Labor Day Radio Silence

Labor Day weekend, originally uploaded by bcp.

I am amazed by how empty it is in New York City this weekend. I just got back from a run in the East River park, and aside from the families having barbecues, the place was a ghost town. There were no little league games, there actually were open tennis courts and the running and bike paths were deserted -- and I was there at 3:00 in the afternoon.

A few years ago I was living on the Upper East Side and one Labor Day weekend my mom came in and we went to see a movie. It was Sunday evening and afterward we had to walk down to a Fleet Bank branch so I could get some cash. The stretch on Lexington Avenue between 86th and 79th Street was completely empty. Almost every single window in all those big high rises were dark. The lights that were on, I'm convinced, were on automatic timers.

Back when I worked at the AP I used to have to work on Labor Day all the time and it pissed me off, even if it was one day of the weekend. There's something unnerving about working when everyone else in the world is off. It feels like you're getting short changed in the Game of Life. I didn't have to be in the Hamptons or in the Berkshires. I just didn't want to be in an office. In fact, the more I think about it, the more working in finance makes sense -- if the markets won't be open, there's no reason for you to be there.

My point to all this is that in New York, a city that is in constant motion, I'm surprised to see it when things empty out. On Tuesday night I'm sure the gym will be full and the nail places will be at capacity again. But for now, everyone seems to be taking a few days off, and I think it's great.

Stanley Bing has a great post about Labor Day on the Fortune magazine web site.

The TR Photo Session: Intro

Pauline Millard - Off Center, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

TR set up his fancy photo equipment this afternoon and we had a little photo shoot. More of TR's shots to come!

TR Sits During Our Photo Session

Self Portrait for Facebook, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

A Perfect Night On Planet Pauline

Four deals are closing up this week, which means that I have some time to still for a bit. In honor of free time, yesterday I strolled over to the local wine shoppe and picked up a bottle of a 2005 St. Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux. This stuff is amazing and goes does like butter.


All that work left me hungry, so I picked up a burger at La Bonbonierre, an old diner on Eighth Avenue. You'd be amazed at how well burgers and Bordeaux go together.

Finally, I needed entertainment. On Animal Planet there was an amazing show about baby cheetahs. It's a fascinating show about repopulating the worldwide cheetah population. Go learn something,

Alternate entertainment: Clueless.

...and that's how you have a perfect evening at home, a la Pauline!

Cat House On The Kings

Cat House on The Kings

Check out this cat sanctuary that is north of Los Angeles. Can you imagine having 500 cats?!?!

TR's NYC Ghost Buildings

Ghost Building #2 closeup, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

TR found a few "ghost buildings" around NYC and has started photographing them. Basically, they are outlines of buildings superimposed on the buildings next to them through years of soot and dirt.

Here are two ghost buildings that he found yesterday. Do you know of any more?

Ghost Building #1

Ghost Building #1 - closeup, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

OK, so I took today off. No showings, no paperwork no nothing, although I stopped in the office briefly to charge my iPhone after running a few errands.

First, brunch at Jane on Houston Street with a friend from Connecticut. Jane could be the ultimate brunch spot, if only they would offer bottomless cocktails the way Nero's in the Meatpacking district does.

After brunch I headed back to Bethune Street, where the girls and I did laundry. Laundromats in New York City are an interesting breed. Growing up in Norwalk, we went to the laundromat all the time, and it was usually a good hour or so of quiet reading. In New York, it's a fast, noisy place akin to a pizza place during lunch hour. So much for catching up on my reading.

The laundromat on West 12th Street has a bulletin board covered in lost socks, so if you're missing one it might be a good place to look.

While waiting for the dryer, I got the best pedicure ever over on Hudson Street. Sometimes I feel like the nail ladies are laughing at my feet. Am I being paranoid?

Finally, in my never ending fascination with bodgea cats, I found this one in Park Slope last week. She looks almost just like Valentino.

