Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry talks about how getting more people downtown helps all things about the future of Charm City with Nestor at Faidleyโs in Lexington Market on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour presented by The Maryland Lottery and Window Nation.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
city, people, baltimore, friends, oysters, eagles, years, walked, fells point, community organizers, baseball, mayor, wife, eat, game, night, tour, community, controller, orioles
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Bill Henry
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
What about w n s t Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive youโre positively faintly see for where they steam it oyster clams shrimp most lobster. The world famous likes in the market since 1817 82. So I brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Get some itโs a lottery scratch off tickets at one right here for my friend and controller, and a guy I endorsed when I was a city resident. We welcome Bill Henry back on to the program. Also our friends at window nation, your 8669 nation. I want to make sure I want to put the hat on for some fun a little bit later on here. Itโs a rainy day. So it keeps itโs
Bill Henry 00:34
yeah, this is this is my this is my rain hat.
Nestor Aparicio 00:37
We got floppy hat. What do you got? Who are you promoting here? I got building together Baltimore. Okay, well, thatโs just as important as when donation is maybe when did Michigan help rebuild Baltimore? How were you I you know, I would say this for the friendships of Baltimore to people we know. My favorite part of Baltimore is I can just be walking around and just run into people I know everywhere who yell at me and I yell back. But opening days that day. I spent three hours in here people were yelling at me Iโm giving away lottery tickets. People are winning money. Weโre eating fish, rabbit a good time. And then I wandered over to press retail house and one or point seven was over there, my friends at the Bay. And then I wandered off to the stadium by the hilt. And then there you are on opening day with your wife in good spirits, Springsteen, you went to Earth Wind and Fire and I didnโt.
Bill Henry 01:23
I didnโt get to go to Earth. When you had tickets though. I had to give my tickets to my deputy. Thatโs her job, Erica McLamb, whose job is to be at things when I canโt be at them. And in this case, I couldnโt be at Earth Wind and Fire and she was
Nestor Aparicio 01:37
well, I was upset. Everybody was there. But me but I think it see the Eagles. Look, I just had Ron Legler here from the Hippodrome. And I know you know him and I know you know, damy it and Iโve moved to the county 15 months ago, and Iโm in the city. Three, four days a week. I was at capillaries yesterday. So and Iโll be here again this week and concerts coming there things bringing me here. Yeah, like the Orioles are bringing me here. I was in Maui last week. But on Friday night, I would have either been at Chicago, or I would have been at Adam Sandler.
Bill Henry 02:06
If youโd told me youโd come back from Hawaii because he had tickets. Iโd been pressed. So I
Nestor Aparicio 02:11
wouldnโt be. But seeing my friends, my acquaintances, my business people all back in the city, whether itโs for an oil game, or whether itโs for Bruce Springsteen, or itโs for Janet Jackson next week, or in my case, Anita Baker, the following
Bill Henry 02:26
baby face?
Nestor Aparicio 02:28
Well, Iโll be there. Iโm guessing Yes, Iโll be there for Anita Baker. The city is bringing people back. All of the things we talked about here when we were masked up and you sat here with me personally before when you were a candidate, and running and counsel and all that youโve worked on. This has been your life project. I said this to my wife after you ran it. Iโm like, you know, youโre one of those guys who probably could have done it something else with your gig without being a politician. But youโve gone this direction. Do you feel it? Did people send you I mean, itโs one thing to throw out plaudits and wishes and hopes and whatever. But it starts to feel like the cities, whatever, bottoming out was during the plague and a lot of places bottomed out there, including Maui, I was over there. And people were like, it was Messier, too. We had no tourists, right? Everybody struggled. But weโre coming out of this thing. And weโre starting to see progress. I see it, I feel it, and I want to champion it. And I know youโre in the middle of it. And it really you talk to me a million times we need a tax base. We need people to spend money in the city. When you come down here youโre given Uncle Bill 10 cents, and weโre going to put toward the next thing, itโs going to make the city better. Kinda sorta right. One of
Bill Henry 03:36
the reasons that I love your show is because I have tried to be positive about Baltimore the whole time. Like there, weโve weโve had good days and bad days, weโve had good years and bad years. But Baltimore is strong, Baltimore is resilient. And even during the bad times, you know, there are good times coming. And, you know, I accept the fact that people see me as a politician, and that Iโm an elected official. But what I really think of my profession is Iโm a community developer. And Iโve done community development. As a member of a nonprofit staff. Iโve done community development as staff to elected officials, Iโve done community organizing, literally, that was your right I will make the subtle distinction. I say this only because I have friends who are community organizers, who I respect too much to claim their gig. Like there are people who are community organizers, and there are people who work in community development. And
Nestor Aparicio 04:40
community organizers donโt necessarily have political aspirations for themselves. Right. They donโt want to run for office. They just want to make sure that the person that runs for office is doing the right thing.
