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First opened in 1958 by Alex Madonna, the Madonna Inn is a San Luis Obispo institution famed for its eccentric designs and motifs. The current version dates to 1966 after the original burned down in a fire, and it is borderline tacky, with a loose Swiss-Alps decor. Its 110 rooms are famously individualized, including Yahoo, Love Nest, Old Mill, Kona Rock, Irish Hills, Cloud Nine, Just Heaven, Hearts & Flowers, Rock Bottom, Austrian Suite, Cabin Still, Old World Suite, Caveman Room, Elegance, Daisy Mae, Safari Room, Highway Suite, Jungle Rock, American Home, Bridal Falls and the Carin. Each have their own theme and decor. Popular ones include "Tall and Short", all in pink with furniture of varying heights, the jungle-themed "Safari", the "Just Heaven" with cherubs on the ceiling and a viewing tower, and the animal-skin themed "Caveman". The inn is popular with celebrities, and famous guests include John Wayne, George Burns, Dolly Parton, Steve Martin and Lucille Ball, Pat Brown, Joni Mitchell,Robyn Thicke, Barbra Streisand, Joe Montana, Peggy Lee, Ronald Reagan, Monica Lewinsky and Betty White.
San Luis Obispo, California
While the column itself is beautiful, it is the fountains on the sides which often get the most attention. The fountains are based around massive bronze sculptures. On the south side of the column stands “Le triomphe de la République” – “the triumph of the Republic”, and on the other side, “Le triomphe de la Concorde”- “the triumph of Agreements”.
The sea-horse drawn chariots symbolize peace and happiness while the men getting overthrown in front of the chariots symbolize lies and ignorance. The combination of the flowing water and sculptures full of life, gives an impression that the sea-horses are leaping out of the water towards you in a spectacular fashion. The two incredible fountains form a worthy addition to Bordeaux’s incredible cityscape.
The bronze statues were dismantled by German troops in search of metal during the Second World War. These statues were however found in 1944 in the French city of Angers. They were then brought back to Bordeaux and later reinstalled.
Taken from: www.worldsiteguides.com/europe/france/bordeaux/place-des-...
We arrived in Bordeaux late the night before and all was dark. Today we were away very early to have a quick looks around Bordeaux by coach with a short stop at the fountain. Then we made our way to Bilbao in Spain, with w stop at Biarritz for lunch. Day 13 of our Cosmos tour, October 12, 2012 France.
La Fontaine Bartholdi is a fountain sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi and realised in 1889 by Gaget & Gautier. It was erected at the Place des Terreaux, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in September 1892.
On 20 April 1857, the Bordeaux city council decided to hold a competition to create a fountain for Place Quinconces. Frédéric Bartholdi, then aged 23, won the contest. However, the city hall of Bordeaux decided not to carry out his project. After Bartholdi had made the Statue of Liberty in New York in 1886, the mayor of Bordeaux contacted him, but his new project was canceled after much hesitation. It was finally achieved in 1888, but it was deemed as too expensive and therefore was sold to Lyon. The fountain was eventually put at the Place des Terreaux and is currently still there.
The fountain depicts France as a female seated on a chariot controlling the four great rivers of France, represented by wildly rearing and plunging horses, highly individualized but symmetrically arranged, with bridles and reins of water weeds. weighs 21 tons and is made of lead supported by a frame of iron and was presented as the Exposition Universelle of 1889. It has been classified as monument historique since 29 September 1995.
In 2013, the fountain will be removed temporarily for restoration.
Taken from and for more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontaine_Bartholdi
St. Peter and St. Paul's Church is a Roman Catholic church located in the Antakalnis neighbourhood of Vilnius, Lithuania.
Construction was begun in 1688 and the decorative works were completed in 1704.
It is the centerpiece of a former monastery complex of the Canons Regular of the Lateran.
Its interior has masterful compositions of some 2,000 stucco figures by Giovanni Pietro Perti and ornamentation by Giovanni Maria Galli and is unique in Europe.
The church is considered a masterpiece of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Baroque.
The interior of the church changed relatively little since that time.
The major change was the loss of the main altar. The wooden altar was moved to the Catholic church in Daugai in 1766.[4]
The altar is now dominated by the Farewell of St. Peter and St. Paul, a large painting by Franciszek Smuglewicz, installed there in 1805.
The interior was restored by Giovanni Beretti and Nicolae Piano from Milan in 1801–04.[11]
At the same time, a new pulpit imitating the ship of Saint Peter was installed.
In 1864, as reprisal for the failed January Uprising, Mikhail Muravyov-Vilensky closed the monastery and converted its buildings into military barracks.[11]
There were plans to turn the church into an Eastern Orthodox church, but they never materialized.[11] In 1901–05, the interior was restored again. The church acquired the boat-shaped chandelier and the new pipe organ with two manuals and 23 organ stops.[12]
The dome was damaged during World War II bombings, but was rebuilt true to its original design.[12]
When in 1956 Vilnius Cathedral was converted into an art museum by Soviet authorities, the silver sarcophagus with sacred relics of Saint Casimir was moved to the St. Peter and St. Paul's Church.[13] The sarcophagus was returned to its place in 1989.
Despite religious persecutions in the Soviet Union, extensive interior restoration was carried out in 1976–87.[11]
About the Decorative Scheme
St. Peter and St. Paul's is one of the most studied churches in Lithuania.[19]
Its interior has over 2,000 different decor elements that creates a stunning atmosphere.[20]
The main author of the decor plan is not known. It could be the founder Pac, monks of the Lateran, or Italian artists.
No documents survive to explain the ideas behind the decorations, therefore various art historians attempted to find one central theme: Pac's life and Polish–Lithuanian relations, teachings of Saint Augustine, Baroque theater, etc.[19]
Art historian Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė identified several main themes of the decor: structure of the Church as proclaimed at the Council of Trent with Saint Peter as the founding rock, early Christian martyrs representing Pac's interest in knighthood and ladyship, themes relevant to the Canons Regular of the Lateran, and themes inherited from previous churches (painting of Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy and altar of Five Wounds of Christ).[21]
The decor combines a great variety of symbols, from local (patron of Vilnius Saint Christopher) to Italian saints (Fidelis of Como),[22] from specific saints to allegories of virtues.
There are many decorative elements – floral (acanthus, sunflowers, rues, fruits), various objects (military weapons, household tools, liturgical implements, shells, ribbons), figures (puttos, angels, soldiers), fantastical creatures (demons, dragons, centaurs), Pac's coat of arms, masks making various expressions – but they are individualized, rarely repeating.[23]
The architects and sculptors borrowed ideas from other churches in Poland (Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków, Sigismund's Chapel of Wawel Cathedral) and Italy (St. Peter's Basilica, Church of the Gesù).[22]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Peter_and_St._Paul,_V...
From the Church's Brochure
The church was erected after the Russian invasion that devastated Vilnius in the mid-17th century.
Barely a dozen years passed, and the capital of Lithuania began to recover.
In 1668 Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas, Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and wojewode of Vilnius, embarked upon the Antakalnis.
The church is decorated by the stucco mouldings of two excellent Italian sculptors, Giovanni Pietro Petri and Giovanni Maria Galli.
The interior of the church consists of the main nave, six chapels on both sides, and the transept.
The gorilla is the largest of all primates
Western lowland adult male gorillas are about 1.7 m in body length and weigh about 169.5 kg Adult females are about 1.5 m in body length and weigh about 71.5 kg
Adult male mountain gorillas may weigh up to 220 kg and females weigh about 97.7 kg
Cross River gorillas have been difficult to study due to their shy nature. However, it is estimated that an adult male weighs about 180 kg
Eastern lowland gorillas are slightly larger than the western species, with adult males weighing up to 220 kg (484 lbs.) and females weighing about 80 kg
Shape
Gorillas have a distinctive shape in that their stomachs are larger than their chests. Their stomach size is attributed to their enlarged intestines, which digest the bulky fibrous vegetation they consume.
Arms
Gorillas have larger muscles in their arms than in their legs (the opposite is true for humans). This is primarily due to the fact that they use their increased arm strength for bending and gathering foliage and for defense. Although capable of walking upright on two feet they most often walk as a quadruped
Gorillas' arms are much longer than their legs and their arm span is about 30 cm longer than that of an adult human male. The elongated arms indicate a tree-dwelling ancestry even though gorillas are now primarily terrestrial
An adult gorilla's upper body strength is six times more powerful than that of an adult human — enabling them to lift, break, and squeeze heavy objects.
Coloration
Gorillas have dark skin and black to brown-grey hair. Males acquire silver-gray saddles across their backs and upper thighs at sexual maturity, earning them the name silverback. This silver-gray area breaks up their overall dark coloration, creating an optical illusion of increased length and larger size.
Lowland gorillas have shorter sparse hair whereas mountain gorillas have long and silky hair.
Adult gorillas lack hair on their fingers, palms, soles, nose, lips, ears, and chest.
Dentition
Gorillas have 32 teeth — the same number as humans.
Gorillas have large strong teeth adapted for the coarse vegetation they consume.
Adult males develop big, sharp canines as they mature.
Gorillas have two full sets of teeth during their lifetime, similar to humans. The first set (similar to baby teeth) is lost and then replaced by their permanent set as adults.
Head
The head of a gorilla is massive, with a bulging forehead overhanging the eyes and a bony sagittal crest on top (high-domed head). The sagittal crest (especially noticeable in males) supports the large temporal muscles needed to grind coarse vegetation.
Hands and Feet
The thumb and big toe of gorillas oppose the other digits (fingers/toes), enabling them to grasp and manipulate objects.
All primates have individualized fingerprints and toeprints, which may be used for identification purposes in the field.
Gorillas are able to manipulate objects with their feet as well as their hands because of their opposable big toe.
Primates have fingernails and toenails rather than claws. They are used for opening, scraping, cleaning, and scratching.
Nose
Gorillas' nose regions are very distinctive in terms of the shape and wrinkles and are used by researchers to distinguish individual animals in the field.
Tail
Gorillas, unlike monkeys, do not have tails.
Glands
Adult male gorillas have large apocrine (scent) glands in their armpits that produce a pungent odor when excited or stressed. Gorillas have apocrine and eccrine (sweat) glands that lubricate the palms of their hands and soles of their feet
For Gorillas short videos you can see through these links below each of them is not exceeding 50Secs
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85th Pennsylvania Infantry
This is what William Cutler wrote about this gentleman:
COL. EVERHARD BIERER, attorney at law. The Bierers, or Behrers, according to the German orthography, were a numerous, influential and wealthy family in Wurtemburg (sic), Germany, where they held various honorable position in the civil and military service of the State. George Bierer, a grand uncle of the Colonel, commanded a regiment in the Austrian army during the middle of the eighteenth century, and was created a Baron for distinguished military services, particularly at the siege of Belgrade, Servia, in 1788-89. Col. Bierer is of pure German lineage, his parents being both born in Wurtemburg (sic), the father, Everhard Bierer, born at Wiernshelm, January 6, 1795; the mother, Catherine M. Ruckenbrodt, at Maimsheim, October 28, 1798, and both emigrated with their parents to America in 1804 and settled in Pennsylvania. Everhard Bierer and wife were members of the Lutheran Church, and passed their married life in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Penn., where the subject of this sketch was born January 9, 1827, and where his mother died July 15, 1858, and his father August 2, 1876. He received a liberal education in the private schools and at Madison College in his native town, where he graduated in 1845, having completed a special course embracing the higher mathematics natural and mental sciences, the Latin language and English literature. Leaving the college he entered the office of Joshua B. Howell, Esq. (afterward Colonel of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and who was killed before Richmond in 1864), and was admitted to the bar in March, 1848. He practiced his profession successfully until April 23, 1861, when he left his office and raised a company of volunteers and entered the military service of the United States as Captain of Company F, Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. He served in the Army of the Potomac, and was in the battles of Drainsville, Mechanicsville and Gaines' Hill,(SIC) where, when the whole of Fitz John Porter's corps was broken and retiring back toward the Chickahominy River, Captain Bierer rallied part of the regiment, including his company, for probably the last ineffectual stand on that bloody field, and he was captured with his command June 27, 1862, and taken to Libby Prison, from which he was released by exchange on the 14th of the following August. Six days afterward he was granted twenty days' leave of absence on account of sickness, and went home, but on learning by telegraph of the impending battle at Bull Run, he returned to the army and rejoined his command on the day of the battle. August 30, and in a few days afterward, September 14, 1862, participated in the engagement at South Mountain, Md., where he was severely wounded in the left arm, the ball passing through the elbow joint and lodging in the forearm, from which it was not extracted until the 25th of the following November, and from which he is crippled in his arm for life. Having become convalescent, October 24, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, Penn., with the rank of Colonel, where he organized the 171st, 172d, 173d, 176th, 177th and 178th Regiments Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and November 18 was commissioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy-first. After serving in various parts of southeastern Virginia and in North Carolina, his regiment was ordered to Washington, N. C., where he was placed in command of a brigade and in temporary command of the military district of the Pamlico. He was also at several times in command of Gen. Prince's Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, Major-Gen. J. G. Foster commanding. He was in an engagement at Blount's Creek, near Washington, N. C., April 7, 1863, commanding a brigade under Gen. F. B. Spinola. Spinola's forces were obliged to retire before superior numbers under the Rebel General Hill. To Col. Bierer was assigned the command of the Rear Guard. The duty was critical, the enemy crowding upon him in heavy force nearly the entire night. In the midst of intense darkness, through pine forests and cypress swamps the march was conducted, and he finally succeeded in bringing off the column with the trains and all the wounded. July 1, 1863, he returned with his regiment to Virginia and went with General Dix on his expedition to Richmond. The expedition marched from the White House landing to within eight or ten miles of Richmond, and after some skirmishing with the Rebels, Dix ordered its return to Fortress Monroe. Col. Bierer with his regiment went to Washington, thence to Harper's Ferry, where he joined General Meade, and on the 7th of that month was given a permanent brigade command, and assigned to duty as Military Commandant of the District of the Monocacy, embracing all Western Maryland, with headquarters at Frederick City, Md. September 26, 1863, he was mustered out of the service the regiment's term of enlistment having expired on the 8th of the previous August. During January, February and March, 1864, Col. Bierer served in the Veteran Reserve Corps, but not liking that service, resigned his command and permanently retired from the army. In October, 1865, he removed from Pennsylvania to Kansas and settled on a beautiful farm one mile east of Hiawatha, Brown County, and resumed the practice of his profession. The Colonel was originally a Democrat, and as the nominee of that party was elected in 1850 the first District Attorney of Fayette County, Penn., for a term of three years. Believing that the Democratic party had become the mere propagandist of slavery he became a Republican in 1856, led the forlorn hope for Fremont in Fayette County, Penn., Democracy, and had the satisfaction of seeing the county carried for Lincoln in 1860 by a majority vote of one in a poll of about 10,000. He became during the war a person friend of Abraham Lincoln, and always regarded him as the greatest and best man of the age. In 1864 he was elected one of the Presidential Electors by the Republican party of Pennsylvania, and in 1868 was the Representative from Brown County in the Kansas Legislature by the suffrages of the same party. In 1868 he voted for Grant, but with considerable reluctance, as he could not endorse the reconstruction and financial policy of the party, and in 1870 renounced all connection with the Republican party. His vote in 1872 was cast for Greeley, and in 1876 for Tilden, whom he considered honestly elected, and regarded the action of the majority of the Electoral Commission as a gross fraud and outrage, perpetrated deliberately for partisan purposes and resulting in seating a President who was not elected to the office. He became a member of Fort Necessity No. 254, I. O. O. F. at Uniontown, Penn., in February, 1852, and subsequently joined the Encampment. Has been District Deputy Grand Master, and District Grand Patriarch of the order in Pennsylvania, where he is still a member both of Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment. He was also made a Mason at Uniontown in 1864, and has attained the higher degrees of the order, and is at present affiliated with Hiawatha Lodge No. 35, A. F. & A. M. He is quite liberal and decidedly individualized in his religious opinions and beliefs. He accepts the inspirations of the moral and religious teachings of Scripture, the divine lawship and preexistence of Jesus, the efficacy of His example for purposes of redemption, and a condition of future rewards and punishments; denies the inspiration of the historical records and the ceremonial and civil laws of the Jews, the doctrine of the Trinity, vicarious sacrifice and eternal punishment; accepts a salvation by conduct, not by belief, and includes all the family of the Great Father who act according to their highest conception of right. He has been a very careful student of both the Old and New Testament writings, and his present views are the result of a thorough acquaintance with the Scriptures and extensive knowledge of Ecclesiastic history and Polemics. He has also studied carefully the Koran, the Buddhist and Brahminical Scriptures and the teachings of Confucius, which have also to some extent influenced and modified his religious belief. He was married April 8, 1852, at Brownsville, Fayette Co., Penn., to Ellen, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Troutman Smouse, a lady of extensive family connections in Alleghany County, Md., and in Bedford and Somerset counties, Penn. Her maternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. They are the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. The eldest son, Everhard, graduated from Kansas University in the class of 1877, and is now an Examiner in the Pension Office in Washington, D. C.; the second son is now one of the leading merchants in Hiawatha. In person Col. Bierer is stout and robust, nearly six feet in height, of iron frame, and was never sick excepting during the latter part of his confinement in Libby. He is the sixth in a family of seven sons and four daughters, all of whom are yet living and in good health, the oldest of whom is sixty-six years of age, and the youngest forty-four.
Col. E. Bierer.
Colonel Everard Bierer was among the early settlers of Brown County. Although he did not remove here until October, 1865, when he located on a farm one mile east of Hiawatha. He had been here, however, in 1857 and made investments in real estate and returned to the east again. He is a Pennsylvanian, having been born in Uniontown, January 9, 1827. After receiving an education in the district and private schools of his county, Col. Bierer was sent to the Madison college of his place where he graduated in the higher mathematics, the sciences, languages and English literature. After leaving college he read law In the office of Joshua B. Howell of his native city and was admitted to the bar in 1848, being only twenty-one years of age. Always a patriotic citizen it was but natural that when the war broke out Col. Bierer was interested in the cause of the union and on April 18, 1861, he quit the lawyer's
office and organized a company of volunteers and entered the service of the United States as Captain of Co. F, 11th Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. He served in the Army of the Potomac and when the whole of Fitz John Porter's corps was broken and retiring Captain Bierer rallied part of the regiment
with his company and was captured with his command June 2, 1862, and taken to Libby Prison, from which he was released August 14th of that year. Returning to the army he was severely wounded in the battle of South Mountain September 14,
1862, from which wound he is crippled in his left arm for life. Becoming convalescent on October 24th he was appointed Commandent of Camp Curtin,
Harrisburg, Pa., with the rank of colonel. Here he organized the 171st. 172nd, 173rd, 176th, 177th and 178th Regiments, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and November 18th was commissioned colonel of the 171st. September 26, 1863, he was
mustered out of the service with his regiment. In January, February and March, 1864, Colonel Bierer served in the Veteran Reserve Corps, but resigned his command and retired permanently from the army. Although he was never a politician in the common understanding of that term as to having sought office
numberless times have the friends in the party to which he belonged insisted he make the race for office. In 1850 he was elected the first district attorney of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. In 1864 the Republicans made him the nominee for Presidential elector in Pennsylvania and he wis elected in 1867, two years after removing to this county, he was elected representative from the eleventh district to the Kansas Legislature and once he made the race for congress in this district. On April 8, 1852, Col. Everard Blerer and Ellen Smouse were married at Brownsville,
Fayette County, Pa. To them eight children were born, six sons and two daughters.
Col. and Mrs. Bierer are both members of the Congregational Church of Hiawatha. As a lodge man Col. Bierer belongs to the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The Hiawatha Daily World, Tuesday, December 27, 1910, Pg. 1
Volume 2, No. 90
DEATHS.
Bierer--Col. Everard Bierer died at his home Monday night, Dec. 26, about 11 o'clock. He had been ill for a year or more with cancer on his face. Col. Everard Bierer was among the early settlers of this county, coming here and investing in real estate in 1857, but returning east and then moving here in October, 1865, locating on the Drummond farm, where A. Schrack resides, a mile east of town. He was born in Uniontown, Pa., Jan. 9, 1827, and would therefore have been 84 years old had he lived a couple of weeks longer. He was educated in the district and private schools of his county first and then he attended the Madison college there where he graduated in the higher mathematics, sciences, languages and English literature. After this he read law in the office of Joshua B. Howell, of Uniontown, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. Always a patriotic citizen it was natural when the war broke out that he became identified with the cause of the Union, son on April 18, 1861, he quit the law office and organized a company of volunteers and entered the service of the United States as Captain Co. F, 11th Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. He served in the army of the Potomac and when the whole of Fitz John Porter's corps was broken and retiring, Captain Bierer rallied part of the regiment with his company, but was captured with his command, June 2, 1862, and taken to Libby prison, where he was held until August 14. Returning to the army he was severely wounded at the battle of South Mountain, Sept. 14, 1862, from which wound his left arm was crippled for life. October 24 he was appointed commandant of Camp Curtin at Harrisburg, with rank of Colonel, an appellation that attached to his name the remainder of his life. Here he organized the 171st, 172nd, 173rd, 176th, 177th and 178th regiments Pennsylvania volunteer infantry and was commissioned colonel of the 171st and on Sept. 26, 1873, was mustered out of the service with his regiment. In January, February and March, 1864, he served in the Veteran Reserve corps, but resigned and retired permanently from the army. In 1850 he was elected the first district attorney of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. In 1864 he was elected presidential elector on the Republican ticket. In 1857, two years after coming to Brown county, he was elected representative, and once made the race for congress in this district. He married Miss Ellen Smouse, April 8, 1852, at Brownsville, Pa. To them eight children were born, six sons and two daughters. He was a Congregationalist, Mason and Odd Fellow. Col. Bierer was present and made a speech near the old cottonwood court house in the park at the returning soldiers reception Oct. 8, 1865. Dec. 8, 1865, he opened a law office in the little building where the residence of Mr. Gillet no stands. He served as president of the first National bank at one time, with marked ability as he was a fine financier and thus rounded up a busy life full of activity and momentus events. Of the sons: Everard Jr., is a law assistant at the attorney general's office, Washington; Samuel is at the head of the big department store of Bierer, Shadel & Co., Hiawatha; A. G. Curtin is an ex-Oklahoma supreme judge and Bion holds an important position in the United States navy. The daughters are: Mrs. Jas. L. Shadel, of Hiawatha, and Mrs. John Bokay, of Brown county. Col. Bierer stood high as a citizen of this community with which he was so long identified. He was a well read man, enterprising and useful. He had stood the ravages of war, the privations of early settlement, had been honored, and lived to reach a ripe old age, spending 45 of his years in Hiawatha.
The gorilla is the largest of all primates
Western lowland adult male gorillas are about 1.7 m in body length and weigh about 169.5 kg Adult females are about 1.5 m in body length and weigh about 71.5 kg
Adult male mountain gorillas may weigh up to 220 kg and females weigh about 97.7 kg
Cross River gorillas have been difficult to study due to their shy nature. However, it is estimated that an adult male weighs about 180 kg
Eastern lowland gorillas are slightly larger than the western species, with adult males weighing up to 220 kg (484 lbs.) and females weighing about 80 kg
Shape
Gorillas have a distinctive shape in that their stomachs are larger than their chests. Their stomach size is attributed to their enlarged intestines, which digest the bulky fibrous vegetation they consume.
Arms
Gorillas have larger muscles in their arms than in their legs (the opposite is true for humans). This is primarily due to the fact that they use their increased arm strength for bending and gathering foliage and for defense. Although capable of walking upright on two feet they most often walk as a quadruped
Gorillas' arms are much longer than their legs and their arm span is about 30 cm longer than that of an adult human male. The elongated arms indicate a tree-dwelling ancestry even though gorillas are now primarily terrestrial
An adult gorilla's upper body strength is six times more powerful than that of an adult human — enabling them to lift, break, and squeeze heavy objects.
Coloration
Gorillas have dark skin and black to brown-grey hair. Males acquire silver-gray saddles across their backs and upper thighs at sexual maturity, earning them the name silverback. This silver-gray area breaks up their overall dark coloration, creating an optical illusion of increased length and larger size.
Lowland gorillas have shorter sparse hair whereas mountain gorillas have long and silky hair.
Adult gorillas lack hair on their fingers, palms, soles, nose, lips, ears, and chest.
Dentition
Gorillas have 32 teeth — the same number as humans.
Gorillas have large strong teeth adapted for the coarse vegetation they consume.
Adult males develop big, sharp canines as they mature.
Gorillas have two full sets of teeth during their lifetime, similar to humans. The first set (similar to baby teeth) is lost and then replaced by their permanent set as adults.
Head
The head of a gorilla is massive, with a bulging forehead overhanging the eyes and a bony sagittal crest on top (high-domed head). The sagittal crest (especially noticeable in males) supports the large temporal muscles needed to grind coarse vegetation.
Hands and Feet
The thumb and big toe of gorillas oppose the other digits (fingers/toes), enabling them to grasp and manipulate objects.
All primates have individualized fingerprints and toeprints, which may be used for identification purposes in the field.
Gorillas are able to manipulate objects with their feet as well as their hands because of their opposable big toe.
Primates have fingernails and toenails rather than claws. They are used for opening, scraping, cleaning, and scratching.
Nose
Gorillas' nose regions are very distinctive in terms of the shape and wrinkles and are used by researchers to distinguish individual animals in the field.
Tail
Gorillas, unlike monkeys, do not have tails.
Glands
Adult male gorillas have large apocrine (scent) glands in their armpits that produce a pungent odor when excited or stressed. Gorillas have apocrine and eccrine (sweat) glands that lubricate the palms of their hands and soles of their feet
For Gorillas short videos you can see through these links below each of them is not exceeding 50Secs
Your Actions of clicking and watch one of these videos through any of these links below of Gorilla's behaviors will be helping me to continue the research and motivation of continuing with different updates about Gorillas
rumble.com/vg3ril-mountain-gorilla-is-hurrying-for-bamboo...
rumble.com/vfylh3-happy-gorillas-family-in-social-affairs...
rumble.com/vfxnxb-mountain-silver-back-gorilla-moves.html
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Freelance! Jessie and Ed are personal friends of mine that asked me to design their wedding invitation which I was more than happy to do. Their wedding colors are red, chocolate brown, yellow, and a "rusty" teal.
Full invitation in chocolate brown pocket folder.
5.5" square, gocco screenprint on stardream paper.
Jessie, being the DIY craftster that she is, decided to gocco/screenprint her invitations all by hand. She did the design proud and they have a special individualized quality to them.
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, founder of New York University, diplomat, and United States Secretary of the Treasury.
Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland to a wealthy family, emigrating to Massachusetts in 1780. For a brief period, he attempted to set himself up in business, and for an even briefer time taught French at Harvard University, finally purchasing land in Fayette County, Pennsylvania and moving there in 1784. (His land was in Virginia when he bought it, but became part of Pennsylvania soon afterward.) The Friendship Hill National Historic Site, his home overlooking the Monongahela River, is maintained by the National Park Service.
Almost immediately, Gallatin became active in Pennsylvania politics; he was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1789, and was elected to the state legislature in 1790.
In 1793, Gallatin won election to the United States Senate. When the Third Congress opened on December 2, 1793, he took the oath of office, but, on that same day, nineteen Pennsylvania Federalists filed a protest with the Senate that Gallatin did not have the minimum nine years of citizenship required to be a senator. The petition was sent to committee, which duly reported that Gallatin had not been a citizen for the required period. Gallatin rebutted the committee report, noting his unbroken residence of thirteen years in the United States, his 1785 oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia, his service in the Pennsylvania legislature, and his substantial property holdings in the United States. The report and Gallatin's rebuttal were sent to a second committee. This committee also reported that Gallatin should be removed. The matter then went before the full Senate where the Gallatin was removed in a party-line vote of 14–12.
Gallatin's brief stint in the Senate was not without consequence. Gallatin had proven to be an effective opponent of Alexander Hamilton's financial policies, and the election controversy added to his fame. The dispute itself had important ramifications. At the time, the Senate held closed sessions. However, with the American Revolution only a decade ended, the senators were leery of anything which might hint that they intended to establish an aristocracy, so they opened up their chamber for the first time for the debate over whether to unseat Gallatin. Soon thereafter, open sessions became standard procedure for the Senate.
Entering the House of Representatives in 1795, he served in the fourth through sixth Congresses, and went on to become majority leader. He was an important leader of the new Republican Party, and its chief spokesman on financial matters. He opposed the entire program of Alexander Hamilton, though when he came to power he found himself keeping all the main parts.
As party leader, Gallatin put a great deal of pressure on Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. to maintain fiscal responsibility. He also helped found the House Committee on Finance (which would evolve into the Ways and Means Committee) and often engineered withholding of finances by the House as a method of overriding executive actions to which he objected. Among these was the Quasi-War, of which he was a vociferous foe. His measures to withhold naval appropriations during this period were met with vehement animosity by the Federalists, who accused him of being a French spy. It was the opinion of Thomas Jefferson that the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed largely as a way to rein in Gallatin.
Gallatin is honored with a statue in front of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.When Jefferson became President, Gallatin was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Gallatin served in that post for thirteen years, the longest term in history for that office. During the first part of his tenure, he made great progress in balancing the federal budget. The United States was able to make the Louisiana Purchase without a tax increase in large part due to Gallatin's efforts. Gallatin also involved himself in the planning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, mapping out the area to be explored.
In 1812, the United States was financially unprepared for war. For example, the Republicans allowed the First Bank of the United States to expire in 1811, over Gallatin's objections. He had to ship $7 million to Europe to pay off its foreign stockholders just at a time money was needed for war. The heavy military expenditures for the War of 1812, and the decline in tariff revenue caused by the embargo and the British blockade, sent the budget into the red. In 1813, the Treasury had expenditures of $39 million and revenue of only $15 million. Despite anger from Congress, Gallatin was forced to reintroduce the Federalist taxes he had denounced in 1798, such as the taxes on whiskey and salt, as well as a direct tax on land and slaves. He succeeded in funding the deficit of $69 million by bond issues, and thereby paid the direct cost of the war, which amounted to $87 million. He later helped charter the Second Bank of the United States in 1816.
In 1813, President James Madison sent him as the U.S. representative to a Russian-brokered peace talk, which Britain ultimately refused, preferring direct negotiations. Gallatin then resigned as Secretary of the Treasury to head the U.S. delegation for these negotiations in France and was instrumental in the securing of the Treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close.
At war's end, Gallatin, preferring to remain in France, was appointed U.S. Minister to that country and held that post for another seven years. He returned to America in 1823 and was selected by the Democratic-Republican Party as its vice-presidential candidate, but was dissuaded by Martin Van Buren from accepting. Gallatin was alarmed at the possibility Andrew Jackson might win; he saw Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshippers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional. provisions, altogether unfit for the office."
He returned home to Pennsylvania where he lived until 1826.
By 1826, there was much contention between the United States and Britain over claims to the Columbia River system on the Northwest coast. Gallatin put forward a claim in favor of American ownership, outlining what has been called the "principle of contiguity" in his statement called "The Land West of the Rockies." It states that lands adjacent to already settled territory can reasonably be claimed by the settled territory. This argument is an early version of the doctrine of America's "manifest destiny". This principle became the legal premise by which the United States was able to claim the lands to the west.
In 1826 and 1927, he served as minister to the Court of St. James (i.e., minister to Great Britain).
He then settled in New York City, where he helped found New York University in 1831, in order to offer university education to the lower and middle classes. He became president of the National Bank (which was later renamed Gallatin Bank). In 1849, Gallatin died in Astoria on Long Island; he is interred at Trinity Churchyard in New York City.
Throughout his public service career, Gallatin pursued an interest in Native American language and culture. He drew upon government contacts in his research, gathering information through Lewis Cass, a Secretary of War, explorer William Clark and Thomas McKenney of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He developed a personal relationship with Cherokee tribal leader John Ridge, who provided him with information on the vocabulary and structure of the Cherokee language. Gallatin's research resulted in two published works: A Table of Indian Languages of the United States (1826) and Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836). His research led him to conclude that the natives of North and South America were linguistically and culturally related, and that their common ancestors had migrated from Asia in prehistoric times.
In 1842, Gallatin joined with John Russell Bartlett to found the American Ethnological Society. Later research efforts include examination of selected Pueblo societies, the Akimel O'odham (Pima) peoples, and the Maricopa of the Southwest. In politics, Gallatin stood for assimilation of Native Americans into European based American society, encouraging federal efforts in education leading to assimilation and denying annuities for Native Americans displaced by western expansion.
Gallatin's portrait was on the front of the $500 United States Note issued in 1862-1863.
Gallatin's portrait was on the standard 1¼¢ stamp from 1967-73.
Gallatin County, Montana is named in his honor.
Gallatin County, Kentucky is named in his honor.
Gallatin, Tennessee is named in his honor.
A school district in Fayette County, Pennsylvania was named in his honor.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's highest career service award is named the Albert Gallatin Award in his honor.
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University honors his founding.
“Quartier Schützenstrasse” consists of a classical Friedrichstadt block defined by the Schützenstrasse, Markgrafenstrasse, Zimmerstrasse, and Charlottenstrasse.
Aldo Rossi’s used the historical urban structure of the division of land into small plots as his concept for Quartier Schützenstrasse. The individualized houses signal individual plots but the total number of facades exceeds the number of houses standing independently of each other. While two of the buildings are reserved exclusively for residential apartments the rest provide for a mixture of residential and commercial use.
The Quartier Schützenstrasse is a collage of icons and archetypes with several obvious references to other Rossi buildings as well as historical references. Schützenstrasse 8 is a copy of the courtyard facade of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, built in 1516 by Antonio Sangallo, that was modified by Michelangelo. The court yard facade copies three of the centre line of windows of the Palazzo Farnese. The path through the smallest, ornamental courtyard behind the Palazzo Farnese.
The intense colorfulness, inspired by the colors of antique architecture, tie the block together and draws attention to the allotment structure, which distinguishes the individual houses. Rossi used particular colors for particular facade materials; the more “artificial” the material, the more “vivid” the color. Blaring green and bright red signal aluminum. Muted colors; egg yolk yellow, carmine red and cornflower blue are all stucco. The earthy tones shading into red- brown or yellow indicate bricks. The pale facades are two kinds of natural stone; light and dark gray, sand and pink. The silver-grey sheet metal stays as is.
