Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

Learning Italian is tough. I like to talk, I pretty much always have something to say, and to have to struggle to find the words is a challenge. Our teacher speaks more Spanish than English, so when I get lost, I start speaking in Spanish, which is leaving me really confused. The little words, like articles and conjunctions, are not the same. I'm right now in some bizarre state of SpItalian. But I can order coffee with confidence now, which is really all I cared about in the first place.

After a three hour lesson yesterday, Will and I were burnt. We cruised around the city a little, came home for dinner and found some updates on news from the homefront.

Wow. Everyone's been busy since we left!

Enron is done for now. That makes me feel better. When I watched the Enron movie, I found it so infuriating I had to take a break in the middle. Strange, though, that these guys ripped off so many people and their own company and all the money goes to their lawyers. Is it too late to go to Law School? Talk about The Smartest Guys in the Room...

Then I came across this headline:

Project to House Homeless, Artists

BROOKLYN — A 217-unit glass tower breaking ground today on Schermerhorn Street is an affordable housing project with a creative mix: 60 percent of the apartments will go to formerly homeless individuals — or those with special needs such as AIDS patients — and the rest will be reserved for artists and actors earning below $30,000.

The article went on to say:

The $59 million project will be run by the Actors’ Fund of America with Common Ground Community and will have on-site mental health, employment assistance, addiction recovery and other supportive services. A 200-seat black box theater will be open to the groups for gallery space and dance performances.

“We want this to be a hub for the community,” said Barbara Davis, chief program officer for the Actors’ Fund. “The neighborhood is getting more expensive for residents and arts groups.”

The Actors’ Fund has worked on other housing projects and conducts housing seminars for actors. The location above the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station, Davis said, was a plus.

“I wish we had a dozen more like this,” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said. “There’s no doubt that Brooklyn is getting more expensive not just for artists, but even for borough presidents and anyone earning a decent living.”

Cost effective

• Common Ground said these apartments cost roughly $14,925 per tenant per year compared to $20,000 per year for a cot in a city shelter; $60,000 for a city jail cell; or $432,500 a year for a city hospital bed.

That just leaves so much room for the imagination to run wild!

All I can think of are images from the movie Dark Days, where the homeless train tunnel squatters are given apartments in the Bronx after the city boots them from the hovels they've created underground on Amtrak's turf. As far as I remember, they all had or were in the midst of severe drug problems. Wouldn't you have to be a crackhead to sleep in the subway tunnels in NYC?! And it was all warm and fuzzy and feel-good-movie-of-the-year style when they were cleaned up and became residents in a bona fide apartment building. But never once while watching the film did I think, 'gosh, I wish I was their neighbor!'

Anyone heard what the selection criteria is for residents of this new artist/homeless housing? Please keep me posted, and I'll report back with anything I find.

On a lighter note, I came across this when I was checking out random blogs:


Kind of sweet, right? But wait. What is that the little boy is holding?


I think this kid is going to grow to resent his little brother or sister. Or his mom for handing him the stick she peed on. And definitely dad for never putting down the damned camera!