2021
They seem like really nice young women, the members of Avenue Beat, but I hate their name. It sounds like the name of a really bad eighties teen group that would have been a one-hit-wonder had it not been for The Jets. Fortunately, I heard the song before I knew the name of the group. You know what song I’m talking about. The one that pretty much summed up what many of us were feeling during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic before the bodies started to pile up. Their “F2020” (which, if you didn’t already know stands for “fuck 2020”) encapsulates all of the fear, frustration, and grief all of us have experienced during the past year. The melody may sound cute and upbeat, but the words tell a different story. That was then.
It is now 2021. The United States has a new president, unemployment and COVID-19 numbers are dropping, and here in New York City, theaters and other venues are planning to open up soon for the spring as the vaccine becomes available. In previous editorials (this one in April and this one in August) I expressed hope that change would come soon and resolved myself to forging ahead. That didn’t happen, apparently. It’s difficult to maintain interest in publishing a luxury magazine when the world is going to hell, you’ve lost friends, and your health has taken a (temporary) turn for the worse. Last September, my primary care physician (who I am considering referring to as “magician” in the future) determined that my heart required a procedure after a brief conversation and my blood pressure stats. He was right. It turned out that my arteries were clogged and that I was headed for a heart attack if immediate action hadn’t been taken. Dr. Rohit Reejsinghani, FACP, MBA is a board-certified internist and the Executive Director of New York Health who, aside from being quite the competent physician, is pleasant and cordial as well. Though it was Dr. Asma Khalique who performed the operation, I equally owe both a debt of gratitude for working to save my life. It took countless efforts and several months to jump-start my optimism and for the first time in a long time, I now have it back. Knowing that I have a doctor who will work with me to better my health and expresses genuine concern is largely responsible for that.
This magazine was hit hard during the pandemic, more than you will ever know. March of 2020 should have been our biggest and best year to date, for reasons I believe I may have mentioned in previous editorials. We were virtually on the cusp of breaking out. I can say “we” because there was, indeed, a “we” rather than just me providing 99% of the content here. That didn’t happen. But through illness, depression, and loss, I never gave up. Now, as the days get longer and the weather warmer, I received my first COVID-19 vaccine shot, and I’m feeling recommitted and determined to produce the best “new wave luxury” magazine in the world (I just made up that term, I’ll explain what I mean by that soon enough). From this moment forward, I’m going to stop announcing what I plan to do and just do it, unlike what I’ve done in the past. I appreciate that you all continue to support what I’m doing and I vow not to let you down. Now that, you can count on.
Before closing, I should mention that I’ve since discovered that Avenue Beat had their name chosen by a name generator (yes, that’s how Donald Glover Jr. came up with his stage name, and I hate his name too). But don’t let that stop you from listening to their latest effort which is miles away in tone than their last hit. It’s a new year after all.
