This post is the sequel of the story of Manhattan Style #1.
Yesterday, after the banging and pounding noise incapacitated me from performing any work, I called 311. I did not have much hope about their problem solving capabilities but felt like there was no other course of action. I spent almost one frustrating hour with the 311 operator, initially describing the same simple situation several times. Finally the next step: I had to provide the address, which could not be found by the operator. I mentioned several times that the address was easily found in Google Maps, mapquest, Bing; yet she could not find it.
A few hours after ending this frustrating useless reach for help I received an email from 311 that my action request was closed. No solution to my problems but an addition to the great mysteries of the universe:
Why a major city self defined "service" line does not use maps available to any of us common mortals?
Another question: how much of our tax money is allocated to fund their GIS map system which is not even able, to locate an address easily find in any common map system?
Showing posts with label Manhattan Style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manhattan Style. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Manhattan Style | Co-op Boards, Noise, Pollution and Arrogance
Although I have been living in NYC for over two decades I am not used yet to the arrogance and lack of respect often experienced in my neighborhood (Upper West Side) and more specifically, in the building where I have been a resident for almost twenty-five years. Basic rules which should be part of having a residence (a private space) adjacent to other residences (private spaces occupied by others) are often completely ignored.
I am currently working on a paper for a conference in New Zealand —quite ironically dealing with “ancient wisdom” and celebration of natural events— and my focus on thinking and writing has been challenged (and overcome) by loud demolition/construction noises from a nearby apartment. Illustrating and writing about the intensity of the hue of the sky during the sunrise, celebrated by the singing of birds in the stillness of the landscape, has become an impossible task with the relentless pounding, hammering and drilling noise coming from the apartment upstairs.
Since 2007, when I made a professional choice of telecommuting, this is not the first time I experience negative interferences with my personal and professional life because of noise and environmental pollution due to the constant renovation work of apartments in the building. Countless times I expressed my physical (dust allergies) and mental (lack of concentration) distress provoked the constant apartments renovations as emails to the co-op board and the managing agent. The typical reply can be summarized as "You have to live with it" as if an apartment renovation was an emergency, an unpredictable and unavoidable event. My requests of basic courtesy such as trying to minimize the major inconveniences by providing a schedule of work or noise cancelling headphones, or even an apologize, have always been ignored.
“Built to Be Demolish” seems to be the ground rule of NYC commercial and residential construction, unfortunately effecting everybody, not only in homes but in streets as well, where breathing building materials dust is unavoidable. The quick cycles of "cheap construction / demolition / cheap construction" are witnessed non only in my building but overall Manhattan, where an extremely fast turnover of construction reflects the extreme mobility causing unstable places and lack of strong communities in the neighborhoods. The apartment upstairs has been (extremely noisily) renovated twice in less than four years. "Neighbors" come and go in an extremely fast turnover, often completely unnoticed, but for the noise and pollution caused by their renovations.
Don’t misunderstand: I am not trying to emphasize the good of rural lifestyle vs. urban living. This blog is a proof of my (almost daily) urban walkabouts of several miles, through the many hectic neighborhoods encountered during my 5+ miles walks. But I value the making of strong communities, the respect for individual private spaces, and, perhaps,most of all, courtesy —even in a frantic cosmopolitan city.
An oxymoron?
I am currently working on a paper for a conference in New Zealand —quite ironically dealing with “ancient wisdom” and celebration of natural events— and my focus on thinking and writing has been challenged (and overcome) by loud demolition/construction noises from a nearby apartment. Illustrating and writing about the intensity of the hue of the sky during the sunrise, celebrated by the singing of birds in the stillness of the landscape, has become an impossible task with the relentless pounding, hammering and drilling noise coming from the apartment upstairs.
Since 2007, when I made a professional choice of telecommuting, this is not the first time I experience negative interferences with my personal and professional life because of noise and environmental pollution due to the constant renovation work of apartments in the building. Countless times I expressed my physical (dust allergies) and mental (lack of concentration) distress provoked the constant apartments renovations as emails to the co-op board and the managing agent. The typical reply can be summarized as "You have to live with it" as if an apartment renovation was an emergency, an unpredictable and unavoidable event. My requests of basic courtesy such as trying to minimize the major inconveniences by providing a schedule of work or noise cancelling headphones, or even an apologize, have always been ignored.
“Built to Be Demolish” seems to be the ground rule of NYC commercial and residential construction, unfortunately effecting everybody, not only in homes but in streets as well, where breathing building materials dust is unavoidable. The quick cycles of "cheap construction / demolition / cheap construction" are witnessed non only in my building but overall Manhattan, where an extremely fast turnover of construction reflects the extreme mobility causing unstable places and lack of strong communities in the neighborhoods. The apartment upstairs has been (extremely noisily) renovated twice in less than four years. "Neighbors" come and go in an extremely fast turnover, often completely unnoticed, but for the noise and pollution caused by their renovations.
Don’t misunderstand: I am not trying to emphasize the good of rural lifestyle vs. urban living. This blog is a proof of my (almost daily) urban walkabouts of several miles, through the many hectic neighborhoods encountered during my 5+ miles walks. But I value the making of strong communities, the respect for individual private spaces, and, perhaps,most of all, courtesy —even in a frantic cosmopolitan city.
An oxymoron?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)