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If they want to concentrate on other areas they should not call themselves Gia Gelato, it's confusing. Hearing only the name I am thinking of a gelataria-- a place that only sells Gelato, made fresh daily. Not a sandwich shop that happens to have shipped in gelato.

And there is a huge difference in high quality, freshly made gelato versus mass produced, vendor gelato-- anyone who has been to Italy knows this. Oh well, it's for the best-- if this place were a real gelataria and more convenient to the main downtown area I'd probably frequent it far too often.

I was very disappointed to read that they get their gelato from a vendor instead of making it themselves.
Not only that, it's clearly not some niche artisan vendor-- the owners bragged that their vendor makes over 600 flavors. Why would I go to a Gelato shop for gelato that is not freshly made there? I'd rather buy Ciao Bella from the bodega or make my own gelato (I have a high end machine). It's too bad I hope the owners reconsider and learn how to make their own gelato.

The vets around downtown are terrible. I researched vets extensively and found an excellent one only a few minutes walk from the wtc path station in TriBeCa.
Reade Street Animal Hospital. Dr. Mary Xanthos is excellent and very intuitive-- she will not order unnecessary tests. My chihuahua was misdiagnosed with a collapsed trachea elsewhere and Dr. Xanthos immediately figured out that diagnosis was incorrect and took our dog off the medication. I would not go anywhere else.

I am surprised you think a boarding facility is some wonderful alternative. Do you think your dog won't miss you while it's sitting in a cage all night all alone? My dog only stays with relatives.

Thanks Russ-- the studios there look very nice but we are looking only for studios walking distance from the downtown area.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am researching for a friend and she needs sprung/marley floors and mirrored walls, so a gym wouldn't really work. There are so many dance studio rentals in NYC, I thought JC would be a good (cheaper) alternative, but maybe not. For an area with such a strong arts community, I am surprised that there aren't any adult dance lessons (ballet, modern) offered here at all. I thought my friend might be able to fill a gap, but maybe the reason there aren't any such classes is because the interest level is not strong enough locally.

Does anyone know if there are dances studio spaces available to rent (and prices?) in the downtown/Paulus Hook or Hamilton Park area? Looking for space suitable for small classes or private lessons. I was surprised I couldn't find anything searching online.

Don't take it out on the poor chihuahua. Despite what people here may believe, chihuahuas are NOT naturally yappy, they are very spirited dogs, but quiet in general. There is clearly something wrong with the owner that this poor chihuahua is in such distress. If you see this owner you may want to question what he or she is doing to put the poor chi in such an unhappy, friendly state.

If so, please PM me, thanks!

Thanks JC Newbie-- I've been doing my privates with Morgan and I agree she is great. Very happy with everything so far, I'm so glad we can get such quality instruction in the neighborhood.

I see from your website you have a dance school, but I only see children mentioned. Will you offer adult beginner ballet classes? I would love to see that as I have to go into nyc now for classes (which I take 4x/week). There is nothing available in the area at all.

Thanks for the recommendations! Since I have a difficult time isolating muscles, I really need the machines I think-- so it sounds like Project Pilates would be a better fit, at least until I learn more. I signed up for their intro privates package, I am really hoping it works for me. About how long before one can expect to see results (by results, I mean a significant strength increase in the core).

I am a newbie to Pilates and was hoping for someone with experience in Pilates, preferably who has been to Pilates Haus and/or Project Pilates at HHF, to provide some recommendations. Do you recommend one studio over the other, are there particular classes or instructors who are better than others?
I had a disappointing experience at a NYC Pilates studio so I was hoping for a little guidance this time.

Thanks!

Trupanion. I did tons of research. You can keep your deductible high so it only kicks in for serious issues (over $500) if you want to save on monthly premiums. It doesn't cover exams, teeth cleaning-- but you don't need pet insurance for run of the mill stuff-- like the poster above commented, it will cover crazy high costs. The best part of Trupanion (unlike other insurance) is that it pays 90% of the actual vet bill-- NOT the "reasonable rate" as VPI does. That means if something serious happens you can go to AMC in NYC, one of the best pet hospitals in the country, and have top of line pet surgeons attend to your dog and not worry about the cost. It's best to get your pet insured before they get too old-- your premium does not go up with age, but is initially based on the age of your pet. I signed up this November for my 8 year old chihuahua-- no major issues yet thankfully.

