So… New York!!!

Control ‘Versy AKA Miss Electric Blue!

“Blaring from speakers” “New York! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can’t do, now you're in New York!!!

These streets will make you feel brand new, these lights will inspire you, Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York!” I swear every time Alicia blows that hook I feel the urge to run to the store to get myself a blue Yankee, cop it to the side, sag my jeans, pout my lips and say, “Wassup son?” with the thickest American accent my South African self would allow. Music has always been the most powerful medium to relay a message and Jay z’s “empire state of mind”, could have not come at a better time.

At a time when the metropolis that is New York needed to be reminded of its splendor, the home of musical legends, the birthplace of hip hop, the sidewalk is sprawled with nationalities and ethnicities that is definitive of cosmopolitan city, a place where Baby Phat meets china town, Chinese take-out serve pizza, where old meets new and where the outrages is considered the norm.

Welcome to New York, may I show you around?

I hear you mumbling, what can a feisty South African siSTAR show you that you don’t already know as a native New Yorker? Lots I tell you, my perspective on this city will amuse, anger, frustrate and sadden you. A perspective from the outside looking in allows you to paint the city with a different brush, I’m all for coloring outside the lines, ya feel me? I feel like Alice in Wonderland, everyday I learn new interesting things about the city that never sleeps and trust me when I say, my journey settling in has been one interesting ride.

So my peoples, follow me as I explore yummy eateries (I’m a foodie), sip on exotic cocktails with zany names, fill my stiletto addiction, attend sexy live events, try and find you the hottest parties in the city (catch miss electric blue in the v.i.p), interview amazing artists while trying to find you the best places to get your fresh threads and of course my favorite of all: try and understand the psyche of men & women in New York. Phew I’m tired just running down my “to do” list, see why you will always catch me with coffee in my hand, “slurps on hazelnut coffee” hmmmm. Doesn’t it feel like New York has fewer hours in a day than any other city?

When you on the street, look out for miss electric blue clicking her stilettos to a party, live event, fashion show, and eatery near you. Shoot you got something brewing?! let me know, if not my second name is “Gotchu” ‘cause I GOTCHU!!! “Phone rings, words are exchanged and Versy frantically grabs keys and rushes out the door”, It’s tiring being in demand but hell someone’s got to do it” winks, cautiously runs in heels and hails a cab, TAXI!!!!”…


This is THE LIFE OF THE CITY

Coffee, Parties, Cocktails and Fashion No No’s

If there’s one thing you should never EVER come in between; it’s a frantic, sleepless, workaholic with too much swirling in their head and their first cup of coffee in the morning, that’s a beat down waiting to happen.
Gulps, slurps… aahh, WAIT! Imagine I featured in a coffee television commercial?, I would purposefully force the director to do retakes so I can drown myself in caffeine whilst getting paid, mwahahahahahahaha.” Versy takes another slurp from a mug so huge, all you see is hair, she anxiously looks down huge mug and wonders what just happened to the copious amounts of coffee that was in there just a few minutes ago, jumps off chair (it’s a far jump down if you 5 feet) heads to the coffee machine for a refill and climbs back up chair to the MAC”

I see you shaking your head at me like you don’t have a vice, an addiction or poison.
Let me refresh your memory it’s that huge pack of crisps on your nightstand you gobble down at 1am, that 30th cigarette for the day you holding onto for dear life waiting for someone to tell you that smoking has been banned, that “you don’t love but the sex is good girl” you just can’t break up with, that uncle you see after 5pm too regularly on a weekday yes … uncle Patron. ”Versy pouts lips and raises eyebrow”, and by the way now that we on the topic of vices and addictions I would like to say… the new retro shades I just bought is not a weakness it was an emergency, the only reason why I “copped” it was that while I was browsing in the thrift store, yes I was JUST BROWSING, don’t be rolling your eyes at me, they only had one pair, my other 20 pairs were looking a tad bit out of season, phew now that we got that confession out of the way, enough of the coffee feening, stilettos and shades weakness, let your favorite NU YAWKER reach in her bag of tricks and tell you what’s the word on the street.

