The Cass Gilbert Connection

I am by no means an architecture buff.  I enjoy a beautiful building as much as the next person, but am typically more interested in why it was built than how.  I've learned to discern the Federalist and Queen Anne brownstones in my neighborhood from the Victorian brownstones of Park Slope, and to identify some other large trends in architecture through time, but this again is because of their historical context.

Still, I find myself gravitating toward the Beaux-Arts and Neo-Gothic architectural styles, and to one of that era's star architects Cass Gilbert.  There's something about the optimism inherent in these grand structures, as if upstart America really could contribute to the vast architectural heritage of the world, that keeps drawing my eye.

It's through this that the Woolworth Tower has always been my favorite skyscraper in New York.  Completed in 1913 by Cass Gilbert, and paid for in cash by Frank Woolworth (all $13.5 million), it has always struck me as the most beautiful of of the major skyscrapers in New York.  And in a show of levity typical of Gilbert, there are little details hidden in plain site on the tower. There's a gecko scaling one face high up on the tower, for example, only visible with a good pair of binoculars and just the right viewing angle. Gilbert made beautiful buildings, and found a way to keep them fun as well.

When I first moved to 90 West Street, a stunning neo-Gothic building in its own right, one of the best features of my apartment was the view east to the Woolworth Tower.  I was surprised and excited to learn that 90 West was also one of Cass Gilbert's buildings.  Built it 1907, it was actually the precursor to the Woolworth Tower, Gilbert used it to test some of his Gothic stylings.  Like the Woolworth Tower after it, Gilbert played with the design of 90 West,  adding Gargoyles with his relatives' faces.  It was really through living in this building that I begun to learn more about Gilbert, and to appreciate his style.

I've since learned more random connections with Gilbert.  He was named for an ancestor of his, Lewis Cass.  Cass was governor of the Michigan territory (before it became a state), American Ambassador to France, US Senator for Michigan, and Secretary of State.  To understand his impact, I need only consider that my own mother lives just off of Cass Boulevard, and for many years worked in the Lewis Cass Building in Michigan's state capitol.  (In fact, there are a myriad of places named after him.)

In my travels, I've begun to pay more attention to buildings in particular.  And I still find myself drawn to Cass Gilbert's buildings across the country even without knowing about them.   The US Supreme Court Building, the state capitol of Minnesota, and many buildings around New York have all drawn my eye.  They are all Gilbert's.

Recently, I flew to Saint Louis to help launch a new Chapter of Mu Beta Psi.  One day, we went to the Saint Louis Zoo, which sits in Forest Park just down a hill from the Museum of Art.  I enjoyed the zoo, but kept looking up at the Museum.  My last day in the city I had some time to myself, so I went back to the park and walked around the Museum.  It felt so familiar.  I asked the gentleman at the information desk if he knew much about the building itself.  He replied, oh yes, it was built in 1904 for the World's Fair by Cass Gilbert.

Of course.

Now I find myself looking for them.  There are quite a few, but I will see as many as I can.

Boxes

Last night we broke out the Fresh Direct boxes we've been saving and started packing. Starting simply, we attacked the book shelves first, and quickly filled all eight boxes that we had. (We like books. A lot.) Now we're on the hunt for more boxes.

I'm always amazed when I'm preparing to move at just how much "stuff" I have. One would think with a small NYC apartment there isn't room for much&emdash;and that's true. Yet, after two years in this apartment I'm finding all kinds of things I didn't even know I had. I've always found moving to be a good chance to get rid of all this extraneous stuff. So in packing just those eight boxes last night, we also made two runs to the garbage and recycling room. It feels good to get things in order.

It'll feel even better to settle into our new home next week.

House Hunting in the Middle

I'm a bit frustrated. The building I love has become so incredibly annoying that I can hardly wait to leave it. The adjacent building has added 9 floors to itself, completely blocking all of our windows. We have to draw the shades so as not to draw the attention of the workers 8 feet outside the windows. But the shades don't block the noise. 7am sharp, every morning.

I've always said that the building is wonderful, it's just everything around it that's bad.

So, we've made the decision to move (possibly to Brooklyn). Our lease is up April 1st, and that's no joke, so the time to be looking elsewhere is now. Ideally, we'd want to overlap a little with our current lease to make the transition easier.