The urge towards a multiplicity of forms is unmistakable, the efforts beyond variations in color and material impressive. The varying window shapes, the appointment of the attics, the plastic development of the facades through extroverted and reticent sections, through sills and parapet; the sometimes expressly horizontal, other times explicitly vertical division of the mostly axial-symmetric facades; and finally their own, lightly staggered order all contribute to this effect.
The great pains Rossi took with the design of his city-within-a-city were only initially devoted to the plausibility of its lots structure. Rather, the “city” was mainly dedicated to what he called a monument, so that it may have sovereignty over its use, just as it is sovereign over its environment.
/ Mathias Remmele
VEDANA LAGOON RESORT & SPA
Located between two World Heritage Sites, Hue and Hoa An, the Vedanā Lagoon Resort & Spa is nestled on the shore of a serene lagoon, with stunning views across one of the largest lagoons in southeast asia.
The resort offers stylish interior decoration on an area of 27 hectares of undulating land and lagoon surface in a calm and picturesque landscape. with 27 luxury villas, bungalows, each of the villas and bungalows are individualized and have their own private sundeck, and a balcony that leads out onto the immense lagoon or into a private garden with private pool.
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HUE
Huế is the capital city of Thua Thien – Hue province, Vietnam. Between 1802 and 1945, it was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty. Its population stands at about 340,000..
Huế originally rose to prominence as the capital of the Nguyễn Lords, a feudal dynasty which dominated much of southern Vietnam from the 17th to the 19th century. In 1775 when Trịnh Sâm captured it, it was known as Phú Xuân. In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (later Emperor Gia Long) succeeded in establishing his control over the whole of Vietnam, thereby making Huế the national capital.
Minh Mạng (14 February 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm 阮 福 膽, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu 阮 福 晈) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, reigning from 14 February 1820 (his 29th birthday) until his death, on 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Cảnh, had died in 1801. Minh was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam, and for his rigid Confucian orthodoxy.
Huế was the national capital until 1945, when Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated and a communist government was established in Hà Nội (Hanoi), in the north. While Bảo Đại was briefly proclaimed Head of State; with the help of the returning French colonialists in 1949 (although not with recognition from the communists and the full acceptance of the Vietnamese people), his new capital was Sài Gòn (Saigon), in the south.
In the Vietnam War, Huế’s central position placed it very near the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam; however, the city was located in South Vietnam. In the Tết Offensive of 1968, during the Battle of Huế, the city suffered considerable damage not only to its physical features, but its reputation as well, most of it from American firepower and bombings on the historical buildings as well as the massacre at Huế committed by the communist forces. After the war’s conclusion, many of the historic features of Huế were neglected because they were seen by the victorious regime and some other Vietnamese as "relics from the feudal regime"; the Vietnamese Communist Party doctrine officially described the Nguyễn Dynasty as feudal; and reactionary. There has since been a change of policy, however, and many historical areas of the city are currently being restored.
"Designing Programmes", classic book on form as programme by the Swiss designer Karl Gerstner.
Page 30: Programme as city planning
Extract from the periodical "Capital" (No. 3/1967): At the beginning of April a helicopter will fly six plastic capsules to the grounds of the Otto Graf Institute of the Stuttgart Institute of Technology. This is the start of a new adventure in architecture: technicians. soci ologists and psychologists will test what life is like in synthetic living units measuring 7.2x 3.6x2.8 metres.
Whole cities are to be erected with these plastic capsules. To this end three architects last summer founded the 'City Planning Systems Company for Research and Development Ltd. in Wiesbaden. They are Rudolf Doernach, 38, formerly assistant to the famous American architect Buckminster Fuller; Hans- Joachim Lenz, 41, winner of the first prize in the competition for the Euratom Institute for Transuranic elements in Karlsruhe; and Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz, 38. Deubau prize winner of the City of Essen.
These wayout architects have discovered affinities between man's biological system and the living conditions he desires. The human system of bones / organs / brains is paralleled by the urban system of framework / living-unit /control.
City planner Rudolf Doernach has concrete ideas as to how such a dwelling system will look. He says: To start with, one buys one's living capsules for, say, 30,000 marks and hangs them up on the framework near the centre of the city. Later one can load them on a truck and take them to the quieter outskirts. At retirement, one loads one's living unit on a helicopter and flies it to Majorca.
The supporting framework for these living units will consist of steel or concrete posts and beams. Instead of renting flats or rooms, one will hire space in which to hang one's living unit as one wishes. 'There will be plenty of scope for variety,' architect Lenz promises is; 'for instance one room can be rigged out as a front garden'.
Page 31: Programme as design for the future
"City planning systems" do more than just provide dwelling houses. "Paths and roads will also be incorporated in the supporting framework as the volume of traffic requires. All service mains such as hot and cold water, heating, power, telephones, antennae and drainage will run along the posts and beams."
The illustrations below show the system as projected for the University of Bochum. The upper picture clearly shows that even contingencies are programmed: the complete flexibility of the structure enables the university to be altered inwards and outwards in every direction as its various needs develop.
The example of this university clearly spells out the principle: "In this new conception of city planning man is no longer adapted to the layout of buildings and town but these are adapted to man." Doernach, Lenz and Schulze-Fielitz see their programme in the context of the complete urbanization of the earth.
Today 50% of humanity live in cities: by the end of the century the population of the earth will have developed and 90% of them will be urbanized. Population growth will be concentrated in existing megalopolises and agglomerations; small towns will decay; villages will become extinct.
Under the pressure of this development wsocial structures will come into being and the will find expression in new city planning programmes. Schulze-Fielitz: "Our task is the development and production of spatial city-planning programmes with the maximum possible adaptability." He believes that the density of utilization should be maximized not only for economic but also for psychological reasons: "To step social intensity as a remedy against desocialization and to obviate the malaise of our new towns."
Above all it is mental and spiritual density that is involved: the city of the future is to be literally
a framework, objective and neutral, into the voids of which individualized living space can be filled.
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The Ace Hotel reception desk also doubles as a gift shop. The New York state motto is "Excelsior", a Latin word and in English it means "ever upwards".
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Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
“Quartier Schützenstrasse” consists of a classical Friedrichstadt block defined by the Schützenstrasse, Markgrafenstrasse, Zimmerstrasse, and Charlottenstrasse.
Aldo Rossi’s used the historical urban structure of the division of land into small plots as his concept for Quartier Schützenstrasse. The individualized houses signal individual plots but the total number of facades exceeds the number of houses standing independently of each other. While two of the buildings are reserved exclusively for residential apartments the rest provide for a mixture of residential and commercial use.
The Quartier Schützenstrasse is a collage of icons and archetypes with several obvious references to other Rossi buildings as well as historical references. Schützenstrasse 8 is a copy of the courtyard facade of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, built in 1516 by Antonio Sangallo, that was modified by Michelangelo. The court yard facade copies three of the centre line of windows of the Palazzo Farnese. The path through the smallest, ornamental courtyard behind the Palazzo Farnese.
The intense colorfulness, inspired by the colors of antique architecture, tie the block together and draws attention to the allotment structure, which distinguishes the individual houses. Rossi used particular colors for particular facade materials; the more “artificial” the material, the more “vivid” the color. Blaring green and bright red signal aluminum. Muted colors; egg yolk yellow, carmine red and cornflower blue are all stucco. The earthy tones shading into red- brown or yellow indicate bricks. The pale facades are two kinds of natural stone; light and dark gray, sand and pink. The silver-grey sheet metal stays as is.
The urge towards a multiplicity of forms is unmistakable, the efforts beyond variations in color and material impressive. The varying window shapes, the appointment of the attics, the plastic development of the facades through extroverted and reticent sections, through sills and parapet; the sometimes expressly horizontal, other times explicitly vertical division of the mostly axial-symmetric facades; and finally their own, lightly staggered order all contribute to this effect.
The great pains Rossi took with the design of his city-within-a-city were only initially devoted to the plausibility of its lots structure. Rather, the “city” was mainly dedicated to what he called a monument, so that it may have sovereignty over its use, just as it is sovereign over its environment.
/ Mathias Remmele
"Fort Mississauga National Historic Site is a fort on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort today consists of a box–shaped brick tower and historic star–shaped earthworks. The all–brick fort was built from 1814–1816 during the War of 1812, to replace nearby Fort George. It was built on a foundation of brick and stone salvaged from rubble left after retreating United States forces burned the nearby town of Newark (as Niagara-on-the-Lake was known then) in December, 1813. It would help in the defence of Upper Canada the following year, as part of a regional network that included Fort George, Navy Hall, and Butler's Barracks. However, the fort would not be completed until after the war.
Niagara-On-The-Lake National Historic Site of Canada is an early-19th century Loyalist town located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, near the United States border. The historic district covers 25 city blocks and includes more than 90 residential, commercial, ecclesiastical and institutional buildings constructed between 1815 and 1859. The majority of the buildings are constructed in the British Classical Tradition, producing similarities in design, materials and scale. The wide, tree-lined streets within the district follow a late-18th century grid plan. The district also includes a city park and two early-19th-century cemeteries. The landscape is gently rolling in places, with a creek running through part of the district. The official recognition refers to the approximately 41 hectares of related buildings and landscapes within the district boundaries.
Niagara-on-the-Lake was established in 1779 as a supply depot for British Loyalist forces. By the end of the 18th century it had developed into a major military and cultural centre and served briefly as the capital of Upper Canada. The town’s grid plan, laid out in 1794, was based on the Imperial model plan for new colonial towns. Niagara-on-the-Lake was destroyed by fire in 1813, and then rebuilt by Loyalist settlers. The streets retain their original arrangement, proportions and edge treatments. Between 1831 and 1859, the town prospered as a major shipping and shipbuilding port, and residents built or enlarged their houses and commercial buildings.
The district is dominated by the classically-designed buildings erected during the period from1815 to 1859. Most buildings retain their original siting close to the road and are of similar design, materials and scale, and the majority of buildings have been restored to resemble their original appearance. The commercial section of Queen Street, largely built between 1813 and 1840, illustrates the informal features of commercial streets characteristic of that period. The historic district is distinguished from later 19th-century streetscapes by the individualized façades and the clear differentiation between buildings.
The residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake were among the earliest citizen’s groups in Canada to make a strong commitment to the restoration of their built heritage. The Niagara Historical Society, established by residents in 1896, collected artifacts and documents relating to local history and published local histories. Beginning in the mid-1950s, individuals began to restore private properties to their 19th-century appearance and to promote conservation. In 1962 they formed the Niagara Foundation, a local advocacy and fundraising group dedicated to preserving the town’s landmarks. The Niagara Foundation was instrumental in restoring several major buildings in the town. Niagara-on-the-Lake was one of the first Ontario municipalities to appoint a Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee to advise on local heritage. The town was designated as a provincial Heritage Conservation District in 1986." - info from Historic Places.
"Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of Ontario and is the only town in Canada that has a lord mayor. It had a population of 19,088 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is important in the history of Canada: it served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada, the predecessor of Ontario. It was called Newark from 1792 to 1797. During the War of 1812, the town, the two former villages of St. David's and Queenston, and Fort George were the sites of numerous battles following the American invasion of Upper Canada, and the town was razed. Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to the oldest Catholic church, the second-oldest Anglican church in Ontario, and the oldest surviving golf course in North America.
Today, Niagara-on-the-Lake draws tourists with its colonial-style buildings, the Shaw Festival, Fort George, wineries, an outlet mall on the highway, and its proximity to Niagara Falls. The Niagara Region has the second-highest percentage of seniors in Ontario." - info from Wikipedia.
Late June to early July, 2024 I did my 4th major cycling tour. I cycled from Ottawa to London, Ontario on a convoluted route that passed by Niagara Falls. During this journey I cycled 1,876.26 km and took 21,413 photos. As with my other tours a major focus was old architecture.
Find me on Instagram.
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JUST A LITTLE PSA ...
Our little PETITE WANDERLINGS BLYTHE GIRL ...
is up for adoption ...
"FANNY DARLING" ... a "PETITE WANDERLINGS" Custom
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HER DESCRIPTION .... HER STORY .....
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FANNY is one of the ORIGINAL RELEASES by iconic Blythe Doll Customizer ... the creator of "PETITE WANDERLINGS" ... aka LISA of RAGAZZA CUSTOM BLYTHES ...
These very special "PETITE WANDERLINGS" girls ... each one, a very sought after treasure ... each one so iconic now, and so precious ... are very well known in the Blythe Doll Community ... since 2009 ... and to all who have, and have had, the pleasure and opportunity throughout the years ... to see them featured in their one-of-a-kind, unique photos, meeting them in person, and even more so, for those who have had the opportunity to adopt one of these exceptional (and as the years go by), EXCLUSIVE Blythe girls ...
In 2011, Lisa created a trio of girls for adoption ... entitled ... "LOVE, FAITH, and FAIRYDUST" ~
EACH GIRL also came with her own "VON PINKTEA FAMILY" MEMBER ... a sweet, handmade, jointed TEDDY BEAR ... to keep with her at all times. FANNY'S little bear is "GOLLY BRIOCHE" ... and she still has her original peach-tone, vintage seam ribbon bow ~ as you can see in the photos.
THIS LISTING IS FOR "FANNY DARLING", aka, "Fairydust" ...
and of course, her little bear "GOLLY BRIOCHE VON PINKTEA" IS INCLUDED !!
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FOR THIS LISTING, we have included original photo by PETITE WANDERLINGS / RAGAZZA for reference; circa 2011.
We are not the original owners of FANNY, but we have had her since 2014.
BASE DOLL: ORIGINAL TAKARA BLYTHE RELEASE "EBL" MOLD
BODY: LICCA BODY
EYECHIPS: SEE PHOTO (Customizer used crystal clear, slightly coloured lenses/ chips for Fanny ... to give her that ETHEREAL aura, as PETITE WANDERLINGS girls are known for ...
EYELIDS: A VERY SWEET SHADE of pale, pale pink ...
LASHES: Another feature of Customizer's PETITE WANDERLINGS girls ... they either have NO lashes ... or delicate whisps ... in this case, FANNY HAS WISPY WHITE LASHES ...
HAIR/SCALP: CUSTOM ALPACA REROOT ... Customizer shows her individualized process on her site, of how she created the special, and custom dyed/colored alpaca ... for the re-root scalps for this trio ... "LOVE, FAITH & FAIRYDUST" (FANNY DARLING)
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Fanny has had no further work or "refreshing" done on her original face, since she was customized by Ragazza ~
Other photos included for interest/ reference and to showcase her adorable-ness ...
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This Blythe is being offered as a pre-owned, pre-loved, "used" Blythe doll, which we have had since 2014. NO CLOTHING/ NO OUTFIT INCLUDED in this listing: She is being listed and shipped “NUDE” ... She will be shipped in sturdy packaging, fully padded to ensure no movement during shipping process; Her face will be fully protected, pull-charms secured in bubble wrap; taking care with FANNY, from head, to lashes, to toe.
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SHIPPING FROM CALIFORNIA, USA ~ INCLUDES TRACKING
USA SALES ONLY (sorry, no International shipping offered at this time);
WE DO NOT ACCEPT RETURNS ON BLYTHE DOLL SALES / ADOPTIONS: ALL SALES / ADOPTIONS ARE FINAL (another reason we utilize all photos allowed in sales listings!)
COMING FROM A NON-SMOKING ~ NO PETS HOME ~
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WORDING FROM OUR USA-EBAY AD ...
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[ Listed for 2200. ... ebay takes over 10% these days ... so off- ebay negotiations may be a possibility if we know you, and are reading this ... <3 ]
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Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The bar at the Breslin Bar and Dining Room
---------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
29th Street facade - Ace Hotel. The 1906 addition built two years after the hotel opened is clearly seen.
-----------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
KONSTRUCTIVE RHODOLITE
High-Performance Rennrad
•Fortschrittlichste Carbon-Fertigungsmethoden
•Handmade in Europa
•Beste Schwingungsdämpfungs- und Komfortwerte
•Optimales Steifigkeits- zu Gewichtsverhältnis
•Wählbare Ausstattungsvarianten für das individuelle DREAMBIKE verfügbar.
•Optional: Fertigung nach Maß
TECHNISCHE DATEN DES ABGEBILDETEN BIKES
Modell: RHODOLITE RED PRO Bike
Größe / Gewicht Bike / Gewicht Rahmen: 56 cm / 6,3 kg / 850 g
Design Style: Konstructive Gold und Pure Carbon Rahmen und Gabel halb lackiert
High-Performance Roadbike
•Most advanced carbon fabrication methods
•Developed in Germany, handmade in Europe
•Highly comfortable ride with very good damping characteristics
•Excellent stiffness-to-weight-ratio
•Large selection of configurable options to create the ultimate DREAM BIKE
•Extras: Custom tailored frame size and geometry
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PICTURED BIKE
Model name: RHODOLITE RED PRO Bike
Size / Weight of the bike / Weight of the frame: 56 cm / 6,3 kg / 850 g
Design Style: Konstructive Onyx Black and Pure Carbon Frame and Fork half painted
Konstructive Cycles Berlin
Further details via Revolution Sports Distribution. www.revolutionsports.eu
WHO
Konstructive Cycles is a German cycling brand. Konstructive Custom Dream Bikes and accessories are designed in Berlin, Germany and hand made by the best craftsmen in Europe. Konstructive Cycles Berlin are distributed by RevolutionSports.eu.