Bill Henry 04:50
They want to make sure community organizers want to make sure that the community voice is heard. And that is something that I am with 100% I have always been a believer in community empowerment. Whether I was an elected official, or just an angry community person myself,
Nestor Aparicio 05:07
what made you angriest? And what have you done about it?
Bill Henry 05:11
What made me angriest? Wow, what got you involved that? Oh, well, I
Nestor Aparicio 05:16
looked at this issue off to get you involved. And he did me with Baltimore positive. And I told you tonight it was, it was the night when when Cathyโs running the city and about to go to prison, and I didnโt know it. And my wife had just gotten out of the hospital and survived the first time. And we went to Fells Point in a car, which we never did. Because before she had cancer, sheโs well, we walked everywhere. We would never get in our car and drive to Fells Point and stupid. But it was a cold night. And we got in the car, my wife was bald, and just alive and hanging on the life and trying to have a dinner. And we went into Fells Point and I got harassed, not held up. Nobody had a gun. Nothing. Just it was more bullshit than I should have had to deal with on a Friday night. And certainly more than Ron Furman, or any of my friends who own businesses, in this case was Sammy strat, I donโt know Sammy, Iโve never met, but it was the end attacker he had built rotos was itโs long gone now. But like, I saw someone like me, a local person putting all my life investment into an Italian restaurant on the strip in Fells Point, and seeing nobody helping the guy, right, you know what I mean? And Iโm there and Iโm like, this pissed me off. And I, you know, I was gonna run for mayor, Iโve told her and everybody knows that, right? Like, this was a loud, Iโm gonna do whatever I can do to raise hell, because I was pissed. So I, Iโm with you, you know, thatโs what made Baltimore pod and swear to God, Baltimore positive happened that night, because Iโm like, Iโm done with Angeloโs. And Bashar has now thrown me like, Iโm done glorifying these billionaire sports teams, thatโs great to come down to do whatever they do. But theyโre here. So that damy can sell crabcakes so that we can have a tax base so you can get money and help people that really live here that need help, that we can help schools, all the problems we have here. And hereโs a business owner that built a business and Iโm sitting in it, and Iโm getting harassed on the way in on the way out while sitting at the table. Like it was it wasnโt good. And I felt like Iโm pissed. And I want to do something that if you and I get to dinner tonight, good NFL, they wonโt happen. It wonโt that wonโt be the case tonight. So for that, for you brand for all
Bill Henry 07:22
reference has been made. Without question.
Nestor Aparicio 07:26
This is a better city than the city was that night. Now Iโm talking riots. 15 1617. Trump, this is the plague. Almost a decade. Yeah.