We've toyed with the idea of buying an apartment, especially with the market coming down so quickly. But the market isn't quite there yet, and we don't want to commit ourselves to a mortgage when our own industries aren't the most stable. And the process is so long. We've spent more than a month looking at properties on weekends, just to see what's available. And many of those properties will still be there if we start looking again later. It takes ages to negotiate a price, go through the process, and close. Far too long for our needs right now.

Meanwhile, with the rental market in NYC, the attitude is "now or never." If you look at an apartment, find that you like it, and fail to sign the lease that day, it's probably gone tomorrow. This too is abetting a little with demand falling off in this economy, but the prevailing attitude is still there. We've got an appointment for Saturday in Brooklyn. If we see something we like, we have to make the decision to live there immediately. There's no time to consider other neighborhoods, or sleep on it. Yes or no. Now or never.

I want the middle road. I want to be able to compare and consider apartments, to take the time to feel out the neighborhood, and what it would be like to live in a certain place. I want to learn about the building--where is the laundry? The recycling? But I also want the speed and ease of finding a place soon, and not spending weeks to months negotiating and signing a lease.

Tomorrow I may have a new address.

Where Did 90WestStreet Blog Go?

I can hardly believe it's November already. It's nearly time for family, friends, thanksgivings—and the first anniversary of the Great Flood of '07. The full story as told through this blog is here.

For all the craziness of that time last year, there were some really good things that came out of it. We got to meet and know neighbors that we must have walked past daily. A lot of the building residents came together. And out of that new-found solidarity as neighbors, came a collaborative blog: http://90weststreet.blogspot.com/. It became the centerpiece of our organization and communication. It kept all of us up to date with the issues of moving back in, the contamination tests, and the Port Authority settlement. And with the chat feature in the side rail, residents have kept in touch even since the last post.

Over the weekend, I noticed traffic to this blog from Google in Mountain View, CA. The referring url was http://90weststreet.blogspot.com/. Thinking it strange that Google would be surfing these blogs, of all others, I went to check on the 90WestStreet Blog.

Gone.

The url gives the error:

Blog has been removed

Sorry, the blog at 90weststreet.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

No explanation, no citation of an abuse of the Terms of Service. Nothing. Google's Help Center explains that if there was a ToS violation, the blog would still be in my Dashboard. But the blog is not there, it has been completely removed.

I have to wonder, with as many collaborators as there were on that blog, if it wasn't someone else who was just cleaning out their Blogger accounts. But the visit from Google has my suspicions raised, the timing seems hardly coincidental.

I clicked around Google's Help Center trying to find an email address to send questions. Each thread of "clarifying" the problem ends in an over-simplified explanation of how I must be logging in with the wrong account. I posted to the "Google Help" group, though, so we'll see what comes of that.

But why? Why delete this blog? There's a lot of important information for residents in there.

The View Out My Window (Unchanged)

The ongoing saga of 130 Liberty took a frustrating turn recently. A little more than a year after careless smoking caused a deadly fire in the building outside my window, inspectors have found evidence of smoking and drinking still happening inside the building. It's almost inconceivable that this would be allowed to happen after last year's fire, but the sad truth is that no one is surprised.

The building has become the ugly giant in the neighborhood, standing for everything that is wrong with the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. It is the very real testament to our inability to move on and rebuild. Yes, the World Trade Center itself has also been plagued by bureaucratic delays and ridiculous budget overruns. Yet it is progressing, even if slowly. Building 7 stands tall, having been open for two years now, even if it does sometimes disappear right into the sky as in this NYT picture. (That's my building on the right.)

The steel frame of Building 1, the Freedom Tower, is above street level, and rising fast. The foundations for Buildings 2, 3, 4 are nearing completion, and the memorial and transit hub are starting to be discernible from the piles of materials that surround them. You can see these looking down from the top of Building 7.

But there, in the middle of that picture, looming over the bustling construction site, is the old Deutsche Bank tower. Half demolished before last year's fire, it's sat there ever since, the real shame of Financial District. The real failure in the rehabilitation of Lower Manhattan. Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to the area each year, and they look out at all the newness of the in-progress Trade Center, and right past the true open wound next door.