As someone who lives two doors down from the firehouse, I am pleased to see how unobstrusive the crew/crowds have been. They are confining onlookers to the opposite side of the street (in front of a commerical building). Even if they are in the middle of filming something, I've never been prevented from walking directly down the sidewalk to my apartment. The police officers are very cordial and there is no question the block is very safe (same block where a woman was robbed at knifepoint not too long ago).
And to the neighbor who was worried about being caught on film-- they can't use your image in any recognizable manner unless you sign a consent form, so no worries there.

PattyB could you please be considerate of what you post on your public blog? While you only travel the block to pick up your son, I live practicallly next door to the firehouse. I really don't care about what the actual women in the show are doing, I am concerned though about hordes of people learning when they are filming and gathering in front of my building. Please keep identifying information away from where we live.

Re: Downtown Vets-- they will not give an outside service like PetMeds a prescription over the phone. They will only gave you a paper script that you need to mail in. This was even after I called them mulitple times and they "promised" to provide the script to PetMeds. PetMeds told me unscrupulous vet offices often do not provide the scripts so you will be forced to purchase the medicine from the office at an inflated price.
Although I've like some of the doctors I've worked with there, overall, they are subpar. After my chihuahua had a shot there, she developed a bump in the spot. The doctor insisted on performing a biopsy on the bump instead of considering the obvious explanation that it was a temporary side effect of the shot (which I later learned via google). She also put a plastic cone around my 3 pound, timid chihuahua's head while she was examining her so she "wouldn't bite". It is pretty obvious looking at my sweet trembling chi that she is incapable of biting, and if she did it would feel like a mosquito bite, so this whole song and dance with the cone was odd-- no vet has EVER done this before.
Unnecessary trauma and expense, but the doctor was able to charge more fees for the "service". I have given up on the convenience and now go into NYC.

Of course smoke can travel through your window. The people in the apartment downstairs from us smoke in front of their apartment on the sidewalk and it comes right through our open windows.

Although my BF goes here all the time with no problems, the ones time I used the place on Columbus right next to Shampoo-- the place they send out to WASHED my wool work dress ($400) and shrunk it instead of dry cleaning it as I asked. They attempted to stretch it out but did not offer me any compensation-- it's totally misshapen and worthless. This was my one experience and my last. They may be fine with men's clothing but I would never ever trust them for my stuff again. If anyone knows a downtown area dry cleaner where they do the work on the premises, I find these are the most trustworthy.

I was just walking down Mercer street walking my very small chihuahua down the middle of the sidewalk when a 12 inch piece of 4x4 wood block (with a couple of rusty nails poking out) landed within inches of my dog. I looked up and saw an elderly woman wearing a long purple housecoat standing at the top of the stoop at apartment building #60 (close to Barrow). The woman ranted on nonsensically about how we should never come back, that she had allergies, and on and on. I scooped my dog up and moved away and tried to talk to her but it was pretty clear that she is mentally disturbed. I heard she shortly thereafter retrieved the block and tried to throw it at a couple, accusing them of breaking her windows. I called the police who arrived pretty quickly-- they were familiar with the woman and took away the wood block. I've walked down this block hundreds of times and have never seen her before (she has apparently lived there for a long time) so this may be a one off event, but I just wanted to warn others to be on the lookout just in case.

I am thrilled to report that since my last post a few days ago, two of the worst offenders on my block have actually cleaned up their sidewalks-- even the dirt surrounding the trees has been kicked up and cleaned out-- this was always the worst part. I can't say they were reading this post as this may be some spring cleaning that was put off, but I am pleased nonetheless.

There is still more to go, so I am compiling as list of repeat offenders in the immediate downtown Grove Street area who have glass ridden sidewalks/trees (as opposed to just trash). I am submitting this list to the appropriate enforcement authority-- if you know of any addresses in violation in this area please post or pm me and I will check it out and add to my list.

Thank you for posting-- just because something is not the biggest issue does not mean it should not be addressed. I just spent the last couple of weeks in Italy-- the police uniforms there were extremely well tailored and perfectly pressed-- they looked fantastic. You could tell they took great pride in their appearance. I would love to see some of that pride-- and less of the arrogance-- here.

