NYC and Commercial Real Estate

(As previously posted on Tumblr)

The last things that New York City needs are more people, housing and commerical real estate.  Unfortunately, the only things New York City now builds are housing, which leads to more people, and space for commercial use.  It is beyond outrageous with no end in site.

I am not an expert in anything, but it has become glaringly obvious that something is amiss in the world of commercial real estate (“greed” is probably an appropriate one word summary).  I have never, ever, including during the aftermath of the economic collapse circa 2009, seen so many commercial spaces for lease or rent.  It is truly mind-boggling.  But what takes the mind-boggling to levels not seen since Pete Carroll called a pass play on the goal line during the Superbowl, is that more and more are being built.  Every residential space that is being built, at least so it seems, inevitably comes with store fronts and commerical space to be leased.  Even a new Charter School that was built on 125th street in Manhattan (I find this particularly scandalous by the way, Charter Schools being a perpetual financial quagmire) came equipped with retail space for lease.  Can we please learn to build something else?  

I would also like to add that New York City has long been overcrowded.  The powers that be that in one breath talk about having to expand subway service and add congestion pricing for Manhattan to accommodate a burgeoning population, have answered this problem by allowing brick upon brick of residential space to be built in every nook and cranny in the city.  The irony (I wish I had a larger vocabulary to better classify this) of this is that there is always this fight for more affordable housing.  There are empty apartments galore and developers are having no problem at all getting their buildings built.  Why is this still an issue?

Maybe at a future date we can discuss (as if there is a second party to this) the fact that the subways have become large-scale sardine cans, the fact that there are long lines everywhere and for everything and that these new street configurations, courtesy of New York City Department of Transportation, have only exacerbated the problem.  

Until the next complaint…

Creating Conflict

(As previously posted on Tumblr)

At some point, I will give those who are working the registers a break… but we have not yet reached that point.

I understand that the line needs to move fast.  I get it that people are in a hurry to come and go, but the elements of order, decorum, courtesy and a plethora of other things that keep society from spiraling into complete chaos are getting thrown to the side for the sake of expediency.

To Whomwhatsoever it may concern, namely those working the registers;

Please do not call me, or whoever the “following” customer may be, to the register until the previous customer has started moving away and has completely finished their transaction.  I am uncomfortable having to scream over the heads of people, jostle them while they are still putting money in their bags, or having to repeat myself since, as far as they are concerned, their transaction is not finished and they are still emphasizing how hot they want their coffee while I am trying to order mine.  Waiting another five seconds won’t kill anyone.  Oh, and let me not forget!  Please (and please note my politeness) do not call me to the register if you plan on turning and walking away as I start to order.  That is a tad bit rude, the exact opposite of what customer service should be.  Granted, New York City has never been a beacon of quality customer service, but you could at least pretend that you don’t loathe my presence in your establishment.

Best Regards,

Slightly Salty Next Customer in Line

New Lows

(As previously posted on Tumblr)

It is amazing how things get started and then spread like wildfire.  What is even more amazing is that things that are bad, troublesome, irritating, flagitious – pick one - have such a great proclivity towards wildfire-like tendencies.  Although it is something small, given how large the world is and the matters of greater importance that are going on, there is something that has come to trouble me to the very depths of my soul.  Since my soul is not very deep, I will discuss it here.

Some years ago in places, that for lack of a better word I will refer to as retail, a new semantic trend gained some steam.  To indicate to the next person in line that it was ok for them to approach the register, the cashiers would no longer say “next in line” or even its abbreviated form, “next”.  Instead, the phrase “following guest” started to become popular.  I think it goes without saying, since I am now sitting here writing about it, that I hate that phrase.  It seemed to be, in my limited perspective on things, a sentence that meant nothing to the situation.  Despite my aggravation with this, it became the phrase of choice everywhere I went, seemingly.

As if this were not bad enough, a transition has begun to take place more recently.  I noticed it some time ago at Best Market and have heard it on a few other isolated occasions.  To further demean the general public and promulgate the de-humanizing of the patrons of these establishments, I am no longer the “following guest”, but instead have been demoted to just “following”.  What does that even mean?  I understand that if your job calls for you to say that dozens of times in the day, you may cut corners where you can.  I would greatly appreciate it, however, if those that occupy these positions could at least pretend not to hate me and not see me solely as a walking inconvenience and irritant, but a human being, customer and a fellow traveler on this journey of life… Ok, that was a bit over the top.  But in my defense, so is referring to the next person in line as “following”.

Does It Still Make Sense?

I know that street cleaning is not done twice a week on every street, but in my area it is. The purpose of street cleaners/sweepers is to make the streets cleaner, or at least that is what one would imagine. Frequently, however, the streets they traverse are still dirty at best and the dirt that was once on the ground becomes airborne, frequently hitting innocent passerby in the face. But there is more. What comes along with this "sweeping" is alternate side of the street parking. The process of finding a parking spot in many areas can be rightfully called an ordeal, only made more tenuous by alternate side of the street parking restrictions. So my question is this: Does it still make sense to have street cleaning twice a week?

P.S. - Some consideration for ceasing garbage truck operations during rush hour would also be greatly appreciated.