New and Old #108
Friday roundup and commentary
Tastee Diner is not Silver Spring’s soul, Greater Greater Washington, Dan Reed, April 12, 2023
A landmark diner in Silver Spring, Maryland has closed, and is slated to be redeveloped for an apartment complex (though the developer promises to include the diner car in the new project—I think that’s awesome.)
Dan Reed critiques the idea here that one particular artifact from a long time ago—a different economic and social era—is a place:
If only those things [astronomically expensive old bungalows, this diner] can represent Silver Spring, everything else must exist in opposition to it. Those houses, like the Tastee Diner, were built for a much more homogeneous place, in race and socioeconomic status. Silver Spring has become a dramatically more diverse community in the decades following, but that doesn’t mean that everything within it automatically became more diverse or more inclusive….
Go ahead and mourn the Tastee Diner. To live in a place for a long time is to carry around with you a mental map of memories that grows more detailed with each day. It is amazing and beautiful and good that so many people have memories of this place. But we must also acknowledge its limits. Tastee Diner is not Silver Spring’s soul.
Read the whole thing.
The corner spot serving snappy hot dogs and tropical drinks is a cornerstone of Manhattan lore, which Constantine “Gus” Poulos, originally from Athens, Greece, opened in 1932. Papaya King has moved because Extell, the developer behind billionaires’ row near Central Park, bought the location and indicated the restaurant and other buildings would be demolished.
It’s nice to see something like this stick around, in a spot across the street, it turns out. That spot was vacated by Modell’s Sporting Goods, an erstwhile sporting goods chain. It’s all part of the churn of a city.
Say Goodbye to Daily Hotel Room Cleaning, New York Times, Danielle Braff, March 24, 2023
Marriott, which operates 30 hotel brands and more than 8,000 properties in 139 countries and territories, trumpeted the new normal during an investor call in February. It said that it was creating a tier system for housekeeping, in which those who paid more could expect a higher level of service. Its highest-end properties (like the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis brands, where rooms run upward of $550 a night) would continue to provide free daily cleanings. At the next level (Sheraton, Le Méridien) guests would get a free “daily tidy.” Guests at what it calls its “select-service” brands (Courtyard by Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Moxy, among others) would get their rooms cleaned every other day.
At Hilton’s brands, such as Conrad, DoubleTree and Embassy Suites, the housekeeping schedules vary, but the majority in the United States now offer opt-in service, meaning guests need to contact the front desk if they want a complimentary room cleaning. “Recognizing some guests may have varying levels of comfort with someone entering their rooms after they have checked in, Hilton offers them the choice and control to request the housekeeping services they desire,” said Kent Landers, a Hilton spokesman.
One of the section headers in this piece reads “A pandemic disruption, continued.” I’m afraid that’s too true. Also interesting is the fact that unions dislike this, because it cuts labor hours. I can imagine some guests preferring their rooms remaining untouched, but then you could always ask not to get housekeeping.
Personally, this irks me not because I want hotel housekeeping so badly, but because it feels like a trend towards squeezing out every little treat or deal from every product or service. I hope that isn’t permanent.
7 Years Of Driving As A Professional Truck Driver Shown On A Map, FleetLogging, October 15, 2019
A brief interview with a trucker, plus a neat map. Cool bit of trivia, and a little insight into a profession I know very little about. Give it a read.
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