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Dave's Picks | Animal experts warn against the ...

Put down the phone, please.

Dave's Picks | Animal experts warn against the dangers of multi-tasking dog walks
Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks
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Dave's Picks | Many Personal Care Products ...

Are your hygiene and beauty regimes helping or harming you?

Dave's Picks | Many Personal Care Products Contain Harmful Chemicals. Here's What To Do About It.
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Dave's Picks | How To Get Absolutely No Sun ...

Are you sun savvy? You’re about to be!

Dave's Picks | How To Get Absolutely No Sun This Summer.
Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks
Ema | Developer
Dave's Picks | A TikTok user's rehabbed curb ...

File Under: Sometimes you luck out, and other times, curb scores just might not be worth the hassle…

Dave's Picks | A TikTok user's rehabbed curb couch stirs debate over bedbug risk : NPR
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Dave's Picks | They built the digital world. ...

How tech workers are discovering that woodworking and other hands-on activities offer a change of pace and an opportunity to tap into a rich history of craftsmanship.

Dave's Picks | They built the digital world. Now they just want to sew and make chairs.
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NYT Photo Essay | Your Tales of Subway Escalator Hell

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NYT Photo Essay | Your Tales of Subway Escalator Hell

Okay folks, time to discuss the dire Metro subway escalator situation. Peep this photo essay and don’t hesitate to tag @NYTMetro on social media to get their attention.

Out of 472 subway stations, only about 25 percent are accessible to riders in wheelchairs. Some stations are so deep beneath the city that your impromptu cardio session could mean walking up 100 steps to the street.

Subway riders already have to deal with a variety of daily indignities: unexpected delays, sweltering cars with no air conditioning and broken ticket machines. But as service on New York City’s subway slowly improves, the escalators are getting worse.

NYT | How a Band of Surfer Dudes Pulled Off the Biggest Jewel Heist in N.Y. History

NYT | How a Band of Surfer Dudes Pulled Off the Biggest Jewel Heist in N.Y. History

Into NYC folklore? Check out this NYT piece.

For a few months in 1964, “Murph the Surf” and his crew became folk heroes when they looted the Hall of Gems from the American Museum of Natural History.

This excerpt is from a piece originally published By Corey Kilgannon | Oct. 17, 2019 | Updated Oct. 18, 2019, 3:47 a.m. ET

For its 150th anniversary, the American Museum of Natural History is celebrating its many historic moments, from its 1869 founding, to the 1902 discovery of the first T-Rex skeleton, to the creation of the Teddy Roosevelt statue erected out front in 1940.

One milestone not on that list: the biggest jewel heist in New York history, when the Star of India, a 563-carat sapphire the size of a golf ball, was snatched from its display case, along with the rare Eagle Diamond, the DeLong Star Ruby and some 20 other precious gems from a collection donated to the museum by J.P. Morgan.

For several months beginning in October 1964, the city was transfixed by the brazen robbery that the tabloids immediately labeled the heist of the century.

NYT | The Bar That Has Fed SoHo for Almost a Century

NYT | The Bar That Has Fed SoHo for Almost a Century

Fanelli’s, on the corner of Mercer and Prince Streets, is a bastion of old New York beloved by artists and tourists alike.

In this series for T, the author Reggie Nadelson revisits New York institutions that have defined cool for decades, from time-honored restaurants to unsung dives.

Seven years ago this fall, when Superstorm Sandy hit New York and there was no power downtown, SoHo was deserted, dark and cold. At Fanelli’s, the neighborhood cafe, though, there were candles on the bar, plenty of booze and, for as long as it lasted, food. Most important, there was company and conversation. “I was here the whole time,” says Sasha Noe, Fanelli’s owner. “Where else could I be?”

Brownstoner | Williamsburg Bank Exhibits Striking Style and Rare Dash of Viennese Influence

Brownstoner | Williamsburg Bank Exhibits Striking Style and Rare Dash of Viennese Influence

Editor’s note: This story is an update of one that ran in 2013. Read the original here.

The Public National Bank was founded by Joseph S. Marcus, a German-born clothing manufacturer on the Lower East Side, in 1908. By 1930, there were 30 branches in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. It was the one of the largest banks in the entire United States with a predominantly Jewish clientele.

In February of 1921, The New York Times and other publications noted the bank had purchased a plot on the corner of Graham Avenue and Varet Street with the intention of building a new Williamsburg branch. Public National already had a branch in Williamsburg, just two blocks away, but business had grown to the point that they needed to build a larger bank in order to accommodate their customers. Later that same year the architect of the new building at 47-49 Graham Avenue was announced: Eugene Schoen.

NYT | The Heir to a Tofu Dynasty Finally Learns to Make Tofu

NYT | The Heir to a Tofu Dynasty Finally Learns to Make Tofu

Two years ago, Paul Eng decided to confront a reality he had been facing most of his life: He was the heir to a tofu tradition who had no idea how to make tofu.

Mr. Eng’s grandfather learned the trade in the 1930s from fellow immigrants shortly after he arrived in Chinatown. He went on to open up a small tofu shop on Mott Street, called Fong Inn Too, and developed recipes that would become well loved in Chinatown for more than eighty years. When Mr. Eng’s parents closed the shop in 2017, the recipes, never written down, disappeared with it.

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Forbes | Former Teacher, Foreign Service Officer, Campaign Manager: What Enticed This Mid-Career Woman Back To School

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Forbes | Former Teacher, Foreign Service Officer, Campaign Manager: What Enticed This Mid-Career Woman Back To School

Originally published September 3, 2019 by Forbes | Sheila Callaham Contributor | Diversity & Inclusion
I write about combatting ageism in the workplace.

First in the series: Mid-Career and Beyond–Transforming Personal and Professional Life Through Education

For kids and young adults, September means heading back to a regimen of classes, homework and exams. When it comes to college, young adults are not the only ones looking for degrees and certifications; mature students are also turning to university programs to increase employment opportunities and seek new career experiences.

Julian Phillippi’s decision to go back to school to earn a Masters in Human Resource Management is a path forged to meet her new career interests. A former teacher, foreign service officer and campaign manager, Phillippi is not afraid of change. Now in her second year at New York University (NYU), a private nonprofit research university based in New York City, Phillippi is honing her specialization and already applying her learnings to real world challenges.

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NYT | Welcome to the party. The New York City block party

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NYT | Welcome to the party. The New York City block party

New Yorkers, we live on top of one another, so it’s only natural that sometimes we spill out onto the concrete. It happens especially during the sweltering summer spells, when even the apartment walls seem to sweat.

There are very few backyards in the city, so to avoid walking up flights, a steamy basement or balmy bedrooms, we hug the block.

Across all five boroughs New Yorkers set out on their streets with lawn chairs, pools, bouncy castles and tables full of food, to enjoy the summer together. Throughout the day there is a cacophony of familiar music, the laughter of children playing and the sizzling sound of meat on a grill. No cars are allowed.

Gothamist | Toxic, Hallucinogenic 'Zombie' Plant Growing On Upper West Side

Gothamist | Toxic, Hallucinogenic 'Zombie' Plant Growing On Upper West Side

By Jen Carlson | Sept. 9, 2019 10:57 a.m.

If you've heard of the Datura stramonium plant (it has many names, including the commonly used "jimson weed"), you've likely heard about its hallucinogenic effects, or, perhaps, how it may be used to manufacture the undead. In Wade Davis's book The Serpent and the Rainbow, he notes that in Haiti the plant is called "zombie cucumber" and is used "as a central ingredient of the concoction voodoo priests use to create zombies." It's also a popular hexing herb amongst those practicing witchcraft; was allegedly used by Josef Mengele, the Nazi physician known as the Angel of Death, during interrogations; and it has been at the center of many crimes, given its ability to "turn victims into 'zombies' devoid of free will," making them easier to manipulate or rob.

Gothamist | Is This Revolting Dead Rat Soup The Future Of NYC Pest Control?

