Briarwood, NY

Club Chaos Eye Candy: Briarwood, Queens County, New York Tour of Homes

It's a gorgeous day to play and I've been having mad fun running the streets with my Nikon and Droid collecting eye candy during my turtle run. Sometimes I hang out with my elderly neighbors at Hoover Park when I do my warm ups. We shared ruby red grapefruits (3 for $2 at the neighborhood fruit stand) and bottled water. I love living in this neighborhood. The Zagat rated restaurants are simply amazing, the houses gorgeous and list of things to do with the wee people pretty extensive.

Wanna see some of what I saw today? Welcome to my neighborhood... ;-)

Yes, I did run up the hill past the court house into Kew Gardens and will show you that bit of real estate jogging fun later. I have to get back to my park post. People are still waiting for that one (LOL). If you're going to be a tease you have to deliver at some point. Yeah, still sitting on the political post - not finished with the interviews (LOL). ;-)

http://www.armatosvideo.com

This firm has a wonderful reputation with the camera crews I've spoken to. It was suggested we visit and establish a business relationship with them because their reputation is built "on serving the professional industry for over 35 years, with sales, service, support, custom modifications and system design. Our knowledgeable sales staff is here to offer advice to help customize a package to suit your needs. Along with these services we also accept trade-ins, do training and installations and accept City, State, and Government BIDS."

I love my creative tweetpeeps because if you need advice they are only a direct message or quick text away. Yesterday's pre-production meeting took place in Manhattan at the Hard Rock cafe. Our AVCHD camera of choice for the street scenes is the Sony HXR-MC2000U.

This camera is suited for file based work-flow (the Avatar and Matrix projects were all digital). It records high-def, AVCHD or DVD quality MPEG-2 standard-def onto its built-in 64GB solid state drive (or to readily available, consumer memory cards) and the full-raster high-definition 1080i recording capability suits our production needs.

When renting or purchasing industrial, broadcast cameras it is very important that you speak with several professionals on the subject because every photographer is going to have a personal preference as to why they enjoy working with a particular type of camera set up.

Dennis D. Hopkins, the General Manager at Armato's, was very patient and helpful when I presented him with the opinions of the camera operators who recommended his firm and made stellar suggestions we're going to implement at the end of this month. I was told that this industry is based upon growing the right business relationships. I am really looking forward to working with the Zackschewski brothers and Armato's.

Camera supports, tripods and cranes fascinate me because you can do so much fun stuff with the right supports. Take a look at this VariZoom system. It has a balance and weight system that lets you run in the street and get a relatively stable shot from your pro camera.

The thing that makes this so neat is that you can capture a lot of fluid motion angles and circle the action and/or follow behind your actors with ease while eliminating the shake normally associated with running with a live camera.

Pro cameras are not light people, so having a crane, tripod and/or body harness will influence how the director sets up the shots.

The nice thing about being involved with a movie production is the fact that you get to make new, professional friends who will explain the pros and cons of a story's evolution from script to film every step of the process. Your available equipment will sometimes determine what you can and can not do at a particular location. I'm looking forward to seeing what set-ups get selected for which scenes. Will let you guys know what the next steps are as we come to them. Right now, the budget for equipment has been set and our vendor selected. I have to go thank my tweetpeeps for their help and text some more actors, then get back to scouting locations after I take my jog.

I love Flushing Meadows Park. It would be really neat if we could film here... ;-)

Paralegal 101: Landlord Tenant Series - Hot Water

Warranty of Habitability issues may include (a) repairs, (b) clean premises complaints, (c) lack of hot water and/or (d) lack of heating. Here is an interesting bit of trivia: Did you know that if a multiple dwelling building was constructed in New York before mid April 1929 that did not require hot water to be furnished at the time of its original construction a landlord able to prove this would not be under the mandatory requirement to supply hot water 24 hours a day? Hmm... Those base dates mentioned in my previous post are starting to get your attention, eh? Seems every regulation has a start date...

New York tenants actually have a statutory right to hot water, so when exemptions come up people need to be reasonable and pay attention when someone tells you something you do not necessarily want to hear... I am from New York City, so in my neck of the residential woods a building with three or more residential units is considered a multiple dwelling.

New York Multiple Dwelling Law, Title 3, Sanitation and Health § 75 Water Supply:

"1. In every multiple dwelling erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, where space is provided for cooking there shall be in every apartment a proper sink with running water and with a two-inch waste and trap."

"2. The owner of every multiple dwelling shall provide proper appliances to receive and distribute an adequate supply of water, to and in every apartment or suite of rooms at all times of the year, during all hours. Failure in the general supply of water from the street service main shall not be construed as a failure on the part of the owner, if suitable appliances to receive and distribute such water have been provided in the dwelling."

"3. For dwellings three or more stories in height erected on or after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, and for all dwellings erected after January first, nineteen hundred fifty-one, such supply shall include both hot and cold water at all times of the year, during all hours, except that hot water service shall not be required by this section in a dwelling erected before April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine, if the owner establishes to the satisfaction of the department that such service was not furnished or required before such date."

"4. No multiple dwelling shall be erected unless it is connected with a street service water main."

"5. No required sink shall be placed within any water-closet compartment or within any bathroom containing a water-closet."

