Thursday, March 06, 2008

We intrerrupt this message...

Sorry I haven't written lately folks, but I 've been working crazy hours, which has left me feeling too tired and uninspired to write anything. A few of this morning's news headlines have rousted me out of bed and to the computer.

Item one: Police Investigate Time Square Blast By Derek Rose AP

New York-An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military reruiting station in Time Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the crossroads of the world."

The reason this news item is significant to me, is that two weeks ago, my family and I took a mini vacation in the city. We had tickets to see "Wicked" and "Mary Poppins," ate at "Carmines" (one of our favorite restaurants) and spent a couple of nights at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in Time Square (that would be one of the hotels that shook.) Our room overlooked the military recruiting center where this blast occured. Here's a picture my daughter took from our hotel room window:


Item two: Dozens of suburban trains delayed after vacant NYC building partially collapses March 5, 2008

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK---- A vacant five-story apartment building scheduled for rehabilitation partially collapsed Tuesday, leading to the suspension of dozens of rush-hour suburban trains amid fears the vibrations could cause more bricks to fall. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Two days ago, a building that is adjacent to Metro North tracks collapsed in Harlem. This shut down the railroad for a couple of hours and caused major delays. Luckily, my inbound train only suffered a 10 minute delay. Amazingly, a news crew had a camera rolling and caught the building collapse as it happened, (there's a short commercial but it's worth the wait.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I took that picture :)

Anonymous said...

We waited a couple of weeks for a new post and this is what you give us.Come on Andy Rooney you could do better than this.

Anonymous said...

how was wicked? It is coming out over here and I am going to see it. Couyld you give me your opinion?

Bobby said...

Craig,

I understand that "Wicked" is opening in Australia, kind of like "Oz" going to "Oz."
I had high expectations before going to the show, mostly because my Broadway passengers had given it such rave reviews. Personally, I thought it was very good, but I wasn't totally blown away.

Anonymous said...

Craig,
The rest of the family LOVED "Wicked". I purposely didn't let anyone tell me any details ahead of time (including Bobby)...I like to form my own opinion. I also started to read the book, but didn't have time to "get into" it. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't because the show was completely "fresh" for me. I enjoyed every minute of it and highly recommend it.

Anonymous said...

The Marriot Marquis and the Raffles in Singapore are my two favorite hotels for entirely different reasons.

Benjamin Strong said...

I was stuck in the mayhem at GCT the day of the building collapse. I had to laugh at the folks trying to split yellow cabs to Fairfield! I normally get off at Bridgeport.

Using my trusty Blackberry I checked Amtrak's schedule from Penn Station to Bridgeport and hedged my bets. I would wait at GCT until a certain time and then take the shuttle to Times Square, the 1 downtown and hot an Amtrak train to Bridgeport.

Everybody thought I was nuts. I think the chumps willing to pay $300 for a cab ride to Fairfield were crazy.

In the end Metro North was able to resume train service. I had a relaxing slice of Pizza from Two Boots and a cold beer knowing I had a plan B.

Thanks for everything you folks do on Metro North. I know you catch a lot of crap and I think you guys do ok considering the age of the equipment you have to work with.