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Tackling the Basement

Tackling the Basement published on 3 Comments on Tackling the Basement

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Ugh. Just when we thought we were near the end of our renovation we realize that the basement will be a bigger project than we had anticipated. Why can’t we just leave it a dusty, crumbling mess? Well first of all, basements are the foundations of homes and the stone walls need to be maintained for both structure and water blockage.

The main reason we want a nicely sealed-and-easy-to-clean unfinished basement is the cats. The plan is to make a cat hangout down there so they stop messing up our garden level.

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On the to do list is….

1. Rebuild the stairs that hubby ripped down over 2 weeks ago. We are currently climbing down the hatch out front.

2. Repoint stone wall and bricks.

3. Pour concrete for solid, level floor. What is down there is about an inch of uneven concrete on top of soil.

4. Move boiler against wall to create more space. Yay, another few thousand for a licensed plumber! Oh, did I mention we’re replacing boiler and water heater while we’re at it?

5. Build wall separating new boiler from cats.

6. Sump pump. We will clean the area by hosing it down.

7. Exhaust fan.

8. Seal walls and epoxy floor.

9. More lights. Deal with holes in ceiling cats can climb into.

That’s about it. A lot of work for an unfinished space that nobody is gonna see.

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Fictional New Yorker Trivia

Fictional New Yorker Trivia published on 3 Comments on Fictional New Yorker Trivia

How much do you know about your favorite fictional New Yorkers? Answers will be posted in comments.

1. 100% plus extra credit without answering any other questions if you can figure out who the guy in the photo is. No? Here’s a hint. He was the voice for the opening credits of everyone’s favorite NY sitcom that ran from 1970-1975. If you still can’t get it, here’s another hint. November 13th.

2. Who lived at 328 Chauncey Street in Brooklyn?

3. What was the name of Harvey Keitel’s character in Taxi Driver?

4. In which neighborhood did Archie Bunker live?

5. Actress Marla Gibbs played which sassy maid?

6. The marble rye and chocolate babka from those Seinfeld episodes came from Schnitzer’s Bakery. Fictional name for a real bakery. Name the real Schnitzers.

7. Name Ratso Rizzo’s partner in crime.

8. Rita Moreno danced her a** off in West Side Story. What was the 1970’s children’s series she was in with Morgan Freeman?

9. Which movie featured a group of criminals using color name aliases long before Quentin Tarantino had it in Reservoir Dogs?

10. Name the Yiddish actress who portrayed Bubby in Crossing Delancey.

When Cugines Were the Hipsters of Brooklyn

When Cugines Were the Hipsters of Brooklyn published on 1 Comment on When Cugines Were the Hipsters of Brooklyn

Grabbed this video from a friend’s Facebook link. It’s totally cugine, but I recognized some south Brooklyn places from my childhood.

What’s a cugine, you ask? If you lived in Brooklyn in the 70’s, you know full well. Saturday Night Fever and Jersey Shore types. They were the hipsters of that decade, meaning Brooklyn was crawling with them and people loved to hate them. You couldn’t get away from them.

My Dubliner husband thinks that whole “I hate disco” thing over here was a racist attitude towards blacks because they were mostly creating the music. I say it was a backlash against the cugines. Italian racism? Nah. Maybe the Italians started the ball rolling, but there were cugines of all backgrounds. They were breeding.

Brooklyn has evolved since the 70’s. Cugines still exist deep in the heart of areas like Bensonhurst. Now I look upon them with a smile. They keep it real and they ARE Brooklyn.

Maybe one day in the future, I’ll look back on transplant hipsters with a smile. Ya never know. Stranger things have happened.

Etsy on Small Biz and Sustainability

Etsy on Small Biz and Sustainability published on

Etsy conferences will be taking place around the globe this weekend. Ok, well the main one is in Berlin and there are some satellite conferences in the US. Brooklyn is wait list only at this point, but you can RSVP here for the live stream.

What’s the difference between an Etsy conference and a dental or a realtor’s conference? Probably just the dress code and mode of transportation. Anyone without a bike and skinny jeans need not apply to the Etsy conference.

I kid, I kid. These are some serious crafters. And Etsy is THE force behind it all. There will be lectures and workshops on everything from setting up your business to post production. If you have a small business of any kind, it wouldn’t hurt to stream this baby.

Hopefully, it will be up on the World Wide Web as a video in foreverland as some of us aren’t available to see it this weekend.

Contractor Rant Or Why We DIY

Contractor Rant Or Why We DIY published on 4 Comments on Contractor Rant Or Why We DIY

*UPDATE. Funny story. After writing this bitchfest yesterday morning, I realized that my phone was off. Soooo yeah, my bad. But I still stand by my rant after 17 years of dealing with other contractors!

