring their indigenous (mm, good word, eh?) foods to the city making it one hell of a smorgasbord for the food savvy and culinary curious. Near every block in NYC has some food, almost always a pizza joint, a deli and a street […]

Walked from Grand Central to the West Side in the 20’s on a cold morning. Lots of empty stores on 5th Avenue…a little strange. But there is still building going on…this is NYC ya know…it never, ever stops Cops giving tickets and people scurrying to their next stop.  Just another day in NYC..ya got to love it..c’mon take a walk […]

While perusing the goodies at the NYC IMS show, i happened upon Ducati, resplendent in their blood red trade show environment. The usual fare of hyper active sport bikes were there on display. Ducati really has a handle on how to turn a piece of metal into functional art. Functional with a emphasis on “fun”. I’ve ridden […]

Went to the IMS show on Friday in NYC. I was thinking that the plane that used the Hudson as a runway the night before, might cause a bit of travel hardship if i were inclined to take my car, so a smarter, more sensisble head prevailed and i took the train down to NYC.  The weather has been a […]

After nearly 20 years of faithful service my novelty jockey helmet needed a rebuild in a pretty big way. Back in the day, most any self respecting NYC biker wore a jockey helmet – this was most certainly a *club* style influence.  Growing up at ground zero in the moto scene, there was never really […]