Bill Henry 07:36
Yesterday was the eighth eighth anniversary of Freddie Gray funeral. Okay, yeah. So we were where we are moving into the eight year anniversary of all the uprising, the curfew every I looked
Nestor Aparicio 07:54
out the window that night bill, I lived on the 23rd floor harbor court. And we my wife had just survived. And we had just she she couldnโt sit in the sun because she had a bone marrow transplant. So we went to the islands and she had to stay kind of on the porch for four days. But she was so happy to we flew home opened our iPad and the cityโs on fire. And my wife saw this landing itself. When I landed on an international flight I had, you know, Iโm in that holding tank, and my phones blowing up and everybodyโs telling me not to go home. You canโt go back into the city. The cities you canโt go home. Iโm like, my cats home. Iโm going home. And I went home that Monday night and the capitals were playing the Islanders in game seven have a knockout. It was there. It was Aprilโs now right. And I looked out the window on the 23rd floor and I saw the fireball over northeast ball. I mean, I saw a fire that was 10 storeys high. It was the North. On the east side by Harford road. There was a facility Yeah, right. There was a man who built the church right a little bit once. I have video that fireball and I turned to my wife as a first period of hockey game and we barely unpacked weโre just walking in a city where like I said, weโre this is this is not good for this isnโt good for conventions, itโs not good for anything. And then the next week, the baseball I mean, Angeloโs decided to play a baseball game with tanks circling stadium and cow herd wrote that, but to me, Iโm still like, eight years later, what happened there? Weโre recovering from that night from that fire, but never forget it. I could have said to my wife, weโre in trouble here. You know, I lost quarter million dollars selling my place, right? But I wouldnโt now, the person that bought my place isnโt going to have that problem. I donโt think over the next 10 years because I come in here three, four days a week, and I see things getting better. And I mean it and i i saw it at CFG bank. I sold an opening there. Three weeks later, Iโm back down here. What are you seeing because something got you angry to get involved in this say I want something better than than what I had that night and Fells Point.
Bill Henry 09:57
Well, I think I told you the story. Iโm back when I first came on the program in 19, when I was running for controller, I told you the story of how I was sitting in a hearing in the in City Hall. And I was listening to the city auditor at the time, explaining that they had completed a series of audits that were critical of some of the performance of city agencies. But that the finance director at the time, had argued that they should be held off from being publicly released. And the former comptroller had decided to agree with the finance director, and overrode her own city auditor. And, and, and did this. And this was at a time when it was publicly known as well, that that she was friends with the mayor, like personal friends with the mayor, they owned a business together. And I remember sitting there thinking, you know, if I was the Comptroller, and I was personal friends with the mayor, Iโd be bending over backwards to do what I could to avoid anything that looked like a conflict of interest, like I was trying to do things to protect the mayor. Itโs like, we deserve better than that. And that was really when I crystallized the decision that I was going to go from being a council person and taking care of the neighborhood that I lived in, and the neighborhoods right around it, to worrying about the whole city
Nestor Aparicio 11:52
is connected. Yeah, I mean, as a county resident now in a county business owner, Iโve always been a county business owner, 25 years now, right? Thereโs no wine up there on 83, where that orange sign sits, you know, that says City County, and weโre all in this together. And the people in the county that bag on the city, I wonโt have it Iโll put a stop to last night. Itโs long before
Bill Henry 12:18
I was elected to anything I used to work with. It was called Citizens planning and Housing Association. I think theyโre changing the name to community planning and Housing Association. But they were the organization that was really pushing hard for more regionalism back in the 90s, and the early 2000s, trying to find more ways and more opportunities for Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Arundel County, to all connect. Because like you said, there is no, itโs not like thereโs an actual wall. Right, you know, between, like, our problems are their problems, their problems are our problems. You know, I told us stay out here to count you will be fine. And those those friends of mine, and in the county who would say things like that, theyโre like, Oh, well, thatโs why I moved out here to get away from this in the city or that in the city, I would say, Listen, thereโs no wall. If thereโs a problem in the city, itโs going to be your problem. You just need to wait a little bit. Because if everybody isnโt pulling together to strengthen the city, and make the city as vibrant and positive as you can, any problems weโre having are gonna inevitably slide and spread out from the city. You know, maybe 695 might be a little bit of a firewall or a fire break or whatever. But
Nestor Aparicio 13:54
you driven on 695 lately? They believe me? I did perring Parkway yesterday. No, I always tweeted, Iโm like I I canโt live in a well being 80 miles an hour freeway, they came
Bill Henry 14:06
out and said thereโs a problem. Like whatever that accident on. Yeah, bad. Like theyโve theyโve now formally ruled that both of those cars were speeding, of course they were and and as a result, and between the speeding and just absolutely awful luck when it comes to where theyโve set up the barriers. Now weโve lost,
Nestor Aparicio 14:37
he slow down, you give yourself a chance, you know what I mean? And others and others. Well, give yourself a chance. No, Emery is here he is our controller in Baltimore City. Always of pop culture and sports and you do all of this stuff. But I mean, you gotta get how was the city do when and tell me about revenues with CFG bank any in the stadium and people come in down, there are more people downtown this spring, then there have been in a number of springs that should leave behind some money, it should leave behind some growth. We talked about the Inner Harbor, and whateverโs going to happen there with with new development. And I hope to have David on the program at some point two, how are we doing? Have we picked up from the plague.
