There is no doubt New York City needs congestion pricing. It it is to remain a World City, like London, it must. But we can see that this proposal will fail. There is too much resistance from the counties outside the city. Just one more reason for this city to be its own Federalized district, like DC. New York is too important to this country to be ruled by Westchester, Long Island and Albany. Paris, London and Tokyo are national capitals. They don’t have this chronic political problem that New York has. Let’s fix it. New York is the economic capital of the United States. And it can’t have people driving into midtown who don’t NEED to.
London
Military Events in London Now And This Weekend (May 15-18)
in War
We almost never post about events here, as this is a small blog with infrequent posts. But right now in London, The Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest artillery regiment in the country, is staging an event in East London. They have soldiers doing drills, a parachute drop, a chinook helicopter, and at least one howitzer.
And this weekend is something even more special. If you are in London between May 15 and 17, you can go see the surviving little ships of the Battle of Dunkirk.
Leave it to the British to convert one of the most thorough defeats ever suffered by the United Kingdom into a glorious "victory". As some readers know, the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium in 1940 was as badly mauled by the Germans as the French had been. When the soldiers got back to England, they had left all their tanks and heavy guns behind, and only the Channel, the RAF, and Royal Navy stood between Hitler and the U.K. Still, the many ordinary citizens who sailed these little ships saved many lives, and displayed undaunted courage. It would be fascinating to see them in the Thames. My annual trip to London has already happened. But you are there, go see them.
Photo by Christopher Martin at Flicker and used per a Creative Commons license.
London Sets New All-Time Population Record
in Culture
London finally made it. It is a true top 20 megacity.
London is roughly three to four times the size of Paris, and the pace is exhausting. In some ways, England has always been two countries. Metropolitan London is very different from the rest of the nation. I love England, and I see it as two countries. London, and everyone else.
World Class Cities Are Made With Infrastructure, Not Asturity.
RIP, Lehman Brothers: 1850-1984; 1994-2008
The House of Lehman has fallen. The banking, trading, and asset management units will eventually be sold. But about half of Lehman's employees will eventually be told to stop reporting to work. Here are some videos. I like them all.
The employees of 25 Bank Street speak:
On a funny note, here's Sal and Richard making light of all this:
The Lehman 1928 Christmas party show. A rare film: