THE Super Bowl may be over, and it may have had a storybook ending for many, and it may have had a world renowned cast of characters, both on the field and off, but in terms of real impact on real people, the glitz and the glamour pale in comparison to the grit and the struggle of a local sports star in Long Island City.
Yesterday, The New York Times published a story on Arthur Dukes Jr., the leading scorer this year for LaGuardia Community College, and the leading scorer in Division III of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Last year he was a security guard at a shoe store after “taking a break from school altogether after failing to make a go of it at three different institutions.”
I won’t delve into the details of his story other than to say the author of the article did an excellent job in choosing and pursuing it. What I will say is that in the age of NIL’s, transfer portals, and the role of college in sports and the roll of college in life, this story is the perfect antidote to all that is wrong. Read it.
Update: Arthur was named CUNY Player of the Year on February 15
//THOUGH it probably won’t take the runner-up award for best LIC story in 2024, an article on Carnitas el Viejon, a food truck located on Northern Boulevard, is also worth reading. Especially for taco fans and people who like the real thing, which LIC and Queens have in abundance. Read it too.
//ASH Wednesday always seems to creep up on me, typically not revealing itself until my morning commute. Unlike Valentine’s Day, whose commercial foreshadowing is beginning to rival that of Christmas and whose crassness completely crowded out the former by falling on the same date this year, it is not listed on my phone calendar as a holiday1. So instead of being rudely reminded of the holiday like I was on my apartment building elevator by some do-gooder bringing his better half an overpriced bouquet of roses and large latte first thing in the morning, it was a mistakenly registered ‘is-that-a-face-tattoo’ double-take as I descended the steps to the Vernon Jackson station.
Also unlike V-Day, which boringly falls on the same day every year, or the completely meaningless Pro Bowl Groundhog Day, the serendipity of Ash Wednesday elicits a subtle reminder to self that we’ve turned the corner and Spring is not that far off. It’s no longer pitch black when I clock out and hit the streets at 5:01pm. Better yet, in ten years it will signal that summer is imminent thanks to global warming. In the meantime, it also means that St. Paddy’s Day is two to five weeks away, and the sea of red at the local drug stores will turn into a sea of green at the local bars. Amen.
This Junior College Basketball Star Was Discovered At a Pickup Game – and this middle-aged Editor has yet to be discovered at a pick-up game
Shoulder, Belly, Ears, Tongue, and Time: Where to Find The Best Carnitas In New York – per Grub Street
Debbie’s Bar Opens Upstairs From Dutch Kills – on the first day of Lent of course
- Nor is Fat Tuesday, an even more egregious oversight [↩]
Ken Achiron says
February 15, 2024 at 2:38 pm“Where everybody knows your name!”
Long Island City is the hidden gem of Queens and of New York City,, only a bottlecap’s thumbshot away and never closes.
TF-Waterfront Crab says
February 18, 2024 at 2:50 pmWelcome back, LIC Talks….the long break between posts had me mortally concerned that perhaps you had run off under the cover of night with a pocket full of papas bravas and the rent money back to Copenhagen (or Greenpoint) along with the Casa Lola crew. I mean, even Desi-Bowl had a more sustained culinary residency on Vernon – sheesh. Anyways – democracy dies in darkness, but Long Island City rent increases continue despite shuttered storefronts. I will leave it to Paul Krugman to tell me the economic implications of all of this – and LIC Talks to tell me where to find quality carnitas. Sincerely – glad to have The Editor back in the saddle – and hope you keep up the great reporting.