Bill Henry 15:22
So as itโs so often the case, weโve got good news. And weโve got bad news. Weโre just kicking off budget season. Right now the finance department has presented a preliminary budget. But for one thing, but for one thing, it would have been a really good budget year, revenues were up, we would have had a small surplus to apply to all the things that we need to be putting more pie. You could you could you could go with infrastructure, you could go with providing young people more meaningful things to be doing after school and on weekends in the summer. You know, because I I consider providing young people with more things to do. Thatโs crime prevention, by correct that is real public safety. Investment is when you tell kids, hey, we care about you, we want to help you do good stuff. But instead, what happened was, there was one little aspect of the Kerwin formula for this big new change at the state level, that is providing more money to schools from the state, but at the local cost of encouraging slash requiring the localities to put this money in, and there was something flubbed in the projections and the equations. And we ended up having to put an extra $79 million in the schools from the local government. Now, thatโs not 79 total, thatโs an extra 79, on top of the almost 400 million we were already putting in. But that extra 79 that we werenโt expecting, ate up all of the surplus revenue, and then some, and we had to dig into our fund balance to keep from having to actually cut services.
Nestor Aparicio 17:40
Well, how is the summer looking on the server ma pools and the things that we talk about for kids? And crime goes up in the summer, right? We all know, we know this, right? And weโve talked about curfews and your brand and talking about all of that. Where are we with providing a better Summer in the City than maybe it was 10 years ago?
Bill Henry 18:00
Again, good news and bad news. First of all, if you havenโt had a chance to go down to the new Middle Branch, fitness and wellness, I mean, itโs not officially the Cherry Hill rec center. But oh my god, it is a thing of beauty. It is an absolutely gorgeous facility. First time I was in it, my thought was, this could be the Rec Center for a world class, private university. I mean this itโs really nice. And and itโs an incredible new amenity for technically the whole city, but effectively for the for the community around middle brand. That like that. So weโre doing these great new improvements and additions around the city. Downside is in a couple places, the the amenities that weโre trying to improve like the Patterson Park pool springs to mind, but thereโs another big pool but Iโm blanking on right now. But in order to fix them in order to do the repairs and the improvements that we need to do the construction season for making those repairs, if the exact same time of the year that it needs to be the community would want to be using it. And so thatโs going to be a hit over I definitely this summer, and maybe next summer for a couple of our big pools is weโre going to be fixing them and improving them. And thatโs a good thing. But it means theyโre going to be offline while we do that,
Nestor Aparicio 19:39
though Emery is here where it fails. And at some point Iโll get to sports with you a little bit let you opine on the Lamarca you know,
Bill Henry 19:46
I Iโm happy to opine on Lamar but I also want to say so far Iโve only been to two games to Orioles games this season. But we are to for to relish Good luck on each dial.
Nestor Aparicio 20:01
Good luck charm for Rella Shep Oh, Henry, but for sports in the city and Iโm a sports guy, right? I mean, Iโm here. My last name is Aparicio, you know, Iโm here because of baseball. So to have a relevant baseball team and the football team to get Lamar and least, thereโs now confidence that thereโs going to be
Bill Henry 20:20
an offense,
Nestor Aparicio 20:23
a chance to win a chance to compete, which is something that the Ravens usually have 12 months a year and the Orioles almost never have had right in the last 30 years gonna
Bill Henry 20:32
have an entire nation of Ravens fans who are looking at becoming CIF and going. If we can just keep everybody healthy, we can go all the way.
