Build It Up, Tear It Down

I live in Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where the construction sites are outnumbering actually-inhabited buildings. A few weeks ago I noticed someone had spray-painted “To hell with Condo-burg!” on the plywood wall of one such eyesore. Although building-up and tearing-down is an evolutionary necessity in a city of limited square mileage such as Manhattan or Brooklyn, I wonder why the epicenter of this activity needs to be my block.

I am so weary of being faced with some ad-postered plywood wall or barricaded sidewalk every time I leave my apartment. It’s inconvenient to have to cross the street to avoid a backhoe. But frankly, my biggest complaint is that construction sites and their buildings-to-be are completely, inexcusably ugly.

I propose design requirements, not just for finished condo buildings, but for the condos-in-progress. No more Tyvek sheeting, wind-shredded blue plastic tarps, or yellow caution tape wound around entire blocks! Away with hulking, stinking Dumpsters filled with cement and drywall crumbling into dust! A six-month limit on scaffolding!

You’re Under Arrest for Disorderly Conduct, Whoever You Are

Rudy Giuliani may be running for the Republican presidential nomination on the national stage, but it appears that his political spectre is still haunting New York.

Yesterday there was a short piece in the New York Times about a recent incident in Times Square, which is hallowed ground for those who inexplicably continue to consider Giuliani the savior of the city. A man was standing on the sidewalk, talking with a group of friends, and, according to police, blocking the thoroughfare so pedestrians had to walk in the street to get around them. A police officer arrested the man for “disorderly conduct,” according to New York Penal Law, which states, “A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof:…He obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic,” etc.