Plethora of Historic Designations in Manhattan

The Griffon Apartment building on Park Avenue in Murray Hill has an Historic Designation...like so many other places around the area.

Let me see what internet has on the Griffon:(This is from what is basically a real estate listing...some tantalizing bits in here though if you keep reading)

PRICING INFORMATION FOR The Griffon
Three Bedrooms from $1,950,000 (updated January 23, 2012)
One Bedroom from $995,000 (updated January 26, 2012)

• View Apartments for Sale
• Schedule an Appointment

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT The Griffon
Contact us about buying or selling an apartment in The Griffon .
Email Us OR Call (212) 755-5544

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The Griffon - 77 Park Avenue: CARTER'S REVIEW

This 127-unit condominium building was designed by Margon & Glaser and completed in 1925. Its apartments have fireplaces and the building has an elevator person and a roof garden. One of the closest residential buildings to Grand Central Terminal, this Murray Hill property achieved some notoriety in 1936 when Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey accused one of its residents, Mrs. Abraham Z. Schiebel, alias Mary Briggs, of having violated the Mann Act by transporting "Boots" Carter from Pittsburgh for immoral purposes and running a place of prostitution in her apartment in the building.
"Names of customers found in her records included the owner of a major league baseball team, a bank president, and some major business executives," according to James Trager in his book, "Park Avenue, Street of Dreams," 1990, Atheneum. Mrs. Schiebel was sentenced to four years in prison ...

Finally, Snow and a More Recognizable January....

This has been an unusually mild winter for New York City, with scant snow ever making it to the ground...I can only remember one snowfall so far for the whole season, in fact...

That may be changing now...the first real January snowstorm started out promisingly...but, I have to admit, it petered out into drizzle and what the weather forecasters call a "wintry mix"-- and the cleared up and was just very cold ( but hardly anything unheard of for this time of year).

New York is not alone in this...most of the middle of the country has seen a milder winter with a lot less snow...

The main thing about this snowfall was how really treacherous it became underfoot....I was wearing thick soled winter boots designed to provide you with maximum traction and I still had to watch my step.

I am used to long walks on pretty much a daily basis, and only got to walk a moderate amount today...it was just too dangerous feeling. Saw couples holding hands to help each other keep their balance...and two young Asian women who left their apartment building in three inch heels and soon realized their mistake ( they last I saw, I think they were desperately trying to get a cab).

Well, the forecast is just for cold weather tomorrow and then another mild spell...guess REAL winter will not get here until February.

I feel convinced it will come, though...just a matter of the law of averages. Even if global warming is being documented more and more ( some glacier in Chile is melting at an alarming rate--right of that movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

Madison Avenue in lower East 30's--one carpet store after another

Historically, stores in the same business cluster in same areas in Manhattan ( particularly the Garment District....which used to spill outwards in all directions for blocks and blocks and with little extensions for certainly specialties appearing a long way from the center of the District).

Going back about 40 years, I can remember how there were all these stores on the Bowery which specialized in kitchen fixtures, like sinks....and some in kitchenwares....also was then the home of the old, old Sammy's Bowery Follies, a big barn of a place which tried to carry on traditions that went back to the 1890's ( it was really something of a tourist trap but fascinating).

Today neighborhood down there is pretty much gentrified...would not be surprised if office buildings with carpet showrooms did not some day get turned into condo buildings..but not in this economy.

Aerial Tramway to Roosevelt Island....

While there is a subway station on Roosevelt Island, many people prefer the aerial tramway.

This posting seems silly and incomplete without a picture of the tram car itself...have waited around forever and tram car never appeared ( or saw it speed by when I was not ready with camera).

Here is a link to a YouTube posting on the aerial tramway...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0vKE2kcRKA

Watching this will give you an appreciation of the whole operation.