Thank you Vigilante for the ordinance-- very helpful! Also thanks to you and other responsible owners who keep their sidewalks clean, we appreciate it!

Moved from the suburbs?? What an odd comment-- I lived in Manhattan for 10 years and never experienced the level of trash/broken glass I see here. But as an aside, I thought it was strange that my comment would lead someone to conclude that I must have moved from the suburbs-- who moves to JC from the suburbs? Isn't the reverse far more true?

To the person who thinks I should spend my precious free time when I am not working volunteering to clean up other people's broken glass-- I don't think so. I would be happy to lead an effort to require the people who are responsible (the building owners it seems?) to keep their sidewalks clean and safe-- why should I do it for them? Is there an ordinance anyone can point me to on this so I can see what to cite to for violations?

I am getting tired of trying to walk my dog around the shards of glass everywhere-- on Grove, Mercer, Wayne etc. The broken glass surrounds every tree and also spills out onto the sidewalks. My dog has stepped on glass before and hurt her tiny paws. What do people do, smash bottles everywhere? I just don't understand and it seems to be getting worse-- I don't recall it being this bad last summer. Does anyone know who is responsible for cleaning sidewalks-- is it the building owners or the city?

I thought I would let those know who may be as naive as I was...the "free" two strategy and execution sessions with a personal trainer Club H offers are in no way anything but a hard sell to get you to retain the very expensive personal trainer services. I mistakenly thought the sessions were to show me how to use the weight machines, as I requested. No. The entire first session was spent giving me an "assessment" to demonstrate how badly I needed the trainer's services, questions about my calendar and how many sessions a week I could book. When I finally indicated following the "strategy" session that I was not interested in paying for training sessions, the free "execution" session offer was withdrawn. If you are not committed to signing up with a trainer, I would recommend skipping these "free" sessions as that is really the only purpose of the sessions. You will not be shown anything you can use on your own in the gym (at least not with the trainer I worked with).

Great question, no I'm not a pain in the *** who ruins everyone's dinner out. I actually cook at home most of the time and try to stick to fish when out, but I don't drive myself insane with it, I just do the best I can. And you are absolutely right-- it is pretty hard to eat out and eat humanely-- which is not the same thing as organic-- organic won't be raised in factory conditions, but surprisingly, it does not mean free roaming, and even free roaming does not necessarily mean pasture raised. The whole thing is terribly confusing as there are no consistent labels-- one reason I appreciate Whole Foods is that they have a new system where they label, 1-5 (5 is best), how humanely raised a particular product is. You can buy grass fed beef raised in NJ that is a #4. Chicken is another story-- their highest is a #2-- I can't recall exactly what it meant, something like access to outdoors, but not necessarily taking advantage of the access. The meat guy said they hoped consumer demand would drive the suppliers' practices farther up the scale than they are currently willing to provide.
I would love to find a local farm and just buy from there (provided I don't have to purchase huge amounts in bulk to store in my tiny freezer). If anyone has any ideas please post.
I haven't been to the fake coop store (because it rankles me) but I would bite the bullet and even overpay if they can get something better than what is available from Whole Foods.

And sorry for the bad link in my last post, just google, "No Face, but Plants Like Life too" and NY Times (from March 14) and send to your favorite vegetarian. Perhaps they would like to consider fruitarianism, at least the subset that only eat fallen fruit.

You're right-- I absolutely do feel better about eating animals that have been treated humanely-- I think animals are part of the food chain and am not a vegan at all (who are mistaken if they think plants do not also feel pain http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/science/15food.html). However, all animals deserve to be treated with respect, even those that eventually become part of the food chain.
I know my cow/chicken had a happy life roaming a pasture while yours was squashed in a little pen where it could not move, eating god knows what and shot up with antibiotics from all the diseases. But hey, you saved a couple bucks. Enjoy!

I didn't realize status had anything to do with the interest in humanely raised meat and animal welfare, which is the only reason I shop at Whole Foods. If you would prefer to support mass market farming where animals are confined to tiny cages and live miserable, stress filled lives go right ahead-- while it may say something about you, that does not place you in any particular level of status. I don't accept that people cannot "afford" humanely raised meats either, it is simply a matter of prioritizing what's important to you.

I saw a message running on the Path train today indicating delivery was available from the Tribeca Whole Foods to Jersey City-- but did not see the details. Does anyone have more information on how it works?