What is it with contractors? Either they don’t return calls or if they do actually set up an appointment, there’s a 50% chance they’ll show up. I write this as I wait for a contractor who is an hour late and another one who was supposed to call to set up an appointment this morning. Maybe they’ll show. Maybe not. I don’t chase them down because if they can’t manage to drag their asses over for an estimate, they’re not going to do the job in a timely manner. Quit while I’m ahead sort of thing.

All we wanted was to finish some projects quickly. If we do it ourselves, it takes forever. We’re not pros. We work on weekends and evenings. But trying to deal with contractors again has brought back bad memories.

Even when they show up for estimates, half of them don’t actually get back to us with the written quote.

Little do our past contractors know that the only reason we hired them was because they showed up. It wasn’t because we like their personality or we were impressed with their work. It wasn’t even that they had the best price. They had the ONLY price.

Once you get beyond the hiring process, that’s when the fun really starts. They come really late. Or not at all. They don’t bother to call. They try to sneak things passed you. I know what you’re thinking. It sounds like that bad relationship you had. And it IS like a bad relationship.

Seriously, I should get a contractor’s license. All I have to do is show up. I’d have all the jobs in town!

Ok, must stop rant now and figure out how we’re gonna DIY this project.

Awesome Soho Street Artist

Awesome Soho Street Artist published on

Walking through Soho yesterday (something I haven’t done in years), I was dismayed by all the tourist galleries. Do you know what I mean? Galleries that don’t cater to art collectors but rather they sell commercialized pieces in tourist areas. Happens all around the world, not just Soho.

Most of the street artists are pretty cool, but they are also creating for a tourist audience. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Hey, they have to make money and I’m not saying the work isn’t good. We all sell out at one point or another.

Anyway, I see this truck with a life size sculpture of Construction Workers Lunching on Crossbeam, that famous 1932 photograph by Charles C. Ebbets. How friggin cool? The artist is Sergio Furnari from Sicily. He’s been in NY about 20 years.

Lots of fun stuff on his website. Check out that mosaic bathtub below! Turns out the big sculpture on his truck was down at Ground Zero for a few years. It’s probably pretty famous and everyone knows about it, but I just found out yesterday.

That’s what happens when you don’t take time to play tourist.

10 Years. Never Forget or Move On?

10 Years. Never Forget or Move On? published on

I complain about all the 9/11 coverage on this anniversary, but I’m just as bad. Can’t help it. The scab has been torn off. It’s easy for me to say “Time to move on” because I didn’t lose anyone close to me.

I did lose a part of me that day, as every New Yorker did. Don’t get me wrong. I know that it wasn’t only New Yorkers who suffered that Tuesday. It was America. And Muslims. And the world.

The east river kept me at a distance as I watched the towers burn. Lucky for me I didn’t witness people jumping, but it was close enough to violate all five senses. The site of the towers coming down. The burning smell that lingered for weeks. The sirens and crying and screaming around me. The dust in the air. We all felt it and tasted it.

“Never forget!” But where is that getting us? Can we start remembering the victims and the towers with a smile again? Why do the towers have to be about THAT moment? What about the time you went to the top? Or when you ate at Windows on the World? Or picnicked in near the sphere?

How about every time I got off the subway in the city and looked for those towers to figure out which direction I was heading in? Or when I looked across the water from The Brooklyn Promenade and realized how lucky I was that I had grown up with the most magnificent skyline in the world?

The Twin Towers were more than just 9/11. And those victims lived lifetimes before they were cut short. Why do we have to remember them as “gone”? Let’s just remember them.

First Responders Wah?

First Responders Wah? published on 4 Comments on First Responders Wah?

Wow. I just found out about this. From comedian Dennis Leary, no less. The first responders of 9/11 will not be able to attend the 10th anniversary memorial ceremony. WTF?

Mayor Bloomberg is saying it’s for family members only. Hello? Hasn’t he ever heard of The Brotherhood among firemen? Why should “family” only mean spouse or blood relative? These men and women worked together saving lives EVERY. DAY. and they are banned from paying tribute to their work families?

After they ran down to those towers that day?

After they watched their buddies die?

After they dug them out of the rubble?

After they got sick from the air down there?

Really?

Not that it’s going to do any good at this point, but here’s a petition to get them down there on FAMILY day. Not the day after and not some other time or place.

Environmental- friendly Resources

Environmental- friendly Resources published on

Increasing pollution and contamination is causing threat to human population and natural resources. The only way to save the resources so that they can be passed on to the future generations is to conserve them, preserve them. Various companies and organizations have come up with awareness campaigns and ideas to create a new consciousness about the issues associated with the environment. Further adding to the efforts of these organizations, online sources such as websites and blogs try to spread ideas that could help in protecting the nature. 

Casinos of earlier times were equipped with lots of glitter with pomp and show in their machines, tables and games. The usage of bright lights became more intense with incorporation of restaurants, bars and hotels. All these lead to lot of carbon-di-oxide emission surrounded by artificiality.  However, these days casinos are deliberately designed so that the usage of electricity can be decreased reducing any threat to the environment. The approach initiated with many people raising questions for the effectiveness for environment and carbon footprints.