Mayor Bloomberg has begun to take notice, however, and mentioned the Deutsche Bank tower in a recent op-ed. He is calling for the Port Authority to turn over responsibility for the WTC to the city. (The Port Authority is a joint New York State and Jew Jersey authority, and not subject to city oversight.) He's also calling for the near-dissolution of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, who has been mis-managing the Deutsche Bank demolition for the last two years.

The LMDC would also turn over its responsibility for demolishing the Deutsche Bank building to the already existing Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, a city/state entity. This would help the LMCCC prevent the delays that inevitably result from too much bureaucracy, greatly enhancing the prospects for meeting a July 2009 deadline for full demolition of the building. To increase accountability, we will push the LMCCC to establish benchmarks for progress and issue monthly reports. The public has a right to know whether we are meeting our goals.

In the meantime, the men in hazard suits are still working, silhouetted in the windows across from mine. "No Smoking" signs have popped up all over the area. And someday, Lower Manhattan will pick the scab of the Deutsche Bank tower, clean out its only remaining open wound, and build a symbol of progress to replace the one of ineptitude.

Top photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times
Bottom photo: Uncredited/Gothamist.com

Spring is in the Air

So much time since the last post. Things get busy, and the old blog gets neglected. I suppose it's a good thing, though, to prioritize life over updates.

After the last post, Lynn and I traveled to Raleigh, NC to Mu Beta Psi's National Convention. It was fantastic as always to see old friends, meet new ones, and celebrate together the diversity and history of our organization. I had the distinct privilege of signing and presenting the charter for our newest chapter at Rutgers University. I was also thrilled to be re-elected as National President for another year. There's a lot I hope to accomplish in the coming year.


Then began a string of performances. Lynn performed at the culmination of a class she had taken in preparing opera roles. We both went to see our friend Marjorie perform stand-up. We went to Princeton, NJ to see another friend sing. Then Marjorie took us with her to see Bill Cosby perform in Connecticut. He was hilarious. He came on stage in sweat pants and a sweatshirt, sat down on a chair and just started talking. It was as much a conversation as it was a performance.

We've also kicked wedding planning into high gear. In a couple of weekends, we've set out the save-the-date cards, invitations, menu, table linens, floor plan, cake, florist, rehearsal dinner venue, and singers for the ceremony. It seems as if every time we make a host of decisions about the wedding, that there cannot possibly be any more decisions to make—but there are always more.


More recently, we were besieged by the Pope in his recent visit to NYC. Last Sunday morning, he visited the Trade Center site to offer a prayer and a blessing. The ramp down to the site, and the gate that allows trucks from the street to access it, is right in front of our building. (That's our building at the top of the ramp in this picture.) So, in order to protect the Pope, they set up a bullet-proof tent in front of our main entrance in which the Pope could move from his motorcade car to the Popemobile. Then he rode the Popemobile down the ramp to the spot where he prayed. All this time, we were not allowed to use the door to our building. Lynn and I decided to sleep in, and wait it out, rather than try and go anywhere. The Secret Service sent around a memo to everyone in our building to please keep our windows closed, for fear of sniper fire. But it was such a beautiful day, we left them open. Our windows didn't have the vantage point for anything of the sort anyway.

There have been many beautiful days here lately. Spring is definitely here, and as the trees bloom and skies clear, I remember one of the many reasons I love this city so much.

"Luke, I Am Your Father"

In a letter to my apartment building manager, Robin Forst of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center says:

Yes, there is a noise code in the city, but as you may know, the Port Authority is exempt from state and city regulations.

Episode V - The Port Authority Strikes Back

It's very late. Or very early. Either way, I should not be awake now.

Why am I awake, you ask? Because of the great Port Authority of New York and New Jersey of course! As if flooding our basement weren't enough, they've now decided to keep the entire neighborhood awake all night long. As part of the redevelopment process, the PA is breaking up the old foundations of the original WTC to make way for the new foundations of the new towers. They were supposed to be finished by December 31st, at which time they were to turn over the property to Silverstein Properties who will then be building the towers.

Naturally, the PA was not done on time. The penalty is that they have to $300,000 a day to Silverstein Properties. And even before the 31st deadline, they shifted from a 20 hour a day, six days a week schedule to a 24 hours a day, seven days a week schedule. This means that they're using heavy pounders to break up concrete 24 hours a day. It's been seven days, so they've already shelled out $2.1m--but not to the people they're driving quickly insane through the long nights of pounding. No, they're paying the land developers for the inconvenience of not getting to start their new towers right away.

