The $400,000 paint job

Sounds like a good title for a movie, NWT. ;)

hilarious - they even stripped out the lighting fixtures!

Yes, the cute 1960's chandeliers replaced with landlord specials. $10.48 at Home Depot. (Not that spending more would've made sense....)

They polished and resealed the floors so some of the 400K ended up there.
This is a great test of true market conditions.
Is there a buyer that believes that Manhattan RE is bullitproof?
I'm seeing this all over the market. As if the giant real eastae appreciation machine has been fired up and is running on all cylinders. Is that the sound of engine roar or just the sound of sucking wind?

Neither - but close: It's none other than that truly frightening dynamic duo of Barbara Corcoran & Suze Orman, bullishly & shamelessly bellowing that all is well, there's nothing more to fear (crisis?!? what crisis?!?) & we can all pull our fingers out of the dike (sorry Suze).

By next week, they'll be pushing Jersey Shore real estate, using the angle that a little storm surge never hurt anyone, & tips on how to catch & prepare the fish that was swept directly into your kitchen: "At least it saved you a trip to the fish market!" Babs will pathetically quip. "Now how convenient is THAT, girlfriend?!?" Suze will add.

Yep - on all cylinders indeed...

Good to know that walpurgis is well and has working internet.
How are things in Murray's Hill, walpurgis?

Hello, Truth - thanks for asking; hope you fared well, too (The high ground of Bay Ridge helped-but I saw video of the 69th Street Pier...wow!)

Not too bad, in retrospect: Was caught outside with both dogs for their last evening walk at 08:45PM on Sandyday; all streetlghts sputtered, dimmed, then finally blew out - while I saw the huge blue-white flash to the south which I figured must be Con Ed on 14th Street blowing. Turned out I was right!

There I was, in the pitch blackness, with the winds getting even crazier. I was really surprised I was truly scared, thinking any second now something's gonna be hurled our way, without me even being to see what it is, & that's how our last night on planet earth would end.

I ducked into a vestibule, called my neighbor to excitedly told her what just happened. I made my way home (just a few short blocks) without further incident, where she met us on our corner with a flashlight.

Thus began my highrise camping trip: 5 days of 11 flights up & down with both dogs - twice daily for them, once for me, with glowsticks lighting the landings. My forehead made an intimate aquaintance with the firehose pipe rack on the 9th floor , resulting in a lovely gash & gusher of blood only Brian De Palma could love. For a fleeting moment I thought I had just been crowned Prom Queen, & a bucket of....oh, never mind...

But I stopped the bleeding almost immediately, as it wasn't so serious. The bran flake-like scab just came off yesterday.

5 days of no heat, no running water hot or cold, no toilet & no, of course, electricity. I never knew what I looked like with a five day beard growth; now I wish I really never knew. Suffice it to say my salt/pepper ratio is mostly....you guessed it: Salt. I looked like the love child of Khalid Mohammed & Meier Kahane.

By sheer luck, I had gone to Petco just prior to the storm, to get a cannister of 160 pet wipes. And, a bit prophetically, they were "Tropical" scented!

As I so happily discovered, they're completely adaptable for human use; by day 2 I knew it took exactly 7 of them to give me my daily w****'s bath.

But they can go only so far, & I was practically kissing my shower head Saturday morning!

All in all, I got a way very, very lucky. Inconvenienced, yes. But that's about all. As we know all too well now, others fared far, far worse.

Wow,
A little taste of Syria right here in the Big Apple (minus the incoming ordinance, sniper fire and religious vendettas).
Kinda makes you want to celebrate the boring.
Boring is under rated. Perhaps it needs t's own holiday.
Sure puts everything in perspective.

You said it!!!

walpurgis: That's a STORY OF THE HURRICANE!
Use "Brave Soldier" wound healing ointment on your forehead injury.
It's antiseptic, maximum pain relief, helps fight infection, quick healing, helps reduce scar tissue.
Says so right on the packaging.
(also has a graphic of the brave soldier himself,the logo is surrounded by:
"FOR ATHLETES WHO REFUSE TO SET LIMITS". So that covers you, all good.)

www.bravesoldier.com

Many thanks, Truth - but thankfully it's practically all healed now. I'll definitely keep it mind in the event of any future head & pipe rendevous. Never heard of it; sounds like a great product!

And thanks for sharing my 1 week anniversary of resumed utilities!

Order a tube of Brave Soldier and keep it in your medicine cabinet, walpurgis.

It's "A unique blend of healing botanicals and powerful pharmaceuticals".

Let's celebrate your resumed utilities, the together-in-cyberspace way:
at exactly 10:30am I'm putting on some music here and you put on some music there.
A dance to resumed utilities!

Sounds good to me! How 'bout "I've Got the Power" by Snap, while enjoying some Blackout Cake?!?

lol,walpurgis.