Twins, but They Don’t Dress Alike

Twins, but They Don’t Dress Alike
THE unique development of one West Side block produced an unusual pair of near-twin buildings. But no matter how far out the windows they stretch, the residents of the Evanston, at 90th and West End, will never be able to see the facade of its mate, the Admaston, at 89th and Broadway.
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After the Civil War, big things were expected of Broadway on the Upper West Side. But exactly what things no one quite knew, and most owners held their properties off the market. Thomas W. Evans was one of these, purchasing the entire block from Broadway to West End, from 89th to 90th, in 1873. Dr. Evans, a dentist practicing in Paris, had become rich while tending to the teeth of Emperor Napoleon III.

Dr. Evans died in 1897, and his estate did not sell the land until after the subway came up Broadway in 1904, with a stop at 91st Street. The Evans block was unusual in that it had not been divided into lots, and in 1909 the investor Robert Emmet Dowling paid $1.25 million for it.

Because of the recent construction of the full-block Apthorp, at 79th, and the Belnord, at 86th, it seemed possible that the Evans block, too, would be the site of a giant courtyard building. But most apartment buildings were built for resale, and the buyers for a single massive structure were necessarily limited. So Dowling sold his property in five pieces, two of the corners to George F. Johnson Jr. and Leopold Kahn, who had already built large apartment houses.

The New York Times predicted Johnson and Kahn would put up “two of the most magnificent apartment houses on the West Side,” and in 1911 they completed the Admaston, at 251 West 89th, and its fraternal twin, the Evanston, diagonally opposite, at 610 West End.

George and Edward Blum designed both, using their trademark Secession-like styling, with hypnotic lacy runs of terra cotta, beige tapestry brick with deep-struck joints, and extensive and inventive use of iron ornament.

The Admaston had no cornice but did have a continuous iron balcony one floor below the roof. The Evanston had a typical projecting cornice, since removed, and a striking, owl-face iron fence around the ground floor, and trapezoidal projecting balconies, still there. The buildings were joined by two other apartment houses, at 89th and West End and at the middle of the block on 89th, and a theater on 90th and Broadway, restricted to four stories in height for the following decade.

A writer for The Times in 1911 regretted Dowling’s decision to divvy up his land, made, he said, at the expense of “working out a harmonious appearance for the entire block.”

The Admaston has stores on Broadway. Perhaps to make up for this indignity, it has one of those sprawling West Side lobbies, easily the equivalent of a three-bedroom apartment. The five- to eight-room apartments there rented early on for $100 to $200 a month. The Evanston had much fancier apartments, including duplexes of up to 10 rooms. One was advertised in The Times for $375 a month.

Census returns for 1920 for the Evanston show mostly clothing and dry goods executives, but there was also a musical contingent, including Julius Witmark, one of the founders of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as Ascap, and George Maxwell, its president.

In 1923 Maxwell was accused in a bizarre case in which scores of anonymous letters mailed to prominent New Yorkers alleged, in what The Times called the “most vulgar and common terms,” intimate relations between Maxwell and various married women. These letters were usually sent to the husbands. Maxwell was indicted, but the case was later dropped. He remained head of Ascap.

Clint Bowyer No. 33 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway

Clint Bowyer No. 33 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA, ROUND TWO: Clint Bowyer returns to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 Menards Chevrolet Impala this weekend for the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Bowyer and the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team started the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season together at Daytona in February. The Emporia, Kan., native collected the team’s first pole this season and finished a close second to teammate Tony Stewart in the No. 4 KHI Chevrolet. The KHI one-two finish, which was the third for the company in Nationwide Series competition, also landed in the record books. Stewart edged the No. 33 by 0.007 seconds, the closest finish in the Nationwide Series at Daytona and the third closest in series’ history.