NYT Piece About Renting

The New York Times has a large piece in the real estate section today about what people need to know when they want to rent.

They make some good points, but they also get a little bogged down in rent stabilization, as if that should be a renter's main concern. It shouldn't be. I'll expand on it more later. Renting an apartment is a fairly simple process, but this piece made it sound like a complicated legal transaction. It's not.

In the meantime, you can read the piece here.

Friday: From Top To Bottom

It was yet another busy day for La Pauline yesterday, although most days lately have been a lot like this. Today I'm off to another showing and then I'm actually taking some time off to have tea with friends in Harlem.

6:30 AM: Woke up to a nasty e-mail from a guy I had to cancel on for an appointment, because I had to tie up some nuts and bolts at the office. He seemed to have a hard time grasping the fact that sometimes plans have to change. I can't be in two two boroughs at once. A colleague took him out instead.

9:00 AM: Dropped off Valentino at the Vet to get him fixed. I like the new vet, who is three blocks from TR's place in Murray Hill.

10:00 AM: In the office and waiting for a woman to come in to put in an application for a studio in Midtown. For $1900 a month she got a studio in a doorman building. This is not the norm. I am happy to have found her an incredible deal.

10:15 AM: While waiting for the studio client, I called to see if another client was approved for a duplex in Park Slope. The other broker didn't know quite yet but said to me, "Pauline, it's only 10:00 in the morning."

I said, "Only 10:00? I've been up since 6:00 a.m."

10:30 AM: Yet another client who needed a furnished one bedroom calls me to tell me he wants to put in an application for a modern building on Pine Street. I contact the listing agent and zip it over.

11:00 AM: The studio client came in an filled out paperwork. She leaves happy that she found a place and can go home to Miami in peace.

11:15 AM: Park Slope family is approved for their duplex. Awesome.

I spend most of the early afternoon running a search for one bedrooms in Murray Hill.

3:00 PM: Met up with client to view Murray Hill one bedrooms. After an hour of looking at places with tiny living rooms, we decide to try Midtown East and the Upper East Side on Saturday.

4:00 PM: Stopped by the office to look for new places for Murray Hill client. While pulling my phone charger out of the wall, I accidentally pulled out the whole power strip, and blacked out a whole row of computers. Sorry!

6:30 PM: After stopping at home to check on Val, who was recovering nicely from getting fixed, I hopped up to Whiskey Blue to meet some Junior League friends for drinks. Someone points out that I look a little tired. Strawberry mojitos never tasted so good.

8:30 PM: We decide to hit the Hudson Hotel and get bottle service. It was the perfect night to sit on the outside deck with vodka mixers.

10:30 PM: Back at home in Murray Hill.

5 Ways Newspapersa Botched The Web

This is AWESOME. Kudos to Valleywag!

NYC Rental Perks

AM New York has a nice piece about how renters are getting deals lately. For the most part it's accurate. Large landlords and new buildings are giving perks like making apartments no fee and offering free rent. They do this to fill up the building. And it's true -- small landlords are less likely to offer incentives, msotly because they have no need to.

One beef that I have with this piece is that they use the example of the people who got a great deal at The Chesapeake for $3,300. It's a new building, and it's on 94th Street and First Avenue, which isn't exactly the hottest part of the Upper East Side, which is why they're have a hard time filling it up. (I live on 94th and 2nd for several years and know the area well.)Perhaps a little disclosure about that would have been helpful.

But I did like that they recommended using a broker, because as anyone who's tried to go the Craigslist route knows, sometimes it's easier using someone who knows the terrain and can actucally get you into places.

"Your Blog Has Become Photos Of Empty Apartments And Cats"

..I know, I know. It's summer and there is business to be done. Hang on. I'll be more social in a few weeks, once fall and Junior League start up again.

Me as a cartoon. Accurate?

