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☆ Outdoor Dining in New York City Is Here to Stay. (Just Not in Winter.)
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York City’s outdoor dining program, a popular pandemic-era measure designed to be a temporary salve for a devastated restaurant industry, is about to become a permanent part of the city’s landscape. A City Council bill, released on Thursday evening, called for creating a licensing structure that would allow outdoor dining structures to exist in roadways, but only from April through November. The bill, which is supported by Mayor Eric Adams and still requires the approval of the full Council, aims to strike a balance between retaining a mostly popular program while taking steps to control its outgrowth. The bill would set forth basic design guidelines that are still to be determined. Some elements of the plan drew immediate criticism, including a provision requiring restaurants in a historic district or at a landmark site to receive approval by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for an outdoor dining site — a policy that could affect restaurant-heavy neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Reuters interviews with Kar and a dozen other voters in Antakya reflected anger over what some viewed as a slow initial government response to the disaster. The voices are a small snapshot of Antakya and the wider area of southern Turkey hit by the earthquake, a region home to nine million voters and traditionally an Erdogan stronghold. Only 4.3% of voters viewed the quake as Turkey's biggest problem last month, with most more concerned by an economy racked by rampant inflation. Nearby, excavators resound as they demolish some of the 80-90% of buildings estimated to have suffered quake damage. The opposing sides present very different narratives about Erdogan and his government's response to the disaster.

☆ Veracruz state: Home of the flying Voladores, Mexico's top coffee and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Tim Leffel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Voladores of Veracruz in Mexico have a history that goes back at least 1,400 years. “The flying ritual has never had a learning age, it is a project of a lifetime,” he says. Nearly all of the Voladores train in or around Papantla, where the flying schools prepare young people to take over for those who are eventually aging out. Coffee, ancient ruins and an overlooked capital cityMen with ankle ropes flying deftly around a pole are not the only export from this state, though. The big draw, however, is Mexico’s second most important archaeological museum after the one in Mexico City.

☆ How to put your best travel foot forward for Earth Day 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

But you don’t have to totally cut out travel or stay super close to home to be a good planetary citizen. You need a city that’s dedicated to getting it right to best enjoy an urban biking vacation. Here, we've curated 30 of our favorite corners, including the Thu Bon River, which flows through central Vietnam. A maze of rivers and caves, the UNESCO World Centre is defined by its craggy limestone facades and jade green water. Bruno De Hogues/Photodisc/Getty Images Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park: A UNESCO World Heritage, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is heaven for spelunkers.

☆ In Harlem, a 19th-Century Home That’s Playfully Modern Inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Vivian Marino | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

(“I hired him to be a collaborative partner, then he became my partner partner,” she said.) The Harlem townhouse is going back on the market for $3.25 million, according to the listing brokers Stan Ponte and Colin Montgomery of Sotheby’s International Realty. Measuring around 4,900 square feet over four stories, the townhouse has five bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a powder room. “In the late 1800s it was a place for horses, and now it’s a place to park your car,” Mr. Montgomery said. “What was a luxury then is still a luxury today.”

☆ Four Homes Later, One Thing Remains the Same: Their Interior Designer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jessica Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Candy and Andy Roberts are so passionate about historic preservation that they’ve restored eight Colorado homes during their 40-year marriage. Their most recent projects—all of which they’ve lived in—include a circa-1947 house in Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood, a vacation mountain home, a downtown Denver historic district loft, and a 1918 home.

☆ A man renovated his wife's crumbling childhood home into a dream property for his five kids and loved it so much he started flipping homes full-time. See inside.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Adam and Jessica Miller purchased Jessica's century-old childhood home for $565,000 in 2020. The Millers embarked on a $200,000 renovation to turn the rundown property into their family home. The project was so successful it launched Adam's career as a full-time home flipper. Jessica, 34, grew up on Union and returning to her childhood neighborhood was a lifelong dream. See how the Millers transformed the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home from a crumbling mansion to a dream property for their family of seven.

☆ Phoenix residents are transforming their homes to save energy and conserve water as climate scientists warn of an ever-worsening crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Its desert climate inspires builders whose designs prioritize conserving both water and energy. A construction worker installing wood-fiber insulation boards over an airtight membrane of the Vali Mews townhouse development in Phoenix. In 2021, of the more than 120,000 Energy Star-certified homes that were built in the US, Arizona built the highest share, 17%, or 20,140 homes. Arizona builders that tout their energy-efficient homes include Fulton Homes, Maracay Homes, and Meritage Homes. Gerald Leenerts used natural Havelock Wool insulation for his accessory dwelling unit instead of spray foam or fiberglass insulation.

☆ Mexicans Rally Nationwide Against President’s Electoral Overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Juan Montes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protestors say that the Mexican president’s overhaul of election systems threatens democracy. MEXICO CITY—Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans rallied across the country for the second time in less than four months against President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ’s overhaul of the country’s independent election agency, saying it will cripple its ability to organize next year’s presidential election. In one of the largest protests against Mr. López Obrador’s administration, more than 150,000 demonstrators filled Mexico’s large Zócalo square and adjacent streets in the historic district of the country’s capital, a senior police official said. Protesters waved flags, umbrellas and banners with the distinctive pink colors of the National Electoral Institute, also known as INE. Others wore pink caps and clothes.

☆ UAE museum unveils Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust in tolerance push
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Bushra Shakhshir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Visitors attend an event commemorating the Holocaust, in which a 16th century Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust was officially unveiled, at Crossroad of Civilizations Museum, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 28, 2023. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai's historic district, said the display, unveiled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day would help combat "big denial" of the Holocaust in the region. The scroll is on permanent loan to the museum from the Memorial Scrolls Trust, which looks after more than 1,000 Czech scrolls saved from the Holocaust and later sent to London. "I lived in the Arab world when I was young, and the term Holocaust does not exist ... Reporting by Bushra Shakhshir and Abdel Hadi Ramahi; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Saudi Rave Sparks Debate Over Kingdom’s Cultural Transformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Donna Abdulaziz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Al-Balad, the historic district of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was the site of a music festival. JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia—Pulsating purple lights played across the traditional coral stone- and-wood facades of buildings in the center of this ancient Saudi port city on the Red Sea while electronic music boomed and young men and women in jeans and glittery tops danced with glow sticks. The recent musical festival in Jeddah’s Al-Balad neighborhood drew an audience of around 25,000 celebrating young people. It also stirred criticism of a rapid cultural shift in the kingdom being pushed by its day-to-day ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman .

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☆ 36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ariel Felton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

There is more to Savannah than its alluring green spaces and centuries-old Colonial, Georgian and Greek Revival architecture. In recent years, tour guides at places like the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters are focusing more on the stories of enslaved people, offering visitors a fuller historical picture. Savannah is also a beacon for young creatives, thanks in part to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and the city now has many contemporary galleries as well as newer, locally focused artist hubs like Sulfur Studios. Venture outside of the Historic District, too: In the city’s east and west, you can find a variety of Black- and immigrant-owned restaurants and bars; and the up-and-coming Starland District has plenty of attractions. But be warned — it’s not uncommon for visitors to fall in love with the city and become locals.

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