May 17th, 2012
Walking near Jackson Square in the West Village, you may have wondered what will become of the site of the former Lukoil gas station. Located at the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and West 13th Street, the gas station and mini-market closed down in September 2011 and the lot has been covered by a construction wall since October. GVSHP has received more than a few nervous calls from neighbors and observers wondering “what’s getting built there?”
May 17, 2012
Looking at the photo above you can see that the mini-market is still there. We looked into the permit history of this lot through the Department of Buildings (DOB) website and found that a permit was issued in August 2011 for the removal of “three (3) underground storage tank systems”, though no change in use was recorded. The latest issued permit for this lot dates from March of this year and notes that two underground storage tank systems are being installed. Based on this information, it appears that the site will continue to be used as a gas station.
GVSHP actively monitors DOB permit activity in the West Village, Gansevoort Market, NoHo and the East Village so we will continue to see how this site evolves in the coming months. The site is also located within the Greenwich Village Historic District, so if plans were to change, any potential new construction would have to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Their decision would come after a lengthy public review and approval process which any member of the public can weigh in on (of course, you can find out if there are plans for any significant changes to a landmarked site anywhere in our neighborhoods by checking GVSHP’s ‘Landmarks Applications Webpage‘, which will also tell you the status of any application, and how you can weigh in if a decision has not yet been rendered).
Curious minds couldn’t stop there, however. Here at Off the Grid we were interested in finding out the history of this site, and we’ve found some great historic images to share with you.
(top) February 14, 1932 (bottom) June 24, 1932 (courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery)
In 1932, this portion of the Eighth Avenue block between Horatio and West 4th Streets was filled with modest 19th century three-story row houses. Stores occupied the ground floors of each building, and companies such as those selling keys, “bottler’s supplies” and malt hops occupied these spaces. Visible in the background of the top photo is 320 West 13th Street, the large loft/office building also visible in the present day photo.
The block on April 9, 1940 (courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery)
In 1940, or shortly prior to that year, the corner six-bay building was demolished for a gas station (the information on the NYPL photo card notes “the new gas station“). The photo above indicates that Weber’s Auto Service was the first auto-related company on the site.
A DOB Certificate of Occupancy dated 1963 reveals that, in that year, the storefront located in the building at 51-53 Eighth Avenue was used as a cat shelter and veterinary’s office; the upper floors were used as cat wards and caretaker’s quarters. In 1974, a demolition permit was filed for the remaining three-story buildings on this row, and by 1976 a Certificate of Occupancy noted that an “automotive service establishment” existed here.
Source: Google Maps, June 2011
Until the early fall of 2011, the gas station and mini-market shown above provided a fuel stop for taxis and commuters. GVSHP will continue to monitor this site for any future changes, but, for now, it appears a gas station will be returning to this West Village corner.
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May 17th, 2012
May 17, 2012 in Energies by EIA
Overview:
(For the Week Ending Wednesday, May 16, 2012)
- Natural gas prices remained above $2.30 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) over the report week (Wednesday to Wednesday) at most of the country’s trading locations. The Henry Hub price moved within a 5-cent range for much of the week before rising sharply, closing at $2.50 per MMBtu yesterday (up 14 cents for the week).
- The natural gas futures market trended higher over the week. At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the June 2012 natural gas contract gained 15.3 cents per MMBtu to close at $2.618 per MMBtu yesterday.
- Working natural gas in storage rose last week to 2,667 billion cubic feet (Bcf) as of Friday, May 11, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR). An implied storage build of 61 Bcf for the week positioned storage volumes 774 Bcf above year-ago levels.
- The natural gas rotary rig count, as reported by Baker Hughes Incorporated on May 11, fell by 8 to 598 active units, the first week since April 2002 that the count dipped below 600. Meanwhile, oil-directed rigs increased by 17 to 1,372 units.
Prices:
The Henry Hub day-ahead price generally rose during the week, dipping modestly on Tuesday before climbing sharply yesterday to close the week at $2.50 per MMBtu, up 5.9 percent. The fairly narrow trading range over most of the week reflected a relatively flat cash market, with the price fluctuating between $2.36 and $2.41 per MMBtu. Yesterday’s price represents the first $2.50 or higher close since late February, and is 68 cents higher (37.4 percent) than the year’s low of $1.82, recorded on April 20.
At the NYMEX, the June 2012 contract rose from $2.465 per MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.618 per MMBtu yesterday, an increase of 15.3 cents (6.2 percent). While relatively steady late last week, prices increased significantly over the past three days, rising 18.7 cents from Monday to yesterday’s close. The 12-Month Strip (average of June 2012 to May 2013 contracts) closed yesterday at $3.167 per MMBtu, up 8.9 cents per MMBtu (2.9 percent) for the week.
Prices at many downstream trading locations generally rose, dropping on Friday before rebounding, typically closing much higher by the end of the week. For example, spot prices at the Algonquin Citygate trading point for delivery into Boston, which started the week at $2.59 per MMBtu, fell to $2.01 per MMBtu on Friday and then rose for the much of the remainder of the period to close yesterday at $2.78 per MMBtu (up 7.3 percent for the week). Similarly, prices at the Transcontinental Pipeline’s Zone 6 trading point (which serves New York City markets) declined from $2.46 per MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.43 per MMBtu on Friday, then climbed to $2.64 per MMBtu by week’s end (up 7.3 percent).
Total consumption for the report week registered an overall decline, as an increase in industrial sector demand was offset by decreases in other sectors. According to estimates from Bentek, domestic natural gas consumption fell by 5.1 percent from last week, driven by a decline of 10.9 percent in power sector consumption and a 1.9 percent decline in the residential/commercial sector. Industrial sector consumption ended the week up 1.2 percent, 0.7 percent above last year’s consumption for the same week.
Total supply was essentially unchanged for the week, registering an overall increase of 0.3 percent, reflecting a small increase in dry gas production. According to Bentek estimates, domestic weekly dry gas production was 0.2 percent higher than the previous week (and 3.7 percent above the same time last year).
Imports from Canada also rose only modestly, with an increase in shipments to the West being mostly offset by declines in the Midwest and Northeast. For the week, imports from Canada stand 1.5 percent above year-ago volumes. While liquefied natural gas (LNG) sendout rose sharply – up 36.0 percent from last week – sendout volumes remain 57.5 percent below year-ago levels.
Storage
Working natural gas in storage increased to 2,667 Bcf as of Friday, May 11, according to EIA’s WNGSR. This represents a net injection of 61 Bcf from the previous week. This week’s injection was 30 Bcf lower than the 5-year (2007-2011) average injection for the same week. During the same week last year, the implied net injection was 86 Bcf. Working inventories are currently 774 Bcf (41 percent) greater than their year-ago levels and 773 Bcf (41 percent) greater than the 5-year average.
All three storage regions posted increases this week.Inventories in the East, West, and Producing Regions increased by 47 Bcf, 7 Bcf, and 7 Bcf, respectively. In the Producing Region, working natural gas inventories decreased 3 Bcf in salt cavern facilities and increased 10 Bcf in nonsalt cavern facilities.
Temperatures in the lower 48 States during the week ending May 10 were 4.4 degrees warmer than the 30-year normal temperature and 2.6 degrees warmer than the same period last year. The average temperature in the lower 48 States was 64.1 degrees, 4.4 degrees higher than the 30-year normal of 59.7 degrees. During the week all regions were warmer than normal. The East South Central and South Atlantic Regions in the South were particularly warm, averaging 7.0 and 6.3 degrees, respectively, warmer than the 30-year normal.
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May 8th, 2012
This the sad tale of a storage auction find that yielded the treasures of a once prominent man who later in life found himself homeless and destitute. I will be starting the Hustlers MindSet show next month – May 31 8PM there are so many folks who want in on the new site. I am going to devote the rest of the month to it! Thanks for all of the support my peeps! You can subscribe here- My BlogTv show- www.blogtv.com 3 Book Deal- urbanpackrat.com
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May 2nd, 2012
 Usually when I pass the self-storage places in the strip malls as I drive to work, I ignore them. They are part of the mundane aspects of my daily life that blend in with the roadside trivia like payday loan shops, Payless shoes, the Mall, and Office Depot, McDonalds, the homeless panhandler, the gas station, and people waiting for the bus. None of these things stand out until I need them or they disrupt me. Selective perception, and all.
Lately I’ve observed the large amount of self-storage places all around me. I started tracking them during my trip to New York City, where they seemed out of place because the city has no strip malls. Given that space is a premium in the city, they make more sense there than in suburbia.
With occupy Wall Street dominating the discursive and political field, the need for somewhere to store our amassed belongings gives me pause. Self-storage bespeaks our individual and cultural greed that has installed Wall Street’s very existence and power. The fact that our material belongings exceed our household space surely contributes to our state of homelessness. Self-storage is proof of capitalism stored in neat tin cabinets or coffin, pick your metaphor, and testament to our downfall. Pixar’s Wall-E showed us that in all its ugly cuteness.
For me on a personal level (and without forgetting that the personal is political; guilty as charged), the idea of self-storage is intriguing. What kind of selves have I stored over time? With the upheavals in my household that produced packing and unpacking boxes, relocating belongings, and sifting through mementos and memories and the different parts of my life that they represent, I’m journeying through the whole “who am I” thing that divorce invites. Moreover, that “who am I” thing is complexly invested in “what I own” and “what I buy.” I’ve commented on this before in criticizing Sarah Ben Bretnach’s Simple Abundance philosophy. America’s hyper-individualism and hyper-capitalism go hand in hand.
I am what I buy.
No news there, true.
But I just realized I need a place to store all that crap I bought and all the different me’s that accompany it.
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May 2nd, 2012
A Lambo like Fieri’s.Photo: CBS 5
The seventeen-year-old cat burglar and ne’er-do-well who stole Guy Fieri’s $200,000 Lamborghini last year and hid it in a Richmond storage facility has been identified as Max Wade of San Rafael. Wade is being held on two million dollars bail right now on seven felony charges including burglary, grand theft auto, possession of a stolen vehicle, and the big one (which could carry two sentences of fifteen years to life): attempted murder. Marin County authorities had been tracking Wade following an April 13 incident in which he, dressed in black with a black helmet on a black motorcycle, allegedly fired a gun at two people he obviously knew who were sitting in a parked vehicle in Mill Valley.
The victims in that incident, Landon Wahlstrom, 18, and a juvenile female, say that Wade fired at them at close range, injuring them with broken glass. They were otherwise unharmed.
Marin sheriffs found the motorcycle and “other items” used in the shooting in the same storage container at CSI Mini Storage facility (855 Parr Boulevard, Richmond) where they found Fieri’s yellow 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.
Wade is believed to have been the person who rappelled into the British Motor Cars dealership on Van Ness Avenue in March 2011 and took off with the car across the Golden Gate Bridge.
We’re guessing that Wade was likely sad about not being able to drive that bad boy around the Bay, for fear of attracting attention, and that all he did was wax it and pet it and sit in it a lot for the past year.
Teen Accused Of Stealing Guy Fieri’s $200,000 Lamborghini To Face Seven Felony Charges [Bay City News/SF Appeal]
Earlier: Guy Fieri’s Stolen Lamborghini Found!
‘Unusually Athletic’ Thief Steals Guy Fieri’s Lamborghini
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April 26th, 2012
Google is jumping into the cloud-based file storage and syncing business, offering a service called Google Drive, by offering lower prices and different features. It works on multiple operating systems, browsers, and mobile devices. WSJ’s personal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg takes it for a drive.
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April 26th, 2012
S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component LSI Corporation (NYSE:LSI) reported net income above Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter. LSI designs and markets complex storage and networking semiconductors and storage systems.
Investing Insights: What’s the Future of Microsoft’s Stock?
LSI Earnings Cheat Sheet for the First Quarter
Results: Net income for LSI Corporation rose to $75.2 million (13 cents per share) vs. $10.2 million (2 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a substantial increase from the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue: Rose 31.5% to $622.4 million from the year-earlier quarter.
Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: LSI Corporation beat the mean analyst estimate of 11 cents per share. It beat the average revenue estimate of $599.8 million.
