| NYC Grows Up, Out And Over
According to an analysis from your friendly city Comptroller, Bill Thompson, our luxury metropolis is experiencing its biggest housing building boom in 30 years. The New York Post reports that officials issued building permits for 62,526 residential units in 2005 and 2006, the highest since 1971 and 1972. And speaking of boom, Extell Development has proposed a 90-plus-story hotel to accompany the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center planned expansion. In addition, the state will soon put up 13 million square feet of residential and office space over the Hudson rail yards for bidding, the city is planning a $2.1 billion extension of the No. 7 subway and developers are negotiating with the state over plans to build a giant mixed-use project including a stadium and rail station across from Pennsylvania Station.
Around the globe: Northeast battered by record rains, flooding
NEW YORK — A menacing spring storm punished the Northeast for a second straight day Monday, dumping more than 8 inches of rain on Central Park and sending refrigerators and pickup trucks floating down rivers in one of the region’s worst storms in recent memory.The nor’easter left a huge swath of devastation, from the beaches of South Carolina to the mountains of Maine. It knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and was blamed for at least nine deaths nationwide, including a New Jersey man who drowned inside a car.The storm showed no immediate sign of letting up. The National Weather Service predicted showers through Wednesday night in the New York City area, with rain mixed with snow at times.The storm was especially harsh in the Westchester County suburbs north of New York City and in New Jersey, where the state was placed under a state of emergency.AP SEAL HUNTSProtest groups pull out after uneventful eventST.
Celebrating Thursdays in Ottumwa
That's because Main Street Ottumwa recently announced they will be co-sponsoring an event with the Iowa State Extension called "Thurdays on Third" in downtown Ottumwa. Starting May 17th Third street near Central Park will be closed between the hours of 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every Thursday until late September. Organizers describe the weekly event as a street bazaar with entertainment and local business vendors. We wondered what this sort of event will mean to local businesses.
"Bringing more people downtown means engaging more of the local businesses in the area and keeping them open later providing more entertainment just really getting people excited even more about the downtown areas," said Genevieve Borich of Main Street Ottumwa. The event will be free and open to the public. If you own a business and would like to take part in "Thursdays on Third" call the Main Street Ottumwa office at (641) 684-5130.
Peace prevails in Over-the-Rhine
About 50 people gathered in Washington Park -- the intended endpoint for a now-cancelled march by a small band of neo-Nazis -- to pray and call for unity among Cincinnatians in a continual fight against hate, ignorance and those who would carry that message. "We stand in solidarity and support of the African-American community in Over-the-Rhine and every peace-loving community," said Sharon Jones, vice president of the Over-the-Rhine Community Council. "The people of Cincinnati will prove that we are bigger than hate, stronger than ignorance and more caring than the Nazi party can imagine." The march was called for by a coalition of local religious and community groups to counter a march that was planned to end in speeches by a group of neo-Nazis at the park. They had intended to walk through the neighborhood starting at 13th and Sycamore.
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