PROVEN RECORD: In February of 2005, Tony Stewart grabbed KHI’s first win in the Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the No. 33 car. The following year, Stewart not only claimed victory again in the season opener but also gave KHI its first one-two finish as the No. 77 KHI Chevrolet Impala came in second behind the No. 33. Since 2005,KHI has recorded three additional wins, two poles, eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes and led 194 laps at Daytona.

Bowyer also carries a proven record at the Daytona Beach, Fla., facility. The driver started from the pole and led 48 laps en route to winning the July Nationwide Series event in 2009. In addition to a win, he has collected eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes at Daytona. Bowyer has completed 99.9 percent of laps attempted and has an average finishing position of 6.3.

KHI’S FOUR HORSEMEN: KHI will field four entries in Friday night’s race with Bowyer, Stewart in the No. 9 TapouT Chevrolet Impala, Nationwide Series championship contender Elliott Sadler in the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala and KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala which will run a second OneMain Financial paint scheme. These four powerhouse drivers have compiled an impressive set of series stats including 44 starts, seven poles, eight wins, 26 top-five finishes, 31 top-10 finishes and have led 542 laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Max Papis piloted the No. 33 Menards Chevrolet Impala last weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Papis qualified on the outside pole for the 50-lap event, the first of three road course races for the Nationwide Series this season, but a late-race accident left the team with a disappointing 23rd-place finish.

CHASSIS HISTORY: Crew chief David Hyder and the No. 33 Menards crew will unload chassis No. 067 at Daytona. This is the same chassis Bowyer put on the pole and finished second with at Daytona in February. The driver also piloted chassis No. 067 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April. Bowyer started the event from the second position but fell victim to the notorious “big one” at the 2.66-mile track. The KHI team ultimately brought home a 22nd-place finish.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: CLINT BOWYER

What are your thoughts as you look ahead to this weekend at Daytona?

“Daytona is what NASCAR is all about. It started there, and it means so much to be able to go and compete and it’s just such an awesome race track. We were so close to winning in February with this No. 33 KHI team. We had some tough breaks and got involved in accidents while running up front at Talladega [Superspeedway] in April, and then at Dover [International Speedway] in May. I’m looking forward to being back with the KHI guys, and I really want to get this Menards Chevy in victory lane and get another win at Daytona.”

About Menards:

With 263 stores in 13 Midwestern states, Menards has the tools, materials and supplies for all your home improvement needs whether just needing a light bulb or can of paint to building a deck or new home. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader; it’s no wonder their famous slogan – “SAVE BIG MONEY” – is so widely known and easy to remember. Menards does things right – the company’s strength and success can be seen in the well-stocked and maintained stores, the lowest prices in town and the way guests are always treated like family in a hometown hardware store atmosphere.

Goleta Companies Get Major Federal Cash for Lighting Projects

Goleta Companies Get Major Federal Cash for Lighting Projects
As California moves to phase out incandescent bulbs, two Goleta semiconductor companies have received more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop energy efficient LED light sources.

Cree, Inc. (whose headquarters is in Durham, North Carolina but has a technology center for research and development on Storke Road in Goleta) received $1.6 million to fund high-output LED packages. The Goleta-based Soraa, Inc. was awarded $678,000 to develop high-output LEDs.

“These investments in cutting-edge lighting technologies will support American innovation, create new manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers, and help ensure that the United States leads the world in this rapidly evolving industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu in a statement.

Cree, Inc. and Soraa, Inc. were selected as grant recipients after submitting their project proposals to the Department of Energy.

Monica Hansen, a research scientist for Cree, Inc., said that the grant reaffirms her company’s commitment to making energy inefficient lighting obsolete. “We are confident we will gain successful technology out of [the award money] that will go into our future projects,” said Hansen.

The awards to Cree, Inc. and Soraa, Inc. are part of a $15 million funding effort by the Department of Energy to accelerate the development of energy efficient lighting projects by companies in California, New York, Arizona, and North Carolina.

The funding comes during a federal push to phase out incandescent bulbs in favor of lighting sources such LEDs, which have been shown to be ten times more energy efficient and last 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 called for the elimination of most incandescent bulbs by 2014. It allowed California to begin phasing out 100-watt incandescent bulbs early this year—a full year before many other states will be required to phase out the energy inefficient bulbs.

UPDATE 1-Rubicon Technology cuts Q2 outlook on higher taxes

Rubicon Technology Inc , which makes sapphire substrates for the light-emitting diode (LED) market, lowered its second-quarter earnings outlook citing higher tax rates.

In its second quarter, Rubicon, expects to earn 53-55 cents a share, down from its previous outlook of 82-86 cents a share, as the company begins accruing federal income tax this quarter.

However, the company said it expects second-quarter revenue to be at the high end of its forecast of $40-$43 million range.

Analysts, on average, are expecting the company to post earnings of 74 cents a share, excluding items, on sales of $43 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company, whose rivals include Cree Inc and Veeco Instruments Inc , posted first-quarter results last month which blew past analysts' estimates and its revenue more than doubled to $38 million.

Franklin Park, Illinois-based Rubicon's shares closed at $18.80 on Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Aditi Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

it said in yesterday’s statement

Osram Korea Co. and two Korean sales agents of the German lighting maker were sued, Samsung LED Co. said on its website yesterday. The eight patents related to the suit include LED and packaging technology used in lighting such as headlights, Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung LED said. A spokesperson at Osram’s office in Seoul wasn’t immediately available for comment, and calls to the office in Hong Kong went unanswered.

The lawsuits, filed with the Seoul Central District Court on June 10, were in response to Osram’s complaints in the U.S. and Germany against Samsung over LED technology, Samsung LED said. The Korean company said June 8 it never infringed Osram’s LED lighting patents. Osram also filed complaints against LG Electronics Inc. (066570) over the LED technology used in televisions and lighting products.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.4 percent to 848,000 won as of 11 a.m. on the Korea Exchange. Siemens dropped 1.9 percent to 89.46 euros in German trading on June 10. Samsung LED and Osram aren’t listed.

Samsung LED is seeking a halt to the unauthorized use of its intellectual property and monetary damages, it said in yesterday’s statement, without specifying an amount. The Korean company said it plans to file more lawsuits against Osram in the U.S. and other overseas markets as “soon as possible.”

Samsung LED has about 700 U.S. patents and patent applications and about 2,000 Korean patents and applications, according to the statement.

IIMF Says Sophisticated Cyber Attack Led to ‘Very Major Breach’

The New York Times reports that the International Monetary Fund [IMF], still struggling to find a replacement by June 30 for its former chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn [DSK], who resigned right after his arrest on sexual assault charges in New York, was hit recently by what computer experts call “a large and complicated cyberattack whose dimensions are still not known.”

The IMF, which handles financial crises around the globe and is the database of highly sensitive information regarding the monetary condition of its 187 member nations, informed its board of directors about the attack on Wednesday. But it didn’t make a public statement.

A number of senior officials with knowledge of the matter told the Times that the attack was equally sophisticated and serious. “This was a very major breach,” said one official, who asserted it had taken place during the last several months, even before DSK was arrested.

Asked about the actual reports of the computer attack late Friday, a spokesman for the Washington-based fund, David Hawley, declined to offer information or discuss the scope or dynamics of the breach.

“We are investigating an incident, and the fund is completely functional,” he said.

Because the fund continues to be at the center of economic bailout programs for Portugal, Greece, Ireland and now possibly Spain – and possesses very sensitive data on other nations which may be on the verge of crisis – its database, notes the Times, contains information that could be used to influence or trade currencies, bonds and other financial instruments in major exchanges around the world.

Earlier this month, the IMF said it had taken safety measures after hacktivist group known as “Anonymous” indicated its hackers would target the IMF web site in reaction to the rigorous austerity measures in its rescue package for Greece.