WHAT
Konstructive Cycles develops high performance carbon and steel Bikes, components, high-end accessories and functional clothing. The bike categories include Road Bikes, Cyclo-Cross Bikes, Mountain Bikes as well as niche products. We offer complete bicycles with various build kit options and individual frames. Our products are for bike enthusiasts and weight conscious riders and racers (weight weenies).
WHY
Konstructive Cycles offers quality instead of quantity and focuses on the most important details. The era of individualization has started. Konstructive Cycles Berlin would like to build your exclusive Dream Bike tailored to your specific needs.
HOW
Get more information and start to configure your ultimate Dream Bike on our Website: www.konstructive.de.
Get in touch with us and support products made in Germany and Europe!
KONSTRUCTIVE CYCLES BERLIN
WER
Konstructive Cycles ist eine deutsche Marke Konstructive Cycles Berlin Produkte werden in Berlin entwickelt und gestaltet (Design Made in Germany) und von den besten Handwerkern in Europa gefertigt (Made in Europe). Die Firma RevolutionSports.eu vertreibt die hochwertige Dream Bikes (Traumbikes) und Zubehörprodukte.
WAS
Konstructive Cycles entwickelt Hochleistungs-Bikes aus Carbon und Stahl, Komponenten sowie exklusives Zubehör und Funktionsbekleidung. Zu den Bike-Kategorien zählen Rennräder, Cyclo-Cross Bikes, Mountain Bikes und zahlreiche Sonderlösungen. Wir bieten komplette Bikes mit vielfältigen Ausstattungsoptionen und einzelne Rahmen an. Unsere Produkte werden für Bike-Enthusiasten entwickelt, die besonderen Wert auf Qualität und ein niedriges Gewicht ihres Bikes legen.
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Konstructive Cycles bietet Klasse anstatt Massenware und legt großen Wert auf alle wichtigen Details. Für uns hat die Ära der Individualisierung begonnen. Konstructive Cycles fertigt Ihr individuelles Traumbike, zugeschnitten auf Ihre persönlichen Wünsche.
WIE
Nutzen Sie die Informationen auf unserer Website und konfigurieren Sie Ihr ultimatives Traumbike: www.konstructive.de.
Nehmen Sie Kontakt zu uns auf und unterstützen Sie Produkte aus Deutschland und Europa!
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Poster art - Ace Hotel lobby.
---------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Close-up of the Breslin's cap - which at one time held a massive (for its day) electric sign spelling out B R E S L I N. The sign helped give this stretch of Broadway between 23rd and 29th Streets the famous moniker “the Great White Way”.
--------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
This dazzling bust of a young man with a luxuriant head of curls and an expanse of chest that evokes Classical bronze sculpture of the fifth century BCE was created in Athens during the mid-2nd century CE to memorialize a beautiful youth by identifying his image with those of ancient Greek mythological heroes. In the Antonine period, elaborate coiffures such as this one were fashionable among the jeunesse dorée. The two portraits of the emperor Lucius Verus, on view to the left beyond this figure, demonstrate the deeply drilled carving style that was developed in Rome to convey the light and dark effects within such curls. Greek sculptors sought a more plastic rendering; each lock on this head varies and ends with an individualized snail-like curl. Not only fashionable, the full head of hair, the sharp turn of the head, nude chest, casually draped cloak, and ribbon-like sword belt all evoked associations with images of the Homeric heroes and the glorious past of Classical Greece. The mid-second century CE was a period in which the Greeks attempted to bring new life to their ancient cultural traditions. The fusion of contemporary and heroic in this portrait bust has created an unforgettable masterpiece.
Roman, Antonine period, 161-180 CE.
Promised Gift of Leon Levy and Shelby White* (L.2007,8.12)
*Levy and White were the recipients of a great deal of looted antiquities, some of which has been returned to the various countries from where they were plundered. This sculpture almost certainly comes from the ruins of ancient Cyrene in Northern Africa, given the signature orange staining on the marble. And most probably looted.
Built in 1913 at no. 223 King Street.
"The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (reporting mark NS&T) was an interurban radial electric railway in the Niagara Peninsula of Southern Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1899 to 1959. It was based in St. Catharines and had lines to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Dalhousie, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Welland and Port Colborne." - info from Wikipedia.
"Niagara-On-The-Lake National Historic Site of Canada is an early-19th century Loyalist town located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, near the United States border. The historic district covers 25 city blocks and includes more than 90 residential, commercial, ecclesiastical and institutional buildings constructed between 1815 and 1859. The majority of the buildings are constructed in the British Classical Tradition, producing similarities in design, materials and scale. The wide, tree-lined streets within the district follow a late-18th century grid plan. The district also includes a city park and two early-19th-century cemeteries. The landscape is gently rolling in places, with a creek running through part of the district. The official recognition refers to the approximately 41 hectares of related buildings and landscapes within the district boundaries.
Niagara-on-the-Lake was established in 1779 as a supply depot for British Loyalist forces. By the end of the 18th century it had developed into a major military and cultural centre and served briefly as the capital of Upper Canada. The town’s grid plan, laid out in 1794, was based on the Imperial model plan for new colonial towns. Niagara-on-the-Lake was destroyed by fire in 1813, and then rebuilt by Loyalist settlers. The streets retain their original arrangement, proportions and edge treatments. Between 1831 and 1859, the town prospered as a major shipping and shipbuilding port, and residents built or enlarged their houses and commercial buildings.
The district is dominated by the classically-designed buildings erected during the period from1815 to 1859. Most buildings retain their original siting close to the road and are of similar design, materials and scale, and the majority of buildings have been restored to resemble their original appearance. The commercial section of Queen Street, largely built between 1813 and 1840, illustrates the informal features of commercial streets characteristic of that period. The historic district is distinguished from later 19th-century streetscapes by the individualized façades and the clear differentiation between buildings.
The residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake were among the earliest citizen’s groups in Canada to make a strong commitment to the restoration of their built heritage. The Niagara Historical Society, established by residents in 1896, collected artifacts and documents relating to local history and published local histories. Beginning in the mid-1950s, individuals began to restore private properties to their 19th-century appearance and to promote conservation. In 1962 they formed the Niagara Foundation, a local advocacy and fundraising group dedicated to preserving the town’s landmarks. The Niagara Foundation was instrumental in restoring several major buildings in the town. Niagara-on-the-Lake was one of the first Ontario municipalities to appoint a Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee to advise on local heritage. The town was designated as a provincial Heritage Conservation District in 1986." - info from Historic Places.
"Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of Ontario and is the only town in Canada that has a lord mayor. It had a population of 19,088 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is important in the history of Canada: it served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada, the predecessor of Ontario. It was called Newark from 1792 to 1797. During the War of 1812, the town, the two former villages of St. David's and Queenston, and Fort George were the sites of numerous battles following the American invasion of Upper Canada, and the town was razed. Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to the oldest Catholic church, the second-oldest Anglican church in Ontario, and the oldest surviving golf course in North America.
Today, Niagara-on-the-Lake draws tourists with its colonial-style buildings, the Shaw Festival, Fort George, wineries, an outlet mall on the highway, and its proximity to Niagara Falls. The Niagara Region has the second-highest percentage of seniors in Ontario." - info from Wikipedia.
Late June to early July, 2024 I did my 4th major cycling tour. I cycled from Ottawa to London, Ontario on a convoluted route that passed by Niagara Falls. During this journey I cycled 1,876.26 km and took 21,413 photos. As with my other tours a major focus was old architecture.
Find me on Instagram.
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
$100 t-shirts for sale at the Ace Hotel
-------------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The Broadway facade - Ace Hotel.
---------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Ace Hotel marquis
-----------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap overlooking Broadway and 29th Street.
------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund. The building is now owned by LGF Enterprises, part of the Lillian Goldman Family holdings.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In November 2011 it was announced that Ace Hotel owner and GFI Capital Resources Group President Allen Gross and Chartres Lodging Group partner Bruce Blum have formed a private equity hotel investment firm - GB Lodging - which will specialize in boutique value enhancement activities in the NYC area.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Credit: Amar Imache
Each of the shareholders of this collective wells has his own distribution piped network. Taps can be opened sequentially.
Herman Chen 24/52
Meet The Person:
Herman Chen - Current Student, former Network/Change Manager for telecommunication companies.
Herman is a savvy business professional. In 1995 he became an entrepreneur, owning a Manhattan Bagel. He also worked in the telecommunications field for many years. He was first with AT&T as the Network Operations Manager, along with being the Change Management Manager. The Network Operations Manager performed surveillance on AT&T’s switches and their entire network. The Change Management Team was responsible for performing all of the software upgrades for the switches across AT&T’s network. From there, Herman moved to Cavalier Telephone and Netcarrier as the Field Technician Manager.
Personally, Herman is a wrestler at heart. He loves coaching wrestling, mentoring student athletes and coaches alike. He trains wrestlers year round whether it’s in the gym or in the wrestling room.
His most recent endeavor is with PAW’s Elite (Princeton Amateur Wrestling Society) which he is currently on staff there. The staff has an incredible assortment of high profile wrestler’s including Chris Ayres (All American from Lehigh - current Head Coach at Princeton University), Sean Gray (2x All American at Virginia Tech - current Assistant coach at Princeton University), Joe Dubuque (2x National Champion at Indiana University - current Assistant Coach at Princeton University) and Joe Jamison (current Assistant Coach at Princeton University.)
Being a part of and watching kids grow into fine young men is something he enjoys along with knowing that he had a helping hand in getting them to where they want to be. The sport of wrestling has helped him develop many great relationships with wrestlers, coaches, parents and fans. The sport has truly been good to him and he enjoys trying to return the favor.
He started coaching wrestling in 1995 (same year he opened the Manhattan Bagel.) Even though he is not coaching full time or affiliated with CB East anymore, he still works with many of the wrestlers outside of their normal practice schedule.
Currently, Herman is taking time off from coaching so he can go back to school to earn his degree. He has a nine year old son, Brandon, who is the pride and joy of his life. Brandon is extremely intelligent and extremely caring and thoughtful. It has been important to Herman to see Brandon succeed in life. Herman never got his degree from college and didn’t want Brandon to follow in his footsteps. So he decided it was best to take time off so he can focus on getting his degree. He is currently enrolled full time at Penn State Abington and plans to take class year round for two years. He started last summer session (session II 2013) and his targeted graduation date is summer of 2015. At that point he will have completed 120 credits, earning his BS in Business (Individualized business plan at PSU.) Basically, he is taking 21-24 credits a semester and 18 over the summer sessions so he can complete a four year degree in only two years. Brandon likes following in his Dad’s footsteps, so he is now planning on going to college when he is done High School!
The following is a direct quote from Herman:
“I met Nick, fresh out of college, teaching in his first year at Holicong Jr High. I will never forget the first day we met. He came into the wrestling room as my assistant and walked out of the first practice as the Head Coach. I promised him that I would not leave him and that I would mentor him through his first season as a coach and head coach. There was great chemistry there and we made a fantastic staff. Holicongs wrestling team went from 12 kids to averaging over 50 during our tenure. Many top notch wrestlers came through our room during that time (Nick Casbar, Jon Brodzik, Devon Passman, Joe Burke, Jarrett Sanders, Nick Dau, Zak Mysza, Steve Tilsner...). I was sad to Nick leave to take a job at Hatboro Horsham but I was happy for him for pursuing his career further. We've remained friends and competitors throughout the years.
You won't meet a better friend, coach, or companion than Nick!!!! Someone who cared about the kids, his family and what he does. He and I shared a lot of the theories in life and wrestling. It wasn't a job but something you did because you found the enjoyment in watching the kids grow into fine young men.”
Influence:
Herman Chen is an awesome guy. Somebody who will take the coat off his back and give it to you whenever you need it. Which is saying a lot because the guy doesn’t wear pants - he’s a shorts guy. And not just in the summer, I am talking year round!
I met Herman in the fall of 2006 during my first year of teaching and while at Central Bucks School District, Holicong Middle School. Since I minored in Athletic Coaching while at Millersville, I was intent on coaching. It was one of the things I was most looking forward to once I got settled into teaching and had my own classroom. So just a few weeks in at Holicong, I inquired about who the coach was and if we even had one. I was told that Herman Chen was the head coach and I could contact him to see about coaching with him. So I was given his cell phone number and called him one day after school. I will never forget it, I was in my office at school and I gave him a ring. We talked for a few minutes and I asked if he wanted to meet up. He asked me if I was at Holicong. I said yes. He said “Ok, walk out back to the football field, I am watching the game. I will be the only Asian guy out there, you’ll find me,” then hung up. I am there holding the phone like, what the heck just happened?! Haha. So out I walked and yes, he was the only Asian guy out there! So we met and talked for a while. I am not sure if it was that day or a few days later but he basically told me I was going to be the head coach. Now my plan was to just be an assistant for the first year or two so I could settle into teaching and get my life going. But no, Herman threw me right into the fire! But it was not that bad because he was right there with me the entire way. And it helped give me a lot of confidence as I quickly handled the responsibilities of being the head coach.
Herman and I connected right away. It’s hard not to with him. He is really down to earth and super generous. He had been coaching at Holicong/East for many years so he had a great rapport with the students/athletes. The kids loved him and I really felt like we had a great thing going that year. It was a lot of work for me that though.. I was working my butt off as a new teacher and trying to juggle the busy coaching lifestyle as well. But I was young and had plenty of drive. I had a blast with Herman. We had a really good team that year. Many of those kids went on to be very successful at CB East during their high school careers.
I also met many great parents. One of the nice things about working in a very wealthy district like Central Bucks is the support of the parents. Herman and I established a parent organization so to speak. It was a way for the parents to donate money to the wrestling team so we could get new workout clothes, uniforms, etc. So I also had a great support system of parents as well. And many years later I still see some of them at various wrestling events and out in the community.
My decision to leave Central Bucks was not an easy one. And a big reason was having to leave Herman and the wrestlers. Once I made my decision to go to Hatboro-Horsham it was very hard to break it to Herman. He had done so much for me and I really felt like I was abandoning him. But he understood - I wasn’t leaving because I didn’t like my coaching situation. It was strictly a professional decision, albeit a hard one. Herman and I have stayed in contact ever since I left. I see him every season and we try to catch up whenever possible.
I don’t know if I could have had a better mentor to work under during my first year coaching. Herman is a great guy and has become a great friend as well. Once he finishes up college I hope he makes his way back onto a staff coaching. Not only for his sake, but for the sake of everyone around him. His quotes above give you a great insight into the kind of guy he is. Thanks a million Herman for everything you did for me. It didn’t go unnoticed and certainly never will!
Photo by Ian Cockburn
Preservation Resource Center
Shotgun House Tour
Goes to Upper Audubon
Saturday, March 29 . 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Headquarters: 200 Broadway Street
Buy tickets online:
prcno.org/events/calendar/1300
161 Broadway Street, Anonymous & 157 Broadway Street, Marc Hall
By Philippa Eden
Originally built as worker housing by the Bisso Towboat Company on land owned by the Bisso family since the 1880s, these matching single shotguns share a number of features in common – like the mirror-image bungalow style entrance ways and vaulted ceilings with exposed beams, - but demonstrate the versatility of the shotgun house with their unique floorplans and individualized decorating style.
161 Broadway
The owner of 161 Broadway returned home after evacuating from Hurricane Katrina in early October 2005 to find that a mini-tornado had touched down in her neighborhood and damaged her house substantially. She was greeted by shattered skylights, blown-out windows, a damaged roof and large portions of the Lambeth House rooftop gazebo in the backyard. With a major renovation now necessary, the owner remodeled the kitchen and master bath and added a walk-in closet and screened-in back porch.
Design choices throughout the home represent New Orleans and the local environment to make this home unique. Brightly painted walls reflect the city’s Caribbean ties and works by local artists abound. Light streaming in through skylights and large windows illuminates the works of local artists: a wall sculpture of dancers by Steve Lohman sways and greets guests at the entrance; paintings by Linda Rosamano, other Louisiana artists, and family members, line the wall leading into the kitchen; and tiles by New Orleans local pottery artist, Mark Derby, are used in the design of the kitchen counter and stove’s backsplash. Furnishings include a desk built by the owner’s father, Col. Al Sutton, which sits alongside early 1800s colonial dye pots that the owner’s dog found when digging in the backyard. The mid century modern mural painted by Sandor Furedi beneath the front gabled roof remains the home’s most distinguishing feature.
157 Broadway
Marc Hall found original cypress siding and longleaf pine wood flooring when he purchased 157 Broadway Street in April 2002. Marc prefers the old feel of his home and besides leveling the house, adding new brick piers, and removing the florescent lighting, he changed the house only minimally. Initially, he did not even want to live in a shotgun. Over time, he changed his mind and now he wonders if he could live happily in another house type without asking himself “Why do I have all these walls?”
Los acontecimientos alrededor del sismo del pasado 19 de septiembre ponen a la vista la estrategia que adoptó el Estado mexicano para administrar la tragedia en su beneficio, ocultar su negligencia, lucrar con ella y aprovechar la oportunidad que se viene para engrosar los bolsillos de quienes más tienen. Es esto lo que convierte un desastre natural en una tragedia.
