I am told that upon driving in Manhattan I suddenly transform into "New York Patti," a rather colorful character given to aggressive driving habits that include cursing like a stevedore while performing breathtaking maneuvers that scatter hapless cabs and pedestrians in my wake. Of this, I cannot comment, except to record that during my last trip, I passed a mysterious-looking building at 49 West 27th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.
It was the former Gerlach Hotel, where
Nikola Tesla lived and experimented with radio waves around 1896. I wondered if this misunderstood Yugoslavian genius ever envisioned the majority of the city's residents having their eyes glued to wireless devices instead of watching where they're going.
I am told that upon driving in Manhattan I suddenly transform into "New York Patti," a rather colorful character given to aggressive driving habits that include cursing like a stevedore while performing breathtaking maneuvers that scatter hapless cabs and pedestrians in my wake. Of this, I cannot comment, except to record that during my last trip, I passed a mysterious-looking building at 49 West 27th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. 
It was the former Gerlach Hotel, where Nikola Tesla lived and experimented with radio waves around 1896. I wondered if this misunderstood Yugoslavian genius ever envisioned the majority of the city's residents having their eyes glued to wireless devices instead of watching where they're going.
4 comments:
Thank you for advancing my knowledge of Nikola Tesla, a man I had known of earlier only for his scientific breakthroughs.
Thanks to your handy link, I now know:
- that he did things in threes, and was adamant about staying in a hotel room with a number divisible by three.
-that he was physically revolted by jewelry, notably pearl earrings.
-that he was fastidious about cleanliness and hygiene, and was by all accounts mysophobic. (In spite of this fear of the unclean, Tesla was obsessed with pigeons, ordering special seeds for the pigeons he fed in Central Park and even bringing some into his hotel room with him., perhaps even at the Gerlach Hotel.)
I have made note of all this and advise others to do likewise. Thank you.
Also from the Wikipedia article:
"He was quick to criticize others' clothing as well, on several occasions demanding a subordinate to go home and change her dress"
Eeeeow.
Don't make me over, Nikola!
Zounds! Do I detect a genetic to our Global Design Director, who is also quite sensitive to sartorial infractions?
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