Sunday, August 7, 2005

LEARNING TO LOVE THE TEDIUM OF MURRAY HILL

tedium n 1: the feeling of being bored by something tedious [syn: boredom, ennui] 2: dullness owing to length or slowness [syn: tediousness, tiresomeness]

This was the title of an article I came across in today's NY Times "The City" section. In it, the author paints a picture of Murray Hill as the "most boring neighborhood in Manhattan, and possibly in the entire city." She goes on to talk about how there's nothing that would attract anyone to the neighborhood; no hot clubs or trendy bars or tourist attractions, let alone tourists (I think she's off base here- we see tourists all the time). For example, she states that out of 566 homicides in NYC last year, only one took place in Murray Hill. The biggest complaint about Murray Hill, (according to the city's 311 hotline) apparently is illicit smoking in restaurants and bars (I don't think that's the case at our place anyways). It even makes references to the New York Observer's article about "Murray Hell" and the influx of rich little college grads into the neighborhood. Basically if you were to look up "BORING" in a dictionary, you'd get a map of Murray Hill if you left it up to her.

The author goes on about how the neighborhood, even in it's boring state, has grown on her to the point that she actually appreciates it. I couldn't help but to begin to think about what she meant. I've been living in the neighborhood for almost a year now and i've often talked about how bland the neighborhood was. "It's a nice, safe neighborhood, full of conveniences, but......". In some ways, I can see where she is coming from. So what if it isn't trendy chic? It is safe, it has pretty cool restaurants and watering holes, and for the most part, people in the neighborhood are respectful and look out for each other. And for that, i'll accept it for what it is. But in other ways, I think Murray Hill has the potential to be a vibrant place to live, if people would only get past the boring stereotype. I've ranted about this before, so I won't bore you with it again (excuse the pun). The bottom line is that the neighborhood is an untapped treasure, waiting to be discovered. I think it's just a matter of time before the neighborhood gets its just due.

This should be a pretty busy week for the bar. We have a guest bartender on Wednesday, our own MR. TANQUERAY will be dusting off his bartender's tie and joining MASTER THESPIAN behind the stick for IPOD NIGHT. There will also be a BLUE MOON PALE ALE promo on Thursday, to celebrate our new product draft line. There will be other surprises popping up along the way so stay tuned to the blog for more details.

Enjoy the week!

NUFF SAID