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.

For sale/sold

Madison Square Park

Here’s how this played out: highest bidder $190M

The Flatiron Building is an exemplar of the old adage “Get a partner. Buy a gun.” I am not advocating violence. Just commenting on the extreme dysfunction amongst the owners of the famous landmark.

For a partnership to initiate action, it requires unanimity. Four out of five of the owners agree about how to dispose of the property. The fifth put up a roadblock.

Consider it an opportunity to own a great historic corner of Manhattan!

It will be delivered empty (except for a mainfloor tenant). That makes this a rare chance to start fresh. The Flatiron will sell as a kind of aedificatio raso.

Look at this

I’ve complained about Chapin School’s patchwork quilt approach to its additions before.
Next door on the street side these buildings work to incorporate and perpetuate elements.
There’s a number in my rearview. Also a decade I valued. ××
Spring oh spring
××There will be more on the sixties in a riff from All The Best.

For sale

The Flatiron neighborhood

The Flatiron Building is an exemplar of the old adage “Get a partner. Buy a gun.” I am not advocating violence. Just commenting on the extreme dysfunction amongst the owners of the famous landmark.

For a partnership to initiate action, it requires unanimity. Four out of five of the owners agree about how to dispose of the property. The fifth put up a roadblock.

Consider it an opportunity to own a great historic corner of Manhattan!

It will be delivered empty (except for a mainfloor tenant). That makes this a rare chance to start fresh. The Flatiron will sell as a kind of aedificatio raso.

New York NY

It’s an obsession. It’s a love affair. New York stays with me always. I, for one, want for no other [or better] place to live. Or walk.

At lunch with my friend J, I heard she was reading historical fiction that took place in our city. I agreed that this genre was pleasingly and edifying. You can learn a lot from the nostalgia found in such books.

There are many books that feature the city where we live. In fact, The Museum of the City of New York shot me an email listing of books today. Some of them are good for walk alongs; some for reference or elucidation.

A minimalist history lesson or throw-back Saturday

This classic lunch counter soda fountain was featured in 3 Days of the Condor. Robert Redford asked for a back way out.

My walk on a Friday

Intimations of spring: crocuses peak out
Reached my destination (top left)
The mansions and mansards of Henderson Place from 87th side
John Finley Walk
Using a tree (in bloom) to stretch and stand
The haze over the river cleared as the day progressed
Eddys on the river like elusive whorls on a fingerprint
Rumor has it something very big and tall will emerge here

Footsteps

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

Once upon a time is always a promising beginning. Retrace that time and come walk with me.

Walk through the places that brought joy and enlightenment. Walk over the streets that hold memories.

Studying

Given property values in this stretch of the UES a car repair place seems, well, out of place. I am guessing it was “grandfathered” into the block long ago.
Honestly this groundfloor renovation on the left is a disgrace.