Paralegal 101: Warranty of Habitability

New York State Real Property Law, Article 7, § 235-b: Warranty of habitability:

"1. In every written or oral lease or rental agreement for residential premises the landlord or lessor shall be deemed to covenant and warrant that the premises so leased or rented and all areas used in connection therewith in common with other tenants or residents are fit for human habitation and for the uses reasonably intended by the parties and that the occupants of such premises shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety. When any such condition has been caused by the misconduct of the tenant or lessee or persons under his direction or control, it shall not constitute a breach of such covenants and warranties."

"2. Any agreement by a lessee or tenant of a dwelling waiving or modifying his rights as set forth in this section shall be void as contrary to public policy."

"3. In determining the amount of damages sustained by a tenant as a result of a breach of the warranty set forth in the section, the court; (a) need not require any expert testimony; and (b) shall, to the extent the warranty is breached or cannot be cured by reason of a strike or other labor dispute which is not caused primarily by the individual landlord or lessor and such damages are attributable to such strike, exclude recovery to such extent, except to the extent of the net savings, if any, to the landlord or lessor by reason of such strike or labor dispute allocable to the tenant's premises, provided, however, that the landlord or lesser has made a good faith attempt, where practicable, to cure the breach. (c) where the premises is subject to regulation pursuant to the local emergency housing rent control law, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine or the city rent and rehabilitation law, reduce the amount awarded hereunder by the total amount of any rent reduction ordered by the state division of housing and community renewal pursuant to such laws or act, awarded to the tenant, from the effective date of such rent reduction order, that relates to one or more matters for which relief is awarded hereunder."

Those three little paragraphs hold so much meaning to parties entering into a rental agreement...

In New York, this section of law reflects in sum and substance the fact that landlords entering into written or oral lease agreements with tenants must maintain the property and dwelling in a condition that is (a) free from conditions detrimental to health and safety while being fit for human habitation and (b) in accordance with agreed upon / required services.

What is an agreed upon service? Examples include allowing a tenant to use a portion of storage space for a bicycle, Christmas tree, file bins, travel trunks, etc. A tenant should not assume just because the guy in Apt # 1A always parks his bike in the basement that everyone may line their bikes up in that general, designated area. Each resident must obtain usage permissions from his/her landlord and abide by the rules of the building regarding permissible usage.

What is a required service? Examples include rectifying any condition that violates a New York housing code, adhering to the New York City Rent Regulatory Laws (e.g. Rent Control, Rent Stabilization, etc) and services with base dates designated in regulatory laws or granted by the lease agreement.

My life as an example: I have been in my current rent controlled apartment since 1993. All services that were in effect in New York City on March 1, 1943 are REQUIRED services for my building. My rent control base date is from 1943 although my occupancy date is from 1993.

In New York City there are two rent stabilization base dates. Contrary to popular belief they are actually important for you to know because these two base dates determine REQUIRED services for apartments subject to New York City Rent Stabilization:

(A) Pre 1947 Construction: May 29th, 1974 for stabilized apartments ON or AFTER July 1st, 1974.

(B) Post 1947 Construction: May 31st, 1968 for stabilized apartments ON or BEFORE June 30th, 1974.

Our invisible New York City rent stabilization lines were divided June 30/July 1, 1974 into PRE and POST 1947 construction. If you are are a renter looking to secure rent reductions for lack of services or a landlord staring at an expensive painters bill because your tenant picked out special paint because you failed to paint her apartment every three years this conversation may suddenly become very interesting to you (LOL).

Your attorney is the correct venue to render a legal opinion and to craft all complaints and defenses within the confines of the applicable laws. Your real estate practitioner is not the correct venue and Paralegals do not render legal opinions. Don't ask people who are not lawyers for legal advice or you may find yourself watching the landlord covering that expensive, custom color latex paint job with cheap, white water-based flat paint while thanking you for reminding him he had three days left and it was time to paint your apartment (LOL). ;-)

Life With Wee People: C Pulse

Taking the emotional pulse of a learning disabled child can be tricky, especially if you have two of them. Mr Autism, Noah, the Net Geek is a tough act to follow and Mr. PDD-NOS, Stephen, the Minion Blur is a book unto himself. They both like music. They both like electronics. When Stephen is not engaged in their ritualistic sacrifice sometimes he manipulates them quite well.

I promised them they could edit a song and drag and drop the video images into the time-line. They had fun mutilating this one and picking out lots of pictures. Nine horn and guitar tracks bit the dust. So did the vocals. I would have been happy with a few more deletes and additions regarding an improvement to their version of grove and quantize but a promise is a promise. After all, music is math and they have to learn how everything works, especially since they refuse to let me work alone (LOL).

Regarding the critical loss of important tracks: How much math can you expect from an opinionated four year old? The Little Minions didn't do half bad considering what was left. Can't wait to see what they do to the next single. Yeah... I gave them two to play with (one for each kid).

Will she really release them in iTunes?

Um...er... yeah... I am a proud, quirky Mommy. The shorties come first. They can each help produce a single if they want to. Besides, this was mad fun. We've been laughing over their edits for two days now.

Is Stephen the youngest PDD-NOS music producer in NY? Hmm... (LOL).