24 hours a day.

At first, it was annoying. Then I traveled a lot for the holidays, and was so exhausted when home that I could sleep through it. But now that it's continued for nearly a month (they started Dec. 18th), I'm nearly at wit's end. Sleep is impossible. Even thinking clearly is nearly impossible.

Local government? Nope, they're powerless. Our Community Board's WTC Committee passed a resolution stating the Port Authority should not be making such noise during the night. Our local City Councilmember is contacting the leaders of the Port Authority as well. But it doesn't matter, not really. The Port Authority is not bound by any city laws, ordinances, or Community Board resoutions. They answer to the state governments of New York and New Jersey. Essentially, there's very little we can do.

Perhaps a few of us can band together? If there's anyone from the building still reading this blog, please drop me a line. It may not come to anything, but at this point I'm willing to try anything.

All Quiet

I haven't written anything in the last several days, mainly because there hasn't been much to write about. Their was much talk and dissention about what to do with the Port Authority's settlement, mainly revolving around the liability release everyone was required to sign to get their money. The PA kind of forced the hands of the residents when it announced that last Saturday would be the last day to get the settlement immediately. After that, anyone who wanted to get their settlement would have to file it with law firm representing the PA--and it would be any one's guess how long the process would take from there.

It seems that most residents, myself included, ended up going to the PA's Claims Office on Saturday, signed the release, and walked away with their settlement. I can't speak for most, but I know some residents are just glad to put this whole thing behind us. And it seems to have worked. While I cannot know for certain, it looked as if the vast majority of residents took the settlement.

One unfortunate consequence of this is that the budding tenants' association also seems to have lost a little steam. If the majority of residents took the settlement, they may feel that the association has little purpose now. (It's stated purpose was to deal with the aftermath of the flood, then expire after three months.) The election of officers has been extended indefinitely, as votes are not coming in from a majority of the residents who initially signed on board.

Meanwhile, things really have calmed down. The building is almost entirely back to normal, with a few minor quirks still being worked out. Lynn and I bought our very first Christmas tree, and have had a grand time decorating it. It is, essentially, life as usual.

Tenants' Association

The 90 West Tenants' Association is now officially underway. (If you're a resident and haven't joined yet, please head over to the 90weststreet blog to find the sign-up form.) The organizers have reported that with over two hundred members, the TA is so far representing about half of the residents of the building. Bylaws for the organization have been drafted and adopted, providing for five officer positions (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Media Liaison). There will also be a ten-member Negotiating Committee composed of the five officers and five additional Members-At-Large.

The nominations for the five officer positions were posted yesterday, and I was surprised to find that I had been nominated for all five positions. I had also received a seconded nomination for the position of Media Liaison, placing me on the ballot officially. This came as quite a surprise to me, as I had not volunteered or nominated myself for any of the positions.

Unfortunately, I feel that I must decline the nomination. Of all the officer positions, I feel the President and the Media Liaison are most important. The Media Liaison will have to make solid contacts throughout the media, and keep them interested in our story. They will have to present the residents of the building in an accurate way, and find ways to fight the all-to-easy stereotype of "rich people who want more" (which we are not). It is a daunting task, to say the least, and I feel that I simply do not have the experience to tackle it.

I considered it, overnight. I questioned whether I could rise to the challenge and figure out how to do this job. But the simple truth is that this is a critical time for the TA, and it needs to be done correctly from the very beginning. I would love to test my skills as a Media Liaison, but not on an organization that is just starting out.

Another big consideration for me is simply the time involved. Some positions certainly require a larger time commitment than others, and I feel that Media Liaison requires the most amount of time. Building contacts with so many media outlets will take a lot of work and time. And with my job, teaching swing dancing up at Columbia University, and serving as National President of Mu Beta Psi—not to mention planning a wedding—I could not reasonably devote as much time to the TA as that position deserves.

However, I would like to be active in the TA. I feel that I could fit well into one of the Member-At-Large positions, and will be running for one of those. The many officer nominations from my neighbors have encouraged me, and I hope that I can best serve them as one of the MALs.

