Psychoanalyst Dr. Robert Schwalbe knows that when the Christmas carols start playing, the phone starts ringing. The doctor, who specializes in treating men at his Upper East Side practice, said that much like a retailer, the holidays have become his busiest season. “My practice booms at this time of year,” he said, estimating that he typically sees a 25 percent spike peaking in January. And that’s on top of the 50 percent increase he’s already noticed since the economic crisis began. Read more Read it in print

At 71, Fredericka Nelson should be the one being taken care of. After 40 years of cleaning offices to support a family on her own, the Brooklyn mother of six and grandmother of 21 thought she’d enjoy growing old in peace. Read more Read it in print

We spend more money on healthcare in the last months of life than at any other time. It’s when we’re sickest and most in need of medicine, doctors and intensive care. According to estimates, nearly 30 percent of Medicare’s annual $327 billion budget goes to caring for patients in their final year of life. Read more Read it in print

The advertisement was for a job that, at first, I dismissed entirely. I’d seen hundreds like it during my college career, posted on message boards and peppered throughout campus publications. But as I picked up the flyer and read over its bolded words, I started to believe that, in many ways, it sounded like the dream job: Earn $8,000 for what seemed would amount to little more than a few hours of my time. I folded the paper in half, placed it on my dorm room desk and left for class, bu Read more

When Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan published her July 20 story about Hillary Clinton’s less-than-plunging neckline during a Senate floor debate broadcast on CSPAN, the media and the nation seemed to take a collective gasp. We scrutinized the TV clips and YouTube footage like wet-dreaming, 12-year-oldboys, desperately trying to make out that holy grail of shadowed territory. As it turns out, it wasn’t even good cleavage. But it was a glimpse of something unknown, somethi Read more

“Once upon a time, cigarettes weren’t bad for you.” So begins These Things Ain’t Gonna Smoke Themselves: A Love/Hate/Love/Hate/Love Letter to a Very Bad Habit ($12.95, www.atomicbooks.com), Emily Flake’s hilarious and candid account of her tumultuous relationship with cigarettes—from that first sweet, satisfying drag to failed attempt after failed attempt to nix the habit. The critically acclaimed writer and illustrator’s brilliant little book is alw Read more

Late last month, Morningside Heights’ shiniest new restaurant, Mexican fast-food chain Chipotle, opened its double glass doors to the public. Where once stood Casbah Rouge, a locally-owned and run Moroccan restaurant and hookah bar with cushy chairs, live Middle Eastern music and the occasional belly dancer, patrons now line up at a steel counter for the same aluminum foil-wrapped burritos that are served at the chain’s 500 other locations. While Morningside Heights has never been st Read more

It’s late in the afternoon at Norman Thomas High School, an orange-bricked high rise that stands awkwardly off of Park Avenue on Manhattan’s East Side. Despite the golden letters on the building’s face, it’s hard to tell this is a school. More police and security guards enter and exit through the building’s doors than do students; an NYPD police van sits outside. Within minutes of my arrival, I’m approached by men in badged uniforms questioning my presen Read more