I know it’s long-since been a dead topic, but I walked by the West Side Yards this morning and the old Yankee/Olympic stadium debacle flooded into my mind.
For those of you who’ve never been by the area, you should go take a look, especially if you are pro-stadium. There’s absolutely no room there! Oh, sure, they could build the stadium and it would fit, but we’re currently dealing with traffic issue after traffic issue, with the MTA whining again that it cannot handle the perceived growth in commuter load in the next decade. Still, the answer to a new home for the Yankees (paid for mostly by us, of course, not the millionaire owner of the team) was to put it in midtown Manhattan with small streets guaranteed to cause epic congestion. The answer to the public transit issue was to extend the 7 train one stop from 42nd St.
The entire proposition is wholly laughable the minute you walk to the West Side Yard and see the potential for disaster yourself.
The West Side’s currently going through that makeover prevalent in every neighborhood in Manhattan right now in that high-rise after high-rise is popping up where once used to be warehouses and junk yards. I’m not a big fan of that either but it’s certainly not the debacle that a stadium clogging up tiny Manhattan would have been.

[image from spotteddogs.org]

Yeah, ok, it’s really great to get away but man, do I love New York right now.

Con Edison issued two press releases about the situation.

The first confirms the presence of asbestos in the pipes and the debris.

Following yesterday’s steam-main rupture at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street, Con Edison and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) conducted extensive air monitoring in the area and tested numerous samples of muddy debris for the presence of asbestos. Air monitoring confirmed no airborne asbestos, however, several of the numerous samples of muddy debris taken from the area were found to contain asbestos.

Anyone who was in that area around 6 p.m. who has dust or debris on clothing or belongings should put them in a plastic bag and bring it to the Con Edison customer service van parked at the corner of Madison Avenue and 42nd Street. The van will be at that location for the next several days from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Con Edison will arrange for the safe disposal of these items. Customer care personnel will be available to help people fill out a reimbursement request.

The New York City Department of Health (DOH) has a fact sheet that provides additional information about asbestos. Visit the DOH Web site for more information by clicking on the following link: http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/ei/eiasbest.shtml.

Approximately 400 specially trained Con Edison employees and certified contractors, in conjunction with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), worked through the night: performing tests on muddy debris and monitoring the air. Together with the DEP, the company has developed a comprehensive plan to remove muddy debris from buildings, streets and vehicles.

Crews also cleaned muddy debris from Third Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets. The company is working to restore service to electric feeder cables and is running temporary cables. In addition, crews excavated and inspected the gas system for possible damage. Fire trucks that responded to the event were decontaminated.

Also, while no power outages have occurred due to the steam explosion, several feeder lines and transformer structures were apparently affected by the explosion, thereby compromising transmission in that area. To that end, Con Edison released another statement urging area residents to conserve energy until repairs can be made to the electrical system. It’s not going to be a very hot week so please take this to heart if you live in the neighborhood.

Con Edison is urging all customers in the East Midtown area of Manhattan to discontinue their use of non-essential electrical appliances and equipment until problems on electrical cables can be resolved following yesterday’s steam-main rupture. There are no electric service outages in this area and customer cooperation will help ensure uninterrupted service.

The affected area includes approximately 14,000 customers, and is bounded by East 39 to 57 Streets, the F.D.R. Drive to Park Avenue.

Company crews are working to repair the problem. Con Edison has asked managers of large commercial buildings to reduce their electricity use and is asking residential customers in this area not to use appliances such as washers, dryers, air conditioners and other energy-intensive equipment during peak hours of 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and to turn off lights and televisions when not in use until the cable problems are resolved.

The equipment problems in East Midtown have no effect on the rest of the Con Edison system. The company will provide updates as the situation warrants and is in constant communication with the New York City Office of Emergency Management.

As of my morning commute, announcements were being made in subway stations that service is still suspended around the Grand Central Station. Commuters normally taking the 4,5,6 or other trains passing trough Grand Central should attempt to take the A,C,E to Times Square or the B,D to Bryant Park.

I was reading the Metro (for those of you outside the NYC area, the Metro is one of two free daily newspapers, generally handed out by a person outside key subway stations or placed in a free paper bin) this morning and it’s filled with Bloomberg initiatives, including the congestion pricing plan (which was finally endorsed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn).
The one which grabbed my attention the most, though, is a pilot program that caught on in South America in which our city’s poor would be “rewarded” for engaging in specific actions, receiving tax credits for their children getting good grades in school or going to the doctor.
Now, that whole Nanny State thing has really caught on in our city, with trans fat bans, attempted personal electronic bans, etc. I’m not quite sure what to think about this rewards program. Apparently, it’s been quite successful in South America, with rising doctor visits and improved health among country poor. Will this work here? I would presume that anyone who qualifies for this reward – at least the medical visit reward – qualifies for free or greatly reduced healthcare in the city and at what point does the incentive to go to a doctor finally come to the “not only will we pay for your healthcare but we’ll pay you to go”?
So here I sit on the fence about this initiative. Clearly, we do need programs to entice people to do well in school, get into good colleges, find successful careers, get regular health checkups…but this is so very equivalent of my parents’ attempts to get me to make straight As by offering me dollar amounts per letter grade. It didn’t work then and I can’t help but think it wouldn’t work now.

[image from Fotosearch]

Good god.
I’m increasingly shocked at the money tossed into what amounts to boxes in this city. Granted, this must be one hell of a huge, smartly appointed box but still. The city’s finally hit a new ceiling with this reported $56 million condo purchase in the old Plaza Hotel. Meanwhile, I continue to thank god that I found an apartment for under $1k and can’t help but be amazed at a city with such startling contrasts.

There’s just something incredibly wrong about this. I already have enough issue with governments subsidizing stadiums and the like. It’s ridiculous that we get to shoulder the burden to build millionaire owners and their employees – also millionaires – brand new facilities for which we then have to pay entry fees to enjoy! The idea that my tax dollars bought Goldman Sachs a new headquarters has me thinking I should be camped outside their office building demanding my share of the record Christmas bonuses they doled out. Now JP Morgan is demanding equal treatment, crying something akin to prejudice, as if corporate welfare should exist at all, let alone be comparable to actual unfair practices in the corporate and personal world.
Of course, this practice has been around long before Bloomberg but he talked right out of both sides of his mouth, announcing the end of the corporate welfare era while giving breaks to major corporations and approving subsidies for stadiums for the Mets, Yankees and approving the Atlantic Yards fiasco. The hilarious explanation for these handouts is that city real estate is in such high demand that major companies can no longer find space (pardon me while I snort coffee through my nose).
It’s an interesting premise nonetheless and you should read the entire article (arguments for this kind of handout are given) linked above. Then decide for yourself if the city should capitulate when a company threatens to move away without free money.

In the meanwhile, I’m re-immersing myself in the news of the city and normal blogging will resume shortly!

A friend of mine once told me that no gelato could top the real gelato from Italy. Certainly not what passes for gelato in Little Italy. Even Ciao Bella elicited an, “eh” from him. Il Laboratorio del Gelato fared worse.
Perhaps that will change now. Courtesy of that nifty little corner of the web known as Daily Candy, I cannot wait to personally trek to Glom, located at 2165 Broadway (between 76th and 7th streets), to sample the sweets at the first U.S. location of this Italian company. The crema de Grom sounds divine: “egg cream, chunks of biscuit and flecks of chocolate.”
Something tells me that will elicit far more than an “eh” out of my friend.

[photo from Grom website]