Life 
Pleasure and Pain at a Russian Banya(2)
The spa is one part paradise to two parts kitsch nightmare, decorated in the faux lux style so beloved by Mafia kingpins and chain Italian restaurants: the main room, replete with large aqua pool and plastic patio furniture, is done in fake marble, its vaulted ceilings held up by fat Roman columns.
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The generational clash over corporate dress
By Amanda Kersey
Journalism major Eddie Ebbert, 21, wore a mohawk to his interview for an internship at Esquire. His mother had suggested he get a new, more conventional haircut, but he refused.
“If you’re not going to hire me because of my hair, I’m not going to work there,” he said.
Three interviews later, no one had [...]
Pillow Fighters
New Yorkers use pillows and mp3 players to turn city into playground
By Jonah Engle
By the thousands they streamed out of the subway entrances and through the streets of New York’s financial district until Wall Street was so packed no one could move. A few police officers tried to shoo them away but were overwhelmed by the size of the crowd.
At exactly 3 p.m., the signal was [...]
Office Buzz
New Yorkers take to coffee shops as substitute offices
By Jill Colvin
Antony Seeff, 25, sits with his MacBook and BlackBerry in a Starbucks on the Upper West Side. It’s a Friday morning, and the location’s already buzzing with workers tapping at keyboards and scrawling on notepads as a line of customers snakes to the door.
“Only in a recession are there this many people in [...]