The TA has a long road ahead, but I feel that we're off to a very positive start.

90 West Claims Center Speaks

This just on their blog:

We are prepared to resolve claims. We are located at the Ritz Carlton, Room 417. Our hours of operation are:

Thursday, December 6 3PM – 8:30 PM

Friday, December 7 3PM – 8:30 PM

Saturday, December 8 8AM – 6:00 PM.

The Claims Hotline (1-866-902-3276) will remain active until further notice.

Since the 90 West Street building was certified by New York City’s Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD) for occupancy on Tuesday, December 3, 2007, we are resolving claims for a total payment of $6,000 per unit. This represents the $750 per day for the days of November 26, 2007 through December 2, 2007 – a total of 8 days. If you have special circumstances that prevented your return on December 3, 2007, please refer to Point 5 below. Please only bring documentation if your claim exceeds $6,000. As we have stated to many of you, this system is designed to streamline the process. For scheduling purposes, please send an e-mail to 90West@Jratpa.com if you are coming in so we can coordinate your visit.

In order to process a settlement, you will be required to do the following:

1) Visit the Center and bring a government issued photo identification and a copy of your lease.

2) Sign a Release, which will be posted on our website for review. Each lessee and, if applicable, sub-lessee per unit must sign the Release. The only exception will be for military deployment.

3) Only lessees with a valid lease or sub-lease between November 26, 2007 and December 2, 2007 will be eligible. This is designed to establish that the tenant filing the claim has standing to receive the payment. Any questions can be referred to the Claims Center.

4) Lessees(s) with a lease start date of December 1, 2007 will be eligible for a two day allowance, for a total of $1,500. If your lease end date is November 30, 2007, you will be eligible for a four day allowance, for a total of $3,000.

5) For those tenants whose total claim exceeds $6,000, you may provide documentation in the form of bills and receipts with an itemized list describing your claim. Your documentation can be dropped off at our Center. Include all contact information and your Apartment number. We will contact you in the near future to resolve your claim.

6) Any tenant who filed a first-party claim with any type of insurance carrier will have to specifically notify the Claims Center regarding that claim. Payment cannot be issued until we have documentation of your first-party claim.

We still don't get to see the details of this mysterious release form. But hopefully they'll post it soon.

Community Board 1 Meeting Tonight

This was just posted at the 90weststreet blog.

THERE WILL BE A COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETING TONIGHT TO DISCUSS 90 WEST

Financial District Committee
DATE: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Community Board #1 Office49-51 Chambers Street, Room 709

Agenda
2) Update on 90 West Street by Peter Levenson, Partner, 90 West Street

I received this information from Tom Goodkind, a member of the Community Board, and he would like the residents to be present for this meeting to get information on residents’ experiences, good and bad, so that the Community Board can work in assisting 90 West residents and put recommendations in place for the future.

I won't be able to make this meeting, it's too early. But I would strongly recommend anyone who can attend do so.

And That's That

This was just posted on the building's website:

Dear Residents

We are happy to report that all the environmental tests that have been preformed have come back negative. That means that there is no evidence of any of contaminants in the residential areas of the building. Furthermore we have received the water testing report which also showed no traces of contamination. These tests show that water which is coming out of your tap is just as pure as in every other location in Manhattan. All the test results have been posted on the web site.

Yesterday we met with all relevant city agencies including the Board of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection. They confirmed that we have done everything needed to reoccupy the building and have no further concerns.

We are extremely sorry about what happened. We have done everything possible to minimize the inconvenience, and we are very happy to welcome everyone home for the Holidays.

90 West Street

Meanwhile, the Riddle Associates blog has promised the protocols for handling claims today. Keep an eye on that blog to see how things will proceed from here.

Water Test Results In

Building management just posted this on the building's website:

We just received the results of the testing performed on the drinking water. All results were negative for any presence of Total Coliform or E. Coli.

We also received the test results of the areas on the upper floors that required additional cleaning after our preliminary testing on November 30. These results also came back negative of any Total Coliform or E. Coli.

We are waiting for the results of three additional areas that were re-tested in the mailbox area and two elevators after the preliminary test. As soon as the results of these tests become available they will be posted.

Please see attached report.

These tests were performed by Professional Environmental Services.

