I Apologize To The Woman I Was Incredibly Rude To In The Subway
This morning I did something really out of character for me. I cursed at an older woman. This happened about 25 minutes ago, and it's been eating at me.
As I walked towards the exit of the subway station at 34th St. Herald Square, I was reading AM New York. I do this pretty much every day. I've become pretty proficient at walking while reading. I haven't bumped into a stranger yet, and I have the good sense to put the paper down when crossing the street or navigating heavy traffic.
But today, a woman, mid to late 40s, I'd guess, spoke up behind me. At this time in the morning, I'm only half awake, so I'm not completely sure what she said, but it sounded to me like a command: "Don't read the paper while walking, people are trying to get by."
She said it in a snide, not so polite manner, talking down to me like I was some punk kid. Maybe this wasn't her intent. Maybe she inadvertently left out "Excuse me" or "please." And around us was enough space to drive a truck through, so it wasn't like I was causing a bottleneck.
But in response, I did something inexcusable. I said "F*ck Y*u." Without the asterisks.
As I said, inexcusable. And completely out of character for me. I can't really explain to myself why I did it. I had been sandwiched into a subway car with a guys hand up my ass moments before, and I was half awake, and I was shocked that a stranger would actually say something to me. But none of that would typically make me lose it. That's just not me.
The woman and I jawed back and forth until I finally got up the stairs and hightailed it down the street. I felt remorse as soon as she went out of sight. That's somebody's mother, I thought. What if someone yelled "F*ck Y*u" at my mom?
Even if I thought the woman had an attitude with me first, I took it to another level. It's like if someone pinched me and then I hit them with a baseball bat (note, this hasn't happened, just a metaphor). What I did just soured things all around. If I had just stepped aside and stewed silently about my perceived slight, I would have gotten over it and never thought about it again.
Its amazing that a curse word, even now in 2010, can still make the record skip and the whole mood of the day turn sour. A badly placed curse can really escalate a situation to a place it doesn't need to be.
What a shitty start to the day. For both of us. It didn't have to be like that.
So I apologize, woman in the subway. I totally gave a harsh reaction to you, and it wasn't warranted. I'm truly sorry.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
One Man's Stuyvesant Town Dream Comes To An End
In honor of Stuyvesant Town's transfer of ownership to creditors, check out this video of the birth of Stuyvesant Town, complete with wrecking balls!
Poor Rob Speyer. He probably wishes Stuyvesant Town still was a dilapidated slum with no windows in the bedrooms. It would have cost him a lot less that the $5.4 billion he spent. The property's valued at less than 2 billion now.
Where did Rob go wrong? Well, for one, he bought at the top of the real estate market, right before lines on line graphs everywhere suddenly committed suicide. But Tishman Speyer hasn't helped their cause at all with some terrible, terrible decisions. I've lived in Stuyvesant Town for the past 6 years, and I've witnessed them all.
1) Threatening Old People
Rob Speyer had a great idea. Why rent apartments in Stuyvesant Town's great location at below-market rates, when you could refurbish the rooms and resell them as luxury living? The gains in rent collected would be astronomical. Can't lose!
Except, er. Well, to refurbish those apartments and resell them, you need to kick the current occupants out. And many of those occupants are old people. Old people will not move without a fight. If you've ever seen an old person walk down the street, you know that even getting themselves to move is a complex negotiation that doesn't exactly progress speedily. And tenant laws in New York make it very hard to clear out longtime residents.
What's worse, Stuyvesant Town was created originally for soldiers returning home from World War II. Which means not only are these old people cranky and beloved, many of them are war heroes or family of war heroes. Good luck getting any politically savvy judge to kick them out.
As a resident, I've noted how highly respected the old people of Stuyvesant Town are. These aren't helpless, neglected grannys that can just be forcibly sent to an old age home. The old people living here are the bedrock of New York. You need dynamite, or death to get them out. And unfortunately for Rob, modern medicine is keeping these guys running longer and longer.
2) Ecological Disaster
Shortly after Tishman bought the property, they embarked on an ambitious landscaping project. The project would put in 200,000 plants — including 10,000 trees, 3,123 shrubs and 120,906 perennials. My roommate and I were woken every morning at 7:53 AM by the landscaping crew, which seemed to end their very noisy work around 8:02.
This was Stuyvesant Town when we moved in 6 years ago, before the landscaping project:
Here it is now:
It's actually worse than this... this was taken last April.
I haven't been able to find figures on how much Speyer spent for this travesty, but it's certainly in the millions. The "improvements" have absolutely devastated the property, and there's no end in sight. Every so often, a thatch of new trees or flowers is planted, presumably so they can take some updated exterior shots. Then, within weeks, the dead flowers (or still alive, doesn't really matter) are removed, leaving bare muddy ground. The trees sink into the ground around them, forming puddles that serve as perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The failure is mockable.