Designer Glasses

Designer glasses, if my memory serves me right, started to come in in the early 1970's with the advent of "aviator frames" and the increased popularity of gold rimmed glasses.... ( I wear gold rimmed retro aviator type frames now, as do tons of other men....in fact, found myself on a subway car a couple of months ago and realized that there were--Good Lord-- half a dozen older men, all of us with similar physiques, and ALL wearing gold rimmed aviator style frames! Makes you realize again that no matter how individual you think your choices are, there are loads of other people who will make the same or a similar choice! Same goes for "new ideas" in the Arts, Politics,  etc. ( which often turn out to have precedents and are not as new as they may seem to the people who come up with them).

But I digress-- woman used to hate to wear glasses especially ( --there was the famous Dorothy Parker line, "men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses"--) though growing boys sure did not like being called " four eyes" ( I did not wear glasses until I was over 16 and suffering all kinds of symptoms that turned out to be part of the thyroid cancer I was suffering from)..

Seems today people like Tina Fey and others in show biz have led the way in making wearing glasses a  kind of "look" that more people enjoy.

Of course, contact lenses now exist that will even correct for stigmatism and then there is the extreme measure of laser surgery ( a woman Spanish professor of mine at City Tech some years back had her eyes "done" and I remember she had quite a few difficulties and adjustments to make once the procedure had been completed...it is not for everybody, and some of its early adherents now question whether it is really a good idea).

Finally, let me see if there is anything of value on the internet about Designer Glasses:

(Here I had to delete a bit of the history of glasses because of technical difficulties...will just take a bit from this really interesting website I found)

	Though roughly made, early spectacles were full of charm and rapidly became a symbol of wisdom and learning. Later glasses quickly became more technically sophisticated. One of the most important industries, the German spectacles industry, was formulated in 1535 with the issuance of regulations of the Nuremberg spectacle makers’ guild. In London in 1629, King Charles I granted a charter incorporating the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers. Unfortunately all of their earliest records were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 except for that charter. During most of the 17th century, Germany remained the center of spectacle making. Germans made the finest frames while the Italians made the highest quality lenses. The early lenses were still cloudy until manufacturing developed and flint was added to make the glass clearer. Genuine, original pre-1700 spectacles are exceedingly rare today and are highly treasured by museums and collectors alike.

Midtown Manhattan as a discount center....e.g., for electronics

For years and years, tourists have shopped in Midtown Manhattan, looking for bargains for all kinds of goods...especially such items as digital cameras ( unless they are Asian, who are already well equipped that way).

Apropos of nothing, just heard a broadcast on NPR about the horrible conditions some Chinese workers suffer under....one woman was allowed to join a union,(to her surprise), but when she had a complaint she was immediately fired-- and, she discovered, put on this huge "Blacklist" that the Chinese companies share with each other to make sure they never hire anybody who may be a potential "troublemaker."

There was also one old Chinese man who had had his hand deformed working in a factory that produced ipads for Apple. The reporter who spoke to him happened to have one and showed it to him...he said the old man's eyes lit up when he saw it turned on...he had never seen one in operation!!

The last American electronics firm to hold out at all from the Asian onslaught was, I believe, Motorola...think some Asian company owns that name now.

Just a little something from the internet about discount stores in Manhattan--

Bill would bag phony-purse buyers

By JOHN DOYLE

Last Updated: 11:05 AM, April 26, 2011

Posted: 12:46 AM, April 26, 2011

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EXCLUSIVE

Pretty soon, it could be more than just the fashion police who have a problem with your shoddy knockoff bag, like this bogus Louis Vuitton.
Buyers could face a year in jail or a $,1000 fine under a proposed bill by a city councilwoman fed up with cheapskate tourists and Big Apple residents flooding her district in search of fake designer merchandise.
"We don't want to be known as the place to come to get counterfeit goods," said Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose Chinatown district is ground zero for counterfeiters.
Under Chin's bill, which is being introduced Thursday, shoppers caught buying any counterfeit product could be jailed or slapped with a fine of $1,000 -- a little less than the price of Marc Jacobs' frequently copied Baroque Quilting Mini Stam bag, which retails for $1,250.

"It's a very big problem," Chin said of the counterfeit market. "People are still coming, and the industry is growing, and we have to stop the demand. We need people to know that they are feeding this demand."

(English Speaking Union offices in Murray Hill

Among the many consulate, organizations and associations in Murray Hill is the English Speaking Union...