You can catch me clicking my leopard print heels to “Ladies Room Wednesdays” for some girl talk, sexy drinks and awesome throwbacks for a boogaloo kind of vibe. That reminds me I have to put you onto my new favorite cocktail called the Afro Trip, what! Are you surprised that out of the 20 cocktails on the drinks list at The Shrine in Harlem I clicked with the one that describes my hair and my mental state? If I order that one more time, I’m going to have to rename it the “Contro’Versy” lol. Speaking of which, why do people hate on the argggh boots, I mean Uggh boots? I heart my boots; it makes my tiny cold feet feel toasty. Some misguided soul went out there and rocked the boots in the heart of summer with a hot pants and the rest of us are still experiencing the backlash of that silly idea. I see you men laughing hahahahahah “versy raises eyebrow” lets talk about the duck phenomenon. You know… where you keep pulling up your pants despite rocking a belt whilst walking like a duck so that pants does not slide all the way down, if I see another “duck” walking around I’m going to personally reach into my already empty pockets and start buying braces and just randomly hand them out on the streets. I’m on my Diddy steez on the train handing out braces saying take that, take that, take that, ”shakes head”.

All these foolios walking around remind me that it’s almost Halloween, so I’m on my OFFICIAL BROOKLYN MARDI GRAS HALLOWEEN COSTUME & MASQUERADE PARTY tip, I can see it now, walking into the spot rocking my (Gitarra (think Thunder Cats)/Pam Grier – Original Foxy Brown/lioness/still haven’t figured out which of the three to wear) costume shouting “Freeze Sugar” in my sexy Grier tone hehe only problem is having to slip away in the same costume to roll up to the “Tweet who you meet – sneaker drive Party” hosted by Chip Fu. My only concern is how is Talib Kweli (who is performing) going to remember his rhymes when a tiny, big haired chick keeps distracting him by doing tootsie rolls right in front of the stage? Sure, I will donate shoes but that won’t guarantee that I will be allowed to stay for the rest of the night after that dance debacle. So I will leave before I get thrown out and head back to party with the SNL Boys where you can catch me in the V.I.P.

New YAWWKKKK has an infinite assortment of parties and events that cater to all kinds of clientele (from the throw a can of paint on a canvas and call it art) to the sexy midweek mixers. Your only problem you would have is the many choices and how many you can squeeze in on a given night.
I will keep you updated on drinks, parties, tips and reviews and let you know if the party was ‘SO DISCO or not and remember, the parties I mentioned are on our events page if you need details etc.

Now let me part with the Cocktail recipe as promised.

The Afro Trip

Ginger ale – quarter glass
Jamaican or Puerto Rican Rum 3 quarter glass
Lime Juice – 3 tablespoons

All this drink talk is making me feel slightly parched let me finish this blog. “Versy saves document and reaches for mug, nothing in it she whips her head around to look at the empty coffee machine and it stares back at her like the money you could be saving with Geico”, BUT the jokes on you, Dunkin Donuts is but a block away, “versy grabs keys and heads out the door singing” “clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee”

“Food for the Soul”

As the weather cools down, the heat softens and the leaves turn a delicious bronze, we take the time and opportunity to reflect and symbolically shed “leaves” in our lives, loves that have come and gone, friendships that have been too much work to hold on to and business ventures/partners who are not seeing our visions. Me? I’m slurping my coffee with utter joy inhaling my favorite aroma as I reflect on what needs to be “shed” in my personal and professional life.
With all that growing up we need to do “boo” we need time to unwind and enjoy those little things that could comfort us in the cold.

I am all about my soups, coffees, teas, curries and hot drinks to keep warm, to add to the excitement a hot party doesn’t hurt neither, deejays playing hot grooves, sipping on shots to warm up the bones all whilst mingling with a trendy crowd. This winter you won’t find me in airy clubs, I will be huddled close to fireplaces with my favorite drink (Irish Coffee) and good conversation, sexy events that will heat up the spot and where they serve awesome food.
Food is very important to me especially in winter (this includes junk food), I am on the prowl to enjoy heart-warming, soul-comforting food.
So I, (yes the ever efficient versy) “grins” accidentally stumbled upon an intimate eatery called Rawstar in Brooklyn, nestled in the Prospect Height neighborhood, this family friendly “spot” focuses on vegan dishes, “those who thought vegan dishes were green leaves and carrots I got news for you, if you are a meat eater you wont even miss it on your plate”, not only is the dishes served concocted with organic ingredients the amazing ingredient combinations will blow you away.” “Wispy music plays as Versy imagines herself sitting at a huge food feast/banquet, she starts drooling and takes a bite on Rawstar’s nappa sandwich mango filled with cashew butter” let me not even talk about the curried plantain mmm let me finish this in a hurry I have their infamous cheesecake to taste, yummy”, “ewww biting the top of a pencil while fantasizing on food is not a good look” lol, anyhow I recommend you swing by if you craving a hearty sandwich, a crisp salad, mouth watering soup or belly satisfying lasagna. I’m all about the food, the chef don’t play games up in this spot. The good news is that they do take out too, which is good for myself because I have an idea of what I would like with my lasagna, “Versy pouts lips”’.

