the cityhammer blog

O2 Magazine, 64 Pages of Real Estate Marketing

CJ Hughes had a great piece in the NY Times about perhaps the most aggressive eco-friendly marketing campaign for a condo development we've ever heard of.

It seems that in an effort to unload some more units in the Riverhouse (located at 1 Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City), they've created a make-believe magazine touting the building's solar and geothermal attributes.

The fake, 64 page magazine, called O2, is given out along with any regularly purchased "real" magazine at 35 newsstands around Manhattan.

We talk a lot about green and eco-friendly homes, so if you weren't able to snag a copy, here's the web version: http://www.o2greenmag.com/


Here's the full NY Times article: When to Shout Eco-Friendly

Labels: Battery Park City, Eco-Friendly NY, Geothermal, NY Times, Riverhouse, Solar

Our fave NYC real estate blogger and broker extraordinaire, Noah at UrbanDigs, just re-posted a great piece on renovating in a not-so-hot real estate market. It's from a couple of years back, but it's probably more relevant today than it was when originally posted in July of 2006, near the peak of the boom.

His thesis is sound; focus on the more conservative renovations that are proven to add value (shiny new wood floors) and consider how long you plan to be there before deciding how much money you want to spend.

"IN A SLOWING HOUSING MARKET YOU WANT TO DO THE LOW RISK HIGH REWARD RENOVATIONS THAT COULD PAYOFF AT RESALE. THESE INCLUDE FLOORS & BATHROOMS, NOT KITCHENS!"

Here at the cityhammer blog, we're of the opinion that if you are planning to sell anyway, save the bulk of your renovation money for your next apartment or home, after all, you should spend the money on the improvements that you will be around to enjoy, even if this means getting a bit less for your place, because you can invest that much more wherever you land.

For the full article, click here: Renovating in a Cooling Market

Great stuff, Noah!

Labels: Apartment Renovation in NY, New Wood Floors, New York Real Estate, NYC Renovating, UrbanDigs.com

Clear Plastic Oven Knob Covers for the Kitchen

Over in the tips section on cityhammer.com, Staff Writer Mitch Mayer has posted a "Master List" of baby- and child-proofing tips, including specific suggestions for every room in the house. Kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, dens and nurseries are all discussed in detail. Keep in mind that there are some issues specific to baby proofing a Manhattan apartment and others that are more germaine to Westchester or Long Island baby proofing, but the common thread is that securing, fastening, locking, and closing off the various odds and ends of your rooms and furniture will give you the peace of mind that a new parent needs. I'd say these actions will help you sleep at night, but we all know that there'll be no sleeping!

Giving your baby a safe environment through home improvement requires a lot of thought and planning. Here at cityhammer, we recommend a thorough consultation with a New York baby proofer before implementing many of these ideas, but it's important to know what to look for in advance...after all, you know the nooks and crannies of your home better than anyone.

The "Master List" is located here: Baby Proofing Tips

Labels: Baby NYC, Baby Proofer on Long Island, Baby Proofing, Manhattan Baby Proofers

Living Room by Camren Parrish Interior Design

Living rooms and dens can be difficult to baby-proof because of jagged-edged furniture and the various antiques and objet d'art we all have as part of our decor. We've consulted some of the best baby proofing experts in New York for a list of tips that will make your living areas child friendly without a lot of aesthetic sacrifice:

Baby Proofing Tips for the Living Room and Den

Because trading in a glass coffee table for a foam one is not your first choice, consider adding pads to the corners and edges. Kids love to crawl under tables, so having exposed wrought iron edges is a bad idea. The good news is that there are plenty of options for covering these problem areas without resorting to putting your favorite furniture in a storage facility.

Kids are attracted to wires and cords like moths to a flame. If you are running extension cords, make sure they are tucked in and of course, try to use as few as possible. Stand-alone halogen lamps can be fastened to the wall via a simple plastic loop and a screw. That way, when your child attempts a "Singin' in the Rain" maneuver like swinging around the lamp pole, you won't have broken glass to clean up.

Fireplaces need to be separated from children, even during summer when they aren't in use. Use a child safety gate and keep the pokers and related accessories out of sight. Even if this means obscuring the fireplace from view, this is a must. Santa won't mind, but you'll sleep better knowing that the baby is being kept away from the brick hearth.

Any furniture over a reasonable height should be secured to the wall with a bracket. Bookcases and china cabinets, if leaned or climbed on, can be either pulled down or have their contents spilled to the ground if not fastened in some way.

In most New York apartments, televisions are being mounted to wall these days, which technically keeps them out of a baby's reach. But what of the power cord or cable wires? Be aware of how the wiring is mounted, and if possible, have your entertainment center built with infrared so that a lot of wires are unnecessary. Heavy TV's and stereo equipment should be secured to the surface they are mounted on so they can't be pulled down.

Your choice of houseplants and where they are situated can save you a phone call to poison control or a huge bill for a carpet cleaner to get soil stains off a leather couch! Avoid anything that sheds, because infants will explore whatever hits the floor with their mouths. And obviously, skip the cactus, unless it's on a high ledge or shelf.

Visit cityhammer.com for a list of the best Baby Proofing Experts in New York and New Jersey

Labels: Baby Proofer on Long Island, Baby Proofing, Den, Living Room, NY Baby Proofers

The Apartment Therapy Book

The Small Cool Contest at Apartment Therapy is on for 2008 with all submissions in. This is the 4th year running for the contest which allows AT readers from New York and the rest of the country to submit photos of their small apartments and to show off the clever ways they've made their space livable.

From AT:

The Smallest, Coolest Apartment contest is for all small apartments and homes in the world, under 850 square feet (@ 79 square meters). We are seeking the most ingenious and beautiful submissions along with all the tips and resources we need to maximize our own homes.

Apartment Therapy and their co-sponsor Room and Board are giving away $10,000 to the winning regional and national submissions, plus the first 25 entrants got a copy of the AT Book.

There are photos galore filled with creative and practical ideas for making the most out of the small square footage that comes along with living in your first New York city or Brooklyn studio, and some of the national entries are great as well.

Voting starts soon, so check it out here: Small Cool 2008

Labels: Apartment Therapy, New York City Apartments, Small Cool, Studio Apartment Design

Cinda B Bags, Available at ManhattanLivingBaby.com

If you haven't heard of Manhattan Living Realty, it's the Murray Hill-based Real Estate company founded and run by the two-sister team of Debbi Rapaport Kraner and Lisa Rapaport Robbins.

They've just launched a complimentary service to cater to the new generation of younger parents who are opting to brave the hectic pace of Manhattan and stay put. In a nut shell, Manhattan Living Baby seems like it'll be almost like a concierge service for new moms in the city, covering everything from personal shopping to nursery interior design to an online store carrying some of the hipper baby gear that today's new parents simply cannot show up at Kidsville without.

From the press release:

With the growing trend of young families staying in the city, Manhattan Living now transcends square footage and brings more conveniences, service and style to Manhattan Living for the growing family and their friends. Manhattan Living Baby, a boutique company, caters to the busy baby & mom by providing stylish must haves and gifts, time saving personal shopping and interior decorating services.

The online site looks pretty well-organized with plenty of potential shower gifts as well as practical NYC baby stuff for everyday strolls with the nanny, while Mom is off at work trying to help pay for it all.

Some of the products available are:

Cinda B bags, Kee-Ka organic onesies and apparel, trumpette baby socks, The Macbeth Collection storage buckets and bins, Angel Dear blankets and accessories, Designer art work and Picture Frames.

We love to hear about successful entrepreneurs in New York who take what they're good at in one area and extend it to the next level, providing a helpful service in the process.

Good luck Manhattan Living Baby, we'll be watching you!

Labels: Baby NYC, Manhattan Living Baby, New York Baby, Nursery Interior Design, Real Estate NY

In keeping with our focus on all things green renovation, we're very excited to help New York welcome the Go Green Expo on Saturday, April 26th from 10am to 6pm through Sunday, April 27th from 10 am until 3pm. It's all happening at the New York Hilton, located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas (6th Ave.) between West 53rd and West 54th Streets.

Not every booth and exhibitor will be related to green remodeling, there will also be many other facets of the eco-friendly movement represented. That said, there will be many green building experts and speakers as well as companies working on the next-generation of building products that are better for the environment and more energy-efficient, cutting down on the need for electricity generation from fossil fuel sources.

Everyone from Con Ed to Rachael Ray will be there including literally hundreds of small companies displaying the latest in food service to cosmetics to interior design, all with a green slant.

Tickets to New York's first Go Green Expo are only $10.00 per visitor, $15 if you want a two-day pass. Children under 12 and seniors over 65 get in free.

Click for more details: New York Go Green Expo

Who knows? You may even meet a cityhammer.com staffer there!

Labels: Building Green New York, Go Green Expo, Green Remodeling, Green Renovating Tips

India Hicks, the New Host of Top Design for 2008

What was more awkward on last year's Bravo show, "Top Design"? Was it that kiss-off catch phrase from Jonathan Adler (in case you blocked it out, it was "See Ya Later, Decorator")? Maybe it was Todd Oldham's not-quite-ready-for-TV turn as host. Could it have been the conceit of the show's concept itself? Whatever it was that kept you from being able to watch more than one episode, never fear New York, Top Design is back with a new host and hopefully some hard-learned lessons from season 1.

The big news is that Bravo took a page out of the Top Chef playbook and cast a model, albeit one with an expertise and passion for design, a la Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef. India Hicks will be your MC for the festivities in 2008. She is a model and a design aficianado with an intensely British background centering around her relation to a Viceroy of India and her having been a bridesmaid at Princess Diana's wedding.

This is all well and good, but will the design and decor aspect of the show improve as well? Bravo is certainly counting on it!

Reminisce about season 1: http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Design/about/

Labels: Bravo, Interior Decorators, Interior Design, Top Design

Downtown Flushing Photo by Pro-Zak

Charles and Hudson did a great job blogging the 2008 K/BIS Kitchen Show in Chicago the other day, which is basically a showcase for all the new kitchen products and materials for the new year. Check out that pic of the glass kitchen counter top made by ThinkGlass out of Canada.
Blogging K/BIS 2008

Speaking of counter tops, the Kitchen Chronicles, part of Brownstoner's Bed Stuy Reno, continues apace with some interesting photos of a stripped down kitchen with cabinets just installed and a backsplash ready for tiling.
Kitchen Chronicles Pic's

Over on Curbed, they check in once again with Arlene Greedlinger, renowned for her one-of-a-kind staging method of placing stuffed animals and plush toys around the apartment for maximum...uh...something! She may have gone off the deep end this time, I think that's a teddy bear in the sink?
Real Estate Staging in Toyland

Labels: Counter Tops, Kitchen and Bath, Kitchen Renovation New York, Real Estate Staging NY

Bath Time can be Safe and Fun

Baby-proofing a bathroom in New York can be tricky because of the tight space normally involved. That said, here are a few tips we picked up from some of the best baby proofing experts in NYC and on Long Island.

Baby Proofing Tips for the Bathroom

The easiest child-proof tip for bathrooms is to keep the door closed, but this is not possible around the clock. Plus, eventually, they'll be able to reach the door knob anyway.

Scalding is the number one threat to your child's safety in the bathroom. One way to prevent this is to set your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

With a baby or young child in the house, the last thing you want is an open "pool" of water. The toilet definitely qualifies as exactly that, but you can keep the lid shut with lid locks that are both inexpensive and easy to find.

Medicine Cabinets should be stocked only with child-proof capped items and obviously need to be high up enough that they are out of a young child's reach.

As we all know, wetness on counter surfaces or on tile floors is bad enough, but having a hairdryer plugged in and unattended is a recipe for disaster. Unplug anything not in use, from blow dryers to curling and straightening irons, to electric toothbrushes and find storage for these items that is not within your child's grasp.

Non-slip rugs and mats can prevent your baby from falling in the tub or on a damp bathroom floor.

Visit cityhammer.com for a list of the best Baby Proofing Experts in New York and New Jersey

Labels: Baby Proofer on Long Island, Baby Proofing, Bath Room, NY Baby Proofers, NYC Baby Proofing

The Lorax, the original Green Celebrity

Can't get enough "Green" building and renovation content? Boy, do we have news for you!

On June 4th, say goodbye to the Discovery Home Channel and say hello to Planet Green, "the first—and so far only—24-hour eco-lifestyle television network."

Compared to, say, California, the green building and eco-friendly renovation movement hasn't had as much of an impact in New York State (outside of the new generation of LEED-certified luxury condo and rental buildings in Manhattan and a few "sustainable" pockets of Brooklyn). That may change when Time Warner Cable and Optimum subscribers get a load of the new celebrity-laden, dedicated network for all things green.

So if this sort of thing is your bag, or you're just looking to pick up some tips and learn a bit about how you can make a difference starting with your home, tune in at 6PM on June 4th. Just be careful, there is a Tom Green program somewhere in the schedule, just don't say we didn't warn you!