It was set up to foster relations between English speaking people. They don't speak about it on their website, but I am convinced it attracts people who have an interest in maintaining the "Special Relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K.

Here is just something from the internet (wikipedia):

he English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational charity which was founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918. The ESU aims to "bring(s) together and empower(s) people of different languages and cultures," by building skills and confidence in communication, such that individuals realize their potential^[1]. With almost 40 branches in the United Kingdom and over 50 international branches in countries around the world, the ESU promotes a variety of activities such as debating, public speaking and student exchange programmes, runs conferences and seminars, and offers scholarships, to encourage the effective use of the English language around the globe.
The mission statement of the English-Speaking Union (as stated on its website) is to:

• Provide a forum for international friendship through the support of the worldwide network of ESUs and the provision of secretariat facilities for the International Council at the ESU's headquarters at Dartmouth House, London;
• Facilitate and assist the establishment and recognition of ESUs worldwide;
• Focus on key current affairs issues through regular international conferences, seminars and taff and voluntary helpers;
• Work in close and innovative partnership with its corporate members and sponsors.

 

New Year's Eve- William Carlos Williams citation

Another great plaque from the Library Way in Midtown...very mild New Year's Eve, by the way, saw young men playing basketball in St. Vartan's Park in summer sportswear...

Note on Williams from internet from Poets' Blog site:

William Carlos Williams

In 1883, William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. He began writing poetry while a student at Horace Mann High School, at which time he made the decision to become both a writer and a doctor. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he met and befriended Ezra Pound.
Pound became a great influence on his writing, and in 1913 arranged for the London publication of Williams's second collection, The Tempers. Returning to Rutherford, where he sustained his medical practice throughout his life, Williams began publishing in small magazines and embarked on a prolific career as a poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright.
Following Pound, he was one of the principal poets of the Imagist movement, though as time went on, he began to increasingly disagree with the values put forth in the work of Pound and especially Eliot, who he felt were too attached to European culture and traditions. Continuing to experiment with new techniques of meter and lineation, Williams sought to invent an entirely fresh—and singularly American—poetic, whose subject matter was centered on the everyday circumstances of life and the lives of common people.
His influence as a poet spread slowly during the twenties and thirties, overshadowed, he felt, by the immense popularity of Eliot's "The Waste Land"; however, his work received increasing attention in the 1950s and 1960s as younger poets, including Allen Ginsberg and the Beats, were impressed by the accessibility of his language and his openness as a mentor. His major works include Kora in Hell (1920), Spring and All (1923), Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962), the five-volume epic Paterson (1963, 1992), and Imaginations (1970).
Williams's health began to decline after a heart attack in 1948 and a series of strokes, but he continued writing up until his death in New Jersey in 1963.

Henry George School of Social Science...121 East 30th Street

Wondered how I had missed this place all the times I have walked this block on East 30th Street....it may be a relatively new place.

Based on the ideas of Social Thinker Henry George...it offers courses and seminars, (most of them free it seems if not all of them)-- to "Explain basic economic and social science principles."

Here is a lift from their website about upcoming free forums

Friday Evening Forums

All forums are free and open to the public, and begin at 6:30 pm.

Empty Apartment Buildings in NYC

January 13th, with Mr. Billy Fitzgerald
New Yorkers see them all the time: new apartment buildings, the entrance locked, without a single resident. Why are these buildings empty while apartment rents increase? Join us as we investigate ways to make housing affordable for all.

The Economy on Trial

January 20th, with Dr. Nibaldo Aguilera
The economic elite are indicted as American workers and studnets confront corporate greed and irresponsible governments. Why confront Wall Street? What public spaces should be "occupied"? What is the way forward?

Poverty and Urban Blight

January 27th, with Mr. Joshua Vincent
Overviews from some of America's poorest cities will pinpoint patterns of land ownership as factors in disinvestment and capital flight, Demographic and locational data are synthesized to illustrate where reforms are needed.

Land Value Taxation in the U.S.

