This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

orange, originally uploaded by overunder
From the how-long-until-Curbed-links-to-this-post Dept
Tired of Landmark Preservation Commission gossip? Well, here is one last tidbit. Everyone knows about 70 Washington in DUMBO – check out Curbed’s extensive coverage. It is the Walentas huge condo conversion which is currently under construction.
Last week construction began on the Penthouse apartments, which to my knowledge, consist of a single floor vertical extension (that’s roof addition to outsiders) set back approximately 11′-0″ from the edge of the building. The set back was most likely done to satisfy the LPC mandate that any roof addition is minimally visible from public thoroughfares.
Alright, enough with the back story, you say, what is this so-called gossip you are about to dish? Well, it seems that some members of certain Community Boards are questioning the legality of the addition. Namely, questioning LPC whether or not the roof addition was included in the LPC-approved design. For those on the edge of your seats, yes, the addition was included in the approved design.
This just illustrates what lengths community boards (and their constituents) in New York City go through when protecting their historic districts. And what happens when people don’t have the opportunity to go to School Board meetings or join the PTA.
Update – 30 June 2005
From reader nudge:
the picture shown in the 70 Washington commentary is NOT of 70 Washington – it’s of 55 Washington
We stand corrected – we just like Keith’s work and jumped the gun.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Sur by Xefirotarch. Top photo by Xefirotarch, bottom photo by Architect
You would think that with PS1’s dance party event, Warm Up 2005 quickly approaching, they would be (at the very least) advertising the 2 July opening night. But they aren’t. You would think that they would host a few images of the design, some background, or the like; but they aren’t.
In fact, it is nigh impossible to even find who designed this year’s installation – the result of a yearly invited competition of young talent – on PS1’s website. You have to go to Architect to dig out the information and while there, you have to go to the slander boards noting the thread, Xefirotarch @ P.S. 1, to learn that LA-based designer Hernan Diaz Alonso, principle of Xefirotarch, won the competition.
Tired yet?

DSCN8973, originally uploaded by scisar
For those who like archiporn, here are renderings of the competition entry, photos on Archinect, and a construction photo set.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

The Snapple Lady and the Giant Popsicle – photo by Newsday
Well, the city is still reeling from yesterday’s Giant Popsicle Stunt by Snapple. Gothamist has a roundup of local news reactions and a whole lotta photos. The Daily News yucks it up, while The Post overreacts as usual, the New York Times let’s loose a bit, and Newsday keeps a stiff upper lip (but have good photos). Hopefully this doesn’t signal the beginning of the “Summer Funnies” for the New York press – how many days has it been officially summer?
The question begs to be answered: What is funnier than a 20-ton popsicle melting on a hot day in the middle of New York City? Nothing, except imagining the conversation around the boardroom when Snapple dreamed this stunt up.
Here are some photos of the aftermath and a photos set of Snapple Caps photos.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

photo credits: left: Richard B. Levine; right: North Elevation Rendering/Courtesy of Allied Works Architecture
For quite some time there has been a giant kerfuffle brewing at Columbus Circle not due to the Time Warner Building, but because of a Mid-Century Modern building by Edward Durell Stone. 2 Columbus Circle is at the center of the tussle between the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) who want to renovate and use the building for a new museum, and preservation groups who want to save the facade of the idiosyncratic building. Advocacy group Landmark West! – with exclamation point (preservation is fun and exciting!!!!) – has lead the charge with their Campaign for 2 Columbus Circle. The campaign (sans exclamation point) has filed a FOIA request for all communication at the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) concerning 2 Columbus Circle.
On 27 May, 2005 Landmark West! filed an Article 78 lawsuit in conjunction with the FOIA request against LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney, MAD and its affiliates Laurie Beckelman, Holly Hotchner, and Jerome Chazen for “conspiracy to obstruct and subvert the lawful functioning of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.” Basically an Article 78 lawsuit is used when citizens feel the agency in question’s decision is wrong or has been reach by unlawful means. Their point of contention is that LPC will not even schedule a public hearing on the matter of 2 Columbus Circle to inquire on whether or not to Landmark the building, and will not hold a hearing due to wrong or unlawful means.
We have no experience to judge the merits of the Article 78 case, or the dealings between Commission Chair Tierny and Beckelman – but the insinuation which Landmark West! is pushing is that there was backroom dealing going on. Part of the FOIA request apparently has yielded emails between the Chair and Beckelman, former landmarks commission chairman.
From the New York Times via Nexis but available at wired ny:

As proof that Mr. Tierney lacked objectivity, the petition attaches examples of his frequent e-mail exchanges with Laurie Beckelman, the director of the museum’s new building program and a former landmarks commission chairman.
In a message dated May 2, 2003, that accompanied a letter from someone expressing opposition to the plan for 2 Columbus Circle, Mr. Tierney asks Ms. Beckelman, “Laurie, Do you want to see some, all or any of these letters?” Ms. Beckelman responds: “I would really appreciate seeing all of them, if it is not too much trouble. Thanks, Laurie.”
On May 9, 2003, the day after Community Board 5 voted on the sale of the building, Ms. Beckelman writes: “We got the vote 18-8, but I see trouble ahead. Thanks for all of your support, Laurie.” Mr. Tierney replies: “Let me know how I can help on the trouble ahead. Bob.”

Commission Chair Tierney always struck us as an honorable man serving his duty, so it would be a shame if he was responsible for not allowing 2 Columbus Circle a fair hearing. We’re not naive enough that we don’t realize that backroom deals happen all the time – a former LPC Commissioner corresponding with a current LPC Chair does raise eyebrows. To play cynical devil’s advocate: this is how politics works. People in power talk to each other all the time – it isn’t pretty, things happen often against public will, and favors beget favors. But mechanisms such as Article 78 and FOIA shine a light, and this matter will soon pass.
But chew on this: it has come to our attention that in no way shape or form will 2 Columbus Circle be calendared at LPC. No chance at all – and not by Chair Tierney’s desire or alleged machinations.
Food for thought.
But if you want to fight City Hall, you can join the “circle of support” (we can’t make this up) around the building’s famous lollipop base on Thursday, 23 June, at 6 p.m.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Mason’s Bend Community Center, Alabama, originally uploaded by whileseated
Check out this photo set from Samuel Mockbee’s Rural Studio in Mason’s Bend, Alabama.
All of these projects were designed and built by college students under the supervision of Mockbee until his untimely death in late 2001 succumbing to leukemia. I was fortunate to hear him lecture before his passing, and he was quite a dynamic character. With the passing of Sambo, the profession of architecture lost a great moral compass.
See the Rural Studio photo set and all photos tagged with Mockbee and Rural Studio.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Going Under, originally uploaded by DYFL
I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. There has been talk about trying to update or improve taxi cabs, which is a waste of money. What the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission needs to do is to require periodic driving tests for their licenced cabbies. And teach the cab drivers not to accelerate so quickly that they need to slam on the brakes at the next intersection, then accelerate, then brake, etc. etc. Oh – and can the TLC please teach the cab drivers how to actually drive without making the fare scared for their lives? That would be great – thanks TLC.
But with all of that complaining over with, taking the taxi is usually the easiest, safest, and quickest route in the city. But it is very much taking your life into your hands – much like Russian roulette; but with big yellow cabs and foreign drivers. Doctors even ask you here if you wear your seat belt while in the cab.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Jets / West Side Stadium
Yesterday two out of three members of the Public Authorities Control Board voted against the West Side Stadium, thus ending this months long dog and pony show. The developing story line is that this effectively ends New York City’s bid for the Olympics. Which is true, but NYC’s bid was in trouble far before the stadium was itself in trouble.
Today, Mayor Bloomberg has the audacity to say, I think one of the problems here is that we have let down America,” said Bloomberg. “The USOC selected us, New York, to represent the country. In a word – crap. I’m sorry, but the linking of the Jets Stadium to the Olympics was pure lipstick on a pig. Of course selling the Jets Stadium as for the Olympics was a way the expedient way shepherd this project through the popular press and constituents to a tune of $300 million-plus giveaway to the Jets.
The ultimate blame lies with Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and his band of merry NYC 2012 Gnomes. His decision to bypass any sort of democratic check on this boondoggle lead to his demise. Instead of going through the City Council’s land use board, Doctoroff decided that the most politically expedient method was to use Empire State Development Corporation – a vestige of the 1970’s takeover by Albany of bankrupt New York City’s finances. This board has three members: the Governor George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and the Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno. A unanimous vote was needed in order for the Control Board in order to issue bonds in the order of $300 million to fund part of the stadium. Mistake.
Going this route – which was explicitly chosen to decrease citizen involvement – was Doctoroff’s undoing. It is satisfyingly ironic that Tammany-style politics derailed a project which was directly administered along the same lines.
There is no doubt that not getting the Jets Stadium through the Control Board is a major issue at hand for the NYC 2012 crew. One has to wonder why exactly does the bid hang on the stadium issue alone? Wouldn’t a more competent team have created a bid package which had contingencies in place for this exact result? New York City isn’t exactly known for its’ lack of backroom politics.
Or better yet, shouldn’t Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff have directed his NYC 2012 minions to create a bid package which was not contingent on shepherding a complex project through both City and State agencies? Or perhaps this really was just a charade to give away $300 million to the Jets and the Olympics was an afterthought? Inquiring minds want to know.
In the end, the Mayor can stop whining about withdrawing New York’s bid. You reap what you sow.
Not to bring it up (again), can we now take that ugly sign off the Union Square Clock? Thanks.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Incoming, originally uploaded by plemeljr
So this is pretty frivolous – I swear I won’t post cat pictures soon – but I thought this line of showers coming my way was pretty cool looking.
Looks like it will be rain on the way home. New York never really seems to have the big summer deluges I was so used to growing up in the Midwest. Looks like that will change tonight.

