New York City gives people condoms, while the police confiscate them from those most vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases.

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About New York: In New York City, Giving Away, and Taking Away, Condoms

Penalties of up to $1,000 per violation are forcing New York City’s sidewalk entrepreneurs out of business, advocates say.

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City Council May Ease Fines on Street Vendors

The caretakers who tend to some of New York’s most splendid manors insist they are far more motivated by the connection to an earlier era than the real estate deal of a lifetime.

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For Caretakers, a Rent-Free Life in New York’s Historic Homes

New York City’s health department is concerned that a free breakfast program may cause obesity in some students who are already eating at home.

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With Classroom Breakfasts, Some Children May Eat Twice

You say broo-sheh-tah. I say broo-ske-tah. Should we just call the whole meal off? Dining out gives people a night off from cooking and clean-up duty, but it can also serve up a buffet of pronunciation pitfalls. The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that, after years of testing, Olive Garden’s gnocchi sales finally took off after the dish was further described on the menu as “traditional Italian dumplings.” In the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , a study titled “The name-pronunciation effect: Why people like Mr. Smith more than Mr. Colquhoun” further proved people are more likely to favor easy-to-pronounce names than difficult-to-pronounce ones. In the case of Olive Garden, traditional Italian dumplings (Mr. Smith) won the popularity contest against gnocchi (Mr. Colquhoun), and added an extra comfort level for diners. A similar study by Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz at the University of Michigan concluded that “fluently processed stimuli are judged as more familiar and elicit a more positive affective response than disfluently processed stimuli.” That is, if something – for instance, an ingredient – is difficult to pronounce, the consumer automatically assumes it's more harmful if it sounds unfamiliar. Tongue-twisting dishes are not only risky, they can bring up deeper social and class anxieties. “There is a class-raising association with knowing other languages,” says Margaret King, a cultural analyst and director of a Philadelphia think tank that studies how consumers determine value in products. “It could be a form of speech anxiety. When one is anxious about public speaking, it is more often than not a symptom of the ego and a fear of making a mistake or being embarrassed in front of people they do not know,” says Lyndsey Elliott , an Orange County, California-based psychologist. She continued, “In the same vein, when someone is at a dinner on a date, with co-workers, and/or in mixed company, a similar effect of anxiety can take place. ‘People will think I am dumb’ or ‘I want to make a good impression’. People tend to play it safe in social situations where there could be any risk of looking anything but their very best.” All this anxiety has the potential to boil over when the waiter is standing there, order pad in hand. But professionals, both in and outside the restaurant industry, are eager to soothe diners’ pronunciation fears and even empower them to make more delicious decisions. “It’s a sign of sophistication to admit your ignorance. Sophisticated people don’t get caught up in this or judge themselves or get caught up in dealing with people who do,” says King. When you order the jota, for example, order with conviction. Jota (pronounced yota) is one of executive chef Carmen Quagliata’s northern Italian specialties at the lauded Union Square Café in New York City. He says he tries to counteract any unfamiliarity with the Italian phrasing by also including an English description or story about where the dish originated from. “I don’t think that much about how comfortable someone is going to be. I do think about if this is the best way to market this dish that I’m dying for people to have,” Quagliata says. And even if the diner butchers the pronunciation, the restaurant’s waitstaff is instructed to never correct them. After all, they themselves had to learn the phonetic pronunciation of all the dishes before service. “It’s only a teaching moment if they invite it; otherwise, it’s just pure enjoyment,” says John Ragan, the wine director for Union Square Hospitality Group , the parent company of Union Square Café. When it comes to wine, Ragan advises his staff to connect the dots during their own wine education. When a person understands why a grape is pronounced a particular way because it’s from a certain region of Spain, for example, they can infer even more information that the wine list may not convey. If the guest seems receptive, they can even share this knowledge. “Understanding the culture is understanding the language,” Ragan says. Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology & Viticulture Institute in Ontario, Canada, concluded that consumers not only liked the taste of a wine better when it was associated with a difficult-to-process name, they also would pay more – an average of $2 more in fact – for the more linguistically challenging winemaker. “I would say that because consumers have an intuitive theory that that which is rare, is more valuable, they will tend to prefer the wines with more difficult to pronounce names,” says Antonia Mantonakis, an Associate Professor at Brock University involved in the study. King agrees that the inverse for wine makes sense, because there is a common perception of wine as being more refined. Whether it’s food or wine, don’t sweat it; point to it if you’re too intimidated and let the waiter deal with it, King says. “They’re there to help you, not make you feel on trial.” “If you don’t know what something means or how it is pronounced, you are not alone. I liken it to ‘there is no such thing as a stupid question.’ Usually someone else wants to know the answer as well, so why not take the lead and initiative and just ask?” Elliott says. In the age of instant information, Elliott says diners can familiarize themselves with the online menu ahead of time in order to know how things are prepared and decrease angst around choices that they may regret later. “People may shy away from fancy names because they don't want to be disappointed, end up hungry or seem exposed or silly for ordering something they shouldn't have to begin with ,” Elliott says. And if nothing else, the more risks taken, the better as far as King is concerned. “You’re not going to be judged on your Burmese pronunciation the way you will be judged on your French and Italian. The expectation of expertise isn’t there.” Five Tips for Anxious Orderers 1. Research the restaurant ahead of time; online menus are your friend. Especially if you're dining out with a date or business partner, you don’t want to be stuck for 30 minutes trying to decipher the menu when you could be engaging in conversation. 2. Still wary? Listen to online pronunciation guides, or if you have a smartphone, there are food translator apps available. 3. Let the server take charge. Order last and say, “I love how you say the dishes, I want to make sure I'm saying this right…” or say, “I'm really interested in this beef preparation, can you tell me more about it?” Usually, this will lead the server to repeat the full name of the dish. 4. Take risks. Bradford Thompson, a menu design instructor at the French Culinary Institute, says people should be more willing to take a chance with an appetizer than an entrée. With a bad appetizer, you can still recover; whereas a bad entrée can put a damper on the entire meal. 5. Have confidence. Don't be afraid to mess up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. There’s always room for interpretation, especially for a non-native speaker. Take Our Poll

