Elaine Petrowski

Behavior

funny you should mention the lawn...

I just commented to my husband last week that I 'd noticed several people cutting their own lawns ... a sight that, until this year, was RARE here in Ridgewood, NJ.
And we are, for the first time ever, planting some of our own veggies in a town garden plot. Only after we completed planting did we learn why surprisingly so many plots opened up this season -- the folks who "farmed" there for years left in disgust when their gardens were pilfered or vandalized at the end of the last growing season. Wish us luck!

Ridgewood, NJ , 07451

lucie subak

Behavior

smoke-coping?

Walking along Third Av. in the 50s, I noticed a lot more people smoking during their lunch break (not a scientific survey)

third avenue, 10022

Nicole C.

Behavior

You know the the city needs revenue when

Over 50 people at the tow pound at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Most of whom hadn't received a ticket before being towed for a variety of reasons - too close to a hydrant, not moving a car during street cleaning, etc. After paying the fine, most drivers discovered the ticket sitting on the windshield. Cost of an infraction - $65 - 115, cost of a tow - $185-370 plus overnight storage of $20/night. According to some in line, this was not the case six months ago. Furthermore, according to one in line, the administrative office at the pound had been a trailer only a few months earlier, now it looks like a bank with teller windows and an ATM.

Sands and Navy, Brooklyn, NY

CHRISTOPHER BUTLER

Behavior

ON THE SHELF...LITERALLY

needed some steel industrial-style shelving recently, and for this i've always gone to a 2nd hand place in Belleville, NJ. nice folks/good prices. this time, the owner's yard was JAMMED with the real heavy duty stuff. "it's from all the businesses that have died or moved out of state," he said [paraphrasing]. "we've got all the Circuit City shelving here, plus all the warehouse and R & D divisions stuff".

so - an uncommon eco indicator is: the state of the economy is directly inversely proportional to the amount of used shelving available

STORAGE EQUIPENT CORP., 331 MAIN ST., BELLEVILLE, NJ

Kelly Kwedar

Commerce

Now Empty #60

I'm pretty sure this use to be a Searle. Next to 1140 3rd Avenue, Upper East side

1140 3rd Avenue, NYC

VICTOR DUPONT

Behavior

Life before Tamiflu

Grandma Dupont used to tell how doctors wouldn't make housecalls in 1918's influenza -- her entire family went to bed with mustard plasters --- all survived! NY city agencies should join to fight and prevent H1N1 transmission. Let's close entire school system one or 2 weeks; make-up with optional "AP" classes in July and this Fall make flu vaccination for pupil and school staff. Most deaths from 1918 flu -- average age 15 years of age. Our mayor should do this to avoid epidemic. One or 2 days of the makeup sessions could be Parental. & College advice / Career day. P.S.: Doctors never came out since, except to Rockefellers, Roosevelts and Astors.

Greenwich, Connecticut

Jax

Employment

AP Recession Map/Stress Index

[Check out the full summary of the AP Stress Map from the link on our bulletin board]

The Stress Index is not merely a map of misery, though. When recovery comes, it can be a map of optimism as well, a welcome harbinger of better days approaching. Going forward, it can track the recovery we hunger for - show us where it is poking its head up, where it is spreading and who it is leaving behind....

[Paste this URL into your browers http://issues.wnyc.org/wiki/index.php/Bulletin_board]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iGLWeDK3y4aT8IOK9HZqK6jl_r6gD9882TB80

Jax

Commerce

Great Recession Consumer Trends

[New article posted on our Bulletin Board. ]

Hot in recession: Chocolate, running shoes, Spam
Sunday, May 17, 2009
BY DEB RIECHMANN

"Guns are selling well, too. Total firearms sales rose 27.5 percent at Smith & Wesson for the three months ending Jan. 31. It's not a sudden interest in hunting behind the increase; hunting firearm sales at the company declined during the quarter by 46 percent."

Mary Grunmeier

Commerce

Straws and Condiments

Tonight, friends and I were out at our local bar and grill. The bartender asked the owner, "Could you please get big straws so people will drink faster?" (They have very narrow stirrer-style straws.) He said, just bring some in. Someone said, "Get them from McDonald's or somewhere." Someone else said, "Oh, no..at the drink station at the McDonald's in Parsippany, they don't have the straws or napkins any more--they give you a straw when you order the drink." I thought about it, and where I get my iced tea in the morning, they have completely changed their condiment display...no straws, no forks, no spoon, no Splenda, etc. When I buy the iced tea, they offer me a straw, which I don't want. Someone else mentioned that he had been at Taco Bell in East Hanover and same thing....no straws in the self-service beverage area...he had to go back and ask for one. Maybe it's not an economic story, but all of these places are just trying to cut down on plastic? Maybe both?

