Vanderbilt University

Elena, a writer of self-help books at work on Here’s How: To Do EVERYTHING Correctly!, and Max  read more »

The Landmarks Preservation Commission held an emergency hearing today to in order to hear testimony from the public regarding the former Van Tassel and Kearney horse auction house at 126-128 East 13th Street.

Built in 1904, the building served as an auction house for well-heeled New Yorkers including the Belmont and Vanderbilt families to buy horses in the early 20th century. After the 20's, when cars replaced animals as the city's preferred mode of transportation, the building was turned into a machinery shop, and during World War II trained women in the industrial arts while the men were off in Europe fighting. Then, in 1978, artist Frank Stella housed his studio there, until the building was sold in 2005.
Representatives from various elected officials' offices came to voice concern over losing the building, including State Senator Tom Duane, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Councilwoman Rosie Mendez pleaded for the building's landmarking in person. Other organizations with representatives that testified in favor of the landmarking included the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Municipal Arts Society, the Union Square Community Coalition, and the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, along with several area residents.
The 11,777-square-foot building was sold in 2005 for $10 million, according to city records, with the owner listed as Isaac Mishan. At the L.P.C. hearing, when asked by The Real Estate, the alleged owner refused to identify himself, nor would he answer any questions. His attorney, in testimony to the L.P.C., said that the developer would prefer to work with the commission to find some sort of compromise, but if forced into a corner would consider seeking a hardship variance in order to demolish the extant building and build a seven-story condo building.
Johnathon Hayes, a 15-year area resident, told the L.P.C. at the meeting, "The space cries out for adaptive reuse .... We cannot live by luxury condominiums alone."
The L.P.C. tabled the matter as they have a 40-day stand-still agreement with the owner. It will be taken up again in the near future.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

I don’t know why my date’s first words to me were “You’re late,” even  read more »

This week in Slate, Tom Vanderbilt writes about the rise in personal mini-storage units in one of those far-reaching cultural essays inevitably headlined "[fill in the blank] Nation."

Vanderbilt posits a number of explanations for the rise in mini-storage in Self-Storage Nation (rising consumerism, increased mobility, eBay, etc.) and grapples with the mystery of America's increased average house size coupled with diminishing storage space:

[A]s consumption has grown, so too has the average size of the American house. The National Association of Homebuilders reports that the average American house went from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004. So, let's get this straight—houses got bigger, average family sizes got smaller, and yet we still need to tack on a billion-plus square feet to store our stuff?

So, what the heck is taking up all that square footage?

Slate readers should know: It's Labrador retrievers.  read more »

Last week, in a piece called "Top Dogs," Brendan I. Koerner speculates on the increased popularity of Labs (Labrador Nation, anyone?) by suggesting:

[T]he Labrador's increasing popularity may be tied to the advent of exurbs and McMansions. Since 1971, the average size of an American home has risen 55 percent, to 2,320 square feet. Families aren't having more children to fill up the extra space, so there's plenty of room for a Labrador to romp around.

The solution seems so simple: put those Labs in storage. —Matt Haber

The man in the overalls had changed the oil in my car.  read more »