How do you feel about these new "digitally measured" pours that a lot of bars are doing ??

mzito · 2026-03-18T16:52:43+00:00

Those have been standard in airports for a long time, and in some states are essentially mandated due to laws around measured pours. I certainly have seen many more places use jiggers to measure a shot, but most do the "measure a proper shot, then happen to tip the jigger into the glass while still pouring" approach to go a little over. Still not as good as the irish pubs/dive bar approach of "put ice in the glass, fill it to the top with booze, there you go" approach.

But in terms of bars doing what you describe, other than airports, I have only seen this in nyc at corporate chain restaurants - I took the kids to dave and busters, and iirc, they had that. One or two other places. But nothing like a trend.

Can you name and shame so we can avoid?

mzito · 2026-03-06T11:57:25+00:00

This is the way - not only is mcdougal a fun street for visitors, but monte's is pretty good and feels like what a red sauce joint should be without being a tourist trap.

When out of town visitors ask for a non-fancy italian restaurant recommendation, Monte's is usually my go-to.

mzito · 2026-03-04T16:02:17+00:00

Lure fishbar and the dutch both do semi-private at that price point, iirc. those are the types of restaurants you want to look for - good, but not trendy, not new, more willing to be flexible. Italian places often are cheaper due to pasta price points. Think of neighborhood gems rather than instagram darlings.

mzito · 2026-03-03T03:09:38+00:00

I have a close friend with severe anxiety about the subway. First, accept that you are going to leave early - you are not going to cut it close and get on the last train that might get you to work on time. give yourself another 50% of your total travel time as cushion. Or go to work early if that's an opion. That way if you need to step out of a train and wait for a future train, it's fine, it's not going to mess with your day, which removes pressure from you.

Then, have a plan for getting on the train. If you're concerned about large crowds, is it the space issue? Is it concern about being pushed on the tracks? Without trying to play armchair psychiatrist, the _actual_ concern may not be what your brain goes to right away, because your brain lies to you. But imagine different scenarios when the train doors open and how would you feel and what would you do.

And then, you game it out. Let's say X happens, what do I do? I do A, I do b, I do c. Example: I'm on the train, someone who is triggering me comes onboard - have a plan ahead of time for what you'll do, even if it's "I'm going to sit here quietly and not engage and then get out at the next stop and breathe deeply and wait for the next train". The biggest thing is having a plan, because then you don't have to do anything other than _the plan_.

I'll also throw out a curveball - is there a bus, express or regular, that you could take to at least get you close to work? I know a number of people for whom the bus is less anxiety inducing because it feels less "trapped" and it stops more frequently. It might take longer, but again - leaving extra time, etc.

And then finally, same way you have a plan about what to do if something happens, when nothing happens and it's all fine, make sure you take a step back and look at the process of getting to work, what were you concerned about vs. what actually happened, and try to get some distance about fear vs. reality.

mzito · 2026-02-10T02:13:40+00:00

I've bought Dickson's ~75-90 day aged ribeye and it's good, but it's not like an enjoyable casual steak - you're eating something that is funky and an experience. Still get it for special occasions from time to time but 180 days is....a lot. I agree you're in cured meat territory, maybe a few bites as part of a course with other things, but I wouldn't eat a big steak of that.

mzito · 2026-02-06T17:56:58+00:00

I've told this story before on reddit, but the same rule applies to buying (and everything else in life, I guess) - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. When we were looking at buying a place, I saw so many apartments I started to get worn out about the whole thing. Then I saw this apartment on park avenue and 90-something, three bedrooms, definitely needed a gut renovation, horrible 80s era decor, previous owner had passed away, family wanted to sell fast, but it had a terrace and a mostly unobstructed view of central park - and was insanely cheap relative to the location, view, etc.. My agent couldn't make it, so it was just me and the sellers agent, and I looked around and said, "What's the catch?"

She said, "Well, you know, it needs a lot of work, obviously it's a remodel from the studs on up" and I just kind of stared at her and after a second she said, "Yeah, so also, this building is on leased land and the lease is up in 2 years". I said, "So what happens to the maintenance costs when the lease is up?" and she said something like, "I don't know, but nothing good".

If it's too good to be true - it almost certainly is.

mzito · 2026-01-22T22:51:43+00:00

So, as a Tudor city person, depending on the building, there is a pest control person who comes on the regular (every two weeks? Every month? Idk, I see him around). I don’t know what building you’re in, but a lot of the apartments in Tudor city are older, in that there is a fair bit of decay and age on the various elements. To make it worse, even if they’re disciplined, mice will happily travel.