55 Mount Pleasant Ave.,

Meredith

Bright

Sunburns on weekdays in May!

Sunburns on weekdays in May!

Yeah it's stressful, yeah I have no money, but with so many of my friends and neighbors also out of work it feels like a weekend day in the park.

Harris in Harlem

Behavior

"Where in the World are my Postcards?"

I have noticed over the last few months that I have not received any postcards from friends. Before the economic downturn, I normally received at least 1-2 postcards a week from friends taking exotic or unique or just relaxing trips all over the world. Well, I guess now, they just can't afford to travel at all...YIKES!

Birgit Hottenrott

Behavior

mowing lawns

My lawn and that of my immediate neighbors is so tiny we all share a mower - but up the street lawns are much bigger and the number of homeowners we now all see mowing their own lawns is rather jarring - instead of being friendly to the various lawns crews my kids are now meeting and seeing more neighbors (my son has noted that their mowers are much slower and smaller).

44 Cochrane Avenue, hastings on hudson, ny

Jill Fenichell

Commerce

How I Gauge the Economy

Hi, I am a designer of tableware, and design melamine plates. I do the Flea market; gift shows; sell wholesale and retail. Normally, I sell between $16-40,000 in a month. This year SO FAR, sales are at $40,000. That's for four months, ten days. Since September 1, 2008, I have only hit my monthly "nut," what I need to make, in January and April. I show my work on my Facebook page. I do not blame people for holding back on spending, but as a designer and manufacturer, I know that the down spin in sales isn't sustainable for more than eight months.

Brooklyn, 11238

Tim

Housing

One Man's Divorce is Another Man's Castle

In Ridgewood, where average house price was about $1m in 2006 and is now maybe $800K, a Realtor says she is getting buyers who want to be shown only houses of people who are getting divorced or who have lost their jobs.

07450

Brianne

Commerce

The lights are out.

Sitting on the benches overlooking the Hudson after using the driving range at Chelsea Piers, we noticed the lights across the water in New Jersey. The large W hotel had the top half of its building completely black. Not enough occupancy to even turn the lights on. I took the pic with my cell phone so it is a bit blurry but you can see the dark shadow of the hotel pretty clearly.

West 18th Street, 11th Avenue

Rough Acres

Housing

Halted Construction

This site in Washington Heights was supposed to be a luxury high-rise apartment building.
Residents in the area suffered through about two years of blasting on a daily basis.
No work has been done in months...
Looks as though the developer is now struggling with funding... credit lines have all dried up.
There's more information on the website for The Manhattan Times (manhattantimesnew.com).

10940

IC

Behavior

Chase Bank

The banks are in trouble? I went to my branch of Chase on 14th and 7th Ave. to deposit a check of $50. As I got up on the escalator, the bank was empty except for the 10 employees, 5 of which were officers standing together at the top of the escaltor eagerly greeting me asking if I needed help depositing my check. Did it really take 5 officers to walk me to the teller? And I wonder why Chase charges us so much fees for every transaction.....they most certainly can save some cost not having an officer greeting people at the entry, shouldn't they be doing something else worth the bailout money?

Chase Manhattan Bank, 14th @ 7th Ave.

Kelly Kwedar

Commerce

Now Emtpy #10

Paradise Lost, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

669 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn

Kelly Kwedar

Commerce

It is All for Sale

I was shocked to see a women outside the Grand Central subway station selling what looked to be everything. Her cloths, purses, a drill, a small tv etc. This was right out the side the entrance on 42nd and Lex at the Strawberry Store. A lot of people were stopping to pick over her wares and doing a lot of bartering.

42nd and Lexington, New York

Kelly Kwedar

Commerce

Now Empty

This is a part of the circuit city in Union Square, NYC, 2/18/09. My partner was sad to see it all taken apart, this was where he has shopped for 8 years to build his movie collection. Everything in the store was very picked over and most of the stuff left was stuff no one needs or wants.

Union Square, New York, NY 10003