Paul LaRosa's Blog

And yes, it is a bad real estate market, even in NYC. There's no confidence or liquidity out there. People are afraid to buy because prices might go lower yet, and buyers reportedly are unrealistic about setting prices for their once-highly-desired apartments. And why buy a studio or one-bedroom apartment if you're a young couple [...:]

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There’s a relatively new book out that examines what it was like to grow up in Co-op City, not too far from where I lived in the Bronx. I always wondered about those behemoths near City Island and I bet a lot of you have too. That’s why this book, “The Bookmaker: A Memoir of [...:]

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This is a photo of my father when he was 18 years old, after he was drafted out of high school to fight for the U.S. Army during World War II. So young, probably so scared, but…it was one of the highlights of his life.
He spoke of it often and I had the ignorance of [...:]

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The NY Times Wednesday ran a blog item on that age-old problem of people not giving up their subway seats to the pregnant, elderly and infirm. Believe it or not, it happens every day. I see it, and I’ve formulated my own rules on how I behave.
I immediately get up for anyone within my sight [...:]

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Here are three photos I took this morning with my cell phone as I walked to the farmer’s market in my nabe — Park Slope, Brooklyn.
First up…the Big Gay Ice Cream truck featuring ’soft’ ice cream…hmmmm…
 
 
 
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Next….this car sign that brought me back to the ’70s when radios and eight-track players were stolen out of cars [...:]

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Every day, I walk by the gorgeous and green Hearst Tower which rises majestically on the corner of W. 57th Street and 8th Avenue. It’s been called “the most beautiful skyscraper to go up in New York since 1967,” by the New Yorker Magazine.
The NY Times said, “Past and present don’t fit seamlessly here; they [...:]

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Okay, so a lot of people talk about wanting to hear good news but two women I work with — Amanda & Helene — actually did something about it. They’ve created a website, called Imprint-TV, focusing on positive news!
Both women are very positive types themselves (that figures, right?). In fact, Helene sometimes seems as though [...:]

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New Yorkers are particular about their trash — especially when it comes to other people. Eighth Street in Park Slope, between 7th and 8th Avenues, is one of the prettiest blocks in NYC. Nearly every brownstone has a lovely display of flowers and plants.
But then you get to the end of the block and, if [...:]

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I’m talking about the subway turnstile. Really!
Imagine if I told you that I was going to devise a transportation system used by millions of people each day and that everyone of those people would have to use the same way in and same way out — at the same time.
What??!! You’d tell me I was [...:]

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I read all the newspaper stories today about Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, and while they all mentioned her Catholic School education at Cardinal Spellman High School, not one mentioned that — for the EIGHT years before that — she attended Blessed Sacrament School on Beach Avenue. So did I — at [...:]

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