Rolling Stones in New York City 05/10/05

Mark and I saw the Rolling Stones kick off their 2005 World Tour last May 10, 2005. We initially were returning CDs and DVDs we borrowed from the Lincoln Center Branch of the New York Public Library. The usual chores. But May 10 was not a usual chore day.

To the tune of "Start Me Up," the Rolling Stones played an energetic, three-song set on a stage outside The Juilliard School in Manhattan to announce their 2005 world tour. The set also featured a new song, "Oh No, Not You Again" and ended with "Brown Sugar."

The year-long tour begins Aug. 21 in Boston and comes to the New York area Sept. 15 at Giants Stadium. Tickets prices will be about 10% higher than the previous tour in 2002, ranging from $99 to $110.

But we saw them for FREE! Wah!

Soft Launch of my Web Blog

Please take a few minutes to comment on my web blog. Enjoy!

Biking in Westchester

Since we having been spending time in Bedford and our Manhattan bikes needed a tune up, we decided to place our bikes "on quarantine" for one week while the bikemeisters in Yorktown Heights fixed our bikes. The bikes have never been tuned up since we bought it more than five years ago from Backroads in California. On July 13, 2005, Mark and I "stress-tested" the bikes on the North County Trailway Bike Path. Here we are testing les bicyclettes! Allons'y mon aimees!

Aaaaayyyyyyy....New York is just like Dubai!

New York County
Heat Advisory:

Issued at: 10:30 AM EDT 7/19/05, expires at: 11:00 PM EDT 7/19/05

Heat advisory remains in effect until 6 pm edt this evening
After an uncomfortable night with high humidity and temperatures no lower than the upper 70s, temperatures this afternoon will reach the 90 to 95 range. The combination of heat and humidity will yield afternoon heat index values between 100 and 105 degrees, and so the national weather service has issued a heat advisory for New York City.

Children, the elderly, and people with chronic ailments are usually the first to suffer from the heat. Heat exhaustion, cramps, or in extreme cases heat stroke, can result from prolonged exposure to these conditions. Friends, relatives, or neighbors should check on people who may be at risk.

To beat the heat, drink plenty of water or other non-alcoholic beverages, wear light colored lightweight clothes, and if possible, spend more time in air conditioned or well ventilated places. New York City residents should call 3-1-1 to obtain additional "beat the heat" safety tips. Stay tuned to noaa all hazards radio or visit our web site at weather.gov/okx for further details or updates.

http://www.wnbc.com/severeweather/1201542/detail.html

July 14, 2005 - UWS Building Collapse

I hope you knew of this but for your information, a building collapsed near our apartment in the Upper West Side, New York City last week. Mark and I actually go food shopping at the grocery on that building. Lucky we were in Bedford, New York fixing the other house (the annual summer house maintenance) when the collapse occurred. Otherwise, it would be a mess. Attached are the news article and pictures of the collapse.
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Injuries, inquiries after collapse at controversial West Side site

BY LUIS PEREZ
STAFF WRITER
Published July 15, 2005

A 7-month-old Manhattan girl and her nanny were pulled from a mountain of debris by several Good Samaritans Thursday after a building being demolished to make way for a highrise crumbled into a heap on Broadway, officials and witnesses said.

The Good Samaritans, a dozen passers-by and construction workers, quickly dug through the rubble with their hands, tossing bricks, wood spiked with nails and pieces of twisted metal to the side.

Officials say the building, a 72-year-old, one-story structure that formerly housed a Gristede's, collapsed onto scaffolding at 9:25 a.m.

"My baby! My baby!" Brunilda Tirado, 56, a babysitter, screamed from beneath the rubble that had only seconds earlier rained down on her and the 7-month-old.

The girl, whose name was not released, was listed in stable condition. She "oohed and ahhed" and appeared fine, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after he visited her.

Four other pedestrians, including a 4-year-old boy who later walked into the hospital with his mother, and four firefighters suffered minor injuries, officials said. One of the injured pedestrians was taken to Harlem Hospital Center with a broken arm and leg.



By 10 a.m., hundreds of police, firefighters and emergency workers swarmed the area, shutting down bus and train service, evacuating nearby buildings and searching under the rubble for hours. No others were found, and train service was restored by 11 a.m.

"This is, of course, a very unfortunate incident, but it could have been much, much worse," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said at the scene.

Scoppetta said the 20-foot-high facade of 2633 Broadway, as well as its roof, buckled at least in part from the weight of a demolition backhoe that sat on top of it.