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It’s pronounced hos-pi-tal-it-tee

Nearly 5,000 children qualified for gifted and talented kindergarten seats in New York City public schools in the fall, 22 percent more than last year and more than double the number four years ago.

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As Ranks of Gifted Soar in N.Y., Fight Brews for Kindergarten Slots

Some signs, like bidding wars and more people at open houses, indicate that the New York City real estate market has turned the corner.

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Buyer Confidence: Portent or Blip?

In New York, a magnet for dreamers, Plan A for many agents might just have been a doozy.

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The Appraisal: First Acts of New York Real Estate Brokers

An appeals panel struck down a judge’s order that New York State transfer thousands of mentally ill adults in New York City from institutional group homes into their own homes and apartments.

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Order on Housing Mentally Ill Adults in New York City Is Struck Down

Some experts say it may be too costly to turn the bridge, which is scheduled to be replaced, into a 30-acre park.

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Devising Ways to Turn Tappan Zee Bridge Into Park

In the 15 months ended July 1, 2011, New York City gained nearly 70,000 residents, bolstering city officials’ claims that thousands of people in Brooklyn and Queens were undercounted in the 2010 census.

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Census Estimates for 2011 Show Population Growth in New York

Aisha Stoby, 23, is young, but her knowledge about the art scene in the Middle East is vast. As an Omani art historian, raised in New York City, Aisha’s perspective is fresh and innovative. She’s currently working on developing her love for art into online ventures covering the amazing art scene across the region. We got a chance to speak to her.

