A few months ago I went to Chinatown to meet up with some friends, and the other friend who was with me, said she wanted to buy some fake Vuitton. In no time flat, a woman appeared and whispered in her ear. The next thing I knew, my companion signaled to me to wait for her while she was led into an unmarked doorway. I had a near-panic-attack. I had recently seen the Lifetime movie “Human Trafficking” and my imagination ran wild. I pictured my friend, a pretty Caribbean-born woman in her mid-20s being shackled in some dingy basement, then drugged into a stupor, then led through a secret exit in back to a waiting van to JFK Airport, on a jet to some Third World country to be sold into prostitution. Just as my crazy brain was planting an image of my friend waking up Bangkok, being offered to some letcherous scumball, she reappeared with a wallet covered in LVs.

She was marveling at the “Vuitton” she bought for $34.00, and I was on heart-attack-highway!!! I wondered how a stupid accessory could drive an otherwise sane and responsible young woman to be spirited away by a total stranger like Alice down the rabbit-hole, but with possibly scarier consequences!!!!!

This recollection was spurred by the news report I heard yesterday about 29 people busted for smuggling into the US such goods as the ones my friend was lured to. These counterfeiters will continue to risk fines and imprisonment, as long as there is a market for such nonsense! Someone enlighten me, because I don’t get it.

Today was the topping out ceremony of the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park. Nearly 4 years and 3 months after our office Cook+Fox Architects started working on the project, the last structural beam has been put in place. There is a 300′ mast that will go on top of the building in the coming months. However all the structural steel for the floors is in place.

Here are some pictures from the event.

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Okay. I am willing to keep an open mind about the Mayor’s “Congestion Pricing”. I really am. It supposedly works in London. There are too many vehicles in Manhattan. So, although I am still far from being thoroughly sold on the idea, I am still willing to see both sides. And, yes, we do need to motivate New Yorkers to refrain from driving into, and within, Manhattan. And we certainly have a wonderful mass transit system, even though the anglophile in me prefers the London “tube”

But an article in today’s New York Times concerns me. In “Some Subways Packed Past Capacity” in todays NY/Region section, William Neuman reports that some major subway lines are “maxed out”to a point that the tracks can’t take any more trains. Especially affected are the 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 lines, which are part of the old IRT system.

So there we have it — nowhere to put anyone. If we manage to divert drivers onto the subways, there is no room for them. Even if we manage to convince commuters from the suburbs to take the PATH, LIRR, and Metro North into the city, most of them would need those numbered subway lines to take them to their offices. Any proposed solutions, such as the Second Avenue subway line, or institution of longer trains and the necessary longer platforms to accommodate those longer trains, are in the distant future.

Photo from www.livingpictures.org

I just got back from a week in Seattle. I enjoyed the city, which has a great vibe and many nice people. But I was glad to come home, since NYC has something that Seattle has never had and maybe never will…a good public transportation system.

The only real public transportation there are the buses (the monorail really doesn’t count). And the buses run every half hour - at rush hour. True, in downtown, all the buses are free. But I was commuting from downtown to Fremont (which isn’t that far, but too far to walk), and ended up spending a lot of time waiting for buses. Plus, the bus line I needed stopped running at 7 pm! I find it odd that in a city of environmentalists, the easiest way to commute is by car.

Anyway, it reminded me how lucky I am to live in a city whose public transportation system never sleeps.

Hey you beautiful people, I now work in the fashion district. I see people cutting up cloth all day, 3 floors down I see a woman always working away at her desk. I see people looking at clothes and evaluating them; holding animated conversations and sometimes construction workers measuring window sizes. It’s not as glamorous as the new HBO ads make it seem. But I do have to admit, having these windows to the offices of other people makes work just a bit more interesting. Where else but in NYC?
I have not seen any incriminating stuff just yet, but if I do, rest assured, all of New York will get a peek. What’s that you say? Invasion of privacy? Well that’s just tough, isn’t it?Voyeur 2.