Warning: for the queasy among us — proceed with caution. This gets mighty real.

Originally published By Jake Offenhartz @ Gothamist.com

Sept. 5, 2019 4:58 p.m.

gothamist_rat_soup_image.jpg

Wow

David 'Dee' Delgado

In 1839, the naturalist John Jay Audobon was granted permission by Mayor Isaac Varian to begin shooting rats he spotted along the Battery. In the 1960s, following a series of nest-shaking tenement demolitions, the Daily News trained teenagers to lay rat poison. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani hired future subway boss Joe Lhota as his “Rat Czar,” while Mayor Bill de Blasio has toyed with removing trash cans to stamp out the unwanted rodents. David Lynch was even involved at one point. Still, there are rats.

On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams joined the pantheon of New Yorkers operating under the notion that the rats might be eradicated, if only we tried a new approach. In one of the more gut-churning press conferences in recent memory, Adams summoned the city’s reporters to Borough Hall to demonstrate a “cutting-edge” rat-killing device—part bait trap, part drowning tank—known as the Ekomille. We were promised dead rats, and goddamn did we get them.

Click here to read the full post at Gothamist. [CONTENT WARNING: SO MANY DEAD RATS]

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Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — What Beyoncé Taught Veronica Chambers, Past Tense Editor, About Self-Motivation

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Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — What Beyoncé Taught Veronica Chambers, Past Tense Editor, About Self-Motivation

As you may have heard, we’ve been avoiding the office this week. Which means our Elevator Interview — the weekly chats we’ve been conducting with Times writers and editors to get inside their heads about how they do their jobs — took place over email.

That was no problem for Veronica Chambers, who has an early morning writing ritual that, at times, has involved her sleeping on her kitchen floor to ensure that she would be so uncomfortable that she wakes up early. It appears to have worked: She is the author of more than a dozen books, including her most recent, “Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter,” and is editor of the Times archival storytelling project, Past Tense.

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Dave's Picks | NYT Opinion — Should Work Be Passion, or Duty?

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Dave's Picks | NYT Opinion — Should Work Be Passion, or Duty?

It’s worth noting on a national holiday extolling the value and dignity of labor that Americans are uniquely obsessed with work. Could any other nation come up with a product like Soylent, a meal substitute, not for the elderly, the poor or the malnourished, but for software engineers, Wall Street brokers, tech entrepreneurs and others who don’t want to be diverted from their work by the time consuming intricacies of a meal? Could you imagine the French conceiving such a thing?

While other wealthy nations have shortened the workweek, given their citizens more free time and schemed to make their lives more pleasant, stress-free and enjoyable, the United States offers a curious paradox: Though the standard of living has risen, and creature comforts are more readily and easily available — and though technological innovations have made it easier to work efficiently — people work more, not less.

Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — King of Pop Tyshawn Jones

Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — King of Pop Tyshawn Jones

Super cool piece and interactive photo essay on skateboarding master Tyshawn Jones. Check it!

Tyshawn Jones’s jaw-dropping athleticism has made him a skateboarding icon. But is skateboarding big enough for someone like Tyshawn Jones?

By Willy Staley

Photographs by Philip Montgomery
Videos by Danilo Parra and Zach Sky

One of Tyshawn Jones’s favorite places to skate is the William F. Passannante Ballfield in Greenwich Village. Even by skateboarding’s flexible standards, this park is barren: a flat expanse of asphalt with paint denoting a baseball diamond. There are no ledges sweaty with wax, no stairs to jump down, not even a measly curb; once you leave the painted infield, the ground becomes too chunky to really skate on. And yet it’s still a destination in New York, known to locals as ‘‘T.F. West’’ — short for ‘‘training facility,’’ a convoluted inside joke about the fact that there’s nothing to skate there.

Is My Millennial Co-Worker a Narcissist, or Am I a Jealous Jerk?

Is My Millennial Co-Worker a Narcissist, or Am I a Jealous Jerk?