Where did Tishman find this landscaping firm? Hades?
3) Wasted Space
Tishman spent millions building five luxury perks to the property: Oval Fitness, Oval Kids, Oval Lounge, Oval Study, and Oval... um, well, its not really important.
The enormous extra fees to access these new amenities deterred most residents from using them (perhaps Tishman was anticipating its new "luxury" residents. But even those who were interested in joining were put off by outrageous restrictions: for instance, the Oval Study, presumably designed for hard workers and students to, you know, study in, originally closed at 6 PM, way too early for any working person or student to use. By the time the hours were lengthened, people had already lost interest. And then there's the discomfort of the tiny spaces being presided over by bored staffers, who seem to be watching your every move.
But the biggest waste of space may be the roofs of the Stuyvesant Town buildings. Once a place where residents could sneak up to watch the fireworks or catch an amazing nighttime view, they've been outlawed and monitored aggressively by security. The roofs of these buildings are huge. Certainly large enough for solar panels, or rooftop gardens, or some sort of rainwater collection facility. Instead, they're completely empty. Missing this potential is a huge oversight for Tishman.
Finally...
There are some things Tishman did right. Concerts and movies in the oval provided great entertainment and an opportunity for the community to come together (even if Kaki King's profanity-laced set wasn't exactly family friendly). And they kept the fountain pumping and looking great. And while I've never used it, the weird putting green in the oval was a nice touch. But you don't improve the value of a property by harassing its residents, wiping out plant life, and providing amenities no one wants while taking away the ones they do.
Tishman Speyer had poor timing, true, but its poor management would have chipped away at the property's value even if the market hadn't collapsed.
In honor of Stuyvesant Town's transfer of ownership to creditors, check out this video of the birth of Stuyvesant Town, complete with wrecking balls!
Poor Rob Speyer. He probably wishes Stuyvesant Town still was a dilapidated slum with no windows in the bedrooms. It would have cost him a lot less that the $5.4 billion he spent. The property's valued at less than 2 billion now.
Where did Rob go wrong? Well, for one, he bought at the top of the real estate market, right before lines on line graphs everywhere suddenly committed suicide. But Tishman Speyer hasn't helped their cause at all with some terrible, terrible decisions. I've lived in Stuyvesant Town for the past 6 years, and I've witnessed them all.
1) Threatening Old People
Rob Speyer had a great idea. Why rent apartments in Stuyvesant Town's great location at below-market rates, when you could refurbish the rooms and resell them as luxury living? The gains in rent collected would be astronomical. Can't lose!
Except, er. Well, to refurbish those apartments and resell them, you need to kick the current occupants out. And many of those occupants are old people. Old people will not move without a fight. If you've ever seen an old person walk down the street, you know that even getting themselves to move is a complex negotiation that doesn't exactly progress speedily. And tenant laws in New York make it very hard to clear out longtime residents.
What's worse, Stuyvesant Town was created originally for soldiers returning home from World War II. Which means not only are these old people cranky and beloved, many of them are war heroes or family of war heroes. Good luck getting any politically savvy judge to kick them out.
As a resident, I've noted how highly respected the old people of Stuyvesant Town are. These aren't helpless, neglected grannys that can just be forcibly sent to an old age home. The old people living here are the bedrock of New York. You need dynamite, or death to get them out. And unfortunately for Rob, modern medicine is keeping these guys running longer and longer.
2) Ecological Disaster
Shortly after Tishman bought the property, they embarked on an ambitious landscaping project. The project would put in 200,000 plants — including 10,000 trees, 3,123 shrubs and 120,906 perennials. My roommate and I were woken every morning at 7:53 AM by the landscaping crew, which seemed to end their very noisy work around 8:02.
This was Stuyvesant Town when we moved in 6 years ago, before the landscaping project:
Here it is now:
It's actually worse than this... this was taken last April.
I haven't been able to find figures on how much Speyer spent for this travesty, but it's certainly in the millions. The "improvements" have absolutely devastated the property, and there's no end in sight. Every so often, a thatch of new trees or flowers is planted, presumably so they can take some updated exterior shots. Then, within weeks, the dead flowers (or still alive, doesn't really matter) are removed, leaving bare muddy ground. The trees sink into the ground around them, forming puddles that serve as perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The failure is mockable.
Where did Tishman find this landscaping firm? Hades?
3) Wasted Space
Tishman spent millions building five luxury perks to the property: Oval Fitness, Oval Kids, Oval Lounge, Oval Study, and Oval... um, well, its not really important.
