Hasta La Ideas

The Summer issue of Stay Thirsty Magazine is simply spectacular. From investigative journalist Gerald Posner’s detailing of his hunt for Josef Mengele’s Auschwitz papers to sportswriter Joe Posnanski peeling away the layers of a new book about Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, it’s grand subject matter drawn down to an intimate scale.

For New Yorkers, the piece de resistance is Steven Jay Griffel’s conversation with former NYPD detective Ralph Friedman. Among Friedman’s many celebrated exploits is the fact that between 1970 and 1984, he made more than 100 off-duty arrests. Here he is talking about how he was able to rack up that incredible number:

“The rush had to be fed. I was always aware of my surroundings and always spotting someone with a gun… be it on duty or off duty. I made arrests in the gyms when working out… I went to Yankee Stadium with my brother with two girls and we made a robbery arrest while leaving the stadium…”

“One night I was riding my Harley from Manhattan to Queens with a girl and we pulled over on East River Drive and we were making out on one of benches facing the water… and while were making out I notice three guys nearby and they’re watching and approaching. I knew they were up to no good. I told the girl, “If you see me go for my gun, just drop to the ground.”

Doctors didn’t think Friedman would ever walk again after he was T-boned in a car accident by an unmarked police car. But he proved them wrong.

Also in the Summer issue – Jay Fox‘s look at iconic NYC dive bar Subway Inn.