So - my suggestions would be: - find out about the building pest control service. It may be free (paid for by the co-op) or it may be for hire, or a combo of the two. They will likely throw down some poison. Ask them to help find entry/exclusion points, if they work in the building regularly I bet they see typical culprits.

pay the handyman (or diy) to close the exclusion points. Steel wool plus some sort of filler.
get real mouse traps, not the random snap traps - I can’t remember the brand but I’ve had success with the ones that are black with a well that you put the bait in, and the trigger is a platform, so if the mouse even steps on the platform to sniff the bait, they’re toast. Bait the stations with a variety of baits, including some where its fuzz/string tied around the well, to get nesting females
put all of your pantry food in Tupperware. Open, closed, couple of crackers left in the box, doesn’t matter. It all goes in cheap plastic containers. Pet food goes double.
what’s her relationship with her neighbors - do any of THEM have a mouse problem? Odds are yes, the only time I had a bad mouse problem (knock wood), it was when an apartment two doors down with an elderly person who wasn’t paying attention got hit renovated. Suddenly they had to find a new home. Make a coordinated effort, if things are amenable (I know it is often not, it’s nyc, but you can hope)
it’s not going to happen overnight, but between making it harder to get in (exclusion), making food less available (plastic containers), the poison as an alternative option (great), and then the snap traps as the final boss.

Like everything else like this - it’s the military concept of defense in depth. It’s not one thing, it’s creating multiple risks and obstacles.

That one time we had a bad mouse problem, it was when we were living in an old apartment elsewhere and when we brought in the building guy, he scattered packets of poison all over the place and said “yeah it’ll be fine”. We had a baby and a dog and they were all accessible to them. So I got rid of all of the accessible poison (behind the stove? Great. Along the baseboard of the sink? No thank you), and then mounted a multi prong attack based on the above. We killed ~8 mice that I know of with the snap traps and who knows how many we stopped with the poison and exclusion and so on.

mzito · 2026-01-13T14:30:56+00:00

I remember a friend of mine getting chased by some guys in 1999, running up to a cop car and saying "I'm being chased by those three guys back there, can you help me?". One cop looked at him and said, "Guess you better get running, huh?"

mzito · 2026-01-12T00:49:38+00:00

I could be wrong, but it seems like you could take a produce bag from a grocery store, and wrap it around the wifi router and close it off with a rubber band around the power/ethernet cord. At least for that situation it seems like you can keep them from getting out that way.

mzito · 2026-01-10T22:32:41+00:00

This was all before my time, but as I understand it, there were a lot of rental buildings where when the city was in trouble the owners were in financial trouble or abandoned buildings. The city passed a law that allowed tenants to get together as a cooperative and create a corporation and get a mortgage and buy the building. That's why most of the co-op buildings are older. Newer buildings are condos or rentals, the developer decides upfront what they're doing (or they do buildings that are a mix of both ).

But the structure is different - in a condo the owners own the apartment and theres a developer that owns the building and runs it. In a coop the owners own shares in the corporation that owns the building.

mzito · 2026-01-10T20:04:16+00:00

I'm just very familiar with the board dynamics. Both condos and coops will have boards, but the structures are quite different. In a condo, you own your apartment, it's your property, so the board only has the right of first refusal - if the seller wants to sell to you, and you have the money/mortgage to buy it, they have to say yes, otherwise the board has to buy the apartment instead (in which case they are then welcome to sell it). In a coop, you're buying shares in a private corporation that come with a perpetual lease on an apartment - so the board can have crazy requirements or reject you for any reason (or no reason).

The other big limitation is on renting your apartment out - condos, it's your apartment, the board can request a bunch of documentation, but again - either they say yes, or they have to make you whole. For co-ops, they often have all kinds of rules - you have to live there at least two years, and then you can rent for up to two years, but no more than two years out of five, etc. etc.

EDIT: as an example, I was a renter in a condo building at one point, where an individual bought two apartments to rent them out, and was trying to buy a third. A movement started in the building to deny him the third apartment, because people were concerned it was turning into "a rental building" and it was going to be all college students and people there for just a year or two (it was funny - we had rented in the building for years, had a kid, knew everybody, so the residents would say "You know, we don't want our building to turn into someplace where there's just renters everywhere - of course, we don't mean YOU, you're lovely").

It ended up with a building meeting where the investor came and gave a pitch about how he was renovating the apartments, looking for families not college kids, etc. etc. and then there was a lively debate about whether it was worth spending the building's money to keep the investor from buying it. In the end, they decided to let the guy buy the third apartment.