The city Building's department immediately stopped the demolition project, and gave the contractor, Safeway Development Corp., three summonses, a spokeswoman said.

The incident immediately struck a nerve in the neighborhood among a group of residents and activists who had been protesting the development of a 31-story high-rise on the property.



Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the buildings department said the summonses were given because Safeway used a different backhoe, of a different make and weight, than agreed upon. She noted that the use of a demolition backhoe on a one-story roof was routine.

Investigators will examine Safeway's calculations for weight on the roof, she said.

Officials did not say if anyone was in the backhoe at the time, but witnesses said they saw it being operated.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is also investigating the incident.

Staff writer Denisa R. Superville and freelance writer Sabrina Yohannes contributed to this story.
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-collapse

Next Steps...Number 6

When Mark is not checking papers or attending to Bedford, he is
preparing materials for the next property, "Number 6." We hope to
attract a second round of investors for another 4E villa. An investor report from Kaskell Roth LLC is due this July and we hope to share it with you. Overall, the Dubai properties gain 30% per year and the New York properties gain 10 – 12%
per year. Manhattan studios gain 17%. LET'S INVEST!

Bedford

The winter and spring in New York were hard on the Bedford house.
Because of the frequent snow and rain over the past six months, the
water table rose flooding the basement up to an inch of water. Of
course, this scared our musician tenants and this led to an improved
sump pump water system to pump out the water from the house to avoid
the flooding costing $2000. The flooding occurs every ten years, based
on our experience when we were living in Bedford. So, while most
Americans will celebrate Independence Day (from Britain), Mark and I
will spend four days digging a trough from the back of the house to
the pond and laying a small pipe so that the water inside the
basement, should it occur again, will automatically flow into the
pond. The plumbers did the sump pump inside the house. But the
exterior landscape work we will do ourselves.

In addition, we will also do some repainting, installing windows locks
and new lights and will check supposedly leaks from the upstairs
bathroom. I am hoping this is not going to be major. So, it is so much
for a holiday weekend for Mark and I. Since this is a "team effort," I
will be joining Mark and will don my hard hat and working boots.
Alright! You go girl! It also gives us a chance to spend time in
Bedford. I get to tend to my flowering shrubs and my baby trees which
I have heard have now grown taller than me.

So this is really what our summer in New York is all about. Work, work
and a little bike riding at least once a week. When things get really
hectic, we dream of a cocktail drink and wish we were in Dubai. We are
quite used to the small space in New York City. We are beyond the
claustrophobia at this point.

Ahlan wahsalan!

Do you know that we are taking Arabic….again? Yes! Mark's on his take
three and I am on my take two. Not that we were flunkers. Although at
the rate we are going, we do not seem to improve at all. It's the law
of diminishing returns. No matter how much you learn of the same
thing, your cranium can only absorb so much. We are both having fun
though, except for the quizzes and midterm exam we are preparing for.

Boots ala ka-blinky

To complicate my already hectic schedule, my laptop lost its wireless
connectivity and I was not able to check email. If I checked email
when I was at work (although I do not want to do it) or at school, I
will only check my students' communication because that was a
priority, hence I was not able to respond by email to the family. But
you guys are always in my thoughts and prayers.

The laptop named Boots was checked in at the Toshiba Orthopedic
Hospital on June 7, 2005 and was released June 15, 2005. So you can
imagine the back-up and clean-up I needed to do before he went to the
hospital and after he returned. I have 40 Gigs of data! Sige, malula
yung gagong titingin sa laptop ko. Knock yourself off as I would say.

Busy Bee in the Big City

I am soooo sorry for having been incommunicado for a long time. My students have been a source of wonder, frustration and shock, if not awe
for Mark and me. Mark has been a great help to me checking my papers
since my homeworks and a great deal of the exams are in essay form. I
swear to God, you will not wish to have a teacher like me in your next
life. Not that I am into torture. I just want to give the student's
their money's worth.

Finally, I am in a work environment that I particularly enjoy and will
miss when I leave for Dubai. I work as a Marketing Consultant on a
part-time basis for a landscape architectural firm. Every two or three
days a week, I report for work and organize and run their Marketing
Dept. It has been fulfilling since I started, the firm has been
positioned for three projects, was awarded 2 projects and has appeared
in two industry journals. Not bad!

Summertime Blues

My hair has gone long and is ready for a trim. While I want to wait
for my return, it is just too hot and humid in New York that I will
need a trim.

Spring is Here

We avoided the dreaded winter snowstorms and we are back to spend spring and summer in New York City!