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Meet Aisha Stoby, an Expert on Middle Eastern Art

Elizabeth Gordon is the author of 'The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook and Allergy-Free Desserts'. She was diagnosed with multiple food allergies in 2007 after the birth of her first child and decided to combine her social work background with her love of the culinary arts to help people just like her. She cooks up new treats, weekly, on her blog allergyfreedelights.com The United States is home to 9 million adults and 6 million children coping with food allergies ranging from annoying rashes to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Millions of other families are taking note of government-funded initiatives like Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move project and reaching for less processed and more natural fare. While healthy and safe eating is the common denominator between these groups, there is likely another: sticker shock when the checkout person hands over the grocery receipt. When I was diagnosed with allergies to wheat, eggs, string beans and figs in 2004, I wrongly assumed that my food bills would plummet, largely because it felt as though most of the foods that I enjoyed had just been eliminated from my diet. Venturing into the supermarket after that fateful doctor’s visit, I felt relieved that I finally knew why I was covered in a rash and that by simply choosing rice over rotini, I might be able to eliminate the itching that had plagued me since my daughter was born six months before. I was more than surprised when the cart, loaded with produce, a package of gluten-free flour , some gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free chocolate chips and gluten-free snacks like pretzels came out to be almost three times what I previously budgeted for groceries. I thought that there was a mistake. There wasn’t, but even seven years later, I still can’t believe the amount of money that we spend on food. Granted, there are four of us, we live in New York City where the cost of living is higher, and specialty items that are both safe for me to eat and that my children enjoy are simply more expensive. However, I know that I am not alone. I took an informal survey of my Facebook fans, and of the roughly 50 responses, only one person said that her food bill hadn’t tripled as a result of her child’s severe food allergies. One food allergic family even added that they factored their food budget into their mortgage refinancing as a medical hardship. Whether coping with life-threatening food allergies or just buying more mindfully, families know that eliminating any or all of the top eight allergens (dairy, wheat , eggs, soy, fish, tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish) from their diets can get pricey. Here are five practical ways to reduce the weekly expenses: Opt for beans and rice over pasta Rice is always inexpensive and so are hominy, beans (like kidney or black beans), spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes. Gluten-free pastas and cereals are not. Reach for canned or dried legumes or starchy vegetables, which generally have more nutritional value anyway, and save the rice pasta and cold cereal for special treats. Make your own Cooking your own meals, snacks and treats instead of relying on pre-packaged fare will drastically reduce the allergic family’s food bill. It also ensures food safety. Cooking doesn’t have to be a five-course meal every night. Simple steps like making your own gluten-free flour mix for baking or making chicken stock at home really add up to savings. Invest in a slow cooker If you eat meat, the slow cooker turns inexpensive cuts like brisket or chicken thighs tender and moist, and it saves time because it can be left alone all day to have dinner on the table when you get home from work. If you live a vegetarian lifestyle, the slow cooker can be a great way to cook up hearty soups, stews and even big batches of gluten-free, steel-cut oats for breakfast. Eat seasonally The laws of supply and demand apply here. When fruits and vegetables are abundant, they are less expensive. Roast up some root vegetables in the fall. Load up on berries in the summer. Choose citrus in the winter to save. Don’t be afraid to freeze If you can’t live without blueberries in February or your kids want some corn come December, don’t hesitate to look in the freezer section. Better still, load up your own freezer with fresh fruit when it’s in season to eat later in the year. Evidence suggests that frozen fruits and vegetables are just as nutritious, and they can be cheaper, too. Don’t stop at just frozen produce! Freeze leftover herbs to avoid waste. Freeze coconut milk kefir in ice cube trays if you only use a little bit for baking. Stash the meat that was on sale at the market in the freezer for up to three months. Just these little steps reduce waste and expenditures in the supermarket. Safe and healthy eating does come at a price. Fortunately, simple steps can reduce it, because as every family, whether allergic or not, knows, every penny counts. Previously – Being gluten-free and well-fed and Living with peanut allergies

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Allergy-friendly grocery shopping without breaking the bank

Local governments in New York are finding themselves in the middle of a financial crisis, with problems spreading as they face a toxic mix of soaring pension and retiree health costs.

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Deficits Push Municipalities to Desperation

Established nonprofit schools in New York are more likely to hold off until junior year, while some newer for-profit schools begin the process in ninth grade.

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College Hunt Starts Earlier at New N.Y.C. Private Schools