It's good to have confirmation, certainly. Though I have to admit, I belong to the group that was not overly concerned about the water. I believe that neither the City's HPD nor the building management would have cleared the building to allow residents back in if there were concerns. The liability that entails would be staggering.


Edit 4:49pm.

The water test update was quickly followed by this:

Please see attached lifting of the vacate order by HPD

Here's the relevant excerpt:

You are hereby informed that vacate order #61805 issued for the above-referenced premise [90 West] on November 26, 2007 has been rescinded as a result of a vacant building survey inspection concluded on December 3, 2007. It was reported at that time that the hazardous conditions cited in the vacate order have been sufficiently abated.

Home

Lynn and I moved back into apartment this morning. We took the train in from Connecticut and took our stuff down to the apartment before heading off to work. First impressions were very positive. The lobby had the distinctive ammonia smell of cleaning agents, no surprise there. Our hallway's carpet had been cleaned, and smelled fresh. Entering our apartment, we were happy to find that everything worked. Electricity, heat, even the water was running clear.

We are both very happy to be home, and looking forward to relaxing in our living room tonight, and sleeping in our own bed.

Latest Update

This was posted to the building's website around 7:12pm:

90 West Residents

New York City’s housing office has advised us that residents can now reoccupy 90 West Street.


Please note that the sewage leak happened at a time of sustained rain and high tide and that the water did not rise above the cellar level.


As discussed we have retained our own environmental testing company. The company advised extensive tests to determine if there was any residue on the floor from the flood. We preformed a round of preliminary tests to determine the background level of contaminants. The test showed that most of the building was clean. We used those results (which are posted on our web site) to plan the final phase of cleaning. We decided based on the tests to clean all the public hall carpets before the residents return. The hallways are complete. The cellar has been cleaned and re-cleaned. Work will continue down there for a few months. We will be replacing doors and painting all the surfaces. We will be installing new equipment in place of temporary equipment. We will also be installing additional dehumidification equipment.


With the water now running we have ordered water quality tests. Both the DEP and our Plumbers have advised that the possibility of water contamination is extremely remote. The results of the water tests will be available from the lab tomorrow afternoon. Until we have the final results you should refrain drinking or cooking with the tap water. The results of the water test will be made available as soon as we get them.


The bottom line is that we want you to feel safe when you return to 90 West Street. If you decide that you want to wait for the results of tomorrow’s tests then you should stay in your hotel until Wednesday. The PA has not confirmed they will reimburse you for the additional night however, we will do everything in our power to make sure your additional expenses are reimbursed.


90 West Street.

A few residents have expressed concerns about the water and air quality, hence the last paragraph of the notice. Lynn and I are definitely moving back in tomorrow, leaving Connecticut early in the morning to drop our stuff at our apartment before work. We're both tired of moving around, and anxious to be in our own place again. It will be good to be home.

90 West Re-Opening

2:15pm

Dear Residents,

Welcome Home!

We are pleased to announce that we will reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, December 4th at 7am. We look forward to seeing you then.

90 West St Management

Homeward bound!

Edit 4:40pm:

Cable and internet services provided by Time Warner are functioning properly.

90weststreet Blog Now Open

I spoke too soon. The point has been brought up that there are some benefits to non-residents being able to view the blog. It will remain public for the time being.

So Far, So Good.

Building management sent another update at 12:30pm

Dear Residents,
We are happy to announce that everything is on schedule. The electrician has one final certification to make. We all expect this to be successfully completed before 2pm today. We will confirm by 2pm that 90 West St will reopen Tuesday morning.

90weststreet Blog Now Private

The 23 contributors of the 90weststreet blog, of which I am one, have decided to restrict access to the blog to "invitation only." This means anyone other than the 23 contributors will need an invitation to view the blog. This was done to provide a forum for residents that is reasonably private while discussions are continuing about options.

If you are a resident and wish to access the blog, contact one of the blog contributors to receive an invitation.

As this is my personal blog, I will keep updating with my own experiences, and information that building management, the Port Authority, etc., make public. I will not be posting insights into the budding tenants' association or other residents' opinions, unless the association also begins making public statements and those residents choose to comment here of their own volition. I'd like to make the distinction that this is my personal blog, and should not construed as representative of the other residents, or of the new tenants' association.