Online casinos and lottery agencies can still make its players happy by being all the same but land based casinos have worked enough to support a greener environment. One of the most convenient approaches of improving on carbon footprints is by establishing solar panels as these are competent enough to form environment friendly casinos. These casinos and online lottery sites are not only capable of cutting down on electricity bills but primarily focus on recycled materials too. They endeavour towards a decreased usage of plastic using more of paper.

Las Vegas is listed on top in the list of brightness, ambience, décor and electricity consumption, however, many of the casinos have started replacing their old fittings with cost effective and environment friendly LED lights. All these have assisted them in getting the same glaring effect cutting successfully on emissions. Same goes with the lottery agencies. By following such environment- friendly approaches and ideas one can certainly contribute to a great extent in saving the nature and ites resources. Log into lotteryplanet.org to know more about how online lottery agencies operate.

Stairs in Tight Spaces

Stairs in Tight Spaces published on 2 Comments on Stairs in Tight Spaces

We are preparing for our next home improvement project: the basement. The plan is to clean it up and seal it so we can let the cats have their own playroom down there. Before any work gets done, the first thing we need to address are those stairs that have been dangerously hanging by one nail for the entire 6 years we’ve lived here.

Basic basement steps are easy enough to install. Prefab stringers can be purchased to make life easier. You can even find full staircase kits ready to go. For those, you would only need to measure ground floor to top landing and make sure it’s all level, plum and well supported.

Of course it’s never that simple for us. For some reason, we have the waste line running alongside our basement stairs. That’s why someone decided to build an unevenly supported staircase by moving right stringer in by oh, about six inches. Can’t figure out why they thought this would work, but then again we don’t get a lot of their “fixes” in this house.

So, what do you do when trying to install a stairway in a narrow area with a sewage pipe and crumbly plaster walls on either side? And no, moving the pipe is not something we want to do.

The floating staircase is the idea we’re leaning towards at the moment. The straight stairway above has a metal mono stringer running down the middle instead of the usual twin supports. This shouldn’t interfere with the weirdness on the sides and the one tread that hits the pipe can be cut shorter.

Here’s a narrow staircase. Kind of weird and not for us. But it beats a rope or fireman’s pole if you don’t have space.

Of course the worst part about this is the cost. A basic Home Depot set of DIY basement stairs should cost around a couple of hundred bucks. These fancy schmancy kits will run closer to two grand. I haven’t researched thoroughly yet, but I’m hoping we can just buy that mono stringer and cut our own treads. It will save some dough.

Kits:

Fast Stairs

Iron Shop

Mylen Stairs

Stairway Shop

Catskills in Need

Catskills in Need published on

If you grew up in NYC, chances are you spent many a summer getting to know The Catskills as a kid.

Upstate got slammed by Hurricane Irene. Monetary donations are needed as well as dry goods and non-perishable food. Ain’t got nuthin’? How about some blood? Over 2000 units were lost due to power outage and now there is a blood shortage.

Come on, time to pony up for your fellow New York Staters!

More info on Catskill relief at Watershed Post.

Donation Collection Sites

Manhattan:

Eastern Mountain Sports
530 Broadway (Spring & Broadway)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 966-8730
Monday – Friday 10 am – 9:30 pm
Saturday 10 am – 9 pm
Sunday 11 am – 8 pm

Powell Communications
84 Wooster Street # 603 (between Spring and Broome)
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.

Greenwich Village Location
Ciao Stella Restaurant
206 Sullivan Street (between Bleecker and West 3rd)
ask for Stella
Tuesday-Saturday
5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.

Midtown Location
Decorum Consulting Group
295 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor (one block from Grand Central)
Ask for Jeannine Stryker-Triolo
Monday through Friday.
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Brooklyn:

Boing Boing Maternity
Corner of 6th and Union
Ask for Karen or Kevin
Tuesday through Sunday
11:00 a.m.- 7:00 a.m.
(can also leave donations in the gated yard during off hours)
Red Shed Community Garden
266 Stillman Avenue
(at Kingsland)
THIS WEEK
Wednesday through Friday
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND
Tuesday and Thursday
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Suggested Donations List

In addition to bottled water and non-perishable foods, the following items are also urgently needed at present:

Cleaning Supplies
Laundry Soap
Toilet Paper
Paper Towels
Ajax/Clorox/etc.

Personal care products
Soap
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Deodorant
Feminine care products
Shampoo/Conditioner (adult and for babies/children)
Diapers
Baby Wipes

Clothing
Underwear (adults and children, including boxers)
Socks (adults and children)
Pajamas (adults and children)
Shoes (especially children’s)
Any gently used clothing

Other
Charcoal and lighter fluid
Propane tanks
Formula and baby food
Bedding

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