The Gangs Of Murray Hill

Murray Hill is as tame as a neighborhood gets. But what if there were gangs? Who would they be? A few ideas:

Feuds By Personalities:
The I-Bankers vs. The Attorneys

The Trust Fund Girls versus The Scrappy Midwestern Transplants

By Buildings:
The Laurence Towers versus the The Byron

The Future versus The Charleston

By Restaurant/Bar:
Rio Grande versus Caliente Cab

Joshua Tree Versus Tonic

Kids Starting College This Fall Were Born In 1990!

I don't know about you, but I remember 1990.

I was in 7th grade

I was obsessed with New Kids on the Block

I also discovered The Beatles' White album

Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, wrote me a letter after I wrote to her raving about an article about Kid n' Play in the July 1990 issue of Vogue. In return, she sent me the September fashion issue. I still have it to this day.

Things I Recommend: Running In The Rain

Last night after handing off keys to my most favorite client ever, (Sniff, sniff. Party's over.) I was itchy for exercise and I headed out for a run despite the persistent drizzle. Little did I know that the rain would turn into a downpour, and that I would be dodging lightening as I ran. In the end, though, it was still a good time.

There's something very 8 Mile about this shot.


Traffic in the rain.

TR And His Assistants

TR, an art director, tried to do some work this afternoon while I yelled at the TV while watching the Olympics. The furballs were happy to serve as assistants.


Peppe also offered some ideas

Yet Another Use For Twitter

Twitter isn't just for gleaning the day to day minutiae of your friends. It can be good for your brain as well.

Last night I spent about a half hour subscribing to about half a dozen news agencies' Twitter feeds: The AP, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Reuters Business, etc. Now when I open Twitter on my iPhone I see all kinds of headlines, as well as links to stories. Never again will I say out loud, "What's going on in Russia?"

I'm a gal on the go. A typical day for me has me in at least three different neighborhoods, which leaves very little time for scanning the headlines. The one thing I miss about not working in daily journalism is constantly being updated about events. No more, I tell you.

$1850 Ludlow Street One Bedroom

I know I said I was going to move all the real estate stuff to another blog, but there's a great one bedroom available on Ludlow and Rivington for $1850. It's gut renovated with great light, hardwood floors, large closets and lots of closets. Perfect for one person, but prob not two. It's a great space and a great deal. The owner wants to rent it soon.

New kitchen


As you can see, everything is new

A Day In The Life Of Pauline

One of the misconceptions about brokers is that all we do is open doors and then take thousands of dollars from you. Not so. Yesterday I have a pretty typical Saturday for a broker, which consisted of the following:


7:30 a.m.: Got up early, showered and had breakfast with The Boyfriend. Also whipped up a flyer for an open house I was hosting later that afternoon.

11:00 Printed out flyer at Kinko's in Gramercy. I had to walk most of the way to the open house on Ludlow since the M103 bus only goes to Eighth Street and there was some strange bike race on Park Avenue.

11:50: As I was hanging up flyers for open house, had to talk to a woman who stopped me on the street and asked if I was a broker. She needs to move in a few months. I gave her my card.

12:00 p.m.: At the open house, I cranked up the AC. Almost immediately a pack of girls came in, although the place would have only been for one of them.

Only one other couple came during the next two hours, which was odd, considering the apartment is only $1850 and gut renovated. It was advertised as well. During my downtime I went through a list of no-fee apartments, and made a plan to see a few later that evening. Also made list of current clients and determined who needed what.

2:00: Closed up shop at the open house and headed back to the office to search the listings. A lot of people were there, and so I ate while I clicked around.

3:00: I have several clients who are looking for convertible two bedrooms right now, and they all want doorman. There are an abundance of them in Midtown East and for under $3000, which appeals to the young college grads since everyone's getting priced out of Murray Hill. (Never thought I'd see the day.)