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La omisión del Estado y la administración de la tragedia | Por Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria | 25 de septiembre de 2017 - tejiendorevolucion.org/190917.html
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Quien protagoniza la tragedia es la negligencia, no el temblor; evidencia de ello es que éste fue presentado como inesperado, aunque es por demás sabido que se dio en zona sísmica; evidencia son los más de treinta años en que no se avanzó en la prevención: las revisiones fallidas después del temblor del 7 de septiembre no arrojaron datos de que hubiera escuelas mal construidas o con daños estructurales; evidencia es que los reglamentos de construcción son letra muerta, asesinada por la corrupción de los diversos niveles de gobierno y los negocios inmobiliarios.
La urgencia de la tragedia convocó a la solidaridad inmediata y la presión del tiempo urgente ocultó un hecho fundamental: el Estado sí cuenta con los recursos materiales y humanos para enfrentar la catástrofe; cuenta con maquinaria pesada, equipo y personal especializado, infraestructura de comunicación, dinero, etc., si no los ocupó fue porque deicidio no hacerlo, no porque se viera rebasado.
El Estado mexicano tiene recursos de alta tecnología para espiarnos, por ejemplo, pero no los puso al servicio de los rescatistas para localizar vida dentro de los escombros. Tampoco se usó la estructura estatal para proporcionar información fidedigna y pronta que pudiera salvar vidas y canalizar la ayuda. Es más, ni los rescatistas internacionales fueron bien aprovechados, aunque los había.
La participación del Estado en las zonas más afectadas fue bajo la lógica de contener y controlar. Así actuaron sus efectivos castrenses, la milicia y la marina, al presentarse con armas de alto calibre a establecer perímetros de seguridad, que no sólo obstaculizaban el pronto rescate de vidas humanas, sino que pretendían cohibir la organización de la gente. Es importante mencionar que hubo elementos del ejército y policía custodiando las tiendas trasnacionales de supuestos intentos de rapiña. No es difícil concluir que su plan era lavarle la cara al ejército, cuya presencia fue más evidente en aquellos puntos que mediáticamente eran más explotables. Todo esto bajo una lógica de guerra y de barrer de manera pronta con los escombros.
El Estado permitió y fomentó que se le pidiera a la población gastar su salario en acopios individuales, que luego buscó administrar de forma clientelar y asistencialista, mientras, los impuestos que de por si paga el pueblo fueron a parar al fideicomiso “Fuerza México”, fideicomiso que canalizará los recursos públicos y privados generando una acumulación de capital nada desdeñable para quienes lo administran: las grandes empresas; esas, que brillaron por su ausencia cuando se hizo el llamado general a la solidaridad y que ahora piden donaciones como si fuesen la víctimas de la tragedia.
Para el Estado y los grandes capitalistas, a quienes realmente representa, el territorio de la tragedia –Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Ciudad de México– es visto como un espacio para generar ganancias, invirtiendo y especulando con las vidas de la gente.
Lo único que podrá detenerlos es la organización de los afectados por el sismo, la organización de la gente solidaria que desbordó las calles y acudió segura de que su ayuda era indispensable, porque sabíamos que el gobierno no haría nada.
El triple propósito de la estrategia estatal fue primero, ponernos a resolver la situación como pudiéramos y así canalizar la energía social, segundo, aparecer codo a codo con la gente para lavar su imagen y, tercero, aumentar las ventas de las grandes empresas.
Si algo aprenden los que insisten en dominarnos es que abajo siempre nos organizamos en su contra, así sucedió con el terremoto de 1985, así sucede ahora. Eso es lo que temen los de arriba y lo que intentaran contener a cualquier costo. El caos que han fomentado en forma de vacío institucional, desinformación, tragedia y muerte tiene por primer objetivo ese: imposibilitar la organización. Después de largos años atacando las múltiples formas de organización popular y social han dejado a una sociedad aislada, dividida, individualizada; no obstante, esta sociedad ahora intenta restablecer los lazos, buscamos reconocernos como compañeros de los mismos problemas.
Junto a la desorganización hay un segundo objetivo del Estado, encauzar nuestra indignación y nuestra solidaridad. Dejar que la “sociedad civil” tenga que resolver lo urgente y vital de la tragedia para así impedir que lo denunciemos; con estas formas el Estado nos desgasta, nos va quitando esperanzas y evita que nos organicemos para cambiarlo en el futuro. Nos quieren dejar la carga de la tragedia, quieren que seamos los responsables del fracaso.
La apuesta desde arriba es que no vamos a ser capaces de organizarnos pero están equivocados, nosotros, desde abajo, vamos a demostrarlo porque nos va la vida en ello.
Por eso llamamos a la organización solidaria y no sólo a la solidaridad. Hay que organizarnos que esto va pa' largo, hay que reconocernos con un enemigo en común: el sistema capitalista al que defiende y representa el Estado. Pero además, y más importante, hay que reconocernos con una causa común: tener una vida digna, digna porque podemos organizarnos para salvar vidas sin que ninguna instancia autoritaria nos lo impida; digna porque podemos participar y garantizar que la reconstrucción de las viviendas afectadas se haga con los requerimientos necesarios. Denunciemos la omisión, la negligencia y la administración que el Estado hace de la tragedia. Impulsemos la autoorganización de los de abajo para la reconstrucción del país desde los escombros.
Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria
25 de septiembre de 2017
___
The events surrounding the September 19 earthquake expose the Mexican state's strategy to manage the tragedy on its behalf, to hide its negligence, to profit from it and to seize the opportunity that has come to swell the pockets of those who have. This is what turns a natural disaster into a tragedy.
----
The omission of the State and the administration of the tragedy | By Tejiendo Revolutionary Organization | September 25, 2017
----
The protagonist of the tragedy is negligence, not trembling; Evidence of this is that it was presented as unexpected, although it is well known that it occurred in seismic zone; evidence is more than thirty years in which there was no progress in prevention: failed reviews after the earthquake of September 7 did not report that there were poorly constructed or structurally damaged schools; evidence is that building regulations are dead letter, murdered by the corruption of various levels of government and real estate business.
The urgency of the tragedy called for immediate solidarity and the urgent pressure of time concealed a fundamental fact: the State does have the material and human resources to face the catastrophe; has heavy machinery, equipment and specialized personnel, communication infrastructure, money, etc., if not occupied was because deicide not to do it, not because it was exceeded.
The Mexican state has high-tech resources to spy on us, for example, but did not put them at the service of rescuers to locate life inside the rubble. Nor was the state structure used to provide reliable and timely information that could save lives and channel aid. Moreover, not even the international rescuers were well exploited, although there were.
The participation of the State in the most affected areas was under the logic of containing and controlling. This was how their military officers, the militia and the navy acted, by introducing themselves with high-caliber weapons to establish security perimeters, which not only hindered the prompt rescue of human lives, but also sought to restrain the organization of the people. It is important to mention that there were elements of the army and police guarding the transnational tents of alleged predatory attempts. It is not difficult to conclude that his plan was to wash the face to the army, whose presence was more evident in those points that mediatically were more exploitable. All this under a logic of war and sweep quickly with the rubble.
The state allowed and encouraged that the population be asked to spend their salary in individual stores, which later sought to manage clientele and welfare, while the taxes paid by the people went to the trust "Fuerza México" trust that will channel the public and private resources generating a capital accumulation not negligible for those who administer it: large companies; those that shone by their absence when the general call for solidarity was made and now ask for donations as if they were the victims of the tragedy.
For the state and the great capitalists it represents, the territory of the tragedy - Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Mexico City - is seen as a space to generate profits, investing and speculating with the lives of people.
The only thing that can stop them is the organization of those affected by the earthquake, the organization of the people of solidarity who overflowed the streets and came safe that their help was indispensable, because we knew that the government would do nothing.
The threefold purpose of the state strategy was first, to resolve the situation as we could and thus channel social energy, second, to appear side by side with people to wash their image and, thirdly, to increase the sales of large companies.
If there is something learned by those who insist on dominating us, it is that below we always organize against him, so it happened with the earthquake of 1985, this is what happens now. That's what they fear from above and what they try to contain at any cost. The chaos that they have fomented in the form of institutional vacuum, disinformation, tragedy and death has the first objective that: to prevent the organization. After many years attacking the multiple forms of popular and social organization have left an isolated, divided, individualized society; nevertheless, this society now tries to reestablish the bonds, we seek to recognize ourselves as companions of the same problems.
Along with the disorganization there is a second objective of the State, to channel our indignation and our solidarity. Let the "civil society" have to solve the urgent and vital of the tragedy in order to prevent denouncing it; with these forms the State wears us, takes away our hopes and prevents us to organize to change it in the future. They want to leave us the burden of tragedy, they want us to be responsible for the failure. The bet from above is that we will not be able to organize but they are wrong, we, from below, we are going to prove it because we are going to live in it.
That's why we call solidarity organization and not just solidarity. We have to organize that this goes for long, we have to recognize ourselves with a common enemy: the capitalist system that defends and represents the State. But more importantly, we must recognize ourselves with a common cause: having a dignified, dignified life because we can organize ourselves to save lives without any authoritarian instance preventing us; dignified because we can participate and ensure that the reconstruction of affected housing is made with the necessary requirements. Let us denounce the omission, neglect and administration that the State makes of the tragedy. Let us encourage the self-organization of those below for the reconstruction of the country from the rubble.
Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria
25 September 2017
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Brazilian Air Force (Portuguese:) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were in 1941 merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces". Both air branches transferred their equipment, installations and personnel to the new force. In World War II, the Brazilian Air force made important contributions to the Allied war efforts, especially as part of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) on the Italian front, and operated a number of American types like P-38, P-40 and P-47 fighters as well as A-20 and A-31 bombers, which were partly kept in service after the war had ended.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was originally designed in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps. Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals for a twin-engine, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." The P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament.
During its successful career, the P-38 was not only used for interception, but also for dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, night fighting, photo reconnaissance, radar and visual pathfinding for bombers and evacuation missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings. The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, since the exhaust was muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll in the early versions was too low for it to excel as a serious dogfighter.
The P-38 was operated by the USAAF throughout the country’s engagement in WWII and in all major conflict zones. Beyond the USAAF, the type was also tested or operated by allies, e. g. France, Great Britain (only an export version was tested and rejected) and Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force received its first P-38Js relatively late in WWII. In December 1944, a total of 109 aircraft were delivered to FEB forces in Italy, where the machines were primarily used as fighter bombers (armed with bombs and unguided missiles) and sometimes as long range escort fighter for American bomber raids. After the war, most of these machines were abandoned and scrapped on site, but the P-38 had a very good service record and had been popular among the crews. In order to modernize its home defense, Brazil procured in 1946 another 55 P-38L from US stock and surplus production. These were distributed among three interceptor squadrons and the type’s long range proved to be very effective over the country’s vast ranges along the borders, and also over the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of the aircraft’s career remained peaceful, but towards the end of the FAB P-38’s career, while the Lightning was already about to be gradually phased out, the machines became in 1961-63 involved in hot military action during the so-called “Lobster War”, a dispute over spiny lobsters with France. The Brazilian government refused to allow French fishing vessels to catch spiny lobsters 100 miles off the Brazilian northeast coast, arguing that lobsters "crawl along the continental shelf", while the French maintained that "lobsters swim" and that therefore they might be caught by any fishing vessel from any country. During this conflict, the P-38s carried out long range patrols over the Southern Atlantic and flew escort missions for Brazilian long-range reconnaissance aircraft, which shadowed (and threatened) French civil and military vessels. More than once the FAB aircraft flew low-level phantom attacks and fired their guns into the open sea as threatening gestures. There were no casualties, though, and the dispute was resolved unilaterally by Brazil, which extended its territorial waters to a 200-mile zone, taking in the disputed lobsters' bed.
The last FAB P-38 was eventually retired in 1965 and the type was replaced by the F-80C and TF-33A, which themselves were later replaced by the MB-326, Mirage III and Northrop F-5 jets.
General characteristics.
Crew: One
Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in (15.85 m)
Height: 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Wing area: 327.5 ft² (30.43 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 23016 / NACA 4412
Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,800 kg)
Loaded weight: 17,500 lb (7,940 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0268
Drag area: 8.78 ft² (0.82 m²)
Aspect ratio: 8.26
Powerplant:
2× Allison V-1710-111/113 V-12 piston engine,
each delivering 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) WEP at 60 inHg, 3,000 rpm
Performance:
Maximum speed: 414 mph (666 km/h)
Cruise speed: 275 mph (443 km/h)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km) with internal fuel
1,770 mi (3,640 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 44,000 ft (13,400 m)
Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min (24.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 53.4 lb/ft² (260.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.27 kW/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 13.5
Armament:
1× Hispano M2 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds
4× M2 Browning 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg
Inner underwing hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs or drop tanks each;
Outer hardpoints for up to 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or 10× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs (High Velocity
Aircraft Rockets)
The kit and its assembly:
This lightning is another hardware rendition of a fictional profile drawing, once more created by Czech fellow user PantherG at whatifmodelers.com, originally posted in late Feb. 2019. Brazil never operated the P-38, but I found, due to the type’s long range, the idea quite plausible. And the paint scheme depicted in the profile was interesting, too. So I dug out a Matchbox P-38 from the pile (primarily in order to reduce its volume; if I had bought a dedicated P-38 kit for this build, I’d probably have used the Hobby Boss model) and started work.
The Matchbox P-38 is certainly not the best kit of this iconic aircraft. Its biggest selling point is that it goes together relatively well and yields a solid, even though simple model. It has many weak points, though:
- It features a wild mix of raised and engraved details on the surface.
- The cockpit only consists of a simple floor panel and a pilot seat, which rather looks like an armchair from a Seventies living room.
- The landing gear is very simple, too, and the landing gear wells show no interior detail at all
- The turbocharger fairings are (relatively) nicely detailed, but their fit is abysmal and their complex shape makes blending them with the surroundings a tiresome (if not futile) affair.
Since all wing and fuselage elements come in separate sections, aligning everything is not easy - expect some serious PSR work! At least, the real life P-38 had handed propellers, and this detail is actually reflected by the Matchbox kit.
Since this build was rather about fiction and the livery than details, I only made minor improvements. I left the cockpit closed, with the OOB pilot inside, but replaced the wacky seat and added a board with a radio to cover the empty space behind it. Any available space in the central pod and in the tail booms’ front ends was filled with lead, in hope to get the model on its three wheels. It actually worked!
The propellers received new and longer axes as well as matching adapter tubes inside of the engines, so that they could be attached after the model was otherwise finished. The primitive landing gear was taken OOB, I just pimped the struts with hydraulic hoses, made from thin wire.
The flaps under the inner wing sections were lowered and I used the OOB drop tanks. The “tree” HVAR launchers were omitted and their attachment points under the wings hidden under styrene profiles. On the nose, I added machine gun barrels to the otherwise empty openings, and, as a final cosmetic move, I added wire antennae between the tail booms and the canopy.
Painting and markings:
The more creative part. I tried to stay true to PantherG’s inspiring profile, even though I made some minor changes which appeared more plausible to me and added some more color. The three-tone camouflage pattern (inspired by Guatemaltecan P-51s?) reflects typical Brazilian jungle landscape well and was made of USAAF WWII colors (Dark Olive Drab 41 (ANA 613), Medium Green 42 (ANA 612), Sand 49 (ANA 616) and Neutral Grey 43.
Painting was done with Tamiya XF-62, Humbrol 195 and 237 on the upper surfaces, and underneath I used FS 36314 from Modelmaster, since I find “true” Neutral Grey (FS 36173) to look very murky on/under a 1:72 model. Painting was done with brushes, as per usual.
The cockpit interior was painted in zinc chromate green, while the landing gear wells’ interior became chrome yellow. Landing gear struts, wheel discs and drop tanks became Humbrol 156, similar to the aircraft’s undersides.
Concerning the FAB markings I deviated from PantherG’s profile drawing: I gave the Lightning post-WWII FAB roundels which consist only of the stylized star and lack the blue USAAF disc background or the “bars”. AFAIK, these markings were only used during WWII, when American aircraft were quickly “Brazilianized” through simply overpainting the original US insignia’s white star from the factories. Furthermore, I individualized the aircraft with post WWII FAB squadron markings in the form of medium blue bands around the tail booms with the Southern Cross star constellation from the Brazilian flag.
Another FAB post WWII era detail is the use of a color code for the different groups within a squadron, which were carried on propeller spinners and thin fuselage bands. In this case, the aircraft belonged to the “Blue Group”, adding some more color to the camouflaged aircraft.
The Brazilian roundels come from an FCM Decals T-33/F-80 sheet. The same source also provided the small stars that appear on the light blue fuselage band (created with generic decal sheet). The Brazilian fin flashes were created with yellow paint and green decal sheet material. The tactical codes in USAF 45° font come from a Hasegawa Japanese F-4E decal sheet, and for a better contrast I placed them on a silver background (again generic decal sheet material), as if they had been spared when the aircraft received its camouflage.
Some light panel shading as well as weathering/dry-brushing on the leading edges and around the cockpit was done, and finally the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
An interesting result – the Brazilian P-38 does not look spectacular, but quite plausible. The three-tone camouflage creates an interesting look on the P-38, which normally only comes in olive drab/grey, NMF or all-black liveries. In the beauty pics over a rainforest landscape, it even proves to be quite effective at medium and low altitude! And while the Matchbox kit is certainly not the best P-38 model around, it “does the job” and is a pleasant, quick build.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Brazilian Air Force (Portuguese:) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were in 1941 merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces". Both air branches transferred their equipment, installations and personnel to the new force. In World War II, the Brazilian Air force made important contributions to the Allied war efforts, especially as part of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) on the Italian front, and operated a number of American types like P-38, P-40 and P-47 fighters as well as A-20 and A-31 bombers, which were partly kept in service after the war had ended.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was originally designed in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps. Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals for a twin-engine, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." The P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament.