The enormous extra fees to access these new amenities deterred most residents from using them (perhaps Tishman was anticipating its new "luxury" residents. But even those who were interested in joining were put off by outrageous restrictions: for instance, the Oval Study, presumably designed for hard workers and students to, you know, study in, originally closed at 6 PM, way too early for any working person or student to use. By the time the hours were lengthened, people had already lost interest. And then there's the discomfort of the tiny spaces being presided over by bored staffers, who seem to be watching your every move.
But the biggest waste of space may be the roofs of the Stuyvesant Town buildings. Once a place where residents could sneak up to watch the fireworks or catch an amazing nighttime view, they've been outlawed and monitored aggressively by security. The roofs of these buildings are huge. Certainly large enough for solar panels, or rooftop gardens, or some sort of rainwater collection facility. Instead, they're completely empty. Missing this potential is a huge oversight for Tishman.
Finally...
There are some things Tishman did right. Concerts and movies in the oval provided great entertainment and an opportunity for the community to come together (even if Kaki King's profanity-laced set wasn't exactly family friendly). And they kept the fountain pumping and looking great. And while I've never used it, the weird putting green in the oval was a nice touch. But you don't improve the value of a property by harassing its residents, wiping out plant life, and providing amenities no one wants while taking away the ones they do.
Tishman Speyer had poor timing, true, but its poor management would have chipped away at the property's value even if the market hadn't collapsed.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
National Security
Meet The 8-Year-Old Terrorist The TSA Is Spending So Much Time Protecting Us From (NY Times)
Meet The 8-Year-Old Terrorist The TSA Is Spending So Much Time Protecting Us From (NY Times)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Gay Marriage? No. Drugs? Yes.
So let me get this straight, New Jersey. Two guys marrying each other would be the end of civilization as we know it, but legalizing a long-banned psychoactive drug is a-okay?
Apparently, it's better politically to approve drug use than marriage between two consenting adults.
Yeah yeah, I know. Marijuana is relatively harmless, it's only approved for sick people, blah blah blah. If that's the argument, then why not make gay marriage available to sick people as well? After all, it's harmless and improves the quality of life of the individuals who enter into it (well, for happy couples anyway). I guarantee I can produce some scientific study that shows that gay men or women with illnesses have happier lives and less pain when they're married. I'll just call up the same guys who swear that smoking a burning plant is somehow a safe and beneficial delivery method for a painkiller. If they can demonstrate that in a scientific study, they can demonstrate anything.
The truth is, approving gay marriage, for sick or healthy people, would instantly make the lives of thousands of New Jerseyites better, happier. It would make a few old people and bigots flip a shit, the rest of us would kind of just shrug and go about our business.
Meanwhile, approving medical marijuana just means that it'll be easier for drug dealers to skirt the law-- "Oh no, officer... this is my personal stash, here's my prescription card." Medical marijuana is hardly better than other painkillers, and the delivery method is unlike any other prescribed drug, providing excellent potential for abuse. Admit it guys... it's just a cute way legalization activists have thought up to gather momentum towards their ultimate goal. And you know how I feel about that.
It makes no sense why Jersey would approve one, but not the other. I suspect the only reason is poll numbers-- or good old fashioned bigotry. Because it's certainly not logic.
So let me get this straight, New Jersey. Two guys marrying each other would be the end of civilization as we know it, but legalizing a long-banned psychoactive drug is a-okay?
Apparently, it's better politically to approve drug use than marriage between two consenting adults.
Yeah yeah, I know. Marijuana is relatively harmless, it's only approved for sick people, blah blah blah. If that's the argument, then why not make gay marriage available to sick people as well? After all, it's harmless and improves the quality of life of the individuals who enter into it (well, for happy couples anyway). I guarantee I can produce some scientific study that shows that gay men or women with illnesses have happier lives and less pain when they're married. I'll just call up the same guys who swear that smoking a burning plant is somehow a safe and beneficial delivery method for a painkiller. If they can demonstrate that in a scientific study, they can demonstrate anything.
The truth is, approving gay marriage, for sick or healthy people, would instantly make the lives of thousands of New Jerseyites better, happier. It would make a few old people and bigots flip a shit, the rest of us would kind of just shrug and go about our business.
Meanwhile, approving medical marijuana just means that it'll be easier for drug dealers to skirt the law-- "Oh no, officer... this is my personal stash, here's my prescription card." Medical marijuana is hardly better than other painkillers, and the delivery method is unlike any other prescribed drug, providing excellent potential for abuse. Admit it guys... it's just a cute way legalization activists have thought up to gather momentum towards their ultimate goal. And you know how I feel about that.
It makes no sense why Jersey would approve one, but not the other. I suspect the only reason is poll numbers-- or good old fashioned bigotry. Because it's certainly not logic.
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