4:30 p.m. Got a call from a young woman who saw my signs on Ludlow and wanted like to see the $1850 apartment. She really needed to move, and I was at the office in Chelsea, but she seemed legit so I hopped the F train and showed it to her. Turns out the living room was too dark for her, and she works from home. Fair enough. We part amicably.

5:00: I hopped the uptown bus to 55th Street for an early evening tour of some no fee, high end one and two bedrooms. Over the course of two hours I saw some amazingly large places on East 55th, 79th, and 92nd Street, all full service and doorman buildings. I also saw a great one bedroom on 80th and First, that, although it was a fifth floor was up, was worth the $1950 a month. High floor = sunny!

7:00 p.m. Back in Murray Hill. I got a much needed pedicure on 38th Street.

8:00 p.m. The Boyfriend had been wondering when I would be home. I sat down at my computer to upload the photos of the apartments I saw earlier, as well as e-mail a few clients.

10:00 p.m. Surfed around Facebook an Twitter for a while. It's nice to see what the outside world is up to.

1:00 a.m. At some point I fell asleep.

The Root E&P's "Blog-Like Comments"

Yesterday there was a post on Gawker about how Editor & Publisher, where I used to work, was launching a new column for younger journalists, called -31-. The unintentional humor in the piece was that the column was going to have "blog-like comments" since the content management system at E&P couldn't handle comments, or video for that matter. The piece went on to say that due to staff shortages, hot links and other features that are common to even the simplest of blogging tools, E&P would have to post the comments manually.

In case you were wondering, I am that staff shortage. I was the online editor for E&P for nine months before I was lost in a round of layoffs at Nielsen, its parent company. My job was to make sure the site looked as 21st century as possible. From day one I complained about the CMS, which made users type in HTML code manually and couldn't handle embedded code for video. In short, it was very 1998. I complained to anyone who would listen that if they didn't upgrade their system, readers were going to go elsewhere, since web users expect a certain benchmark of basic features on a site.

There's a lesson in all this. Traffic at E&P isn't going down because the newspaper industry is in a bind. Traffic is going down because their web site lives in a time warp, and someone in the pipeline is too cheap to redesign and upgrade it. Anyone with half a brain knows that the web is not some "special project" to hand over to an intern or maybe some of the less bright members on staff. It's the first impression people have of your brand, and you should invest all you can in it. E&P is one of the oldest brands in the newspaper business, and it boggles my mind that the Nielsen company doesn't see the value in it.

This was my view as I went for a run at 6:45 a.m. along the Hudson River. It's only a few feet from Bethune Street, and I was starting to feel doughy after a few days without exercise.

More surprising than my ability to get up and run at dawn, is how many other people were out and about. Sure, there were the hard core runners, but there were also just regular folks, out enjoying the sun before going to work. What really amazed me were the people who were playing tennis, andothose waiting to play tennis.

I won't be out on Wednesday, but I will be on Thursday. Do it up.

TR's Been Photographing The Furballs Again

Peppe Listening to Ray LaMontagne, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

Cats Who Like Cameras 2

Cats Who Like Cameras 2, originally uploaded by thomasr9.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I love this mash up that I just found. Check it out.

There are going to be a few changes here on the blog. I've been getting a lot of feedback from people who tell me that they want less real estate and more, well, Pauline.

But real estate is how I make my living (an writing, too), so over the next week or so I'm going to roll out a blog just for real estate news and tips, and La Pauline 2.0 will go back to being photo heavy chronicle of my comings and goings in NYC.

Bear with me.

NO FEE!! Upper East Side Convertible 3!! NO FEE!!

It's Friday, which means that if you need to start looking for a place to live, the weekend is a good time to do it.

These are shots of a no fee, two bedroom apartment in a doorman building on 87th and Lexington. It could easily be converted to three bedrooms, if needed. $5075/month. 11th floor. Amazing southwest views. New kitchen and new marble baths. Central air.

The apartment is immaculate and has huge bedrooms with large closets. Great light all around.


Another angle of the bedroom.


View from the living room