February 3rd, with Mr. Andrew Mazzone
Could communities in the United States pay for public services and infrastructure with user fees on natural resources? This simulation of Georgist methods will reveal the value of monopolies of land and other natural opportunities.

Economics of Health Care

February 10th, with Dr. Demetrios Karides
Of the developed countries, the United States spends the highest amount per person on health care, yet has millions of people without medical insurance. Where does this money go? What is the relationship between high cost and high-quality patient care? Dr. Karides will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the American system and suggest ways to get better care at lower cost.

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Spooky Doorway

Something about this SPC Doorway strikes me as so spooky...let me see if I can find out if there is any clue what SPC is on internet...

No, all it wants to give me for SPC is St. Paul's Chapel and that certainly isn't it.

WAIT,  someone has just informed me that is a security company...that makes sense, it has the eerie watchful look of that ( once did some work for a security agency whose logo was a large eye-- reminded me both of the old CBS eye and also of Orwell's "1984") ( By the way, son of founder of the company, who was a college graduate, had no idea of what I was talking about when I told him of the Orwell idea-- he had never heard of "1984" ( this happened about 1986, as I remember).... as I was to find out later, and evidenced all the time by such humorous bits as Jay Leno's "Jaywalking," there are all sorts of "educated" people in our society now who are clueless about all sorts of cultural references everyone who was educated used to take for granted-- in fact, many of them do not know the simplest facts about, say, American history ( Michele Bachmann being a glaring example).

New Bus Service...fooey

City bus lines in some cases have done changeover to new system which is a pain..called "Select Service'"--have to buy pass at machine at bus stop with Metrocard. Bug fine if they catch you boarding without the pass!

I don't think this is an improvement on the old bus service at all..

Let us see if there is something on the internet

Most people seem on the whole to approve of the service but one review notes some drawbacks:

Bus bunching proved to be the biggest complaint, causing waits of up to 20 minutes at times and waits of less than one minute at others.
Many times it was local M15 buses blocking the way for the faster SBS. Still, with fewer stops and a (mostly) respected dedicated lane, it was a faster bus trip up and down the east side than I’ve had before. Half an hour each—less time than it took me to write this, which I started at about 50th street on my cell phone next to confused passengers still wondering what to do with the paper receipt they were told to keep as proof of sidewalk payment. One person suggested there be recycling bins for the new paper waste.

Security on West 34th Street

A lot of money changes hands over on 34th Street near 7th Avenue, and security for it is of course fairly tight...haven't seen the latest crime stats yet about robberies etc. in Midtown...suspect there are more of them now with bad economy.

Another Branch of 2nd Avenue Deli- Uptown

Knew 2nd Avenue Deli had moved up to East Thirties in Manhattan...did not realize it had a place way uptown on First Avenue, too. They also have a clock with Hebrew characters.,..

Little Picasso Studio

Little Picasso Children's Art Studio is only storefront place I have ever seen in Manhattan teaching art to small children...

Let us see what is on internet

They will get messy, they will have fun, they will create, and they will experiment...with different colors, photos, crafts, shapes, dough, texture, animals, cut and past, sculpting, drawing, sketching, and much more! Our Art Classes are designed to help your little artists discover the inner picasso in them while allowing their own unique personality to flourish and thrive.

Fancy Purses at Holiday Time

Fancy purses with elaborate Menorah in shop window on 2nd Avenue in the Upper 50's...This whole area is given over to specialty and design shops....places where they sell Italian Wood Floors, an outfit called Euroconcept and a special street sign at 58th and 2nd that says "Designers' Way."

Tudor City at Christmas

As usual, Tudor City Park has nice decorations up for holidays...

Think remember already posting somewhere there was going to be a special holiday event at the park ( I think meant just for residents of Tudor City though).

Let me see if I can find anything on the internet-- wait, they already had their tree lighting etc. Just this one event left

CHANUKKAH CELEBRATION

Tuesday, December 20^th

6:30 pm, North Park

Seasonal greenery on sale

Liked these very festive little items of Christmas decor...meant to buy one for myself but forgot. I will try and find this place again...

