Saturday, July 19, 2014

imma grammer na7i

slice of life



Gennaro Lombardi, an immigrant from Naples, opened a Little Italy grocery in 1897 that grew into America’s first pizzeria.



One of his employees, Antonio Totonno Pero, began making pizza to sell in the grocery but most folks could not afford the 5cents it took to buy the whole pie.



It was Tontonno’s genius to begin asking folks what they could afford, then cutting them slices in keeping with their offers. 
Genius.



Business took off and never looked back. Today there are over 400 places to get a slice in New York City.




By 1924 Totonno left Lombardi and opened Totonno’s in Coney Island with a coal brick oven, and the New York style of pizza was a thing.



New Yorker’s fold their slices, 
then pick them up with their hands.



You gotta know when to fold ‘em.

NYTimes


Have a great vacation in Italy, Mr. Mayor.

Friday, July 18, 2014

case of shingles



When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face. 
(Up on the roof)


I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space. 
(Up on the roof)


On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there, the world below can't bother me.


Let me tell you now.


When I come home feeling tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet. 
(Up on the roof)


I get away from the hustling crowds
And all that rat race noise down in the street 
(Up on the roof)


On the roof's the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof 
(Up on the roof)


At night, the stars put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me.


I keep-a tellin' you.


Right smack dab in the middle of town
I found a paradise that's trouble-proof. 
(Up on the roof)

And if this world starts getting you down
There's room enough for two up on the roof. 
(Up on the roof)


Up on the roof (Up on the roof)
Oh, come on, baby (Up on the roof)

1962

Oh, come on, honey (Up on the roof)
Everything is all right. 
(Up on the roof)

Thursday, July 17, 2014

hunter college



“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself. 



Who is the happier man?



He who has braved the storm of life and lived?



 Or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” 



Wednesday, July 16, 2014

you look wheelie tyred


vox
In early 1918 "Dr. Hertzler" advanced a hypothesis that 'The only way to make a woman happy,' he said, 'is to keep her barefoot and pregnant.'


Indeed.

So you can imagine how men felt 25 years earlier when women were getting their first bikes.



No longer did a woman depend on a man for travel. 
With two wheels and a chain she could be gone.


The media got hold of this and had a heyday.


What to do?!


Male doctors began to dissuade women from riding bicycles.


“Overexertion, the upright position on the wheel, and the unconscious effort to maintain one’s balance tend to produce a wearied and exhausted “bicycle face” noted the Literary Digest in 1895.

An oppressive case was built around bicycling as “an excessively taxing activity, unsuitable for women — it would not only lead to bicycle face, but exhaustion, insomnia, heart palpitations, headaches and depression.”

It took a Chicago woman doctor---naturally---in 1897, to put bicycle face to rest. She wrote: 

Somehow this lovely seems to have survived it all okay.

jj
Of course for men there are no worries at all.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Monday, July 14, 2014

“We only greet strangers when we need something from them.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana



It is risky to own and lease real estate. 
I’ve been a landlord and I know.


You pour your heart and soul and your cash into a place you hope someone else takes care of.


Landlords are responsible for a mortgage while tied to enormous risk: market fluctuation, adjustable interest, tax and insurance increases, heating oil and electricity, habitability standards, stabilization limits and all with legal accountability to what goes on within their property. 

reddit

Landlords must vet prospective tenants very carefully.

cornel.edu

Airbnb takes that judgment away from the owner and gives it to the renter when they sublease, as a hotel.


We should be able to do whatever we want with our home as long as it is single-family, we own it outright and we meet the same minimum hotel regulations.


If we have a partner like a bank mortgage or another owner in the building, it seems reasonable that we need permission from the lender or other owner.

queens4sale

In a multiple dwelling condo where you actually own the bricks and mortar, it seems reasonable that a majority of the other owners agree.

 monroeproperties.com

In a cooperative you don’t actually own your home, you hold shares in a corporation that is responsible for the overall building. In this case the cooperative can simply say “no".

sothebys



Renters have occupancy rights for the name on the lease, but are not granted the control of an owner. 

Hotels are subject to license and a cleanliness standard and government regulation that over time has become common sense.

Whatever the outcome for airbnb, 
let’s hope common sense prevails. 


What do you think?