Author: linked

When I lived in Ecuador in the 1970s, they had these wonderful buses that basically amounted to a crude wood cabin on an old truck chassis. I imagine that would be a step up from the American Airlines experience these days.

Here’s some great tourist advice – hop aboard the New York Water Taxi and check out “the historic, artsy and vibrant neighbourhoods of Brooklyn including DUMBO and Williamsburg…”

Better pack a sandwich or two, though – the Water Taxi won’t be stopping in DUMBO or Williamsburg until July.

Bruni has a wonderful reminiscence of Florent, and by extension downtown and New York before it was all business class. I first went to Florent in the late 80s, probably after a night downtown. When we moved to Hudson Square (nobody called it that then) in ’89, Florent was a frequent dinner or breakfast choice. It wasn’t exactly nearby, but everything west of Greenwich felt like the same neighborhood.

I spent most of the ’90s tending bar on Spring Street, and after a good night, we’d head to Florent for breakfast – usually around 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, sometimes later, rarely earlier. After mediocre nights, we’d hit the Waverly Restaurant for cheap eats, but whenever possible, it was to Florent for steak and eggs (and more drinks). (After slow Sunday shifts, I’d usually hit Blue Ribbon and spend my shift pay with Alonzo at the raw bar, but that’s a different story.)

Hetero, homo or trans, Gansevoort has been over for close to a decade now (ditto “Hudson Square”, or that part of Spring west of Hudson). And no, its not the fault of Sex and the City – that was but one symptom, never the cause. I really hope that Florent got a good settlement out of his landlord.

Very sad news – I hope its not as bad as they say. But I’ve thought that about others before.

John McCain won the Indiana Republican primary with just over 75% of the vote. That’s right, almost one in four Republicans (in this very Republican state) went to the polls to vote for someone else. He actually fared less well in North Carolina, where – running unopposed – he received less than 75% of the votes (ditto for Pennsylvania two weeks ago).

Photo: Fred Conrad (via NYT)

A stunning image of the (almost complete) digester eggs at Newtown Creek WPCP. Designed by Polshek Partnership, this is probably the pinnacle of contemporary design in Greenpoint.

The Williamsburgh Savings Bank (the one on Flatbush, not ours) may soon be home to the world’s first Microsoft Store. [Insert joke here.] That, at least, according to the new broker for the landmarked space. Its not clear if this is actual news or just an attempt by a broker to get Apple’s competitive juices flowing.

But really, a Microsoft store? A 33,000 square foot Microsoft store? In a landmark interior? In a building with no street-level retail presence? For $2 million a year in rent? With your only store in the world on Flatbush and Atlantic? I’m no fan of Microsoft, but even I don’t think they’re that dumb.

This space would make a great Apple store. But Apple already has three other stores in the city, in very high traffic areas. Apple also has the goods to sell – once you get past Zunes and XBoxes, what’s left? The Vista Bar?

David Yassky is pushing a bill that would extend most-favored-parker status for some large businesses in the city. As I understand it, businesses that agree to give up their right to contest tickets are given a break on the total fines of the tickets they are issued. Yassky says this bill makes it a little bit easier for businesses making deliveries to do business in the city. Opponents say the law increases traffic and congestion and gives large businesses preferential treatment.

As part of the congestion pricing plan, I thought that parking fines for commercial vehicles should be reduced in the city. This would have offset the cost of entering the congestion zone for commercial vehicles, and, combined with the benefits of less congestion, would have addressed much of the “working class” objection to Blomberg’s plan.

Via Wired, news that BMW looking to reintroduce its Isetta as a zero-emissions electric car. The original Isetta (seen at Wired ) was a three-wheeled ugly duckling that fit into the era of other classic post-war Eurocars (2CV, Morris Mini, 500, et al). Unlike the new Mini Cooper, the new Isetta concept (seen in the Autocar link, above) pales in comparison (the 500 has been in more or less continuous production, for better and worse).

Also intriguing: BMW is considering using this as the base for a “range of city cars”, including internal combustion models based on its motorcycle engines.