Not all of the programming will be home improvement-oriented, but because environmental consciousness begins at home, much of it will be. Below are the shows that will address such issues as green architecture, salvaging and recycling, and related innovations in the field of sustainable building:

Greenovate

From the producers of TLC’s popular series Flip That House, comes a new half-hour series that gives an eco-friendly nod to the homeowners who are taking strides to make the world a better place for living. Viewers watch as home improvements ranging from the simple change of a light bulb to the drastic installation of a “living roof” reduce energy bills and carbon footprints while increasing the value of their homes.

Renovation Nation

Hosted by: Steve Thomas

The new green home building movement unfolds in real time as Emmy Award-winning host Steve Thomas takes viewers into the exciting world of green renovations. In this daily series, Steve brings his 20 years of expertise and experience to bear as he visits renovation sites across the country and meets the eco-sensitive homeowners who are making the choice to go green. Steve rolls up his sleeves and works alongside our homeowners and builders as he explores the coolest design trends and finds the latest in eco-friendly materials while demonstrating the most innovative technology in green home building. Viewers can get additional information on subjects covered in Renovation Nation and tips from Steve on PlanetGreen.com. Whether your house is new or old, or your project big or small, Steve shows viewers just how easy it is to go green.

WA$TED!

Hosted by: Annabelle Gurwitch

Annabelle Gurwitch, former host of cult favorite Dinner and a Movie on TBS, proves that American homeowners don’t have to be extreme to be green. WA$TED! takes the average household full of eco-horrors and turns it into a clean, green haven, saving participants serious cash in the process. Every week, the WA$TED! team, led by Annabelle along with “green” handyman Holter Graham, audits a household's waste, and its energy, water, and transportation consumption. Each household has three weeks to reduce its consumption, going on a “green regime” to clean up their act. All improvements in energy efficiency and waste reduction are awarded to the households dollar for dollar for the recognized savings in the three weeks. Planet Green then multiplies those savings by the projected savings for the year per household as a nice cash bonus for all participants. WA$TED!fans can extend their quality time with Annabelle and Holter on PlanetGreen.com, where they will find additional tips, resources and insights from the dynamic green duo.

World's Greenest Homes

Hosted by: Emmanuel Belliveau

From hi-tech super-homes fit for a Hollywood star to experimental eco-dwellings that wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi film, this series profiles high concept, one-of-a-kind homes to die for—and every single one of them has top-notch green credentials and an array of mind-blowing eco-innovations. In a dynamic room-by-room tour, host Emmanuel Belliveau explores the interior style and décor as well as the architectural boldness of each building, and also uncovers the incredible green secrets behind each home.

Wrecklamation

Featuring: Jodi Murphy

Wrecklamation is recycling on steroids. Each year, hundreds of thousands of homes are demolished to make way for new construction. These homes have traditionally been bulldozed and trucked to landfills where construction debris accounts for more than 40 percent of all solid waste. Enter Jodi Murphy, demolition auctioneer. In each episode, Jodi auctions off everything inside a home, from doors to cabinets, bricks to bath tubs—often resulting in heated and hilarious bidding wars among customers. The demolition begins with buyers literally ripping their new treasures off the walls. Once the home is destroyed, Wrecklamation follows the materials as they are reborn in new structures while Jodi moves on to her next home auction adventure.

Want to know more? Visit Planet Green's Website

Labels: Building Green New York, Green Planet, Green Remodeling, Green Renovating Tips

In keeping with the recent aesthetic and functional zeitgeist of rolling out consumer products modeled on industrial principles, allow us to introduce the Goodyear Industrial Garden Hose.

While it may have been developed mainly for use by landscaping contractors, we're seeing them pop up in yards everywhere here in New York.

During a recent visit to a New York area Home Depot, we observed some seriously prominent placement for the both the 50 and 75 ft versions of several Goodyear rubber garden hoses but this orange monster immediately caught our attention. Maybe it's the color that makes them seem so ubiquitous or maybe it's the size.

The bottom line is people are buying them despite what can only be described as a very mixed consensus on the web.

The Pros:

Withstands ridiculously high pressure

Your landscaper, if he uses your hose, will love the sheer power of it

Features brass fittings and superior crush resistance

Cool orange color with a scratch-proof exterior coating, drag it over whatever you want, you can't rip it.

The Cons:

Can certainly kink, and when it does, you may need to employ some industrial strength to unkink it.