During its successful career, the P-38 was not only used for interception, but also for dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, night fighting, photo reconnaissance, radar and visual pathfinding for bombers and evacuation missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings. The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, since the exhaust was muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll in the early versions was too low for it to excel as a serious dogfighter.
The P-38 was operated by the USAAF throughout the country’s engagement in WWII and in all major conflict zones. Beyond the USAAF, the type was also tested or operated by allies, e. g. France, Great Britain (only an export version was tested and rejected) and Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force received its first P-38Js relatively late in WWII. In December 1944, a total of 109 aircraft were delivered to FEB forces in Italy, where the machines were primarily used as fighter bombers (armed with bombs and unguided missiles) and sometimes as long range escort fighter for American bomber raids. After the war, most of these machines were abandoned and scrapped on site, but the P-38 had a very good service record and had been popular among the crews. In order to modernize its home defense, Brazil procured in 1946 another 55 P-38L from US stock and surplus production. These were distributed among three interceptor squadrons and the type’s long range proved to be very effective over the country’s vast ranges along the borders, and also over the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of the aircraft’s career remained peaceful, but towards the end of the FAB P-38’s career, while the Lightning was already about to be gradually phased out, the machines became in 1961-63 involved in hot military action during the so-called “Lobster War”, a dispute over spiny lobsters with France. The Brazilian government refused to allow French fishing vessels to catch spiny lobsters 100 miles off the Brazilian northeast coast, arguing that lobsters "crawl along the continental shelf", while the French maintained that "lobsters swim" and that therefore they might be caught by any fishing vessel from any country. During this conflict, the P-38s carried out long range patrols over the Southern Atlantic and flew escort missions for Brazilian long-range reconnaissance aircraft, which shadowed (and threatened) French civil and military vessels. More than once the FAB aircraft flew low-level phantom attacks and fired their guns into the open sea as threatening gestures. There were no casualties, though, and the dispute was resolved unilaterally by Brazil, which extended its territorial waters to a 200-mile zone, taking in the disputed lobsters' bed.
The last FAB P-38 was eventually retired in 1965 and the type was replaced by the F-80C and TF-33A, which themselves were later replaced by the MB-326, Mirage III and Northrop F-5 jets.
General characteristics.
Crew: One
Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in (15.85 m)
Height: 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Wing area: 327.5 ft² (30.43 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 23016 / NACA 4412
Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,800 kg)
Loaded weight: 17,500 lb (7,940 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0268
Drag area: 8.78 ft² (0.82 m²)
Aspect ratio: 8.26
Powerplant:
2× Allison V-1710-111/113 V-12 piston engine,
each delivering 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) WEP at 60 inHg, 3,000 rpm
Performance:
Maximum speed: 414 mph (666 km/h)
Cruise speed: 275 mph (443 km/h)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km) with internal fuel
1,770 mi (3,640 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 44,000 ft (13,400 m)
Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min (24.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 53.4 lb/ft² (260.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.27 kW/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 13.5
Armament:
1× Hispano M2 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds
4× M2 Browning 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg
Inner underwing hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs or drop tanks each;
Outer hardpoints for up to 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or 10× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs (High Velocity
Aircraft Rockets)
The kit and its assembly:
This lightning is another hardware rendition of a fictional profile drawing, once more created by Czech fellow user PantherG at whatifmodelers.com, originally posted in late Feb. 2019. Brazil never operated the P-38, but I found, due to the type’s long range, the idea quite plausible. And the paint scheme depicted in the profile was interesting, too. So I dug out a Matchbox P-38 from the pile (primarily in order to reduce its volume; if I had bought a dedicated P-38 kit for this build, I’d probably have used the Hobby Boss model) and started work.
The Matchbox P-38 is certainly not the best kit of this iconic aircraft. Its biggest selling point is that it goes together relatively well and yields a solid, even though simple model. It has many weak points, though:
- It features a wild mix of raised and engraved details on the surface.
- The cockpit only consists of a simple floor panel and a pilot seat, which rather looks like an armchair from a Seventies living room.
- The landing gear is very simple, too, and the landing gear wells show no interior detail at all
- The turbocharger fairings are (relatively) nicely detailed, but their fit is abysmal and their complex shape makes blending them with the surroundings a tiresome (if not futile) affair.
Since all wing and fuselage elements come in separate sections, aligning everything is not easy - expect some serious PSR work! At least, the real life P-38 had handed propellers, and this detail is actually reflected by the Matchbox kit.
Since this build was rather about fiction and the livery than details, I only made minor improvements. I left the cockpit closed, with the OOB pilot inside, but replaced the wacky seat and added a board with a radio to cover the empty space behind it. Any available space in the central pod and in the tail booms’ front ends was filled with lead, in hope to get the model on its three wheels. It actually worked!
The propellers received new and longer axes as well as matching adapter tubes inside of the engines, so that they could be attached after the model was otherwise finished. The primitive landing gear was taken OOB, I just pimped the struts with hydraulic hoses, made from thin wire.
The flaps under the inner wing sections were lowered and I used the OOB drop tanks. The “tree” HVAR launchers were omitted and their attachment points under the wings hidden under styrene profiles. On the nose, I added machine gun barrels to the otherwise empty openings, and, as a final cosmetic move, I added wire antennae between the tail booms and the canopy.
Painting and markings:
The more creative part. I tried to stay true to PantherG’s inspiring profile, even though I made some minor changes which appeared more plausible to me and added some more color. The three-tone camouflage pattern (inspired by Guatemaltecan P-51s?) reflects typical Brazilian jungle landscape well and was made of USAAF WWII colors (Dark Olive Drab 41 (ANA 613), Medium Green 42 (ANA 612), Sand 49 (ANA 616) and Neutral Grey 43.
Painting was done with Tamiya XF-62, Humbrol 195 and 237 on the upper surfaces, and underneath I used FS 36314 from Modelmaster, since I find “true” Neutral Grey (FS 36173) to look very murky on/under a 1:72 model. Painting was done with brushes, as per usual.
The cockpit interior was painted in zinc chromate green, while the landing gear wells’ interior became chrome yellow. Landing gear struts, wheel discs and drop tanks became Humbrol 156, similar to the aircraft’s undersides.
Concerning the FAB markings I deviated from PantherG’s profile drawing: I gave the Lightning post-WWII FAB roundels which consist only of the stylized star and lack the blue USAAF disc background or the “bars”. AFAIK, these markings were only used during WWII, when American aircraft were quickly “Brazilianized” through simply overpainting the original US insignia’s white star from the factories. Furthermore, I individualized the aircraft with post WWII FAB squadron markings in the form of medium blue bands around the tail booms with the Southern Cross star constellation from the Brazilian flag.
Another FAB post WWII era detail is the use of a color code for the different groups within a squadron, which were carried on propeller spinners and thin fuselage bands. In this case, the aircraft belonged to the “Blue Group”, adding some more color to the camouflaged aircraft.
The Brazilian roundels come from an FCM Decals T-33/F-80 sheet. The same source also provided the small stars that appear on the light blue fuselage band (created with generic decal sheet). The Brazilian fin flashes were created with yellow paint and green decal sheet material. The tactical codes in USAF 45° font come from a Hasegawa Japanese F-4E decal sheet, and for a better contrast I placed them on a silver background (again generic decal sheet material), as if they had been spared when the aircraft received its camouflage.
Some light panel shading as well as weathering/dry-brushing on the leading edges and around the cockpit was done, and finally the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
An interesting result – the Brazilian P-38 does not look spectacular, but quite plausible. The three-tone camouflage creates an interesting look on the P-38, which normally only comes in olive drab/grey, NMF or all-black liveries. In the beauty pics over a rainforest landscape, it even proves to be quite effective at medium and low altitude! And while the Matchbox kit is certainly not the best P-38 model around, it “does the job” and is a pleasant, quick build.
St. Peter and St. Paul's Church is a Roman Catholic church located in the Antakalnis neighbourhood of Vilnius, Lithuania.
Construction was begun in 1688 and the decorative works were completed in 1704.
It is the centerpiece of a former monastery complex of the Canons Regular of the Lateran.
Its interior has masterful compositions of some 2,000 stucco figures by Giovanni Pietro Perti and ornamentation by Giovanni Maria Galli and is unique in Europe.
The church is considered a masterpiece of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Baroque.
The interior of the church changed relatively little since that time.
The major change was the loss of the main altar. The wooden altar was moved to the Catholic church in Daugai in 1766.[4]
The altar is now dominated by the Farewell of St. Peter and St. Paul, a large painting by Franciszek Smuglewicz, installed there in 1805.
The interior was restored by Giovanni Beretti and Nicolae Piano from Milan in 1801–04.[11]
At the same time, a new pulpit imitating the ship of Saint Peter was installed.
In 1864, as reprisal for the failed January Uprising, Mikhail Muravyov-Vilensky closed the monastery and converted its buildings into military barracks.[11]
There were plans to turn the church into an Eastern Orthodox church, but they never materialized.[11] In 1901–05, the interior was restored again. The church acquired the boat-shaped chandelier and the new pipe organ with two manuals and 23 organ stops.[12]
The dome was damaged during World War II bombings, but was rebuilt true to its original design.[12]
When in 1956 Vilnius Cathedral was converted into an art museum by Soviet authorities, the silver sarcophagus with sacred relics of Saint Casimir was moved to the St. Peter and St. Paul's Church.[13] The sarcophagus was returned to its place in 1989.
Despite religious persecutions in the Soviet Union, extensive interior restoration was carried out in 1976–87.[11]
About the Decorative Scheme
St. Peter and St. Paul's is one of the most studied churches in Lithuania.[19]
Its interior has over 2,000 different decor elements that creates a stunning atmosphere.[20]
The main author of the decor plan is not known. It could be the founder Pac, monks of the Lateran, or Italian artists.
No documents survive to explain the ideas behind the decorations, therefore various art historians attempted to find one central theme: Pac's life and Polish–Lithuanian relations, teachings of Saint Augustine, Baroque theater, etc.[19]
Art historian Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė identified several main themes of the decor: structure of the Church as proclaimed at the Council of Trent with Saint Peter as the founding rock, early Christian martyrs representing Pac's interest in knighthood and ladyship, themes relevant to the Canons Regular of the Lateran, and themes inherited from previous churches (painting of Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy and altar of Five Wounds of Christ).[21]
The decor combines a great variety of symbols, from local (patron of Vilnius Saint Christopher) to Italian saints (Fidelis of Como),[22] from specific saints to allegories of virtues.
There are many decorative elements – floral (acanthus, sunflowers, rues, fruits), various objects (military weapons, household tools, liturgical implements, shells, ribbons), figures (puttos, angels, soldiers), fantastical creatures (demons, dragons, centaurs), Pac's coat of arms, masks making various expressions – but they are individualized, rarely repeating.[23]
The architects and sculptors borrowed ideas from other churches in Poland (Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków, Sigismund's Chapel of Wawel Cathedral) and Italy (St. Peter's Basilica, Church of the Gesù).[22]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Peter_and_St._Paul,_V...
========================================================
From the Church's Brochure
The church was erected after the Russian invasion that devastated Vilnius in the mid-17th century.
Barely a dozen years passed, and the capital of Lithuania began to recover.
In 1668 Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas, Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and wojewode of Vilnius, embarked upon the Antakalnis.
The church is decorated by the stucco mouldings of two excellent Italian sculptors, Giovanni Pietro Petri and Giovanni Maria Galli.
The interior of the church consists of the main nave, six chapels on both sides, and the transept.
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Lobby Bar at the Ace Hotel
------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Brazilian Air Force (Portuguese:) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were in 1941 merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces". Both air branches transferred their equipment, installations and personnel to the new force. In World War II, the Brazilian Air force made important contributions to the Allied war efforts, especially as part of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) on the Italian front, and operated a number of American types like P-38, P-40 and P-47 fighters as well as A-20 and A-31 bombers, which were partly kept in service after the war had ended.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was originally designed in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps. Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals for a twin-engine, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." The P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament.
During its successful career, the P-38 was not only used for interception, but also for dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, night fighting, photo reconnaissance, radar and visual pathfinding for bombers and evacuation missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings. The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, since the exhaust was muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll in the early versions was too low for it to excel as a serious dogfighter.
The P-38 was operated by the USAAF throughout the country’s engagement in WWII and in all major conflict zones. Beyond the USAAF, the type was also tested or operated by allies, e. g. France, Great Britain (only an export version was tested and rejected) and Brazil. The Brazilian Air Force received its first P-38Js relatively late in WWII. In December 1944, a total of 109 aircraft were delivered to FEB forces in Italy, where the machines were primarily used as fighter bombers (armed with bombs and unguided missiles) and sometimes as long range escort fighter for American bomber raids. After the war, most of these machines were abandoned and scrapped on site, but the P-38 had a very good service record and had been popular among the crews. In order to modernize its home defense, Brazil procured in 1946 another 55 P-38L from US stock and surplus production. These were distributed among three interceptor squadrons and the type’s long range proved to be very effective over the country’s vast ranges along the borders, and also over the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of the aircraft’s career remained peaceful, but towards the end of the FAB P-38’s career, while the Lightning was already about to be gradually phased out, the machines became in 1961-63 involved in hot military action during the so-called “Lobster War”, a dispute over spiny lobsters with France. The Brazilian government refused to allow French fishing vessels to catch spiny lobsters 100 miles off the Brazilian northeast coast, arguing that lobsters "crawl along the continental shelf", while the French maintained that "lobsters swim" and that therefore they might be caught by any fishing vessel from any country. During this conflict, the P-38s carried out long range patrols over the Southern Atlantic and flew escort missions for Brazilian long-range reconnaissance aircraft, which shadowed (and threatened) French civil and military vessels. More than once the FAB aircraft flew low-level phantom attacks and fired their guns into the open sea as threatening gestures. There were no casualties, though, and the dispute was resolved unilaterally by Brazil, which extended its territorial waters to a 200-mile zone, taking in the disputed lobsters' bed.
The last FAB P-38 was eventually retired in 1965 and the type was replaced by the F-80C and TF-33A, which themselves were later replaced by the MB-326, Mirage III and Northrop F-5 jets.
General characteristics.
Crew: One
Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in (15.85 m)
Height: 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
Wing area: 327.5 ft² (30.43 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 23016 / NACA 4412
Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,800 kg)
Loaded weight: 17,500 lb (7,940 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0268
Drag area: 8.78 ft² (0.82 m²)
Aspect ratio: 8.26
Powerplant:
2× Allison V-1710-111/113 V-12 piston engine,
each delivering 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) WEP at 60 inHg, 3,000 rpm
Performance:
Maximum speed: 414 mph (666 km/h)
Cruise speed: 275 mph (443 km/h)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km) with internal fuel
1,770 mi (3,640 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 44,000 ft (13,400 m)
Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min (24.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 53.4 lb/ft² (260.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.27 kW/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 13.5
Armament:
1× Hispano M2 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds
4× M2 Browning 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg
Inner underwing hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs or drop tanks each;
Outer hardpoints for up to 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or 10× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs (High Velocity
Aircraft Rockets)
The kit and its assembly:
This lightning is another hardware rendition of a fictional profile drawing, once more created by Czech fellow user PantherG at whatifmodelers.com, originally posted in late Feb. 2019. Brazil never operated the P-38, but I found, due to the type’s long range, the idea quite plausible. And the paint scheme depicted in the profile was interesting, too. So I dug out a Matchbox P-38 from the pile (primarily in order to reduce its volume; if I had bought a dedicated P-38 kit for this build, I’d probably have used the Hobby Boss model) and started work.
The Matchbox P-38 is certainly not the best kit of this iconic aircraft. Its biggest selling point is that it goes together relatively well and yields a solid, even though simple model. It has many weak points, though:
- It features a wild mix of raised and engraved details on the surface.
- The cockpit only consists of a simple floor panel and a pilot seat, which rather looks like an armchair from a Seventies living room.
- The landing gear is very simple, too, and the landing gear wells show no interior detail at all
- The turbocharger fairings are (relatively) nicely detailed, but their fit is abysmal and their complex shape makes blending them with the surroundings a tiresome (if not futile) affair.
Since all wing and fuselage elements come in separate sections, aligning everything is not easy - expect some serious PSR work! At least, the real life P-38 had handed propellers, and this detail is actually reflected by the Matchbox kit.
Since this build was rather about fiction and the livery than details, I only made minor improvements. I left the cockpit closed, with the OOB pilot inside, but replaced the wacky seat and added a board with a radio to cover the empty space behind it. Any available space in the central pod and in the tail booms’ front ends was filled with lead, in hope to get the model on its three wheels. It actually worked!
The propellers received new and longer axes as well as matching adapter tubes inside of the engines, so that they could be attached after the model was otherwise finished. The primitive landing gear was taken OOB, I just pimped the struts with hydraulic hoses, made from thin wire.