Nestor Aparicio 20:45
Right. Well, thatโs that thatโs all you want. Right? Youโre in the business of selling Oh,
Bill Henry 20:50
and we definitely and the baseball team as you have that time we have a we definitely have what we need to hope for. On the football side, on the baseball side. I gotta say I felt better this year than I have and a lot like my daughter. My daughter is 17 Sheโs graduating from high school. She doesnโt have a clear memory of the Orioles being a great team. She has no clear memory of them being a baseball powerhouse. And Iโm really looking forward to seeing the kids who are growing up now. Get to have that for their like for their live like like, like when we were kids. Oreos were great. Yeah, like that was
Nestor Aparicio 21:38
awesome. I was I was in why last weekend on Sunday, after the Chicago and Adam Sandler. I mean, Iโm Iโm still Facebook, and Iโm on the beach looking down and everybody I knew. Now Iโm 55 I know some people a little younger, and they a lot of my friends had kids later in life, theyโre in their 40s. And they didnโt they have kids. Youโre a little older for 17 year old as well, you my kids 38. Right. So itโs it is what it is right. But a lot of my friends do have an under 18 years of age. Now Iโd say under 14 years of age, running the bases going down, literally. And I said to myself, I donโt have any pictures of me doing that because the rules were so friggin arrogant for So Mike, when my kid was 10 years old is when Angeloโs bought the team early 90s the field all thatโs just for people. You canโt you know that thatโs not for the for the great unwashed. And thereโs, thereโs this thing about seeing the kids, theyโre having that kind of day and they want their 30,000 people there. It was a real little league day. And Iโm thinking, well, thatโs a good step for them that these children would want to come back. Because baseball moves at a glacial pace, itโs hard to understand. And you know, especially if youโre not from America,
Bill Henry 22:48
not a glacial pace anymore, right? This this month, that pitch clock
Nestor Aparicio 22:53
thatโs changed everything about the experience, even for a guy that loves baseball, that began to not love baseball, and the shift, and for our games and bad baseball and awful ownership. And just all of that makes you not engage with it. But then you come back now where theyโre good. And you say this is a good place to get back on the train. Yeah, you can go by and Adley rutschman jerseys still being a real fan. And weโre 35 and but thatโs bringing people into the city for your job. And for what weโre trying to do around youโre selling things and making the city better. The Oreos are designed to bring the person from the county who says Iโm not coming to the city, thatโs going to be an entry point for them. It might be Chicago concert, it might be probably not going to be a meal, itโs gonna be the meal with the event, right? Youโre gonna come down and go to the Hippodrome and grab a bite to eat, and youโre going to discover something, but itโs going to be an event and CFG Bank Arena, and the Orioles all and the inner heart. All this is happening at the same time. Thatโs, youโre in a good seat right now. I think youโre going to look like a good politician from all over. Because I think this city is going to be better. The next time you run, which is soon right.
Bill Henry 23:58
Itโs not too soon. We are just about a year year out from the next primary
Nestor Aparicio 24:05
campus. Well, less than that for
Bill Henry 24:06
campaigning. Right. Oh, yeah. campaign. The camp Most campaigns will kick off in the next few months.
Nestor Aparicio 24:12
Right. All right. So weโre at that point, I think you and to some degree, Brandon whenever the time comes there. You mentioned a controller and a mayor being tied to him. Where are you in Brandon and all this? I mean, you guys served. Youโve known when did you must have met him? He was a puppy, right? He was a young, very young. He was a very young person when you met him, right? Literally,
Bill Henry 24:32
I was a young person. Iโm pretty sure I met Brandon. Shortly after he started working in the city council presidentโs office. Back when I was a council person in my first term. And one of my earliest memories of Brandon was walking from the fourth floor up to the fifth floor where my office was, and he came into the stairwell and pay asked me on the stairs, taking the stairs two at a time. And my my my first thought when I saw him do that was Hi, remember what I used to do. When when when I was 23. And I was working in the council presidentโs office. And I have been happy to watch Brandon, though, like, go that whole route from being staff, the council presidentโs office to being a council person to being council president has done it the right way. And now being mayor. Yeah, thatโs I thatโs the way you should do it. I, I appreciate what heโs what heโs done. I appreciate what heโs tried to done. Have we have we what heโs tried to do? What? Have we agreed on everything? No. Like, weโre two different people. Like, we donโt always agree. But the lack of 100% consensus doesnโt stop us from both trying to do everything we can do to make the city better. And working together is a much better way of moving the city forward than constantly fighting
Nestor Aparicio 26:13
biggest issues in the city that youโd like to see. Beyond crime, obviously, but things we that would be benchmarks for, is it getting better as a game because weโre Oh, no, taking the temperatures getting better to get worse, Iโm here saying itโs getting better. I see it, I know it, I feel it, I have no reason to say that other than Iโm honest. And I come down here and I look around, you know, thatโs my reputation over 31 years, calling it the way it is, itโs getting better it is
Bill Henry 26:38
one of the things that gets easier as you get older, is to take a long term perspective on things. And itโs really hard at government at any level, to make real change fast enough for it to be part of a four year electoral cycle. And a lot of elected officials fall into this trap of, I gotta do things that make things look better, quickly, because I gotta be able to point to that, when Iโm running for reelection. A year from now two years from
Nestor Aparicio 27:21
itโs a universal issue.
