At lunch on Friday we heard about all the trouble in the Richard Meier towers for the first time. Okay, so we're not so with it and missed the big article in Vanity Fair last month. The summary is that while attractive, the buildings are having big structural problems with leakage and even bigger problems with their tenants and doormen. While prices are still high, people are moving in and out.
Director Vincent Gallo is quoted as saying, "You won't believe what's going on in these buildings. It's a microcosm of everything ugly in human beings - beautiful, beautiful architecture desecrated by scandal, greed, conniving and gluttony." (via Page Six). Central human issues revolve around disputes between the two towers, one of which is called the "poor person's" tower, Calvin Klien's request for armed doormen, and doormen themsleves making money on the side by offering tours of tenants apartment when they are away (at that rate, I wouldn't want them armed). Then there are the gunshots which have required that several windows be replaced and the gawkers:
"Hugh Jackman, who rents the sixth floor of the south tower for $35,000 a month, 'has swifty become the building's biggest attraction . . . one person in the north tower says that he has friends who come over just to watch, through binoculars, the actor stride around his apartment.'" (via page six).
Whew! Take you own peek of Michael Holtz's apartment on the seconf floor (via Metro New York) MGR
It truly amazes me that people have nothing better to do with their lives than watch someone else's private life.
What ever happened to going out and *doing* something? Manhattanites, and New Yorkers in general used to be some of the most active people on the planet. I suppose television and "instant gratification" culture has invaded and taken over. A sad day indeed.
huh? Since when is heading over to the Hudson River Park with a pair of binoculars not "going out"? And since when is obsessively peering into the open windows of residential buildings not "doing something"?
Clearly, you have never lived in New York, CM.