Leading Economic Indicators: Drug Dealer Customer Service

When small talk means value-added:

Damien, 27, who quit doing coke almost two years ago, has been contacted by three different cocaine dealers, all wanting his business, since June. “None of my friends mess with that anymore,” Damien says, “It’s like they grew up overnight when the banks died.” Eddie was one of the dealers who has recently contacted Damien. When demand first dropped, Eddie took a vacation. But when the situation failed to improve, he decided to call every name in his phone book until he’d arranged a deal. “It worked,” he says. “I’ll keep doing it until it stops working. But I don’t like small talk. I don’t like having to ask them how their day was.”

Vote With Your Annoyance

Setting aside the way the question was worded — after all, isn’t all advertising basically “annoying”? — there’s an opening here, too:

The poll of 1,290 registered voters, conducted Aug. 18-24, found that nearly 80% have seen the mayor’s TV commercials.

Those who saw the commercials were asked if they were annoying or informative, and 47% said annoying, 41% informative and the rest didn’t know or wouldn’t say.

Asked if the ads made it more or less likely they would vote for Bloomberg, 18% said less likely, 15% said more likely, 64% said no difference and 3% didn’t know or wouldn’t say.

“Mayor Mike might be wasting his money on that zillion-dollar TV buy,” said Quinnipiac polling director Maurice Carroll.

Am I Dense For Just Now Realizing — I Mean Literally Just Realizing About Four Minutes Ago — That Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” Is A Response To Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”?

Maybe I am, maybe I’m not:

On Sunday afternoon, a few dozen ashen-faced night owls — looking for a respite from 90-degree temperatures — took to the beach. They plopped themselves, fully clothed, onto striped lounge chairs and stayed there for hours drinking free PBR. Daniel James, a tattooed nightlife promoter, flipped burgers on a big grill. Showing off bedbug-bitten legs, a girl splashed into the water alone, bouncing a beach ball. “Come on in guys, the temperature’s perfect,” she said, eliciting only confused stares from three tattooed friends.

Forget about Suffolk County’s famous sand though, it all took place in a 700-squarefoot sandbox on Suffolk Street — and the body of water was a two-foot kiddy pool. James, for one, said he’d choose the space — called the “Beach Bar” and located at the back of the Clemente Solo Voce Center — over real sand and surf any day. Kicking up his black motorcycle boots he lit up a Parliament. Exhaling, he said, “The Hamptons is way too far.”

Who Said Investigative Journalism Was Dead?

The Post does the heavy lifting, getting inside of the Standard Hotel and uncovering the horrible truth about the Standard’s viral campaign:

“We don’t discourage it. In actual fact, we encourage it,” a friendly bellhop told a pair of reporters as they checked in yesterday at The Standard, where randy guests cavort with abandon to the dismay — or delight — of parkgoers below.

After the hotel opened late last year, the bellhop said, naked and semidressed staff members were encouraged to pose in front of the windows. The point, he said, was to create a buzz with the unexpected peep show.

“One of the managers even got naked in a room, and filmed it — they were considering a live feed for the Web site,” the staffer said. “She’s an exhibitionist, too.”

Because of course nothing delights a parkgoer more than catching a middle-aged European tourist jacking off in the window . . . so edgy!

Location Scout: High Line.

We’ll Get Higher And Higher, Straight Up We’ll Climb!

All this and you can piss with a view? That’s what dreams are made of:

At CityView Racquet Club, high above Long Island City, members can play a few games of tennis or squash, then relax in the sauna or grab a bite prepared by the in-house chef. They can bump into pros like Andy Roddick and have their racquet strung by the same master. And they can use the urinal — not just any urinal, but one that sports stunning eye-level views of that other borough beyond the East River.