Bill Henry 27:24
Thatโs just thatโs just an issue with having a democratic process and having regular elections to be popular. And, and, and one of the things that a little age gives you perspective on is some of the things we face need long term solutions. Thatโs thatโs why i Thatโs why Iโve been pushing the idea of increasing the amount of youth development we invest in, you know, when they talk about whatโs the song, the children are a future, right? It if you can make sure that todayโs kids grow up to be tomorrowโs well supported, high functioning, productive members of society. You wonโt have a crime problem in the future, you get a better community, youโll have a better, easier community. Itโll be easier at that point, to take all the resources that right now weโre putting into a police department to fight crime. And I remember Iโm trying to remember his name, Tom, East as Tom is a ton more Tom Murphy. He was the mayor of Pittsburgh. And, and now heโs a consultant for the Urban Land Institute. And he did a workshop for local elected officials couple years ago for a conference here in Baltimore. And he started the con he started the workshop off with how many of you are, you know are from cities where you donโt have enough money? Raise your head here. But I was sitting in front. So he comes, he stands. He looks right down at me. He goes, Whatโs the annual operating budget for your city? And I realized where he was going, and I, I started to look really sheepish. And itโs like, two and a half billion dollars. And he goes with the microphone every two and a half billion dollars. And he looks out of the room. He goes, How can you say you donโt have any money when you have two and a half billion dollars. And then he looks at all of us. And he says, Your problem isnโt that your cities donโt have any money. Your problem is that youโre not spending it on what you want to spend it on. Youโre spending it on what you think you have to spend it on. And there are all these things that we want to be putting more investment into, but we canโt because weโre doing things we have to do and if we itโs, whatโs the old expression? You canโt. Youโre so busy fighting alligators, you donโt have time to drain the swamp, right? Like, we need to put resources and time and effort into draining the swamp. It doesnโt pay off right away. It doesnโt help you get reelected next year. But a 1216 years down the line, youโll have fewer alligators. And then youโll be able to really do what you want to do with your resources. And thatโs what Iโm pushing for
Nestor Aparicio 30:40
Bill Henry shear. Heโs the controller of Baltimore City, a good Baltimorean here, and you can vote for him later. If you live in a city where weโre selling crabcakes here and promoting the Maryland lottery. I have the Maryland crabcake tour. Itโs presented by the Maryland lottery conjunction with our friends at window nation weโre down at fade Leeโs in the old legs in the market about to be the new legs in the market. You see these things that I keep saying I donโt want to suck up to a politician progress the word progress progress is that there is a new Lexington market 50 feet away this place is going to be there soon. Yeah, I walked through there on opening day. These are the reasons Iโm not BS in people. I come down and I walk around and I see things getting better. I see businesses that I love like a meat cheese getting better and people in there and people eating meat cheese Yeah, so but I can mention a dozen different though restaurants and places. Go ahead.
Bill Henry 31:34
The Panay Toronto Ponte returned to earn a return on a return round bracket it used to be like a whole actual bull Yeah, they do they do now they know now they just have like a big round slice of bread with shrimp and scampi files on top. And Iโm just saying times change. Oh my
Nestor Aparicio 31:55
god over there. I think they will dispute this over on my street before itโs all over. I will
Bill Henry 32:00
definitely come check.
