Results tagged “realestate”

Asshole of the Week

What a week for the morally bankrupt—get out your human hamster balls—the jerkface warning this week is in red alert. We're less shining city on a hill and more festering, partially drained swamp sinkholed between two slime-pollutant-intoxicated rivers.

  • "In an unexpected move, federal prosecutors said last night that they would ask a judge to revoke bail today and detain Jocelyn S. Kirsch." She was scheduled to plead guilty at a hearing this afternoon, but now a detention hearing will be held instead. It seems the feds are mad about her recent Target shopping spree with a stolen credit card in California.
  • "Jury selection is expected to begin today in the 19-year-old murder of a North Philadelphia black man in what has been labeled a 'racial killing.'"
  • And while our water may be full of drugs, at least the real estate market is improving!
  • Britt Reid is scheduled to be released from jail today. Next he'll be entering a drug court treatment program.
  • Frank Funaro, who runs a nightclub and a real estate business on South Street in Philadelphia, was robbed of $40,000 yesterday morning at his home in Washington Township, New Jersey. A gunman, apparently deliberately targeting the family, was hiding in the backseat of the car when Funaro's wife went out to drive her son to school. He forced the two back into the house and demanded money. Police received a 911 hang-up call from the home and responded, but the family told them everything was all right because at that point the robber was still hiding in the closet. Minutes after the officers left, the gunman fled in a blue minivan, and police received another call. When they returned they found the family upset, but otherwise unharmed. Call Washington Township police at 856-589-0330 if you have any information.
  • href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

  • Seattlest reviewed J.J. Abrams' new camcorder monster movie.
  • DCist was relieved to hear that Stephen Colbert's portrait is finally hanging up in the National Portrait Gallery.
  • Austin was in shock after hearing about an Arlington stepfather who sodomized his stepson who sodomized his daughter.
  • Chicagoist healthily reported on week three of the smoking ban.
  • Houstonist saw a recent Rice University scientific creation, touted as "the darkest substance known to man."
  • The body of 50-year-old Cynthia Cometz of Woodstown was found inside a BMW that had been submerged in the Delaware River and was discovered at low tide on Friday.
  • While the court battle still rages over whether SEPTA will be able to eliminate transfers or not, Rendell and Fumo announced Tuesday that all seventh-through-12th graders who live more than 1 1/2 miles from their schools will ride for free with a new weekly transit pass. Students who live closer to their schools will pay a reduced rate of $14.45 for the new pass.
  • What's new and/or interesting at Philly theaters this weekend.

    We have to admit that we didn't find this one ourselves. When we went to the Arden last night, they gave us a program that had apparently already been in the hands of some like-minded individual, because the error (in an ad for Studley Commercial Real Estate Advisors) was circled in blue ink. (We photographed a clean copy.)

  • Speaking of mayors, the mayoral candidates all have their own plans for fighting violence in Philly, and the Inquirer is comparing and contrasting them.
  • What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.

  • Despite being named among the top U.S. leaders last month, the Philadelphia school district's chief executive, Paul Vallas, got raked over the coals on Friday by the School Reform Commission for the district's $73.3 million deficit.


  • Breaking
    the law, breaking the law
    . We -ist folks love us some crime, and no
    misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week,
    join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged.

    Gothamist gets us started with
    "Law
    & Order", muppet style
    . Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking
    pictures on the MTA. So, why
    are cops stopping photographers
    ? In other Gotham crime, a group
    of Asian men
    was attacked
    by a group of white guys in Queens
    . Finally, Boy
    George reports for his court mandated community service
    . Sweet.

    Londonist brings us the tale
    of poor Bob Hoskins, shaken
    at his near-miss with terrorists
    . Meanwhile, Interpol
    sweeps in to reclaim a lost Peruvian artifact
    . Then, there's the
    slasher
    who claims he got his weapon from President Bush
    . Ouch!

    Phillyist's bus system, SEPTA,
    is fighting
    crime in a whole new way
    , and it would be a crime in and of itself
    for you not
    to read this story about Oreo the cat
    . Oh, and can
    we agree that requesting "Piano Man" at a piano bar
    should be
    illegal?

    Torontoist's thorough
    coverage
    of the XVI
    International AIDS Conference
    , doesn't fit into the "crime" theme,
    but it's too great to pass up. But we're back on track with their href="http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2006/08/toronto_bike_po.php">post
    on bike rack vulnerability and an
    interview with a controversial crime fighter
    .