The flaps under the inner wing sections were lowered and I used the OOB drop tanks. The “tree” HVAR launchers were omitted and their attachment points under the wings hidden under styrene profiles. On the nose, I added machine gun barrels to the otherwise empty openings, and, as a final cosmetic move, I added wire antennae between the tail booms and the canopy.
Painting and markings:
The more creative part. I tried to stay true to PantherG’s inspiring profile, even though I made some minor changes which appeared more plausible to me and added some more color. The three-tone camouflage pattern (inspired by Guatemaltecan P-51s?) reflects typical Brazilian jungle landscape well and was made of USAAF WWII colors (Dark Olive Drab 41 (ANA 613), Medium Green 42 (ANA 612), Sand 49 (ANA 616) and Neutral Grey 43.
Painting was done with Tamiya XF-62, Humbrol 195 and 237 on the upper surfaces, and underneath I used FS 36314 from Modelmaster, since I find “true” Neutral Grey (FS 36173) to look very murky on/under a 1:72 model. Painting was done with brushes, as per usual.
The cockpit interior was painted in zinc chromate green, while the landing gear wells’ interior became chrome yellow. Landing gear struts, wheel discs and drop tanks became Humbrol 156, similar to the aircraft’s undersides.
Concerning the FAB markings I deviated from PantherG’s profile drawing: I gave the Lightning post-WWII FAB roundels which consist only of the stylized star and lack the blue USAAF disc background or the “bars”. AFAIK, these markings were only used during WWII, when American aircraft were quickly “Brazilianized” through simply overpainting the original US insignia’s white star from the factories. Furthermore, I individualized the aircraft with post WWII FAB squadron markings in the form of medium blue bands around the tail booms with the Southern Cross star constellation from the Brazilian flag.
Another FAB post WWII era detail is the use of a color code for the different groups within a squadron, which were carried on propeller spinners and thin fuselage bands. In this case, the aircraft belonged to the “Blue Group”, adding some more color to the camouflaged aircraft.
The Brazilian roundels come from an FCM Decals T-33/F-80 sheet. The same source also provided the small stars that appear on the light blue fuselage band (created with generic decal sheet). The Brazilian fin flashes were created with yellow paint and green decal sheet material. The tactical codes in USAF 45° font come from a Hasegawa Japanese F-4E decal sheet, and for a better contrast I placed them on a silver background (again generic decal sheet material), as if they had been spared when the aircraft received its camouflage.
Some light panel shading as well as weathering/dry-brushing on the leading edges and around the cockpit was done, and finally the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
An interesting result – the Brazilian P-38 does not look spectacular, but quite plausible. The three-tone camouflage creates an interesting look on the P-38, which normally only comes in olive drab/grey, NMF or all-black liveries. In the beauty pics over a rainforest landscape, it even proves to be quite effective at medium and low altitude! And while the Matchbox kit is certainly not the best P-38 model around, it “does the job” and is a pleasant, quick build.
Website www.quintcobb.com
Info www.quintcobb.wordpress.com
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Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Ace Hotel marquis. In 1906 the Hotel Breslin built an addition shown on the left which blends well with the older building.
--------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund. The building is now owned by LGF Enterprises, part of the Lillian Goldman Family holdings.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The hi-tech lobby message board at Ace Hotel.
-------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
In 1879, during excavations for the Tiber embankments, in the garden of the Renaissance Villa Famesina were found
"remains of a noble private house of the Augustan period, decorated with the most beautiful wall paintings ever seen in Rome." The find spot was in the Augustan urban district XIV, called "Transtiberina," the modern Trastevere.
The district was a center for artisans and ethnic minorities and was the site of many warehouses (horrea) for goods transported by river; but there were also gardens and villas facing the Tiber, such as the well-known gardens of Caesar.
The discovery caused great excitement. At that time wall paintings from the time of Augustus were rare in Rome, only known from the House of Livia on the Palatine; the Palatine complexes of the House of Augustus and the Aula Isiaca were yet to be found.
This fresco is from a corridor, a covered passageway that connected the two wings of the villa, partly straight and partly curved, following the shape of the central exedra. The wall is divided by slender columns. Their capitals support female figures whose architectural function is in turn to support the columns of the superstructure. The female figures hold floral garlands that link them to one another. They may be meant to represent Caryatids, the women of Caria sold into slavery, who gave the name to female figures used as supports instead of columns.
The most important part of the decoration is the small pictures in the upper zone: still lifes with masks from the theater alternate with imaginary landscapes, shrines, statues of divinities, little aedicula, and altars, the whole populated by figures of peasants, fishermen, and shepherds.
This landscape has so many details, but some highlights are the golden statue group with one of the statues standing on a ship's ram (atop a rocky outcrop, left); fishermen pulling in their nets; ships in the harbor; and travelers arriving on horse and foot. The caryatids, seen here, are all individualized.
Villa della Farnesina, Rome
From corridor F-G
1st century BCE
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The Ace Hotel entrance on 29th Street.
--------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
The bar and The Breslin Bar and Dining Room.
------------------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
www.regencymemorycare.com/ - The Regency Memory Care Club is a truly innovative solution to helping those with memory loss enjoy their life. Our specially designed program is very individualized. We strive to help each and every member maximize their own potential.
91 Route 4 East
River Edge, New Jersey 07661
(201) 525-2200
VEDANA LAGOON RESORT & SPA
Located between two World Heritage Sites, Hue and Hoa An, the Vedanā Lagoon Resort & Spa is nestled on the shore of a serene lagoon, with stunning views across one of the largest lagoons in southeast asia.
The resort offers stylish interior decoration on an area of 27 hectares of undulating land and lagoon surface in a calm and picturesque landscape. with 27 luxury villas, bungalows, each of the villas and bungalows are individualized and have their own private sundeck, and a balcony that leads out onto the immense lagoon or into a private garden with private pool.
-------------
HUE
Huế is the capital city of Thua Thien – Hue province, Vietnam. Between 1802 and 1945, it was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty. Its population stands at about 340,000..
Huế originally rose to prominence as the capital of the Nguyễn Lords, a feudal dynasty which dominated much of southern Vietnam from the 17th to the 19th century. In 1775 when Trịnh Sâm captured it, it was known as Phú Xuân. In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (later Emperor Gia Long) succeeded in establishing his control over the whole of Vietnam, thereby making Huế the national capital.
Minh Mạng (14 February 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm 阮 福 膽, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu 阮 福 晈) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, reigning from 14 February 1820 (his 29th birthday) until his death, on 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Cảnh, had died in 1801. Minh was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam, and for his rigid Confucian orthodoxy.
Huế was the national capital until 1945, when Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated and a communist government was established in Hà Nội (Hanoi), in the north. While Bảo Đại was briefly proclaimed Head of State; with the help of the returning French colonialists in 1949 (although not with recognition from the communists and the full acceptance of the Vietnamese people), his new capital was Sài Gòn (Saigon), in the south.
In the Vietnam War, Huế’s central position placed it very near the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam; however, the city was located in South Vietnam. In the Tết Offensive of 1968, during the Battle of Huế, the city suffered considerable damage not only to its physical features, but its reputation as well, most of it from American firepower and bombings on the historical buildings as well as the massacre at Huế committed by the communist forces. After the war’s conclusion, many of the historic features of Huế were neglected because they were seen by the victorious regime and some other Vietnamese as "relics from the feudal regime"; the Vietnamese Communist Party doctrine officially described the Nguyễn Dynasty as feudal; and reactionary. There has since been a change of policy, however, and many historical areas of the city are currently being restored.
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Newspaper rack at the Breslin Bar and Dining Room
-----------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Ace Hotel lobby reception desk. The New York state motto is "Excelsior", a Latin word and in English it means "ever upwards".
------------
Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Copyright held by: Pickering And Inglis, 24-26 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G2 6PA
ANTICHRIST
The word occurs only in the first and second epistles of John. It signifies an opponent or adversary of Christ. The idea expressed by it had its origin in Judaism.
According to prophetic anticipations, the Messianic time was to be immediately preceded by a great conflict, in which Jehovah would fight out of Zion for His own people, and defeat the concentrated opposition of the world.
An Almighty leader on the one side seemed to require an antagonist on the other, a head of the army of darkness against the Prince of light. Thus Ezekiel depicts Gog proceeding out of Magog, to hazard a decisive battle against the Lord and His saints on the eve of the Messianic age (chapters xxxviii. And xxxix.)
The idea was subsequently embodied in Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to eradicate Judaism with savage hatred. When we consider the insane violence he exhibited against the Jews and their temple, his prohibition of Jehovah's worship, the solemnization of the Sabbath, and circumcision, it was natural to regard him as the representative of heathenism in its opposition to the true religion.
Accordingly, the worshippers of Jehovah termed the small altar erected by him to Olympian Jove in the holy temple at Jerusalem (168 B.C.) the abomination of desolation (Daniel ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11; Mat. Xxiv. 15). The apocalyptic visions of Daniel exerted an important influence upon the Jews after the time of Antiochus, animating them with hopes of the near approached of a better day, preceded, it is true, by a fearful struggle, in which a powerful prince, the impersonation of heathenism in its fiercest hate, should persecute the chosen people.
The future of Israel was brightened by the vision of one whose predictions had been at least partially fulfilled. After this the idea seems to have been in abeyance till the reign of Caligula (40 A.D.), when Greeks in Alexandria and Syria attempted to introduce images of the emperor into the Jewish synagogues.
The express command of Caligula addressed to the Jews, to erect his image in the temple at Jerusalem, in the form of Olympian Zeus, excited an intense commotion throughout Palestine, and must have recalled to the Jews familiar with their Scriptures the similar conduct of Antiochus, as though the prophet Daniel had foretold the blasphemy of the Roman emperor.
In the discourse of Christ recorded by Matthew (chapter xxiv.), a personal opponent or antichrist does not appear, but the second advent is preceded by great affliction, the desecration of the temple, false Messiahs, and false apostles. This evangelic eschatology, however, appears in its present form to belong to a late redactor, so that it is difficult to separate Christ's own utterances from other elements probably incorporated with them.
Various sayings of Jesus relative to his second appearing were evidently misapprehended or confused in the reminiscences of the early disciples.
St Paul resumes the idea of antichrist. Whatever Jewish conceptions he laid aside, and he emancipated himself from the grossest of them, he did not abandon the idea of an antichrist or terrible adversary of the true religion.
The prophecies of Daniel, whether in their supposed relation to Antiochus or Caligula, and the impious command of the latter in particular to desecrate the Jewish temple, furnished him with traits for the portrait of Christ's great enemy, whose manifestation in the Roman empire the state of the world led him to suspect, especially as the empire was then identified by he Jews, as well as by Paul himself, with the fourth and last kingdom of Daniel's visions.
Blending together the notions of an antichrist and false Christ, the picture which St Paul draws is that of the man of sin, "the son of perdition; who opposed and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as god sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God; the wicked one whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," &c. (2 Thess. ii 3-9).
Here the epithet appears to be borrowed from Isaiah xi. 4, the apostle coinciding with the Chaldee interpretere in understanding the passage of antichirst. The hindrance to the manifestation of the terrible enemy, to which Paul obscurely alludes, seems to be the Roman empire in one or other of its aspects; for we cannot adopt the ingenious conjecture that Claudius is meant, though the name fits the apostolic expression o katexwv, qui claudit, Claudius.
Apart from the fact that the neuter to katexov is used as well as the masculine, it is scarcely probable that one whose reign was marked by cruel actions and bloodshed should be called the obstacle in the way of antichrist's manifestation. The apostle, not ignorant of Caligula's blasphemous edict, seems to have thought of some Caesar in whom the persecuting power of heathenism should culminate, without pointing at either Claudius as the withholder, or Claudius's successor as the man of sin.
The idea of antichirst was not historically fixed in his mind.
Here we differ from Hitzig and Hausrath; though the date of the Thessalonian epistles (about 52 A.D.) presents no obstacle to the hypothesis, as De Wette thinks it does.
The author of the Revelation presents the antichrist idea in a more definite form than St Paul. Borrowing characteristic traits from Antiochus Epiphanes, perhaps too from Caligula, whose blasphemous order to set up his own image in the attitude of Olympian Zeus within the holy temple at Jerusalem created intense excitement throughout Palestine, aware of the fearful persecution which the Christians had suffered from Claudius's successor on the throne of the Caesars, the apostle John makes the man of sin or antichrist to be Nero returning from the East, according to report then current. In his view the vicious cruelty of paganism had its incarnation in the monster who set fire to Rome, torturing the Christians there, and hesitating to commit no crime. If the capital of the heathen world had such a head, the character of the great antichrist stood forth in him.
Accordingly, the writer describes Nero as the fifth head of the beast that rose out of the sea, i.e., Rome, who received a deadly wound which was healed, who made war upon the saints and overcame them, who disappeared amid the wondering of the world, to return with renewed power for three years and a half. The number of the beast or head, 666, points unmistakably to Nero, for it is the equivalent of ___ [Hebrew word] Kaesar Neron, __ = 50, ___ = 200, __ = 6, __ 50, ___ = 100, ___ 60, ___ = 200.
He is the beast that was and is not, the fifth fallen head, one of the seven; the eight, because he should reappear after his deadly wound was healed. The succession of emperors is Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Renan has again sanctioned the reckoning of Julius Caesar as the first of the list, on the authority of Josephus, Suetonius, Aurelius Victor, &c.; but Suetonius's commencement of his lives of the Caesars with Julius is scarcely a valid proof of his reckoning him to be the first of the line.
Tacitus, Aurelius Victor, and Sextus Rufus, not to speak of Hippolytus, favour the opinion that Augustus was the first emperor; and as the birth of Christ was under him, Christianity has nothing to do with Julius Caesar. In the view of the apocalyptist the latter is of no importance.
The apostle writing under Galba (68 A.D.), held the opinion then prevalent among Christians as well as others, that the emperor was not really dead, but was in the East, whence he would return with an army of Parthians to conquer and destroy Rome (Tacitus, Hist ii. 8; Suetonius, Nero, cap. 57, Dio Chrysostom, Or. xxi.) Such belief had then taken possession of the minds not only of the Jewish Christians in Palestine, but of the Jews themselves, who were in a state of feverish excitement because Jerusalem was besieged.
Terror had seized all worshippers of the true God, because of the aspect which the empire assumed (Revelation xiii 3-8, xvii 11). The apocalyptist also states that false or antichristian prophetism was to unite with the healed beats, and cause men to worship him or be put to death (xiii. 14, 15). We assume that the second beast, which rises out of the earth as the first does out of the sea, is identical with the false prophet in xvi. 13, xix. 20, xx. 10, and that it is a personification of false or heathen prophesying with its soothsaying and auguries.
But though Irenaeus sanctions this view it is not without difficulties, since the second beast ought in consistency to be historical definite like the first. It cannot be that the writer means the apostle Paul; for John; with all his Jewish tendencies, and hints unfavourable to Paul, would not speak so strongly against the latter. If John were not the author, as some incline to think, an unknown writer, with lively Judaic prepossessions, might perhaps describe the apostle Paul in such dark colours, but even then it is highly improbable.
Renan supposes that some Ephesian impostor is meant, a partisan of Nero's, perhaps an agent of the pseudo-Nero, or the pseudo-Nero himself. One thing is pretty clear, that a polity is not represented by either of the two beasts in the Apocalypse, or by Paul's man of sin. It is remarkable how long the legend about Nero's revival continued, and how widely diffused it became, though his body was buried publicly at Rome. Not till the 5th century did it become extinct.
The author of John's first epistle has a more general and spiritual conception of antichrist, partly I consequence of the Alexandrian philosophy which had leavened thought in Asia Minor, as is perceptible in the fourth gospel.
He finds antichrist within the church in any false teacher who corrupts the true doctrine respecting the Father and the son through a tendency idealizing away the practical basis of Christology. Such development of the idea agrees better with the general representation in the discourses of Jesus than the restricted individualizing it received from Paul and John outside Christianity, though the latter bears the older and Judaic stamp. The author of 1 John writes: "As ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists.
He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. This is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (ii. 18, 22, iv. 3).
He that denied the Father and the son, that did not confess Jesus, was an antichrist in this author's opinion. Probably Gnosticism was in his view more than any other form of error.
There was a tendency among the later New Testament writers, as far as we can judge from 2 Peter ii. 15, to find antichrist in erroneous doctrine rather than an individual. False teachers are called followers of Balaan. In the Apocalypse itself certain heretics are termed Nicolaitanes or Balaamites, i.e. destroyers of the people.
The sibylline oracles agree with the Apocalypse in identifying antichrist and Nero. In those of Christian origin belonging to the earliest centuries, we find the current belief that Nero, having fled beyond the Euphrates, should return with an army to perpetrate farther cruelties in Rome.
The descriptions in question are based, in part, on those of the apocalyptist, and the tyrant is directly identified with antichrist or Beliar.
When the legend about the tyrant's return from the East ceased, the true interpretation both of the fifth head and his mystic number 666 was lost. Irenaeus himself did not know the interpretation of 666, and has given several conjectural words more or less suitable to the number.
The idea of a personal antichrist was retained by the Christian writers of the 2d and 3d centuries who held the sensuous view of Christ's speedy reappearing to set up his reign on earth for a thousand years. The figure of this great adversary in connection with the millennial reign was important for such interpreters.
The Alexandrian school, however, whose method of interpretation was less literal and gross, generalized the idea in the manner of him who wrote St John's first epistle, making the principle of error or departure from the faith to be personified in antichirst.