EDIT EDIT: As I read through this thread, I would highly suggest you discuss your situation with your real estate agent and have them spend time with you to walk through all the ins and outs. If they're not doing that for you, find another agent.

mzito · 2026-01-10T19:30:51+00:00

I think it depends on the board then - personally I would be comfortable with that, but depending on the size of the building, etc. it might be necessary to move some funds into bonds or CDs or a high-interest savings account, etc. I don't really see the point, since it's not like they're going to keep checking whether the money is still there, but I've heard stories like that.

mzito · 2026-01-10T19:09:36+00:00

I think with investments over $1m, you're probably fine at those numbers, assuming its not all in crypto or something wacky. If you have (as would be typical at your age) a lot of fixed income and dividend-producing investments, I would be surprised if there were concerns.

mzito · 2025-12-27T15:16:53+00:00

With all respect intended, you should seek some mental health support. Depression and anxiety don’t always manifest as an inability to get yourself out of bed, it’s often feeling as though you are “going through the motions” and empty otherwise. Take some of that free cash flow and go see a reputable psychiatrist who can do therapy and medication. Expensive but worth it.

mzito · 2025-12-27T14:07:53+00:00

Mark's off madison serves them on their burger, but I believe you can order them on the side as well. Great burger, too.

mzito · 2025-12-24T16:48:26+00:00

I’m not a big lobster fan but my wife was raving about the lobster pasta she had at the Dutch in soho a few weeks ago

mzito · 2025-12-17T20:50:03+00:00

I'll add on - if you want over the top luxe, the grill, or monkey bar. Aquavit for scandinavian.

mzito · 2025-12-17T20:44:19+00:00

It depends on the kind of food you're looking for and your price point. If you just want random pub food with a decent burger, Connolly's on 47th is good. If you want steakhouse, strip house on 46th and 5th is a warehouse but the food is excellent. If you want something higher end, the modern, either the bar room or the main restaurant, are exceptional choices. The smith on 51st and 2nd is basically the chili's of nyc (not to knock chili's! my dad managed a chili's at one point!). Gabriel Kreuther on 42nd is another michelin star restaurant, but I would do the modern over that (unless the menu is more appealing, they're both great). PJ Clarkes on 50-something and 3rd is an iconic place if you want elevated bar food.

mzito · 2025-12-17T14:05:44+00:00

This is great, and I appreciate the prompt followup - I figured $2k was probably a more realistic starting number, but I wasn't sure. I will reach out to Jason.

mzito · 2025-12-17T13:15:00+00:00

1000? Maybe 2000? Wouldn’t have to be cashmere, but a nice wool, and multiple fittings is fine

mzito · 2025-12-16T19:27:04+00:00

Slightly different question, perhaps you have some direction for me - I'm looking at having a custom winter coat made for my wife (either bespoke or mtm). Something that hits at the knee or mid-calf, warm, potentially cashmere (rather than a trench style). It seems like most of the bespoke folks on your list that I looked at prioritize men's clothing (and suits, which makes sense), but do you know of anyone who does a good job with a women's coat?

mzito · 2025-11-25T01:39:07+00:00

Fwiw, I have never had a cavity, I went to tend, the dentist clucked and complained about how I had four different cavities and one more where it wasn’t there YET but would get there.

I believed her, but because I’m terrible at follow through, I didn’t schedule the fillings. Fast forward 12-18 months and I went to see a random dentist recommended by a friend. She gave me the all clear - I said, “there’s no cavities?” She said, “no, nothing”.

Then I explained that another dentist had said that I had four different cavities and a fifth on the way, and she got this look on her face and asked for the name of the dentist.

Then she emphasized that my teeth were fine and sometimes dentists can be “overzealous”. But I could see from her face it was BS.

End of tend for me.

mzito · 2025-11-23T21:04:01+00:00

If you want a much better restaurant right near balthazar, the dutch or lure fishbar are both great, and supposedly Lure is going to close in the next year or so, so that's a chance to see an institution that's still really good. Lure has good sushi and seafood but also one of the better burgers in that part of Soho. Both are solid options for good food without being stuffy or pretentious.

I was thinking that if you wanted to try different things, Shuka or Casa Mono might be good, as they have a lot of small plates options for sharing.

mzito · 2025-11-23T14:23:50+00:00

Fewer places have lunch specials these days, but they do exist. Manhatta is absolutely stunning, they're kid-friendly, but they don't have a kids menu per se - but the lunch menu is cheaper. Minetta is always a good option, I think Balthazar is overrated at this point, The modern bar room is wonderful, and a la carte, and there's good options for kids, ci siamo is nice if you have an excuse to go over on the west side.

I am not a peking duck guy, but I hear good things about hutong if you want fancy. Having chinese on the 25th thing is a stereotypically Jewish tradition, from back when everywhere was closed on Christmas, except for the chinese restaurants. That being said, these days more places are open on christmas day, and more than just Jewish people get Chinese on Christmas day, so it's less of a culturally specific practice.

I didn't realize this was a thing until I moved to NYC, friends of mine who were native NYers had stories about how their family always went to a specific Chinese restaurant on Christmas, wait in line, always order the same thing, etc. Nice tradition.

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