    DCist brings us a murder
    that gets more mysterious by the day
    , and we're considering a life
    of crime ourselves, if it'll allow us to dine
    out like DCist
    . And if it's not illegal to sell
    soiled mattresses
    , it should be.

    SFist muses on the negligent behavior of a public transit employee, covered the
    questionable confession
    of a man arrested for the murder of
    JonBenet Ramsey, and delineated the highway robbery that is the Bay Area real estate market.



    Shanghaiist brings us this
    video of "one
    of the worst cover bands we have seen in China"
    , which isn't
    illegal, but should be. We're unclear on the legal status of an "invisible
    monster cock"
    , and we'd prefer to stay that way. Price
    gouging on drinks
    is a criminal act, in our opinion.

    Chicagoist gets thrown in the
    hoosgow by readers
    who hate the Annual Air & Water Show
    . Should bottle service be illegal? Chicagoist's commenters debate that,
    too. And the criminally overdiscussed (and we say this even as we
    trotted this out as a theme last week) gets the Chicagoist
    commenter treatment, as well
    .

    LAist exposes the questionable ethics of 's marketing, tells us how to make the
    criminally tasty Moscow
    mule
    , and creates
    a criminal amount of garbage
    .

    Houstonist blows us away with
    the announcement that they
    wear pantyhose
    . Someone call the fashion police! Houston's city
    council takes a bite
    out of shoddy newspaper rack crime
    . The only real criminals in
    Houston seem to be flying
    roaches
    . (No, not those kind.)

    Those miscreants at Bostonist
    take their shot at our
    newest public enemy number one, Mel Gibson
    . Public enemy number
    two? Gold
    bricking spammers
    . Number three? Bad
    mergers
    .

    Seattlest gets a
    photo of missing person Bettie Page
    , breaks some laws of their own
    by getting "drunk
    on clandestine vodka, and yell(ing) at passing cars."
    When is
    domestic violence kinda understandable? Now.

    Austinist's lovable rogues
    tell us about issues in their
    state's gubernatorial race
    , eagerly anticipate the arrival of the
    criminally hilarious Onion
    , and bemoan
    the firing
    of a teacher who committed the crime of (gasp!) partial
    nudity.

    Hey, have y'all been using our new "Recommend this" feature at the bottom of each post? This week we're bringing you the "Most Recommended" posts from across the -ist world, as well as recommending some of our own.

    Because of a rather unusual cosmic occurence (okay, our neighbors are on vacation), Phillyist was able to procure a copy of Sunday's New York Times to read over breakfast yesterday. Now, we don't necessarily live and breathe the Times the way many people we know do, but this morning's edition had a story that is actually worth our attention.

    *The Schuylkill was originally used for recreation...a use they hope to renew. (It's nice enough to cruise on, but you won't catch this Phillyist kayaking in it. It's a bit too murky for us to chance falling in.)

    San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing.

  • Hey, want an office building? Eleven are on sale in Center City right now, including the entire city block made up of 10 Penn Center, 11 Penn Center and 1800/1880 John F. Kennedy Blvd. With this many buildings up for sale, it could be a record year in Philly for real estate transactions. Follow the link for an economic explanation for why this is happening; we tried reading it ourselves, but it made our head hurt. The point is, this is apparently a good thing; it means the real estate market is booming.
  • To paraphrase a famous quote from Woodstock, don't take the green Zone 2 May TrailPass! Even if somebody does offer it to you for cheap. All 13,800 of the passes were stolen in February, so SEPTA had them all reprinted in black and white, and all green passes are being confiscated.
  • cole_hamels_01.jpg

    Best of the week is compiled and edited by Seattlest's Dan Gonsiorowski.

    Last night's show at the TLA was a sojurn through our personal musical history. Opening act People in Planes, a rock band from Wales, put Phillyist in mind of the grunge bands we never warmed to in the 90s (see: Pearl Jam, Nirvana) and how they might have sounded had then been influenced by the pseudo-metal bands of the 80s we were far too fond of. They were harder rocking than hair bands (see: Poison) but not quite heavy metal (see: Motorhead) A wailing vocal here, a power chord there, and the occasional interesting drum riff...but all-in-all uninspired.

    Dear Twenty21,

    Things are getting interesting in mid-term election news. Concerned that moderate Republicans have no options in the choice for Senator, a dark horse has emerged to challenge Senator Rick Santorum in the primary election.

    It should come as no surprise that Phillyist is aggressively local. And why not? There’s good livin’ in Philadelphia - cheap real estate (compared to other Eastern cities, anyway), restaurants and culture that hold their own at the very least, and teams in every major sport that, even if they’re not always good, are always fun to follow.

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