Finding the Local Color

The words New York don't naturally sidle up to the bar next to the words white trash, but neither is the Big Town a pure bastion of Euro-influenced cosmopolitanism. A guide to some local manifestations, self-conscious and otherwise, of down-home culture:

UNSELF-CONSCIOUS

There city's only trailer park, apparently, is Goethals Mobile Park on Staten Island (2701 Goethals Road North).

Lower East Side Wrestling Gym opens its doors for a monthly "exhibition" wrestling night (605 FDR Drive, at Houston Street). Doink the Clown, Damien Dementias, Johnny Gunn, Brutus the Barber Beefcake (Hulk Hogan's brother), and friends face off for a hooting crowd.

NRA members and other gun funsters outfit themselves at Olinville Arms in the Bronx (3356, White Plains Road). There's a shooting range downstairs. And, yes, they do carry the Fig semi-automatic pistol.

Tad's Famous Steaks (119 West 42nd Street and four other locations). Good and good for you.

Madison Square Garden hosts the biannual U.S. Hot Rod Motorsports Extravaganza, featuring tractor pulls and monster trucks. The next one is tentatively scheduled for early '95. The annual New York International Motorcycle Show rolls into the Javits Center next February.

SELF-CONSCIOUS

Hogs & Heifers saloon (859 Washington Street, in the meat-packing district). "I sell more Pabst Blue Ribbon than anybody," boasts owner Allan Dell. A new treat: Jack Daniel's on tap.

Diesel Only (100 North 6th Street, Brooklyn) puts out seven-inch singles of trucker music, or "Rig Rock." The Williansburg-based record label distributes to truck stops nationwide and locally to Cajun-food establishments like the Great Jones Café and Two Boots.

TriBeCa hipsters slum at the Jim Jarmusch—ish Babydoll Lounge (34 White Street).
—Anya Sacharow