“My co-worker seems to work more for their (I don’t want to specify gender) personal brand than for the company. This team member posts their whereabouts on Slack: They’re at a conference, at class (coursework tangential to their job), working from home! They keep us up to date on the minutiae of their travel (leaving at 11 a.m.! on a train without Wi-Fi until 7 p.m.!). They meet their goals, but I’m not privy to what their results look like — are they treading water or exceeding their goals?

Dave Speaks | NY's New License Plates Will Still Be Made By Prisoners Earning 65 Cents An Hour

Dave Speaks | NY's New License Plates Will Still Be Made By Prisoners Earning 65 Cents An Hour

Next spring, New York State is issuing new license plates, and New Yorkers can now cast their vote for the new design. "License plates are a symbol of who we are as a state and New Yorkers should have a voice and a vote in its final design," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a release. But the new license plates will still be produced by people incarcerated by the state, who earn an average wage of 65 cents an hour.

Roughly 2,100 prisoners work for Corcraft, which is "the ‘brand name’ for the Division of Correctional Industries,” operated by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). The prisoners make a variety of products, from hand soap dispensers to desks to pillows, and generate around $50 million in annual sales, mostly to local governments. The revenue goes to the state general fund.

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Dave Speaks | Old ways, new ways — How to stick to good habits

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Dave Speaks | Old ways, new ways — How to stick to good habits

Summer is ending , Fall is approaching . . . I feel this is a good read on how to stick to your good habits and keep that summer bod of yours in check throughout the Winter months!

Katy Milkman played tennis at Princeton, and when she finished college, she went to the gym every day. But when she started grad school, her fitness routine went south.

"At the end of a long day of classes, I was exhausted," Milkman says. "Frankly, the last thing I wanted to do was drag myself to the gym. What I really wanted to do was watch TV or read Harry Potter."

Dave Speaks | If you put your keys in a safe place you will never find them again.

Dave Speaks | If you put your keys in a safe place you will never find them again.

Now that you have your new apartment, it is kind of like traveling to the new world, there is a whole slew of details you will need to know. Don’t be overwhelmed. For frequently asked questions about what happens when you are a tenant with Dave visit your specific password protected building page. If you don’t know your password email db@speaktodave.com

Now if you can’t remember where you put your keys. GOOD LUCK.

Dave Speaks | If there's a grill there's a way

Dave Speaks | If there's a grill there's a way

With warmer weather approaching, many of us are making plans to grill and be merry. In our experience it is good to have a few ground rules when the merriment and grilling mix:

ROOF FUN RULES

We all like to have a good time, and we want you to in our buildings.

BUT

If you are have a BBQ or roof get together clean up after yourself.

Respect your neighbors!!

If we get complaints from our cleaning crew, you will be charged depending on the mess.

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New CitiBike Stations Arrive in Bushwick

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New CitiBike Stations Arrive in Bushwick

So after 2 years of talking; the L train partial shutdown is here! If you travel on the L train between 10:30pm to 5am your commute is now more challenging.

Starting today in Bushwick we have new CitiBike stations that will hopefully assist commuters during this service interruption. It won't really help folks that don't want to ride at night but perhaps more bikes will lead to more fun and safe riding.

These new #Bushwick Citibike stations are now live:

- White St & Moore S

- Stagg St & Morgan Ave

- George St & Wilson Ave

- Irving Ave & Jefferson St

- Willoughby Ave & Wyckoff Ave

Check the map below for the full expansion plan:

Bottom Line Properties Need Attention

Bottom Line Properties Need Attention

Managing properties is an interesting vibe. One minute you are signing a new tenant to a lease while the next moment you are fielding complaints about a leaky toilet. A property is a living organism. It needs your attention.

Interesting to me as property manager, I found this cool behind the scenes look at the property manager of Fenway Park in Boston.

"We have city inspections we have to worry about," he said. "We have construction we have to finish up. We have just all kinds of things going on right now."

Sounds familiar. Kind of interesting to think that folks are paying attention to these behind the scenes details at baseball stadiums.

Bottom line properties need attention.

— dave speaks

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