Open Thread Wednesday

By on August 30, 2022 10:49 pm in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Andrew Porter

    The end of August, Labor Day on Monday, and I for one am really tired of New York as a summer festival of heat and humidity.

    So here’s a misty photo I took of the Brooklyn docks below the Promenade in the snow in the 1970s (click to enlarge):
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ac4283c6361d6e2f5f8f2c372cd007c846ca0ede85b21232a35c42b05251a118.jpg

  • Effective Presenter

    Great picture, we recall the 1970s good times.

  • winchell’s cavanaugh
  • CassieVonMontague

    Fortis faces foreclosure on large Cobble Hill condo project

    Lender Madison Realty Capital has initiated a UCC foreclosure sale for the equity interests on development sites at 350 Hicks Street and 91-95 Pacific Street, where Fortis plans two condo buildings totaling 150 units.

    The Hicks Street building, called 1 River Park, is to rise 20 stories and contain 48 apartments above a parking area and a community space. At the Pacific Street site, 2 River Park will have 102 residential units.

    A third building, the 25-unit 5 River Park at 347 Henry Street, is not part of the UCC foreclosure and is “almost 75 percent sold,” according to Fortis’ website.

    https://therealdeal.com/2022/09/01/fortis-faces-foreclosure-on-large-cobble-hill-condo-project/

    Fortis is also the developer behind the unfinished curiosity in Manhattan you can see from the Promenade, 161 Maiden Lane. It’s leaning a bit to the north.

    https://newyorkyimby.com/2019/04/construction-halts-as-one-seaport-allegedly-begins-to-lean-at-161-maiden-lane-in-the-financial-district.html

  • CassieVonMontague

    St Francis College has been giving away the majority of the books in its library the past few days.

    Rumors has it they are looking for another college to merge with, but there are no takers

  • A neighbor

    With enrollment growing, St Francis announced it’s moving to bigger, more modern facilities on Livingston St.

  • Banet

    How does one get the free books?

  • AEB

    What the f*ck (pardon my elided French) is going on with
    pharmacy shut-downs at local Walgreens/Duane Reades?! Trying to get a statin script refilled. No luck at the two Court Street locations. I mean, when people need there drugs, they need their drugs!

  • Andrew Porter

    Decades ago there was a large dumpster in front of the building with well-dressed people crawling into it and coming out laden with books and other documents.

    I went in too, and came out with historical documents going back to the 1800s, plus much other material, for example pamphlets about Heights history, and architectural works about the new site of Columbia University.

    Still have many of them.

    The indifference to our history by some college administrators is often stunning.

  • Andrew Porter
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    “When people need their drugs, they need their drugs” That’s exactly why I stopped selling weed, people calling and ringing the bell at all hours of the night…

  • George

    Go to City Chemist. The pharmacist is very nice and they deliver.

  • CassieVonMontague

    They were giving them away on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If the college is open, I’d go and ask the front desk. There were still thousands of books left on Friday.

    Keep an eye out for dumpsters full of books on Remsen St this week.

  • CassieVonMontague

    It was astounding. Thousands of books for free. Some brand new. Every subject and genre.

    St. Francis is moving to a 30-year lease for three floors next to Macy’s. The college website advertises the new space as having “a 6,600 square-foot library with spaces for study and research.” I don’t know how they’ll have any books for it.

  • karateca2000

    I hate all those pharmacies. For many years I went to the Duane Reade and dealt with their terrible service.

    The City Chemist on Montague is fantastic. The staff is friendly and the service is super quick. I feel so stupid for not going to City Chemist before.

  • nomcebo manzini

    Ebooks are probably part of the answer. I’m far removed from college education, but textbooks are probably approaching $100 in price for paper versions. Yes, I know many who prize “the printed page,” but who would wish a backpack loaded with bricks on any student? … And what with “screen addiction” being nearly universal among those <30 [age], it could be that SF's new library is recognizing that high cost per sq feet of space in 2022 makes ebooks sensible on at least 2 levels.

    But what a flawed approach was giving 'em away – yes, a lucky few benefitted, but the recent fracas over St. Ann's "purge" taught me (and should have not been necessary for whoever heads "library svcs" at SF) that there are better ways.

  • Andrew Porter

    They deliver marijuana? How about other hard drugs?

    “Asking for a friend.”

  • nomcebo manzini

    I, too, have heard good things about City Chemist, but – face it – only those with great [and increasingly RARE] benefits pkgs are free of the money-vs-all else tradeoff that non-chains force most to make.

    Online isn’t ALWAYS the right answer, but STATINS?! Truly bizarre that anyone does NOT get them every 90 days from a warehouse “directly.” [See last sentence, below.]

    I happened to go to Walgreen’s [I think the Duane-Reade brand is being extinguished] at Smith & Fulton [“Heights vicinity”] yesterday. Items on the shelves are 30% above Walgreen’s-online prices – part of that is “our share” of their shoplifting losses, but most reflects the now insane disparity between vendor costs of brick-and-mortar vs. online. (space costs + insurance, taxes, etc.)

    BTW, Google maps tells me that the RiteAid at Atlantic & Court is now a Walgreen’s, so getting presc. drugs in 11201 is the furthest thing from a genuine problem…. Still, life is different (better on occasion) than it was in 1990. NOBODY likes(d) “Come back in an hour.” [“and pay a marked-up price while you’re at it.”] Time to modify one’s behavior – if you didn’t know what the better way is, NOW YOU DO. (CVS Caremark – NOT to be confused with their stores – is one of several you can look at.)

  • Pierrepont

    Have to put in a good word for Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company, a mail order operation. Fair pricing, whether you have insurance or not. 👍 Not an ad, as I am not Mark Cuban, but it is a great service.

  • nomcebo manzini

    Thanks. New one to me, but isn’t that *the best part* of BHB et al?!

  • gc

    Just checked out their website.
    I began using Blink Health a few years ago and saved hundreds of dollars each year. Cost plus puts even them to shame. One med that I take daily is $340 for 90 days at brick and mortar. $32 at Blink Health and $8 at Cost Plus. Amazing!

  • Pierrepont

    And I should mention they have partnered with Truepill, so they ship now from an address in Queens. Super-fast shipping from there, as you might imagine,

  • gc

    In some cases the comparisons almost hit the “too good to be true” button. For people living on a tight budget the dramatically lower cost could make a huge difference.

  • nomcebo manzini

    Not to go all political on you, but pharms are arguably even worse than “plain healthcare,” where some hospitals are nominally non-profits and cannot enforce a pay-or-die policy.

    If there’s no insurance between you and most pill sellers, you might very well get awfully close to that “choice.”

  • Knight

    Textbooks approaching $100?! When I attended St. John’s University 30 years ago, textbooks were over $100!