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Dear Pigeon Whisperer,
Sir or Madam, I do not know your name. In fact, I do not know you at all. What I do know, is that you are an active enabler of pigeon reproduction, which must stop.
Now.
I know you pass by the tree in the park with the hollowed out hole where pigeons roost. I know this, because you leave two slices of bread every morning, rain or shine like clockwork, on the cusp of the hollow. Every morning. And every morning, the Pigeons in the Hollow glare smugly at me, content at their gifted grain bounty.
I know that you think you are helping things, oh Pigeon Whisperer. You might think that feeding the Pigeons in the Hollow is a selfless act, or that there is nothing wrong with feeding the pigeons. You might think that feeding the Pigeons in the Hollow is a service to the city. While the City of New York does own the pigeons, I’m sure leaving two slices in a hollow every morning is not a standard operating procedure.
Oh Pigeon Whisperer, do you not know the result of your actions? Or do you not care?
Because of your comestible gift, you have become the vital link in high-speed pigeon reproduction. I’ve noticed, oh Pigeon Whisperer, that you do not tarry in the park after your early morning gifts have been deposited. You do not have the honor, nee, glory of experiencing the repercussions of your gift. Namely, the act of pigeon fornication which seemingly is scheduled, daily, during my jaunt through our park. You merely deposit and withdrawal, while I am left to view an Animal Planet x-rated show.
Because of your victual endowment to the Pigeons in the Hollow, every two months there are two new pigeons for you to feed, oh Pigeon Whisperer. So far, the Pigeons in the Hollow have produced six pigeon, dare I say, babies. While they are undoubtedly cute for a short time, the offspring eventually grow up to match their mice-with-wings parents. Cuteness since gone, replaced with droppings and flappings; ready to make more pigeons when the time is right.
Pigeon Whisperer, you are unleashing a horde of pigeons on Greenpoint. You must stop!
Because of your gifts of grain, you are accelerating pigeon birth rates, and it must end now. It must stop before the park is overrun (again) with pigeons. The world will survive without feeding the Pigeons in the Hollow; regardless to what you might think, Pigeonkind does not depend on your two-slice-a-day habit.
Instead of bequeathing a loaf of bread on the Pigeons in the Hollow, perhaps giving that same loaf to the homeless shelter would be an alternative? While you can’t crumble the bread into little pieces and have the homeless eat out of your hand, oh Pigeon Whisperer, I know you can adjust to your new found philanthropy.
Yours Truly,
the grubbykid

This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Union Square Clock, Solved, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Just to let the record stand, we were right (thanks to a tip from Jared) about the Union Square Clock Mystery, as confirmed by my own reporting and the Gray Lady. This is actually old news – I think Curbed had a similar photo a few weeks ago – which is (like, totally) about 4.5 blog years ago. I had taken the photo above for awhile, but I had lost the memory card.
Just like I thought the banner they put up is both obvious and ugly. Letting viral marketing and word of mouth develop would have created more “buzz” for the Olympics, instead of creating a banner which treats every New Yorker as a dumb bumkin, is typical of the Bloomberg administration.
Have we come to a point in culture where the message has to be so explicit? So obvious? Or Ugly?