First let me just say that if you HAVEN’T been to the Moma to see the current Richard Serra exhibit get in there! Serra is best known for the massively monumental sculptures of curved steel that he creates. These are not sculptures that are experienced on the level of a figural statue, these sculptures are like walking through architecture. It’s all about feeling the space, and how the sculpture is interacting with the room it is installed in. You have to experience these pieces the same way you would experience a cathedral in Italy.

All that said… If you HAVE seen the Moma exhibit and you were left wanting more, there’s an easy way to get it. MetroNorth has, as part of their “One Day Getaway” series of deals a trip to Beacon, New York where you’ll find Dia:Beacon, an unparalleled collection of modern art and sculpture. The collection includes more Richard Serra, Andy Warhol, John Chamberlain, and many many more modern artists. It’s an amazing collection of pieces and a great trip. I saw Serra there first a few months back and was deeply impacted by his work, so I knew as soon as I saw the ads go up in the subway that the Moma exhibit was going to be a must-see. If you saw the Moma exhibit and felt the same way, I’d suggest a Saturday trip on the train.

New York City, once known as the freewheeling creative city where “anything goes” has complacently allowed it self to become a suburbanized malled-over “Nanny-State”. This is partly because of economics ( ie: Walgreen’s can pay a lot higher rent in the East Village than some hippie boutique) , but also because of the incessant chipping away at freedoms in the name of public safety and health.

Somehow New Yorkers have put up with being told where and when they can smoke or talk on the phone, what they can eat and even what they can say in public. The rest of the country, which still has some respect for the Bill of Rights may not be ready for the Nanny State - Mr.Mayor - take note!

In the past several months, I have seen two displays of woman abuse in the subway.

The first incident was sometime in the early spring. A woman and her husband/boyfriend were openly arguing near the ticket machines. She was crying, and he was yelling. As I passed them, I saw the man start to choke his woman- in public. She kept crying and didn’t run away. It was very obvious to me that this isn’t a rare occurance that she probably lives in fear of him. I wasn’t the only witness to this scene, but to my knowledge no one said or did anything to stop it.

The second incident was last week. A couple and their child were walking out of the Subway and having a loud argument. This is what I managed to hear:

Man: [inaudible]…you are walking so damn slow..[inaudible]…your thighs be rubbing together I bet.
Woman: I’m fine, worry about yourself. I’m fine!
Man: You can’t even walk like that, hurry the hell up.
Woman: I’m fine! No one else seems to mind my body.
Man: Who? Who the hell wants your fat ass? Tell me, who?

I couldn’t hear the rest of this argument, but you can pretty much assume it wasn’t going anywhere good.

The moral of this story is that you should be quiet when you abuse your woman.

When visiting high-priced establishments and I’m not that hungry, I tend to go for the appetizers or small plates. Last night was such a case, I had already eaten dinner but a friend wanted to munch on something, so we visited Gobo. Everything there is a bit pricey; primarily due to the organic & fresh nature of everything they make.

All I ordered were the crispy spinach & soy cheese wontons. Let me tell you, when the waiter presented me with 3 on a plate with lettuce bed, I was a bit skeptical. I had no idea what type of a treat I was in for though. These things had the perfect amount of dough, spinach and soy cheese. The blend was masterful and the fold of the wonton itself enhanced the bite one could take. Each bite was like being launched into a wonderful world of simple, thoughtfully placed tasty experience. Unbelievably good. So next time I’m definitely sticking around for one of their pricier “large plates.”

The word of the summer especially for boutique establishments all around the East Village is consignment. What is consignment? It’s when you take your old designer clothes, put ‘em up for sale in a walk-in store environment rather than trying to sell it all on your own through craigslist, your own Web store, or eBay.

If you walk down 9th street and Ave. A (stay on the right of the street), stores like The Exchange (East Village @ 441 e. 9th Street (close to Avenue A) are just opening up. But they’re not the only ones, on 9th street alone, between 1st and Ave. A, there must be at least 4 other similar establishments.
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