Heavy as a mutha, which gives it durability, but seriously, join a gym before purchasing

Not kidding, it's heavy to carry and to roll back up, even with a winch

Long story short, it's a serious hose that will most likely last years longer than most inferior green garden hoses, but they are not using the word "industrial" frivolously.

Buy it/ Research it at Home Depot

Labels: Garden Hose, Goodyear Garden Hose, Industrial Hose, New York Home and Garden

Photo by 416style

Don't forget to enter the Apartment Therapy/ Astech Closets giveaway contest...Basically they're giving you a chance to win $1500 toward a closet redo from Astech Closet's Bill Skinner and his experienced carpenters. The rules seem pretty straightforward...You need to live in New York City, be 18, and enter by Tuesday, April 8th. If you don't win but still have your heart on a closet renovation in New York, search the closet organizer category on cityhammer.com
Apartment Therapy Closet Giveaway

What kind of house can you still get for $1 million? Newsday has the answers and pic's. And yes, that's the headline...I guess we're not in a recession after all (LOL).
Million Dollar Homes on Long Island

In the Home Un-Improvement Category, Gothamist, along with many other New York media outlets has us all freaked out about this guy in Bayshore who's been building booby traps for those who enter his home. No one was injured over the weekend when a super tried to let a Verizon man into the apartment and discovered a crutch with a knife duct-taped to it, in position to spring forward on an elastic cord. Good luck with that.
Booby Trapped Apartment

As if it would be possible to forget, today is the opening of Brownstoner's Brooklyn Flea, with over 200 vendors of everything from jewelry to vintage records to local food to architectural salvage. Everyone from the Times to New York Mag have mentioned it and we thought we'd remind our readers as well. The Brooklyn Flea will run in Fort Greene in a 40,000 suare foot schoolyard at Vanderbilt and Lafayette every Sunday for the foreseeable future.

The list of vendors for New York home improvement and architectural stuff is like a who's who. Here's a sampling of who you can expect to see there:

Vintage Furniture and Architectural Salvage:
# ama home
# Baby Goes Vintage
# Bilu Business
# Birch Vintage
# Build it Green! NYC
# Colonia
# DecoDecor
# Demolition Depot
# Joseph Heidecker
# Eddie Hibbert
# Humble Beginnings
# IndependentActor NYC
# Journey Home
# Kevin McGeary
# Olde Good Things
# Prague Kolektiv
# Rand Furniture + Design
# Reclaimed Home
# RePOP
# Sharon Barnes + Friends
# Silver Fox
# Silver Nest
# Dana Voehl

New Furniture and Lighting:
# Bien Hecho
# Counter Evolution NYC
# Greenjeans
# Mohawk Studios
# Nightwood
# Ryan O'Connor
# Organic Light Sculptures



From Brownstoner:

Brooklyn Flea, the largest outdoor market in New York City, is opening in Fort Greene in April 2008! Every Sunday, starting April 6, the folks at Brownstoner.com, Brooklyn's best website about real estate and renovation, will bring together top sellers of new and vintage furniture, lighting, records, clothes, jewelry, crafts, and more at a 40,000-square-foot lot at Lafayette and Vanderbilt Avenue in Fort Greene. Located just a block from Dekalb Avenue's restaurant row and easily accessible by foot, train, bike, or car from every neighborhood in Brooklyn and beyond, Brooklyn Flea will be the weekend destination for bargain-seekers and cool-hunters alike.

We've had over 500 vendors express interest in selling at the Flea, but we are still actively looking for great merchandise, new and old. We'd appreciate it if interested dealers would take a moment to fill out the expression of interest here. This is not a binding commitment, but it is a necessary first step; you will hear back from us within a day or so of registering. Additionally, we'd love to hear from everyone about your ideas for making this the best flea market in the city.

Here's the main page for more information: http://www.brownstoner.com//brooklynflea/

Designer's Choice Award Winner by Phyllis Taylor


Since 1993, Sub-Zero and Wolf have been organizing a biannual contest to recognize those designers who best use their appliances in a kitchen scheme. They've sorted through 1600 entries this year to come up with overall category winners and regional winners as well.

cityhammer.com salutes the New York kitchen designers who've been recognized by Sub-Zero this year. They include Katherine Chia of Desai Chia Architecture in New York, Doug Holt of Professional Kitchen Design Group
in Buffalo and J. Douglas Peix & Steven J. Marchetti, also based in New York.

