Author Archives: therealtamara

For an opinionated woman such as I, blogging is an excellent outlet. This is one of many fori that I use to bloviate. Enjoy! Comment on my commentary.

Nikola

The Tesla Science Center is in Shoreham, NY.

Nikola Tesla was an American inventor of Yugoslav descent who lived and died in an SRO on 40th Street and 6th Avenue. This corner is now called Tesla Street.

To say he was eccentric is an understatement. It is likewise an understatement to suggest he was a genius.

The not so agreeable CEO of Tesla Motors must have been inspired not just by the inventor of many things electric but also by his ascerbic personality.

Tesla’s accomplishments were subsumed by the p.r. machine that was Thomas Alva Edison. Tesla lacked the glad hand that would make him popular and popularize his discoveries.

For Tesla, the inventive bug came to him from his mother Duka Mandic Tesla. She was a tool maker, craftsperson and tinkerer.

Edison and Tesla were rivals and it appears that the latter may have been robbed of some of his glory and discoveries in the course of this rivalry.

Fortunately for us perhaps, this was an era of invention and innovation. Light bulbs and electric motors were our destiny.

It’s impressive to see that something like Marconi’s radio might have been discovered by some other extremely intelligent fellow.

In fact, not only did Tesla and Nathan Stubblefield take out patents for a radio transmitter but Alexander Stepanovich Popov also was in the mix. If you Google the invention of radio, you get James Maxwell, Mahlon Loomis and Gugliemo Marconi.

The technology for wireless radio was also on Jagdish Chandra Bose’s mind. The man whose name graces an expensive line of headsets is the Indian inventor who uncovered the radio wave used in Marconi’s technology.

Add to this already incredible list of originators, Reginald Fessenden [Canadian] and William Dubilier [American] and you get a wild wild west of sound waves.

In fact, I might say not too originally that the “sound of music” was in the air.

This was without doubt a rich era of invention!

Fancy pants

Is East End Avenue a far eastern Park Avenue? Or does it have a character all its own? You decide and weigh in on this geographic and realty issue!

I am particularly partial to the cul de sac off the Ave known as Henderson Place. Your favorite corner of East End?

Home

No matter how often I have passed this little tree house I have never encountered its presumed tenant.

Someone has troubled over design and construction on our nearby blocks but they appear to still be unoccupied. There are several bird sanctuaries on 81st Street and more on 83rd but not a feathery fellow to be seen.

The older, more established perches on 83rd Street aren’t attracting birds either. But ain’t they pretty if seasoned!

Red in the sky

The night sky went from pink
To black although in truth it
Was the clouds making their
Statement in the darkness
The red sky theory was tested
That night as some rains came 
Overnight leaving a dampness
On the next day but I know 
Humidity and summer come
Together no matter what the
Sky promises the night before

Ghost hotel

This 5 storey hotel must have some story to tell.

What is its history? Who owns it? Who runs it? Is it active? Is it being maintained and who is involved in its upkeep? And why?

It’s looking pretty derelict these days, shrouded behind dirty window panes and a shuttered facade.

There are a number of key locks hanging by the front door. They are presumably there to give access to entry, but in numerous passings I have never encountered anyone using them. Noone has gone in or out.

Is it an investment property waiting patiently for a deal to come to fruition? Did its owners withdraw from the real estate market? Did they tire of the hospitality business?

There are mysterious listings taking reservations but a Yelp warning that “yelpers report this location is closed.” You can book a room through Trip Advisor from $167 although the room reviews would not encourage you to do so. At any price.

Building Parts

Transoms and finials

Gargoyles and steps

Ramps and foundations

Quoins, lintels and sills

Turrets and vanes,

A trusted roof and a

Vaulted ceiling, a triglyph

Or a trochilus, a cupola. A

Curb-roof or Crossed quarter,

Crown mold, and a cove,

Crest, coupled columns and

A corona, interlaced arches

Mosaic and inlaid work

Tiling and door jambs

Arches and columns

Impost and rose window

Rosette, roll and fillet and

Flashing and swan neck,

Dormers, slates, eaves and

Gables, pointing, ridge and

Facia, the anatomy of your

House, a frieze, a door trim

Siding, bricks and mortar

Abutments and masonry

Steel and stone, cornice or

Apse, walls, attics and

Pilasters, balusters and

Banisters, stairwells and

Pagoda, parquet, parapet