Quoting Management: “In the first quarter, LSI delivered double-digit revenue growth and demonstrated significant progress towards our business model and non-GAAP operating margin target,” said Bryon Look, LSI CFO and chief administrative officer. “Year over year, our revenues grew 32% and non-GAAP income from operations increased 80%.”
Key Stats:
A year-over-year revenue increase last quarter snaps a streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue declines. The worst quarter in that span was the first quarter of the last fiscal year, which saw a 25.7% decrease.
Gross margin shrank 1.3 percentage points to 46.1%. The contraction appeared to be driven by increased costs, which rose 34.7% from the year earlier quarter while revenue rose 31.5%.
The company has beaten estiamtes for two quarters in a row. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, it topped expectations with net income of 11 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 8 cents per share.
After sitting in the red the quarter before, the company reported a profit last quarter. In the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the company booked a net loss of $29.3 million, or a loss of 5 cents per share.
Looking Forward: Expectations for the company’s next-quarter performance are higher than they were ninety days ago. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the second quarter has risen to 12 cents per share from 10 cents. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from 44 cents a share to 53 cents over the last ninety days.
(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)
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April 26th, 2012
 At its meeting today, the Metrolinx Board of Directors approved a schedule for building four light rail transit lines in Toronto.
The plan basically echoes the former Transit City network of LRTs, which, originally, former Mayor David Miller supported. Current Mayor Rob Ford famously declared that “Transit City’s over” on his first day in office, December 1, 2010, effectively killing all work on light rail lines in the City for nearly 18 months. Although the Mayor supported building subways instead of LRT lines, last month, Toronto City Council refused to support the mayor’s plans, reviving light rail, instead.
The board approved:
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continuing work to build the Eglinton – Scarborough Crosstown line — underground between Black Creek and Laird Drives and on the street elsewhere. (Line opens in 2020.)
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converting the Scarborough RT to LRT and extending the line to Sheppard Avenue East. (Line closes 2015; reopens 2019.)
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building the Sheppard East line. (Construction starts in 2014 and the line opens in 2018.)
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building the Finch West line. (Construction starts in 2015 and the line opens in 2018.)
Metrolinx intends to work with the TTC on the projects but also hopes that private-sector organizations would participate in building, maintaining and operating the various lines.
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April 23rd, 2012
Author Resource:-
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April 23rd, 2012
Nowadays most people have a GPS on their cell phones or in their cars, as off road GPS systems have become an integral part of people’s everyday lives. Maps are required for most GPS systems, and when entering an address or landmark the GPS will in turn give you instructions on how to get from point A to point B. traveling in the outback of Australia which is well known to be one of the toughest off road adventures in the world, you will need 4×4 off road maps on your GPS. In order to navigate your way through the outback of Australia, skill, preparation and a GPS mapping system is a definite requirement.
You do not have to go out and purchase a GPS if you are taking a trip to the outback of Australia, as you can now go online and download the necessary application to your mobile phone, and the 4×4 off road maps Australia will provide the websites online where you can download the software.
Once the GPS receiver in installed on your mobile phone, no matter where you are, you will have access to the 4×4 off road maps. However, in certain areas there are no cellular networks or GPS satellites, which means your mobile phone, will be of no use, as certain GPS satellites and cellular networks require a combination of networks. In addition you can only download the maps for the area you intend visiting as mobile phone has limited storage space. The latest and more advanced GPS maps will specify directions as opposed to other applications that will only reveal where you are in relation to you immediate surroundings. A voice is programmed into off road GPS maps, which navigates you. A GPS will also calculate your travel time and distance based on your current speed, which in turn allows you to accurately map out your journey. Should you change your speed or direction the GPS will recalculate and prove new course information. You will never have to worry about taking the wrong route or getting lost when you have a 4×4 off road GPS.
You can be rest assured that you will reach your destination with a 4×4 off road GPS map, as these are great navigation tools that can be utilized to your advantage in the city or in the bush. In order for your trip to be successful, you will need to plan your stop over sights and routes accordingly. However, the toughest aspect of outback 4×4 adventures is being competent enough to handle your 4×4 properly.
Oliver Ethan is a technical author. He provides useful advice through his articles on 4×4 off road maps Australia, latest gadgets, gps maps and mobile apps.
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