Based on the entries that have come in from around the globe, several trends have been identified which comprise what the judges call the next "movement" in kitchen design:

Smaller, High-Quality Kitchens

Mixture of Materials and Textures

Sustainable, Second Life Integration

Light and Dark Duality

Simple, Clean Lines

Eco-savvy Kitchens

Feeling inspired? Find a NY Kitchen Designer on cityhammer.com


Below is a list of the winners and their categories:

Top Three Winners:
Best Kitchen Utilizing a Full-Size Sub-Zero Built-In or Integrated
Unit and Wolf Cooking Instrument

First Place Winner Warner McConaughey, Hammersmith, Inc.,
Atlanta, GA

Second Place Winner Elaine Cecconi, Cecconi Simone, Inc.,
Toronto, Ontario

Third Place Winner Phyllis Taylor, The Taylor & Taylor
Partnership, Miami, FL

Specialty Winners:
Best use of Wine Storage in a Unique Location
Jost Lunstroth, Vineyard Wine Cellars, Addison, TX

Student Category
Katie Fotheringham, Utah State University

Best Dealer Showroom Using Sub-Zero and Wolf
Doug Durbin, nuHaus, Highland Park, IL

Best use of Sub-Zero and/or Wolf in an Outdoor Kitchen
Dee David, Dee David and Co, Falls Church, VA

Best use of Integrated Refrigeration Outside the Kitchen
Jean Stoffer, Jean Stoffer Design, River Forest, IL

The Designers' Choice Award
Phyllis Taylor, The Taylor & Taylor Partnership, Miami, FL

For more information, visit Sub-Zero

Labels: Kitchen Appliances, Kitchen Design, NY Kitchen Designers, Sub-Zero

Photo by katmere

Yesterday, our fave TV contractor Danny Lipford put out an incredible newsletter called "The Rites of Spring" and we thought we'd pass it on...

You may know Danny Lipford from his TV show "Today's Homeowner" or from his appearances on the Weather Channel as their resident home improvement expert. In The Rites of Spring, Danny goes over an Early Spring Gardening Checklist, a primer on Spring Planting Season and shows us 2 great videos on Weed Control and Gardening Equipment.

Best of all, here's the Spring Fix-Up, a plethora of tips involving everything from Barbecues, Pressure Washers and Gutters for the outside, plus Thermostats, Sealing and Filters for the inside.

Danny recommends changing your own Return Air Filter to improve the efficiency of your Air Conditioner:

One of the easiest, and yet most overlooked, is changing your return air filter. If allergies are part of your springtime experience you’ll want to consider using something more than a simple fiberglass filter. Some of the new pleated air filters actually catch the microscopic contaminants that cause problems for people with allergies and asthma. These filters also allow you to go 2 to 3 months between changes instead of every month.

Click the link for the whole enchilada: Danny Lipford's Home Tips Newsletter

Labels: AC Air Return Filters, Danny Lipford, NY Home Improvement, Spring Home Improvement Tips

Ahhh, the classic Tin Foil Office Prank, try it today!

Where did April Fool's Day begin and what's it all about? The answer is debatable but the most likely explanation is that it had to do with the Gregorian Calendar being implemented under Charles IX in France around 1582. Apparently, when New Year's Day was switched to January 1st from April 1st, there were people who insisted on sticking with their old calendar. These people were subject to ridicule on "All Fool's Day" which centered around their continued observation of New Years Day on April 1st. This ridicule involved being sent invitations to non-existent parties and being sent on "fool's errands". Other's trace it back further, to Roman Laughing Day. Either way, if you're interested, check out Wikipedia for more...
April Fool's Day Explained

Remodelista's got a great piece up on the opening of the Smeg showroom at the A&D Building in Manhattan. Smeg, owned by Electrolux, is one of the most fasion and function forward appliance manufacturers extant. Great pic's of their refrigerators, ovens and more.
Smeg Showroom Opens

Movers can be a pretty taciturn bunch, and when they show up for a job, they tend to be all business. With the prospect of having to hoist a piano up 3 flights of stairs, we wouldn't normally be very chatty either. That said, the Property Grunt managed to get the head of marketing at Oz Moving to talk about the business itself and share some tips with readers. Included are some tidbits about how gas prices have affected the moving industry, the difference between a commercial and residential move, and how the DOT and FBI have been able to rid the local NYC moving market of some of the low-ball rate scammers.
Grunt Interviews Oz Moving

Labels: April Fool's Day, Oz Moving, Smeg Appliances