"As Featured on the BBC"-- Laila Rowe

My usual path of traveling during the week takes me past this woman's shop every week... I was surprised to hear the a BBC show which does a New York segment interview a young British woman who was working at the store. She made it sound pleasant enough...

There are enough people from the UK in New York now for there to be an area called "Little Britain" down in Greenwich Village which has shops which feature truly authentic Brit fish and chips etc. ( they are choosey about the kinds of potatoes and oils and seasonings they use, for instance).

Let us see if there is anything on the internet more about Laila Rowe:

Well, found some reviews, only one of which was really favorable. I guess from what limited knowledge I have from the internet now, I don't know if I could recommend the place. If anyone reads this who has knowledge of the store, please leave a comment...

Talking about helium-- again!

Each of these balloons should actually cost about $100, says one of the world's leading experts on helium...

Keep bringing this up because it shows how big money wins out every time over conservation and recycling.

World helium reserves are running out, Nobel laureate claims

The world's reserves of helium are running out the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Robert Richardson, has claimed.

World reserves of helium are running out, Nobel laureate prof Robert Richardson has claimed Photo: Jonathan Trappe / Barcroft USA

By Laura Roberts

9:40AM BST 23 Aug 2010

24 Comments

Experts have warned that the inert gas is being sold off far too cheaply and that resources could run out within 25 to 30 years.

Prof Richardson has called for America to reconsider its policy to sell off its helium reserves by 2015 as a result.

A US law, passed in 1996, has ruled that the US National Helium Reserve, located in Amarillo, Texas, should be sold off within 20 years.

Helium, a non-renewable resource, is used in MRI scanners (which are cooled by the gas), airships and also by anti-terrorist authorities who used it for their radiation monitors.

It is created by the radioactive decay of terrestrial rock and most of the world's reserves have been derived as a by-product from the extraction of natural gas.

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Around 80 per cent of the world's reserves are in the American South-west.
However, because the gas is sold so cheaply there is no incentive to recycle it. Nasa uses enormous quantities to clean its rockets to get rid of explosive fuel but none of the gas is reused.
Prof Richardson, professor of Physics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, co-chaired an inquiry into the impending shortage convened by the US National Research Council, an arm of the US National Academy of Sciences.
He claims that helium should rise by between 20- and 50-fold to make recycling more worthwhile.
Professor Richardson also believes that party balloons filled with helium are too cheap, and they should really cost about £64 to reflect the precious nature of the gas they contain.
He told The Independent: "Once helium is released into the atmosphere in the form of party balloons or boiling helium, it is lost to the Earth for ever, lost to the Earth for ever."

Ginseng

Ginseng plants at different ages...not everyone should take this traditional herb, studies show, especially if they are on certain kinds of medications.

"The Naked Now"-- about Mysticism

The New Church (as far as I know, still Swedenborgian) offers provocative invitation to talks on mysticism....

Computer sale

Not the Apple Store, that's for sure....wonder what kind of computer this one is.

Mixed Use or Apartments?--It is a Condo Building....

Always thought this was just another office building...guess it has apartments too.

Let me see if internet lists anything for 400 Fifth Avenue...what do you know it is a condo bldg.

Building: The Residences at 400 Fifth Avenue at 400 Fifth Avenue in Midtown South

Condo

83 floorplans
1 discussion
Past sales

Midtown South

60 floor building with a total gross area of approximately 570,000 square feet. The new building contains a five star hotel, with 214 hotel rooms, including 157 guestrooms and 57 hotel/suite apartments, a gracious lobby, restaurant, bar, spa, health club, and other amenities. Topping the tower will be 190 luxurious Midtown Manhattan residential condominiums. The project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010.
A curving façade segment, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 36th Street, continues the rhythm of the windows while acknowledging the continuity of the “front” façade, which extends from the residential entrance on 36th Street to the hotel entrance on Fifth Avenue. Limestone cladding at the podium relates the new building’s materials to the rich and varied palette of stone cladding characteristic of the adjacent historic structures.
In addition to relating to the landmarked Tiffany & Company building, consideration has been given to the formal relationship to the adjoining 404 Fifth Avenue building, which is also a recently designated landmark structure.