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EAST SIDE ENCOUNTERS

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Primary colors — Petitioning is over and the candidates for judicial delegates and state committeemen and committeewomen from the Four Freedoms and Lenox Hill Democratic Clubs are all on the ballot for the September primary. All candidates whose name will appear on the ballot are sent a notice by the Board of Elections to confirm their names are correct as they appears on the Chinese language ballots. As a candidate for judicial delegate, I received the notice which showed how my name, Arlene S. Kayatt, would appear on the ballot in Chinese. Any changes could be inserted in a designated section of the notice. Notice to the Board of Elections: My translation of the Chinese transliteration is that the “S” is correct.

Daily News’s front page cover-up — I can’t start the day without NY1’s In the Paper segment, usually narrated by the nice-to-wake-up-to Pat Kiernan. The morning after the first night of the Republican Convention, the Daily News had a hilarious front page showing Rudy Giuliani and Omarosa Manigault of Apprentice fame with rubber-noses. Rudy was holding a cigar and was identified as America’s Racist and Omarosa was identified as Reality Show Loser (I don’t think Omarosa will be wearing the red nose in her new role as Trump’s Director of African-American Outreach.) I couldn’t wait to find out how the shop where newspapers and souvenirs are sold on the lower level of the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue would be displaying the day’s Daily News. Not to worry. As Trump luck would have it, the Daily News had an advertising cover as the front page followed by the regular front page. Of course, I couldn’t wait to get to the REAL front page.

Summer flavors — On 7/11 all 711 stores were giving out free slushies. It was a first for me and I got me a Rainbow Sundae Slushie — red, white, blue — have no idea what flavors they were, but they were free and good and fun. The next day Ben & Jerry’s had a crew in the lobby of a midtown office building offering up various B&J flavors. Lots of flavors. Free but not as much fun as a slushie. And the chocolate chips in Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz were too big and too sharp-edged. Now that Bernie’s back in Vermont and out of contention, I’m unafraid to speak my mind.

Bus stop hop — Late morning bus downtown on Lex. Man heading to bus stop. Doors close. Man misses bus. Bus moving slowly but still in stop. Man motions to driver to open door. Driver turns his head away. Man starts banging on door. Bus goes on its way. A few minutes, seemed like seconds, later at the next stop, the man, now sweaty and breathless, gets on the bus to the applause of the riders. Nothing like a resilient New Yorker. Cheers.

“Scandal” on the M103 — Crowded uptown bus on a Monday night. All seats taken. Only a few standing. Lady rider and bus driver engaged in heated conversation about TV’s “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington. Big questions were, Is Kerry Washington married in real life (whatever that is nowadays) — and does she have a baby? The bus driver says maybe she’s got a baby. But no husband because he wouldn’t want her doing all that kissing and sex stuff on TV. Lady rider disagrees because she’s just “doing her job.” After going back and forth with other riders chiming in, the consensus was that, Yes, she is married. Yes, she has a baby. Not so much consensus about on-the-job kissing and sex stuff because “It could end up like Brad (Pitt) and Angelina (Jolie).” Another lady rider summed up the “Scandal” contretemps for herself and the lady passenger talking to the bus driver, “Listen if kissing and stuff on screen brings in the big bucks, I’m not giving it up. If my guy’s smart, he’ll stay.” Shaking his head in bewilderment, the driver drove on as the ladies reveled in their sisterhood.

Shed another tear — This time for the Barnes & Noble in Citicorp on Third/54th. Passing it for the umpteenth time, I hadn’t noticed that it was gone until a nearby newsstand vendor told someone asking for directions to B&N that it closed July 1. Sorry for the loss. Looks like a fitness center will be taking the space.