Carl Schurz Park: Clouds and Fences

Yesterday was sunny and yet, still bearable - so I headed out to Carl Schurz Park to enjoy the river breezes.

(Incidentally, I had been calling this Carl Schultz Park up until 5min ago when I googled it for the link. Not that I haven't passed the sign about a thousand times... And now that I can spell it, I find there are all kinds of events going on - movies, music, knitting! Who knew?)

This tiny green oasis on the Upper East Side contains a surprising number of recreation options for such a small park (as well as Gracie Mansion), but we mostly love sitting along the East River and watching the DEP barges chug by. It's a small neighborhood-y getaway from our massive city...


On my way to the 6 train, there were some gorgeous sunbeams peaking around the buildings - I shot blindly due to the brightness but was fairly pleased with the results... -A

That's nice

So great to hear from you! Things have been a bit busy round here with work. The City's been pretty good, everybody's out in the Hamptons so there aren't that many people in the city. I'd go to the beaches if they weren't so packed. Plus there was a heat wave last week which was brutal. Be glad that you're farther north in the latitudes.

So what else is new? Oh right...

REPLY does not equal REPLY TO ALL!! I don't care that you miss New York pizza. Who the hell are you anyways? -H

Why bother with it at all?

In all honesty, why? I'm coming home from work the other day, and it's stupendously hot. Some guy is on the platform. I get the baggy polo, requisite wifebeater, and baggy shorts. I do, really I do. But WHY, is it even remotely

a) practical
b) comfortable
c) fashionable

to have your shorts hanging on your person any lower than the lower waist? The dude had his shorts just above his knees. I can barely function and dress in the morning. How does anyone have the mental capacity to put on a matching outfit, head to toe, that INCLUDES your boxers, and then have the coordination to physically walk out of the house with a belt strapped around your knees?

Seriously man. Why bother at all? -H

Pretty Pee Protectors

For those urban plants suffering from the scourge of dog urine, an inventive solution - plastic tulips serve both decorative and protective purposes, by giving Fido something indestructible to aim at. -A

In Glorious High Def

With the acquisition of a sweet flat screen capable of high definition, my trumpeting of the new wave of technological wonder has led to the inevitable line of conversation with friends ending in an increduluous, "you DON'T have CABLE?!"

Ranting about the cable company's evil empire is a post in of itself. I WILL however discuss the readily available and FREE over the air digital HD signals. After thoroughly ignoring the manual and twiddling with the remote, I was able to store all manner of basic network signals using my $14 radioshack bunny ears.

Wow. Wow. Granted I only get NBC and Univision clearly, with occasional bursts of Fox and CBS (depending on the direction and strength of the wind that night). But wow.

Let's put it this way. While sucking down a protein shake after hitting the gym, I switched on said TV. Field hockey Olympic qualifiers were nice. But not HD. Switch to NBC-HD. And Nashville Star was on. I am not a fan of country. Nope.

And yet I couldn't change the channel.

HD baby. Jewel was on the show. In glorious HD. Bonus. Finally switched to CBS to catch CSI-Miami. Yeah, there are some hotties on that show. In glorious HD.

In glorious HD we trust. -H

Waterfalls, Water Taxis and the Brooklyn Ikea

After getting my butt handed to me last night by a certain boxing instructor at my gym, I've decided rest up today, with plenty of fluids and balanced meals. (And when I say balanced, I mean I balanced out my lunchtime salad with several mini peanut butter cups.)

So let's talk about wanderings from a time when I could walk without pain... On the last day of my parents' visit, we headed downtown to the South Street Seaport to check out the Waterfalls in the harbor. Interesting, but not as impressive as The Gates in Central Park a few years back... More entertaining was the yogi performing in the Seaport - I missed his better tricks with my camera, but they included stuffing himself into a 17-inch box, and putting his legs behind his head, propping himself on his hands and swinging like a pendulum. Wild...

Afterwards, my mother was intrigued by the free water taxi to the new Ikea in Brooklyn and convinced us to take a ride. Good times - the ride across the harbor was great, and Red Hook's waterfront lovely. Even if they weren't, the gorgeous new Ikea and a fabulous outpost of Fairway, our favorite NYC grocery store, were well worth a visit. Just remember: no Ikea receipt, no ride back for you... we ended up buying lingonberry sauce and a hotdog just to get back to Manhattan. -A

Ode to a Dead Tree

One of my favorite things about living in NYC is the incredible creativity of my fellow residents. Display found near York Avenue... -A

No means no

Dear Craigslist,

I understand that you are a bastion of frugality.  I do.  I really do.  But in the end basic economics really does win the day.  When you're absolutely in a tight budget, and you tell me so, you can't tell me the second email around that you've managed to scrape together an extra 5 Washingtons as your best offer.  

Especially when the somebody else had already agreed to pay my  asking price.  Supply and demand.  It works.

I know you weren't aware of the other bidder... but you really should get your Caps Lock fixed.  

Sincerely,

H

Three-One-One, Over and Out

Yesterday was my last day at the city call center - I'm taking a few weeks off before business school starts in the fall.

I'm proud to have played a part in building an iconic NYC institution, working with an amazing group of dedicated civil servants. I miss them already. -A

Customer Service Through Dance

This week Risa Jaroslow & Dancers were performing a piece in front of the Municipal Building, inspired by NYC’s own citywide call center. After 18 years of dance class and 4 years in the call center, I cannot express the joy this idea brought me – it was like a personal going away gift.

In execution, I admit a tiny bit of disappointment that they were so, well, serious about it (obviously the troupe does not share my irreverent sense of humor), but it was still fun to see art composed about my place of business. I even got picked to share my thoughts on city government (a little nerve-wracking), and they seemed delighted to have call center employees in attendance. I chatted a bit with Risa Jaroslow afterwards and while she expresses some strong views (one portion showed a dancer being relentlessly excluded from the group, which she referred to as “government giving the cold shoulder” – in another part dancers seemed to falling without a “safety net”), I liked how her work looked to gently engage the lunchtime crowd in examining their relationship with city government. -A