Nestor Aparicio 32:02
Alright, well you and I can get a meal over to meet crabcakes over there but that doesnโt mean Iโm not down there. So what I this is my Ameche saying is what you need to do when you go over there. You order the garlic cheese bread toasts the toast. And then you order the meatball ricotta sigh Oh, yeah. And they cut the meatballs in half and you put them on the bread. And you make little
Bill Henry 32:24
meatball open meatballs out
Nestor Aparicio 32:26
with cheese and garlic. And
Bill Henry 32:29
are you gonna afford this guy youโre gonna force me to talk about
Nestor Aparicio 32:32
right here. No, I get. Oh, hold on. Hold on. We got crab cakes coming.
Bill Henry 32:37
How can we how can we be
Nestor Aparicio 32:38
thatโs his crab cake. We got the fried fried oysters. Thatโs all right. Well, Iโll tell you what weโre except that take a break so he can eat that I can eat this. Peter Jensenโs here from the Baltimore Sun. Heโs gonna be joining us. Hey, Peter. He writes things.
Bill Henry 32:52
Yeah, yeah, heโs good at it. I know. Yeah. Those of us who can write we have to talk.
Nestor Aparicio 32:57
Weโve only met on the internet. Weโve never sat next to each other really? So yeah, okay. All right, Amy. This whole face made for radio thing. Thatโs me. Thatโs me face made for radio. Peter jets with the Baltimore Sunโs here. Itโs all brought to you by winter nation and our friends at the Maryland lottery. Iโm going to eat these fried oysters. By the way. The crab cake tour has begun look at that crappy little tomatoes that are delicious. I had never had a fried oyster. Never say never but like it would not nothing I would ever order. And Danny brought these to me about a year ago. And it inspired this summer. My 25th anniversary of NST is August 3. Weโre gonna do the third annual tour but weโre gonna add oysters this year. So Iโm going to do 25 oysters and 25 days and 25 ways. Okay, beginning September 1 To celebrate 25 years and itโs also to kick off a football season. The Orioles to be in the pennant race kids going back to school and itโs got a month with an R and speaking of oyster festivals, one going on this weekend right here in the city of Fells Point. You didnโt see the sign coming down Bradstreet they the big sides. They have no signs Iโm telling you oyster fest 28th to 30th Good weather on Saturday and Sunday. But I love oysters and this is going to be my chance to explore oysters. And Amy has taught me that the oysters and the oxygenation in the bay and the grasses the oysters are wood oxygenates water that keeps crabs alive. So without these you donโt get him be correct. And Iโm going to teach people that donโt me learn things here on the program. But I learned things following him on social media, including like things about Duran Duran and all sorts of 80s Pop Culture no does that right? Favorite band? Yeah.
Bill Henry 34:35
Oh my god. I couldnโt do that. You donโt you donโt have I donโt have a favorite bands. I
Nestor Aparicio 34:39
put you on an island. You take five CDs. What do you take? Thatโs thatโs a wide range.
Bill Henry 34:45
Five CDs. Can I take greatest hits album? Sure.
Nestor Aparicio 34:49
Just five bands. Iโm just trying to figure out real your real music tastes your real taste. You know, I mean, do I want to steal your cocktail sauce because Iโm gonna do
Bill Henry 34:58
I have to I have to Oh yeah, I was fortunate enough to get to go see both Bruce and and the Eagles. And do you know what I found? You love the Eagles more I found I know more songs by the Eagles as a playable Well, that was a big Yeah, like Bruce only played like five songs of the I know a bunch of Seanna Bruce fans might know what the Eagles, the Eagles like they were like going down a list taken off the songs that I know and love. And
Nestor Aparicio 35:28
the eagles were unbelievable. And Iโm a Bruce guy with the Eagles. Theyโre always great. But and you know, thatโs the end of the tour. That was the last night of that extended. I mean, theyโve been doing that Hotel California tour since the middle. I didnโt realize theyโve been doing that since before the plague. But I was in New York in 2020. So theyโve been on that tour for almost three and a half, four years. Itโs the last night they had the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, doing the last resort
Bill Henry 35:53
work and gospel choir.
Nestor Aparicio 35:54
I mean, the whole deal. And Iโm thinking to myself, that might be the last time the band ever does the last resort, because they need an orchestra to do Yeah. And I celebrated the last line of that song. And itโs one of my, one of the greatest songs ever written about America last resort. Itโs itโs a homage to manifest destiny, you know, and we can leave it all behind and sail off to La Hi, Tanya, just like the missionaries did so many years ago. They even brought a neon sign and say that Jesus is coming. You know, so I went to Ohio last week and there was a sign there that says Jesus is coming. There literally is right there is a neon sign it says Jesus is coming. So he and itโs obviously been there since 1975. Mick Fleetwood has a place in La Jolla. Thatโs his place. Yeah, fleet woods, right. Oh, Nick place the drums are twice a month, you can go for under 50 bucks and watch his band and in a little room smaller and fade Leeโs beautiful. So he writes a song. And the end of the song is called some they call it paradise. I donโt know why call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye. And so that that is such a great song. And I thought to myself, my favorite Eagles song and I thought man, the last time they might ever play that is in my old Baltimore Civic Center thatโs dressed up look at it. And I went down to the club level. I went to the bathroom during funk 49. So at the end of the sugars, I had to pee and itโs the Eagles and I had to figure I get setlist and Iโm like, well funk 49 Itโs like a champ thing. Iโll be able to run down and pee and come back. I donโt even know what a bathroom was. And I went down into that club level that used to be function room 102104106 The room that I met every rock star ever in when I was a music critic and all that. And I went down there and it was like a scene from The Shining Phil. I walked in there and was like, was completely empty because the concert was going yeah, it was couple bartenders. And it was like, Iโve been in this space my whole life and they completely pimped it out. Thereโs Zeplin pester and the Beatles poster. And itโs just this giant beautiful gathering space that you want to be drinking in before the show starts. Itโs club level underneath the arena. You havenโt been in a yet. Wait, Iโm
Bill Henry 38:11
trying to under under the 246
Nestor Aparicio 38:12
side if
Bill Henry 38:14
it didnโt have the little the video games in the corner are different. Thatโs a different space. Okay, then no, I wasnโt in that one.
Nestor Aparicio 38:23
Itโs got Zeplin if you peed in there, you would walk past the Zeppelin and Beatles giant posters because the menโs and wait ladies rooms are right there. It looks like a beautiful ornate theater like a like a theater lobby. Itโs beautiful. And I saw it three quarters way through the show. And I ran down and I just had to pee and Iโm like, Oh my god. Oh my god, and I peed and I ran back and I said to my wife. You gotta pee. Sheโs like, No, I donโt. And Iโm like, no, no, no, you gotta pee. And I said, when thereโs the Encore when theyโre done, and theyโre gonna play best in my love and Desperado. Youโre gonna go pee. And sheโs like, all right. I said, Come with me. And we went down there. She walked. Sheโs like, wow, oh my God. You know, Iโm like, I just went down to pee. And I welled up in a different building than Iโve ever been in in my whole life. And Iโm, I havenโt visited it. And Frank Ramesh has invited, but I want to go down there. But itโs a different experience. Even for a guy thatโs been in that building my whole life. I went to that Eagles concert. And I felt like, well, you wonder why three weeks later, I would come here and say to you, I think our city is getting better. Yeah. And thatโs been thatโs thatโs a beautiful family. And it will say that much. I really havenโt been a lot of bitch and a lot of complaining. The baseball teams getting better. The football teams trying we fix the arena.
Bill Henry 39:40
And that keeps everybody feeling better. It does. Yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 39:45
All right. Appreciate you bill Henry. Appreciate it. But for you all over again. Iโll tell my friends in the city to do that. Bill MVC controller Baltimore City, heโs about to eat a world famous delicious. phaleas crabcake all theyโre brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery giveaway. The instance scratches we have people coming in right now. You want one? Sir Here we go. That might be bills but Iโll give you that bill you get a different chicken now. Itโs all brought to you by the Maryland lottery in a freezer window nation 866 90 nation do you wanna wear the funny hat? Nowโs where the funny hat I love the hat. Floppy Hat. Iโll get on that Peter Jensen from the Baltimore Sun is gonna be your next PDF is gonna get his Henry was no chance all right. Donโt tune in come back in half an hour a beach gonna be here. Weโre gonna be talking all things Baltimore and see if the curmudgeon agrees that the city is getting better. Thatโs my favorite curmudgeon. Peter Peter Jensen. On Nesta, we are at fadeless the old family soon to be the new families and weโre in downtown Baltimore. The Charm City back for more on wn st right after this.