The great opponent of Christ is an abstraction, a sceptical tendency or principle, not an historical person.
The later Jews had also their antichrist or anti-Messiah, whom they furnished with peculiar attributes, and termed Armillus.
The name appears already in the Targum of Jonathan on Isaiah xi. 4, where the godless Armillus is said to be slain with the breath of Messiah's mouth. In their description he becomes a terrible giant, golden haired, twelve ells in heights, as many breadth, having the width of a span between his deep red eyes. Born in Rome, he will assume to be the Messiah, and obtain many adherents.
The first Messiah, Joseph's son, will make war upon him, but be overcome and slain at Jerusalem. After this the second Messiah, David's son, will defeat. Armillus with the breath of his mouth, and then God will reassemble the dispersed of Israel, forming them into a united people, Christians and unbelievers being destroyed.
In the apocryphal Ascension of Isaiah, published by Laurence, a Jewish-Christian production written in Greek not earlier than the 3d century, the angel Berial, prince of this world, identical with Sammael or Satan, and representing antichrist, is said to descend in the last days, in the form of an impious monarch (Nero), the murderer of his mother.
The world will believe in him, and sacrifice to him; his prodigies will be displayed in every city and country, and his image set up. After exercising dominion for three years seven months and twenty-seven days, the Lord will come with His angels and drag him down into Gehenna.
The writer's description is evidently moulded on that of the apocyalyptist.
Nor is antichrist unknown to Mohammedan theology, in which he is called al Masih al Dajjal, the false or lying Christ, or simply al Dajjal. He is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters C.F.R., i.e., cafir, or infidel.
Appearing first between Irak and Syria, or, according to others, in Khorasan, he will ride on an ass, followed by 70,000 Jews of Ispahan, and continue on earth forty days, of which one will be equal in length to a year, another to a month, another to a week, and the rest will be common days; he is to lay waste all places except Mecca, or Medina, which are guarded by angels; but at length he will be slain by Jesus at the gate of Lud, near Joppa, assisted by the Imam Mahedi, after which the Moslem religion will coalesce with the Christian into one.
There is a saying that Mohammed foretold several antichrists, as many as thirty, but one of greater note than the rest.
During the Middle Ages, and those which immediately followed, current opinion discovered antichrist in heretics and sects.
The apocalypse and second epistle to the Thessalonians were supposed to point at false doctrine and its leading representatives. In their zeal against such as did not belong to the same church as their own, ecclesiastics mistook the sense of the passages relating to the dreaded adversary of Christ.
Thus Innocent III. (1215) declared the Saracens to be antichrist, and Mohammed the false prophet; and Gregory IX. (1234) pronounced the emperor Frederick II. to be the beast that rose up out of the sea with names of blasphemy on his head (Rev. xiii. 1-6).
As the corruption of the Romish Church increased, and the necessity of reform became more apparent, anti-ecclesiastical thought found antichrist in the Papacy; and that again naturally provoked the church to characterize all heretics as the collective antichrist.
The strong language of the apostles became a polemic weapon, easily wielded against any adversary possessing worldly power inimical to the church's interests or holding opinions incompatible with traditional orthodoxy.
The Church of Rome led the way in misapplying the Apocalypse during her contest with civil powers and heretics; her opponents followed the example in turning the instrument against herself. Antichristianism could be embodied in the Papacy as well as in Protestantism. It might be in a corrupt church as well as in heretical doctrine outside it.
Accordingly, the Waldenses, Wicliffe, Huss, and many others, found antichrist in the Pope. Luther hurled a powerful philippic adversus execrabilem bullam antichristi; and the articles of Schmalkald embody the same view, affirming: "Der Pabst aber, der allen die Seligkeit abspricht welche ihm nicht gehorchen wollen, ist der rechte antichrist."
The history of opinion respecting antichrist, or rather the interpretation of such Scriptures as present the idea, is by no means instructive. Conjectures too often supply the place of sound exergesis.
Much error has arisen from mixing up portions of Daniel's vision with those of the Apocalypse, because they refer to different subjects. The apostle borrows characteristic features from Daniel's Antiochus Epiphanes to fill out his picture of Nero. The combination of St Paul's man of sin with St John's antichristian Nero has also led to misapprehension.
The idea is variously developed according to the mental peculiarities and knowledge of those who entertained it. Vague and general at first, it was afterwards narrowed, somewhat in the manner of the Messianic one. Its different forms show that it was no article of faith, no dogma connected with salvation. Less definite in the second epistle to the Thessalonians, it is tolerably specific in the Revelation.
The author of John's first epistle gave it a spiritual width, consistently with the pantheistic direction which he follows with feeble footsteps. In each case, however, the writers moved within their own times, their knowledge bounded by the necessary limits of the human intellect, so that their subjective views can hardly be accepted as the emanations of minds projecting themselves into he world's outer history with full intelligence of its details.
Limited to the horizon of their age, they did not penetrate into the future with infallible certainty. What they express about antichrist is their development of an idea which sprang out of Jewish soil and does not harmonise well with the gradual progress of Christ's spiritual kingdom. It is not unusual, however, for men living in times of peculiar commotion, when the good are oppressed and vice triumphs, to embody rampant opposition to truth and righteousness in a person who concentrates in himself the essence of antichristian hate.
If Christ is to conquer gloriously, a mighty adversary is given Him who must be finally and for ever overthrown. Then commences the universal reign of peace and purity under the benign scepter of the Victor. Over against Christ as King is set a formidable foe, not an abstract principle, - the latter being an incongruous or less worthy adversary in the view of many. Yet it is the very individualizing of the antichrist idea which removes it from the sphere of actual realization.
The extension, indeed, of the divine kingdom will encounter opposition; and the reaction of the world may appear, if not become stronger as that extension is more decided; but the personality and intenseness which the apostles impart to the reaction transfer it to the region of the improbable.
Humanity is not so vicious as to break away from God with the extreme insanity which the feelings of the sacred writers conjure up in times of fear for the church. (Comp. Gesenius's article "Antichrist" in Ersch and Gruber; De Wette's Kurze Erkarung of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and the Revelation; Lucke's Versuch einer vollstandigen Einleitung in die Offenbarung des Johannes, zweite Auflage; Bleek's Vorlesungen ueber die Apokalypse; Ewald's Commentarius in Apocalypsin Johannis, and his Die Johanneischen Schriften vebersetzt und erklart; Lunemann, Ueber die Briefe an die Thessalonicher in Meyer's Kommentar ueber das Neue Testament; Davidson's Introduction to the Study of the New Testament, vol. I; Renan's L'Antechrist; Jowett's Epistles of St Paul to the Thessalonians, &c., vol. i.) (S. D.
The above article was written by the Rev. Samuel Davidson, D.S., Professor of Biblical Criticism at the Royal College, Belfast, 1835; Professor of Biblical Literature at the Manchester Congregational College, 1842-62; one of the Old Testament Revisers; author of The Canons of the Bible and Critical and Exegetical Introductions to the Old and New Testaments.
These are a small collection of homework responses from 2011-2014 approximately. All the Chinese students submitted their responses through youku and tudou, as youtube is blocked in China. I grabbed some randomly from youku to show here.
It was a great challenge to get the students to submit a video response, and quite a victory. None of the students have ever completed online work of this kind before this class and I am happy to have played a part in bridging the digital divide.
INTRO TO THECENTEROFTHENET.COM / LARGE 2400 + STUDENT PROJECT With approximately 650-2400 students, lacking funding and administration experience, I set up and administered a Nginx/Aegir based Octopus/Barracuda platform on an unmanaged VPS for development. Two full time college contracts granted access to students for research and development. Many Chinese teachers were reluctant to assign individual/group projects, lacking resources and technological ability. I created teams, leaders and online groups, known as “evogroups” at thecenterofthenet.com to address that. Different blending learning techniques where applied. Group questions populated a shared FAQ, leaders created support tickets for non-indexed questions, which would be later closed and then added to the FAQ.. Content was analyzed using Thomson Reuters semantic tagging and the Solaris Search module for future intelligent discovery, using what’s related type facets and metrics. All applicable metrics, liked, used, disliked, etc. would be recorded in “MyIQ”. Similar to Napster’s discovery model, where users accessed collections of similar listeners… Intelligent discovery connected users with similar Myiq’s.. Content wasn’t liked and forgotten in a single use cycle. 10 years ago, this was a rare strategy..
This was a complex system. I’m not a programmer; rather a task/form-follow-function orientated developer understanding principles and adapting code or script as needed. Creating a non-hardware version of OLPC targeting vocational, institutional, collaborative learning mixed user literacy environments and other dynamic scenarios was challenging. Targeting digital immigrants with various computer literacy levels in traditional Chinese classrooms, where universities today don’t allow laptops was difficult. Without prior teacher blogs, online lesson plans, etc. . Intensive student orientation was a prerequisite, allowing group and individual video research projects to then be assigned. Within the EMS, project and assignment management with collaboration tools & metrics allowed large classes to receive individualized attention. Additionally, I online final exams were also integrated, with dynamic questions, destroying cheating opportunity. Despite international 2018 EMS adoption, I'm unaware of previous and few modern Chinese schools with such integration.
Hosting abroad under censorship, utilizing domestic api’s was difficult. China blocked my server twice causing midterm server relocation. Drupal 6, under high user load, combined with the local network infrastructure was not scalable. A larger server and team was required to optimize database calls and more. Beyond my individual capability. With a working example, I created promotional Kickstarter campaign videos.
Using Audacity and PowerPoint, 100s of hours were invested in promotional videos. I had to pause development to care for my wife who developed health issues. This entire experience, researching and developing a large scale project would have been difficult in the US. These accomplishments are comparable with Khan Academy's initial work involving 70 Californian students. By the time my wife's health improved, there were significant php/drupal developments. Having no opportunity to update the project, I have instead migrated toward an offline independent Linux based S.E.L.M.S.
Ace Hotel (formerly The Hotel Breslin)
20 West 29TH Street
New York, NY
Poster art in the lobby - Ace Hotel
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Prior to the opening of the 269 room Ace Hotel at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street in 2009 - there was the Hotel Breslin.
The Hotel Breslin was built by United States Realty & Improvement Company in 1904 on the site of the former Sturtevant House Hotel. Upon its completion, the hotel was leased to prominent New York hotelier, Colonel James H. Breslin, for whom the hotel is named.
Breslin also operated the Gilsey House and the Hotel Walcott.
The architectural firm Clinton & Russell designed the Beaux-arts 12-story brick and terra cotta building. The firm also designed the Hotel Astor in Times Square and the landmark Apthorp Apartments on New York's West Side. The hotel was constructed on a trapezoidal lot at an estimated cost of $1 million.
The Breslin's mansard roof and corner cap were its signature attributes.
Upon its opening in 1904, the Breslin was noted for its salons and cafes, and for its unusual "ladies' grill room." The property was situated in the Times Square of the turn of the century -- an area full of clubs and restaurants, and New York's first neighborhood to be electrified with lighting and signage.
A block over (West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue) was Tin Pan Alley - a neighborhood flush with music publishers and songwriters that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th Century. It was thought the term Tin Pan Alley referred to the thin, tinny tone quality of cheap upright pianos used in music publisher's offices.
In 1906 Clinton & Russell were commissioned to extend the hotel to the south on 29th Street. It was promised to "harmonize" the additions building materials with the old building.
According to a 2001 New York Landmarks Preservation Commission Report the Hotel Breslin remains remarkably intact on the exterior above the first floor.
Following Breslin's passing in 1906 he was succeeded by Walter E. Hildreth as president of the Breslin Hotel Company.
Jim Breslin died of Bright's disease at his Hotel Wolcott apartment. Breslin was president of the Hotel Men's Association. Breslin's first job in the hotel industry was as a bellboy at the United States Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to the NY Times "... to have been one of Jim Breslin's employees and with a recommendation from him meant a job in any hotel in the United States and at once..."
In 1911 Walter Hildreth representing Breslin Hotel Company and the United States Realty & Improvement Company sold the 400 room hotel for approximately $3,000,000 to an entity known as Hotel Operating Associates. According to the NY Times D.V. Mulligan of the Russell House Hotel, Ottawa, Canada was appointed the hotel manager. For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Mulligan was a well-known Canadian hotelier and he planned to focus on attracting Canadian businessmen to the Breslin.
Manager Mulligan received some publicity regarding his attempts to make the Breslin a "no tipping hotel". His thought was such a policy would increase business. Mulligan fired several hat check girls who accepted tips from the patrons, but he also understood he could not dictate to his patrons how to spend their money and it was useless to prohibit employees from receiving tips. So in 1913 he implemented a policy of reducing by 10% every restaurant bill - with the hope that most patrons would accept the reduction as a notice to leave a 10% tip in cash. It is not known how long he continued reducing restaurant bills by 10%.
In 1925 the Breslin Hotel was sold to Paul A. McGolrick and Sidney Claman, owner of the Times Square Hotel, purchased the Breslin in 1937. In 1955 it was sold to Max A. Goldbaum and three years later, in 1958, Goldbaum leased the hotel to the Beryl-Jason Holding Corporation. Edward Haddad, the principal with Broadway Breslin Associates, secured a 99-year lease on the Hotel Breslin in the 1950s. In time the building began to be known as the Broadway Breslin. It was known for very cheap monthly housing in a very good location.
By 2006 the Breslin Apartments had degraded to a rent-stabilized single-occupancy dive.
In April 2006, the hotel’s principal owner, Edward Haddad and GFI Capital Resources Group, took the first steps toward converting the shabby Breslin from an old single-room occupancy building to a luxury hotel.
In 2006, GFI Real Estate Partners bought the Breslin’s lease from landlord Edward Haddad for $40 million - at the height of the market. Haddad had put little work or money into the building for several years. A joint venture partner with GFI Capital in the Ace Hotel as well as in the Standard New York in the meatpacking district is Dune Capital Management who manages a real estate opportunity fund.
GFI Development secured another $35 million to finance its renovation.
In July 2007 GFI principals Andrew Zobler and Allen Gross (founder, CEO and President, GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc.) contracted Alex Calderwood, the co-founder of the Ace Hotel Group, to move to New York in early 2008 to take over management of the Breslin and its multi-million dollar reconstruction and transition.
Andrew Zobler is the founder The Sydell Group. Previously Zobler was a Partner, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of André Balazs Properties and also was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development.
Alex Calderwood along with two friends, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick founded Ace Hotels in 1999. Their first hotel was the Ace Seattle, a 28-room hotel in a former downtown halfway house. According to Alex Calderwood, Ace’s Modus operandi is straightforward: “Taking characterful old buildings in emerging neighborhoods and doing as much as we could with the existing infrastructure on a shoestring budget.”
Taking over a fully occupied, 344-unit building, GFI offered its rent stabilized residents $3,000 to move out. Reportedly the buyout amounts grew to $50,000 or more.
An attorney for the tenants brought suit to prevent "greedy big business" from turning the Breslin and its residents on its side. The tenants even produced a video “Voices of the Breslin” - a documentary about the disappearance of affordable housing in New York. In early 2008 about 150 tenants had accepted buyout agreements to move out yet many desired to stay. According to Alex Calderwood “The people who’ve remained, they get a brand-new HVAC system, brand-new windows. They have an option to move to a completely renovated unit if they want.”
As of March 2011 roughly 30 rent-stabilized tenants still live in the hotel, some of whom pay just $500 a month for their apartment.
Other notable New York City hotels with holdover tenants include the Carlyle Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel.
In May 2009, after court struggles and extensive renovations by architectural firm Roman & Williams, the trendy Ace Hotel was completed. Upscale shops replaced the street level stores and the sleek modern hotel rooms, purportedly available for under $300 per night, now attract a young, hip crowd.
Roman and Williams also completed the Royalton Hotel in 2007 and the Standard Hotel in 2009.
The lobby has three areas - the welcome area, the work-table area and in the back a lobby bar. The hotel rooms range from bunk rooms to lofts, and everything in between. The guest rooms are described as efficient. A clothes rack Roman & Williams made from bent plumbing pipes replaces a closet. Pipes also appear on bath accessories and as desk legs. Chalkboard paint on the walls and paintings & murals by emerging artists individualize each room. Rooms feature vintage furniture, Mascioni sheets and some rooms come with guitars, turntables and 50's Retro style refrigerators.
Proprietors’ restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig fame, operate The Breslin, a 130 seat no-reservation restaurant on the ground-floor which has a turn-of- the-century New York look. Also, April Bloomfield of the Breslin and Josh Even of the Spotted Pig have designed and created the menus for John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel.
Portland coffee mecca Stumptown Coffee Roasters has its first Manhattan outlet in the Ace Hotel.
Ace Hotel's opening manager is Jan Rozenveld. Previously Rozenveld was GM at The Greenwich Hotel in NYC and GM at The Tides South Beach, Miami.
GFI Hotel Company was formed in 2008 as a division of GFI Development Company to manage and oversee hotels. Michael Rawson is president of GFI Hotels. Since its inception, GFI Hotel Company has opened two Ace Hotels (Palm Springs and NYC) and is currently developing a flagship, The NoMad Hotel in NYC, the former Johnston Building at 28th and Broadway. In February 2011 Andrew Zobler and L.A. billionaire Ronald Burkle co-partnered on the purchase of the Hotel Theodore (formerly the Mondrian) in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson
November, 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com