Month: September 2008

Again, I think term limits are good in theory, bad in practice (and particularly bad in practice here in NYC). I also think that Bloomberg has been a very good mayor (which isn’t to say Thompson, Wiener, et al wouldn’t also be).
But I don’t think this is the way to undo term limits. The people have spoken (twice) – they (we) may be horribly misguided, but the people have have spoken.

Manhattan skyline, circa 1940s.
Photo: via New York Architecture Images

In the process of continuing to hate the Museum of Art & Design, Nicolai Ourousoff puts forth his list of the 10 worst buildings in New York City. Not just plain old ugly, but ugly on a urban scale – truly ruining-the-city ugly:

To be included, buildings must either exhibit a total disregard for their surrounding context or destroy a beloved vista. Removing them would make room for the spirit to breathe again and open up new imaginative possibilities.

I have to say its to hard to argue with any of the buildings on his list, but applying his criteria I think he misses a major blight on the city – lower Manhattan. Compare the before, above, with the after, below. What was once a skyline of narrow skyscrapers, permeable from within and without, is now obscured by a wall of banality.

(The tallest building in the 1940s photo is the former City Services Building, for about a week or two the tallest building in the world (and at least for the moment, the AIG building. In the contemporary photo, you can barely see the gorgeous spire of City Services peeking out over the glass trapezoid at the foot of Pine Street.)

Manhattan skyline, circa 2008.
Photo: Virtual Tourist

A funny thing happened on the way to the aircraft carrier…
This morning, John McCain was claiming credit for getting the bailout bill passed. By his own account, McCain was a man of action, “in the arena” and not just “phoning it in” (even though he was, in reality, just phoning it in).
Oh, and later this morning the Republican caucus voted two to one against the bailout package and the stock market dropped over 7% of its value on the day.
John McCain’s “Mission Accomplished” moment?

Yes, this is really GL territory, but in Bob’s absence, it had to be noted: fewer free rides from Ikea.

10 or 12 years ago, Utne Reader outed Williamsburg as the next hip neighborhood (we laughed). Now BusinessWeek is claiming Bushwick as an a up and comer (we cry?).

And then there were four.
With just under a year until the Democratic primaries, Assemblyman James Brennan has announced that he is withdrawing from the race to succeed Bill Thompson. That leave Yassky, Katz, Carrión and Weprin still in the running.
All this assuming, of course, that term limits remain in effect…

As I mentioned a while back, I wonder if the shift to smaller units will turn out to be chasing a passing market?

Great news – the backhoes are out in force at McCarren Pool.

The Observer reports on the Wall Street crisis from a Brooklyn perspective.
If the coming depression closes down Sea, it might be worth it. (The Brooklyn Inn, on the other hand, would be an epic loss.)

Still no GL, so more extra links from the internets for you. First up, Brownstoner has more complete coverage on the seemingly nefarious goings on at the Greenpoint Home for the Aged (the building tucked into the elbow of Oak Street), which NAG first reported earlier in the week.