Philip Messing

Saddened to hear of today's passing of legendary Neil Sedaka, 86. A former resident of Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, Sedaka's sweet boyish tenor and his oeuvre of pop hits from the late '50s and early '60s were sometimes a bit treacly, but they were still joyous and live on forever.

TIL rocker David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, hoped to sing as Davey Jones. But The Monkees, with a similarly named member, killed that. Bowie then sought to perform as Tom Jones, but in 1965, a Welsh singer charted with, "It's Not Unusual." So, he ultimately became Bowie.

I guess Big Apple residents really ought to stop their complaining: If my math is correct, it seens that yesterday was the 92nd anniversary (2/9/34) of the city’s all-time low temperature of -15°F set in Central Park. Imagine -- in the middle of the Great Depression, too!

Just saw a nifty 1952 noir newspaper thriller, "Scandal Sheet." Broderick Crawford plays a morally repugnant editor; Harry Morgan (later of M*A*S*H), bemoans how his photos are just too graphic. "You know, that wasn't a bad looking dame. Too bad the guy used an ax on her head."

The 1968 opus, "Hang 'Em High," might be my favorite Western. Loved Clint Eastwood in the "Dollars" trilogy -- and who can forget Eli Wallach or Lee Van Cleef? -- but this film and its ensemble cast were special. Just remember: "When you hang a man, you better look at him."

A May 10, 1893 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Nix v Hedden, ruled tomatoes were vegetables. A fruit importer, John Nix, argued tomatoes were fruits and thus not taxable. Justice Horace Gray ruled tomatoes are "usually served at dinner" and "not, like fruits generally, as dessert.”

How damn cool is it that rock icons Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, both later of Led Zeppelin fame, each played guitar as part of their "session work" on the 1964 James Bond theme song, "Goldfinger," a tune sung by the inimitable Welsch chanteuse Shirley Bassey?

Today I learned Meyer lemons -- a fragrant and seasonal variety I enjoy -- are hybrid citrus fruits native to China, a cross between a citron and a mandarin/pomelo hybrid. (Citrons are one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed.) Go figure!

Hey, Amazon! get your shit together! You sold me counterfeit Ray Ban Clubmaster sunglasses for $250. How do I know? I called Ray Ban and sent them photos and they say your product was 100% bogus! The lenses did not have Ray Ban's logo and the frames were marked "Foster Grant."

It can take a brilliant tabloid mind to make sense of what might seem to be an inchoate mess and assess what's most important. Barry Levine does just that in the NY Times when describing the key unanswered questions still swirling about Jeffrey Epstein: nytimes.com/2025/07/23/opi…

Enjoying David Pietrusza's 2023 book, "Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City." This is a Baedeker of the Manhattan homes, law offices, brothels. restaurants & hotels tied to crime czar Arnold Rothstein & his Tammany Hall pals in the early 1900s.

Heard the sad news about Brian today and thought about all the years I’ve been listening to him and admiring his genius. Rest in peace dear Brian.

Bad week for rock 'n' roll: first Sly Stone and now Brian Wilson, the tortured genius co-founder of the Beach Boys. The 1966 release of the BB's mind-blowing seminal album "Pet Sounds," Brian Wilson's masterpiece, is perhaps the most gorgeous effort in rock. RIP Brian Wilson.

Saddened to read Sam Roberts' New York Times obit of the passing of indefatigatible journalist Tom Robbins. In an arena populated with bombastic blowhards, Tom was a soft-spoken pitt bull who was forever genial and full of bonhomie. I will miss him. nytimes.com/2025/05/28/bus…

It was my great joy today to call the inestimable Frank Serpico, the ex-NYPD detective whose unflagging devotion to fighting police corruption made him both a pariah within the department and paragon of civic rectitude, to wish him a happy 89th birthday. Happy birthday, Frank!

It was great fun writing about my long-time pal, retired NYPD detective Randy Jurgensen and recounting his close friendship with late Hollywood icon Gene Hackman. No wonder Randy enjoyed one of the most interesting police careers ever. See: nypost.com/2025/04/12/us-…

Sad to hear of the death of NY Times reporter Selwyn Raab, 90, a legendary chronicler of the mob. Raab once got an interview with mobster William "Billy the Butcher" Masselli. Other scribes were puzzled. Masselli's reasoning? "The Times calls me mister, not 'Billy the Butcher.'"

The heartbreaking tragedy in LA -- including no water to fight the wildfires -- has me wondering if officials ought to hunt for a real Noah Cross, the fictional villain in the 1974 movie "Chinatown." Yes, he was pure evil incarnate, but at least HE knew how to get the job done.

(3/3) "You're done for the night, Phil? Do me a small favor: Drive by that shooting near Kennedy Airport. It'll take you 10 minutes. It's on your way home, right?" Never told Mike that no story takes 10 minutes to update, nor that JFK Airport is eight miles from where I live.

@nypost I'm.

Hannah Kobayashi claims she was ‘unaware’ of media coverage of her mysterious disappearance as she breaks silence trib.al/M6iiqa7