New York City Archives - Page 32 of 50

August 27, 2007October 7, 2008

Police action state…on the tennis court?

So today I was on my way to play tennis with a friend in Central Park and was prevented from doing so because of police action in my subway stop. I entered the gates and quickly noticed a tension from the community of people standing around the platform. Two uniformed officers were frantically searching the tracks and the platforms for someone; the same procedures were occurring across the platform at the downtown stop.

I spoke with a woman, whom said she saw a man jump the turnstyle and run down onto the tracks at the station. The officers quickly followed in pursuit. As a result, the police decided to not allow passengers to leave the station until they’ve checked everyone in the station (presumably looking for the suspect). Additionally, trains coming and going were not allowed to drop off or let on passengers until given the code green go!

As a result I was thirty minutes late to my work out. Unfortunately my partner had left prematurely. Although our court was given up, I was fortunate enough to meet someone that wasn’t able to use there’s and continued with my work-out unrestricted. Dealing with the control freaks at the central park tennis facilities is like dealing with militant officers unwavering in their own rule of law for managing patrons for the courts.

First NYers have to pay for the privilege to play tennis in the city, by purchasing a park permit for $100 at the beginning of the season. A permit, however, does not guarantee that you’ll play though. Next step in this process (and I assume this is only specific to Central Park), you must either purchase a reserve ticket for $7 a player for the date, time and court, or you must sign up early in the morning the day you want to play, to reserve the space. Reserving the space, you and your partner (all 4 for doubles) must be present 15 minutes before the time of play or you forfeit your court time. There is a no-show wait list and for those people that have not shown up 15 minutes prior or there’s open courts will get the opportunity to grab open space. This is very rare so get there VERY early for any type of wait-n-see options.

Other restrictions for the clay courts, are you have to have white flat shoes, follow all tennis etiquette rules, turn your cellphones and blackberrys off, and where acceptable clothing for the courts – I guess no jockstraps or bikinis allowed…

For the most part this is very efficient, yet very painful way to start a work out or have a fun time on the tennis courts. I personally am not a fan of the clay courts, preferring the hard courts and have been going to a particular spot where there’s less of a hassle and a better environment for a good time… no they don’t have courts at Larry Flint’s Hustler club… but hey?!

July 28, 2007January 4, 2010

Bottle water does not equal healthy living

I personally feel that one of the biggest wastes of this decade is the proliferation of bottle water sales. Bottled water is one of the fastest-growing beverages on the market, however, despite it’s convenient each bottle is filled with vague and shadowy dangers to consumers, the environment and our lifestyle. The manufacture of plastic water bottles is resource-intensive, made from non-renewable resources (oil as a base for some chemicals such as HDPE, PVC, PC, PP, and PETGs), yields various cancerous emissions that contribute to global warming and further the degradation of our water quality (which feeds the marketing for buying more bottled water).

There’s been several non-credited studies and flavor tastings which with this dated ABC story showed that the worst tasting water was the most expensive and one of the best was NYC tap water (a cheap water from Kmart which is actually purified tap water won this contest):

One of the worst commercial issues with the bottle water market is the misleading advertising. What most people don’t know is bottled water is just tap water that’s either filtered or purified several more times. There’s no real benefit from drinking bottle vs tap except again the convenience and now Pepsi lost a lawsuit that now states they have to print on their bottles it’s actually tap water.

Here’s to hoping the source water is free from contaminates before hand before it’s bottled and brought to your door (Queens, NY).

Charles Fishman writing for Fast Company states:

Bottled water is often simply an indulgence, and despite the stories we tell ourselves, it is not a benign indulgence. We’re moving 1 billion bottles of water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That’s a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water. (Water weighs 81/3 pounds a gallon. It’s so heavy you can’t fill an 18-wheeler with bottled water–you have to leave empty space.)

Meanwhile, one out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water. The global economy has contrived to deny the most fundamental element of life to 1 billion people, while delivering to us an array of water “varieties” from around the globe, not one of which we actually need.

Most people don’t think about the added costs to the environment bottle water bestows. There’s processing of water that takes electricity, transportation, packaging, storage and then more electricity to cool the bottles in store shelves. Here’s more on Fiji Water:

The label on a bottle of Fiji Water says “from the islands of Fiji.” Journey to the source of that water, and you realize just how extraordinary that promise is. From New York, for instance, it is an 18-hour plane ride west and south (via Los Angeles) almost to Australia, and then a four-hour drive along Fiji’s two-lane King’s Highway.

Every bottle of Fiji Water goes on its own version of this trip, in reverse, although by truck and ship. In fact, since the plastic for the bottles is shipped to Fiji first, the bottles’ journey is even longer. Half the wholesale cost of Fiji Water is transportation–which is to say, it costs as much to ship Fiji Water across the oceans and truck it to warehouses in the United States than it does to extract the water and bottle it.

That is not the only environmental cost embedded in each bottle of Fiji Water. The Fiji Water plant is a state-of-the-art facility that runs 24 hours a day. That means it requires an uninterrupted supply of electricity–something the local utility structure cannot support. So the factory supplies its own electricity, with three big generators running on diesel fuel. The water may come from “one of the last pristine ecosystems on earth,” as some of the labels say, but out back of the bottling plant is a less pristine ecosystem veiled with a diesel haze.

Despite all the costs to the environment Fiji is pushing their “green” stature but without addressing any real issues or stating any actual figures for production and what their actual carbon footprint is.

I applaud New York City’s campaign to encourage people to give up bottle water and consume NYC’s finest from the tap. I would love to see similar campaigns in all cites in American and the world.

June 28, 2007January 4, 2010

iPhone crazies!

A few days ago (26th) I walked by my local SOHO Apple Store and saw people lined up around the corner down to the post office. I had heard that the new iPhone was coming out but I didn’t know it was then… well it wasn’t. It was actually today on the 28th, two days later. So these people spent two days out in front of the store to be the first to lay down hundreds on the new iPhone:

Here’s a shot from the inside of the police controlled seen during the opening: