I haven’t lived in Germany for many years, so I am not really confronted with the consequences of my voting behaviour. This has made me a very opportunistic voter in the past; going on wahlomat.de and making my cross at whichever party suits me best based on the website’s questionnaire.
We trekked up the Empire State Building on Friday, skipping all queues courtesy of a friend who works here. It’s great to get a feel for New York from atop the highest observation platform (until the one in Freedom Tower opens in 2015, that is). A very vertical experience, some impressions of which are posted after the break.
The massive Mount Sinai Hospital fills a few blocks on Fifth Avenue alongside Eastern Central Park. The big Annenberg Building, built in 1976, literally towers above all other structures. Many have called it an eyesore and are keen on the block’s destruction. In what can only be called a revenge act, the hospital management has fought back by building another tower nearby.
I finished my friend Brett’s book The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money a while back. I wanted to post my observations a back then already, but the big move to the US came in between and I dropped the ball. But Brett’s recent piece in Aeon Magazine was a timely reminder. So herewith, though unfortunately not as fresh as I would like them to be, some reflections.
Up ten blocks from the Mount Sinai is this additional beauty from the 1970s called Schomburg Plaza (thanks to Julius for the hint!). The two towers have been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past. Looking for information, I also stumbled upon an interesting exchange about how safe it is to live in South Harlem.
We sometimes take for granted how easy it is to fly across the world. The jet-engine revolution in civil aviation of the 1950s cut distances short considerably. I stumbled upon a few timetables from the 1950s and 60s which really drive that point home.
While researching for my book chapter, I just stumbled upon this amazing simplified map of Tokyo. It appeared in Sports Illustrated in 1964, and shows all the venues and points of interest for the visitor to the Summer Olympics, which took place here in October. You can access by clicking on “view this issue” (or try this link instead and go to pages 44/45). See below for a screenshot (click to magnify).
Several of the buildings on the map will be discussed in the upcoming book: Hotel Okura, Yoyogi National Gymnasium as well as Komazawa Olympic Park with its great stadiums. I wrote up a few facts on the Games here.
The photos preceding the map are gorgeous and the American tourism guide immediately after the map is worth the (cumbersome) read as well. From cheap taxis, road naming conventions, long nights followed by a Tsukiji fish market experience to buildings to be avoided for their apparent ugliness (Diet building, Tokyo Tower), the article is a great reminder of what has and what hasn’t changed since fifty years ago.
Another big issue in New York – and perhaps more so than in other big cities – is the scarcity of affordable housing. The Democratic mayoral candidates have all come forward with ambitious plans to increase the supply of subsidised units. Is that the best way to address the overall problem?
The mayoral campaign is a great occasion to get newcomers like myself acquainted with the big issues in this town. One of these, stop-and-frisk, the US equivalent to the UK’s stop-and-search policy, has been under attack as it disproportionately targets Blacks and Hispanics.
Welcome to New York City! We arrived here a few days ago and are slowly settling in. In what has become tradition since Japan, my instincts immediately led me to two iconic 1950s buildings on Park Avenue. Jotting down some observations is one thing, yet I feel that exploring this city may need some more structure this time.
