A New Nickname For Brooklyn, New York

Brooklyn, New York, has long been called the Borough of Churches because of the large number of houses of worship located there. But a few years ago because there were so many shootings in Brooklyn, an on-air person at New York's WBAI-FM gave the borough a new nickname--Gunsmoke, New York.

To be fair, Chicago deserves a new nickname more than Brooklyn does. In light of all the homicides in that city, Chicago instead of being the Windy City, should be known as Gunsmoke City or better still Tombstone City.

Winning The Lottery Is A Blessing And A Curse

Ric Edelman, the personal finance expert, on his Sunday morning show in October 2018 on New York's WCBS News Radio Eight-Eighty spoke about the headaches that come with winning the lottery: greedy relatives, relatives you didn't know you had, resentful co-workers, criminals who will know your identity and location, the need to hire security personnel, etc. And if you decide to give the money to friends and relatives, there is a hefty gift tax you have to pay. So winning the lottery can be both a blessing and a curse.

A Gay History Website

I just learned today of a website via 1010 WINS, an all-news radio station in New York. The website is called makinggayhistory.com. Actually, it's a podcast of past interviews with gay and lesbian luminaries such as educator and activist Joyce Hunter. The interviews are from historian Eric Marcus's archives. I intend to visit it frequently.

Farewell To 1600AM WWRL

A sad farewell to New York's AM1600 WWRL, which is changing its format from liberal/left wing talk to Spanish-language programming at the end of this month. More on this later.

All Comedy, All The Time

There are radio stations that are all talk, all news, all religion, and all sports. But in these times of economic crisis, when laughter is the best medicine, there are no all comedy radio stations, at least not in the New York metropolitan area. Not even a program devoted to comedy.

When I was growing up in the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, KNX, the CBS affiliate, on the weekends, had a show that broadcast comedy albums by Bob Newhart, Steve Allen, Bill Cosby, Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Stan Freberg, et al.

Every week, Time Out New York magazine has a section specifically devoted to comedy clubs around the city. You would think that some smart program director would get the hint that there is a market for all comedy radio.

Curtis Sliwa's Disdain For "Brainiacs"

The Voice of the People
New York Daily News
220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
February 11, 1994

Dear Editor:

I have heard [Guardian Angels founder] Curtis Sliwa refer to intellectuals as "eggheads"and "brainiacs." Anyone who uses such disparaging terms as these has no respect for the inquiring mind and has no place on the program lineup of [public radio station] WNYC, a cultural and intellectual oasis on the AM radio dial. Plus his brand of radio would attract to the station the know-nothings and loudmouths who predominate on other talk shows.

Sincerely yours,
Charles Michael Smith

This letter was published on February 26, 1994.

RIP Ron Lundy

It was fitting to hear of Ron Lundy's death on New York's WABC where he deejayed from 1965 until 1982, when the station went from a Top 40 format to all-talk. He later became a deejay at WCBS-FM, the oldies station.
Lundy's voice is immortalized in the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy. Jon Voight, as Joe Buck, is on a New York-bound bus and has a portable radio to his ear tuned to Ron Lundy's show. "That's New York talking!" shouts Voight with excitement to his seatmate.
Ron Lundy will be missed.