clocktowertenants.com: 4/24/11

Thursday, April 28, 2011

where the real luxury lives

Last month ClockTowerTenants took a look at the QueenMary2 ocean liner first for a sense of scale...

http://clocktowertenants.com/2011/03/all-way-back-to-titanic.html

...and then later for a photo essay of the exterior of the ship.

http://clocktowertenants.com/2011/03/enviable-accommodations.html

But the interior is where the real luxury lives.

That’s the bubble-pool and rain curtain for the onboard Canyon Ranch Spa.

You can squeeze a lot of luxe into a volume that can swallow the Empire State Building.

And this Queen has her share. The gaming rooms are awesome.

Eating seems a popular onboard sport. There are so many places to sit down and eat I lost count.

But it’s not all just fun and games. Taking 4,300 people to sea is no trifle and the degree of security and meticulous protocol is very impressive. The bridge from where the captain directs her movements is state of the art.

But he can control the entire ship by touch screen from his private suite if necessary.

Lessons learned from the Titanic disaster have led to a redundant system of watertight and splashtight doors, all computer controlled.

But that’s the serious stuff and this is a party ship! The QM2 features the first ever, full scale planetarium at sea.

With thirteen lavish levels, you don’t take the stairs.

There’s a mahogany and polished brass lending library.

She’s too large for the Panama Canal and must circumnavigate South America to reach the Pacific.

But that leaves a lot of space for nicely appointed staterooms.

They all have private terraces overlooking the ocean.

And every bath features its own private whirlpool.

The opulence continues, level after level of dining nooks and plushy supper clubs with grand pianos.

In fact the interior is so astoundingly huge, typical “You Are Here” diagrams are at every turn or it would be too easy to become hopelessly lost.

I loved this tour. The main performance hall is just gorgeous.

And now I can say I’ve appeared live! onstage! on the QM2!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Baroque, (n), "when you are out of Monet"

St. Jerome’s Roman Catholic Church, that beautiful building on the southeast corner of 138th and Alexander, actually began at 138th and Canal in 1869, 17 years before the ClockTower. It has catered to people of modest means for 142 years.

The Italianate Baroque revival church on Alexander was completed in 1900 to the designs of Delhi and Howard. That was about 9 years before the ClockTower's Lincoln Avenue addition.

St. Jerome’s is the sixth oldest parish in the Bronx.

The stained glass is not original. The windows were added between 1909-1917 just before the 4th and 5th floors were added to the ClockTower along Lincoln Avenue, so these neighborhood buildings kinda “came up together.” They were designing some good buildings back in those days.