What is a tasty meal without that thirst-quenching, palette satisfying drink?
Now, because I am feeling generous, there are two drinks I swear by when the weather is cold outside and I need to warm up, something so sexy and comforting that men and women alike will enjoy these drinks.

Irish Coffee:
Your favorite brewed cup of coffee
A shot (or in my case double shot) of Jameson’s whisky
Cream for the topping
Sprinkling some cinnamon or choc and almond flakes on top
Ya’ know your girl over thinks on every other day, trying to build my conglomerate, so a good night’s sleep is a luxury to me, I used to spend night’s back home in South Africa on my Californian home girl’s comfy sofa, knowing I had sleep issues she would concoct a devilishly tasty dessert/drink that would have me snoring and drooling catching up on days of sleep I missed out on.

Versy’s Night Cap

Two shots of Amarula cream (not trying to front it’s the potent, sexier version of Bailey’s)
Sidenote: Amarula is a fruit found in South Africa)
A cup of hot chocolate


Of course the night cap are for those days when you want to stay indoors and you need a creamy intoxicating drink to wind down before hitting bed.
As for the Irish coffee, it’s a good drink to warm up with on your night out, maybe at your favorite food spot your crew hangs out before hitting the club, if they don’t sell Irish coffee, almost every spot sells coffee and whisky so tell that waiter to mix up a glass for you and watch you buzzing at the club.

I’m hungry, and if my memory serves me correct, my homeboy Ontrack is on the streets of New York trying to find the best damn burgers in the metropolis, “versy grabs her bb texts ‘track and jumps into her jeans”, foolio aint eating burgers without me and if he knows what’s good for him it will be his treat, I’m out,!!
“Versy runs to kitchen fills her hipflask with some irish coffee and tries to jump into her stilettos, hopping out the door.”
Shoot here I go again, must be the Life of The City!!

Miss Electric Blue

THE SUMMER OF SNL


If you are on the New York City party scene you should know of SNL Promotions. If you don’t, then you need to go out more! The SNL Boyz, as they refer to themselves, have been doing it for years. Many promoters and DJ’s throughout the tri-state area are familiar with them, but this is the summer of SNL. Headquartered in Brooklyn, SNL has a hefty resume. The organization was started by Ontrack Disco and Synco Powers. They have recently added DJ Youngstar and DJ Staks to the roster. Every Tuesday you can find the entire crew at Club Nocturnal in East Flatbush and every Saturday at Club Venus in Old Mill Basin. But do not assume that these are your run of the mill Brooklyn parties. Speaking from experience, when you go to an SNL party you don’t have to worry about the music, the quality of people, the ambiance, or the vibes, as we Caribbeans refer to it. Your bet is safe with an SNL party.

This summer the SNL Boyz are poised to expand their exposure and influence on the scene. Most Caribbean Brooklynites have been to, or heard of their yearly event “Models and Bottles”. The event usually takes place in January. This year they have added the summer edition, which is expected to bring in more than a thousand patrons. Needless to say, it is going to be one of the summer’s most remembered events.



SNL has also launched www.lifeofthecity.com, which is a nightlife/lifestyle site dedicated to the NYC party scene. You can also hear Ontrack Disco and DJ Youngstar on www.flavastation.com (107.9 in Brooklyn) every Thursday from 9pm-12am est. Synco can also be heard on Best FM, 94.3 in Brooklyn from 3pm-6pm every Saturday. I will be writing reviews of the various SNL events and ventures throughout the summer. So stay tuned. Better yet, come out and party with us. Until next time.

- Your Man on the Street