The Book of Mormon

Last night I had a chance to see a preview of The Book of Mormon, a new musical on Broadway, from the creators of South Park- Matt Stone and Trey Parker. All I can say is it is hi-lar-i-ious! Certainly not for the easily offended as it does cover certain topics that 1. have for sure never been sung about in any previous Broadway show and 2. are not for the faint of heart. 

I highly urge all of you to "man up!" and check out this show soon. It will definitely be one of those productions that becomes impossible to get tickets for. Think - The Producers a few years back, and you'll get the idea. 

Jury Duty Calls

So... Just when I thought my life would be getting back to normal soon, now that we are down to only 1 ( yes 1!) apartment at Columbia Commons - everything changed with a little thing called a jury summons. 

A couple of weeks ago I was "summoned" for jury duty. Sure enough, my name came out of that little bingo-esque twirly contraption not once ( as a potential juror for a specific case) but twice! - the second time resulted in me sitting in one of those very  uncomfortable juror chairs to be voir dire'd ( the legal term for being asked a lot of questions to see if I am someone both attorney's would accept as a juror on the case).

***Now a little background here - I have already served on criminal cases twice before. So, by now I know, if my name is called, and I wind up in that chair, I am pretty much going to be chosen. ( Why is it my name is never chosen to actually win something from all those raffle tickets I am forever buying each time I am asked?) And BINGO - sure enough, I am now I juror on this case. ( sorry, not allowed to disclose the deets - check back in a few weeks)   

And here is the best part (not) - The case is expected to last up to 6 weeks. Let me repeat that - SIX WEEKS!!! All of a sudden I have another job that I wasn't even looking for. (since it pays me all of $40 dollars a day, I can't say that I would ever be applying for such a job.)  But none the less I now spend every weekday ( except Thursday's when the judge has something else to do) in a courtroom, listening to testimony, while doing real estate (my real job) during breaks and lunch, and on Thursday's and weekends. 

So much for thinking I was getting back to spinning classes and regular gym workouts this month. Ugh! 

I did have a nice night out this week with the girls. We had dinner at the relatively new Beauty and Essex ( same owners as Stanton Social) - which I must say has just crept up the list to be one of my favorite dinner/lounge hang outs of the moment.  The food is very good ( drinks could be a little better) - the scene is nice - decor is excellent - and the best part free champagne in the lounge area of the ladies room! Ingenious! 

Here are a few shots from the inside:  

         

         

         Too bad the courthouse doesn't have free champagne in the ladies room!

Recent Real Deal Coverage - Columbia Commons

Columbia Commons was featured in the March 1st edition of the Real Deal. As the press lags a little behind when referring to numbers - the reality is we only have two apartments left! Here is what they had to say yesterday in their "Development Updates" column:

Cobble Hill 

Columbia Commons 

110 Warren Street 

The new condo, a joint venture of L+M Development Partners and the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs, is now 88 percent sold after hitting the market in May 2010. Five units of between 609 and 848 square feet now remain up for grabs, with prices ranging from $399,000 to $650,000. The two-building complex has a shared courtyard, roof deck, fitness room and underground parking garage. Halstead Property Development Marketing is the agent. Contact: www.columbiacommonsbk.com. 

February Heym Report

Click on the title of this post to check out the recent edition of the Heym Report created by Halstead Properties chief economist. In it he discusses Wall Street bonuses, recent  mortgage rate trends, and job growth in NYC. All of which, have a direct effect my favorite subject - Manhattan Real Estate!