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Ronnie Cummins, a ponytailed activist who became one of the country’s leading advocates for organic food and a leading critic of genetically modified food, died on April 26 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lived and worked part-time. He was 76. Rose Welch, his wife and partner in starting the Organic Consumers Association,…

Love Letter: Never Inevitable

When Ariella Steinhorn was 15, a group of teenage boys tackled her at a bus stop. After that, she began to feel that physical and sexual aggression by men was almost inevitable. In her Modern Love essay, “The Slap That Changed Everything,” Ms. Steinhorn explains how, at 30, she realized that she and other women…

These Hotel Restaurants Don’t Only Cater to Tourists

Ciao, friends! I’m filling in for our usual host, Nikita. This week, I want to take on what might be the most maligned category in New York dining: the hotel restaurant. Skepticism is valid — by nature, a restaurant in a hotel is designed for tourists, not for residents. But over the past few years…

Can HBO’s ‘The Idol’ Revive 1980s Erotic Thriller Sleaze?

A slick executive drives a cherry red convertible. A nightclub owner carries a coke spoon and wears his hair in a rat tail. A troubled pop star masturbates while choking herself. Those images might have come from an erotic thriller made by Brian De Palma, Paul Verhoeven or Adrian Lyne, directors who were prominent in…

Restaurant Review: Foul Witch in the East Village Summons the Ghost of Blanca

Whenever I eat in a tasting-menu restaurant — which is several times a month and would be several times a week if I reviewed each one that came along — I find myself wondering what I’d think of the same food if a normal restaurant served it. If I ordered à la carte, would everything…

Tiny Love Stories: ‘I Watched Him Kiss Someone New’

Half Full or Half Empty? I called him “Cup Guy” because in every photo on his dating profile, he held a cup. Last Pride month, our relationship fizzled. Five months later, I watched him kiss someone new at “our” bar in the West Village. During the kiss, Cup Guy’s eyes were locked on mine. I…

A First Try of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro Headset

I got a sneak peek into Apple’s vision for the future of computing on Monday. For about half an hour, I wore the $3,500 Vision Pro, the company’s first high-tech goggles, which will be released next year. I walked away with mixed feelings, including a nagging sense of skepticism. On one hand, I was impressed…

Would You Wear Apple’s New Vision Pro Headset?

There were pictures, of course, of the goggles looking very sleek against a black background. There was a neat video of assorted happy individuals using the product in the comfort of their pristine rose-tinted homes and anonymous hotel rooms. But the lack of an actual person strutting the stage in Cupertino, Calif., wearing the product…

Casa Lever, in the Lever House on Park Avenue, Gets a Refresh

Headliner Casa Lever The eye-catching collection of Andy Warhol portraits are gone. The walls of Casa Lever, the elegant Milanese-style Italian restaurant that just reopened after months of renovation in the landmark Lever House on Park Avenue, will now display two colorful Damien Hirst paintings, “Summer of Love” and “Love and Hate.” And the menu…