Hell's Kitchen duo turns 500-square-foot pad into posh sanctuary

The endlessly entertaining, delightfully distracting 500 square feet apartment of Duane Bousfield and Juan Carlos Rojas simultaneously evokes a casbah, Catholic cathedral and Zen sanctuary. Elaborately embellished crystal chandeliers illumine lushly layered Oriental carpets. An astonishing collection of hand-carved wood friezes, pediments, corbels and mouldings garnish varicolored walls between Bousfield's abstract surrealist paintings, curios, glittering jewelry and antique tiles.

"If it's not moving - decorate it," is Bousfield's motto.

The visitor is so dazzled by the opulent opium den décor she doesn't realize that the tiny Hell's Kitchen tenement apartment is really an ingeniously designed funhouse to accommodate - and conceal - the overflowing lives of two busy New Yorkers.

It's possible to curate amazing collections in tiny spaces as long as you are mindful of every addition's "foot print," explained Bousfield, an artist and art consultant. (Rojas, who provided most of the antique rugs and textiles, works as a home health aide.) "A lamp has a foot print (takes up floor or table space) so - no lamps! If you can hang it on a wall or hang it from the ceiling, it's so much easier to find space for it," Bousfield explained.

Too, it helps to analyze one's space and "find little spaces to put shelves in. It's really about finding little pockets," such as niches above door lintels that make nifty shelving to keep all the items of daily life, said Bousfield.

The 1870s-era tenement may lack lamps, but it doesn't lack for lights: Rojas and Bousfield have rigged up ingenious grow lights under shelves - and disguised by gorgeously carved ornamental pediments - to coax begonias, African violets and orchids into bloom or with fluorescents to provide spot-lighting.

The antique chandelier in the main living area looks of a piece, but is actually festooned with "30 extra pieces" of pendants and prisms." The bedroom chandelier - purchased at the Hotel Intercontinental's going-out-of-business sale - is similarly augmented. "It needed to be fuller," Bousfield shrugged.

Here are some of Rojas's and Bousfield's space-saving strategies for their tenement apartment:

A front-opening chest is the base for a giant Chinese cupboard that conceals regularly used kitchen appliances. On top of that are Chinese boxes that hold Christmas decorations. "There's a place for everything and everything is in its place," said Bousfield.

Hide the "functional objects" like foodstuffs, clothes, and tools. Sweeping keys and tchotchkes into a decorative lacquer box, 1940s chiffarobe, or designated drawer, eliminates clutter.

Bousfield and Rojas priced out a Home Depot closet at "several hundred bucks," but instead opted for two sliding Chinese temple doors found in a Queens warehouse at $100 a pop. They slapped little wheels on the bottom and built a closet around them with tracks on the bottom. "We added a book case on the end for stability" that also provided extra storage, Bousfield noted.

Measure the places where you need a piece of furniture and keep the specs with you while shopping stores and flea markets.

The men's collection of Imari and fancy dinner ware is in a screened hutch in the bedroom. Why? The hutch's height was just right for a needed bed stand but the dimensions inside were perfect for the Sunday dishware. Bathroom products and medications are in a retro Malibu cupboard next to the only sink (a double one) in the apartment. A huge wooden candlestick serves as a hat rack in the ante room.

Twenty-five and true

“Rick Santorum wins Alabama’s Republican primary.” I slightly cringed as Andrea Lindenberg of Alabama’s 13 News informed me that the ‘true conservative’ had won my state’s support. Oddly enough, four years ago this same report would have made me smile rather than cringe. Four years ago I was twenty-one years old. Four years ago I lived in Mobile, Alabama. Four years ago I also was a conservative, but perhaps not as ‘true’ as Mr. Santorum.

It was November 4, 2008: Election Day. I stepped out of my 1940s, historic Mobile apartment, locked my door and walked across the seafoam green painted deck. My assigned voting poll was less than half a mile away so I had chosen to walk.

The air was crisp as I turned south down Carlen Street toward Clearmont Street. The centuries-old live oak trees draped overhead, Mardi Gras beads from years past still tangled in their branches. They sparkled purple, green and gold in the early morning sun.

I slowly strolled down the sidewalk that had become quite familiar to my feet in a city I had called my home for seventeen years. One must be careful walking down these sidewalks whose once flat cement structure has been broken and lifted by the roots of trees. Trees which were there long before the sidewalks and would be there long after.

I instinctively looked to my right at the Joe Jefferson Playhouse (JJP), a place saturated with fondest childhood memories. The JJP as I knew it stood with its aging bricks and crimson wrought-iron detail.

It stood as the place where I learned not only the lines and songs of the plays I performed in, but the place where I first learned about people who were quite different from me ― people from all different backgrounds and walks of life, many of whom I would not have affiliated with outside of the JJP.

Directly across from the theater stood Murphy High School ― my voting poll. The oldest school in Alabama, originally named Mobile High School, is an impressive building both to the tourist and native. Its tan, Spanish-revival stucco and ceramic tile architecture resemble the historical Alamo. I thought of the Alamo project my father had help me build from cardboard and Styrofoam in fifth grade.

I thought about my last conversation with my father. It was our usual dialogue, him bantering about Barack Obama wanting to turn his beloved country into a “socialist, Islamic mess.” He reminded me that McCain represented our family’s values and beliefs and was the best choice in this election. I recounted this conversation as I entered the arched doorway of my voting poll, signed my name and took my place in line.

I voted Republican straight ticket. I voted as my father would have wanted. I voted the way I had been raised to think.

I walked north up Carlen Street. I did not look at the JJP that represented a time when I had learned to think outside of my family’s views. I looked down at the cracks in the sidewalk, the centuries-old oaks that would be there long after me.

I looked down at my cell phone at a text from my father that read, “Did you vote today?” I text my father back. “Yes. Republican ― straight ticket.” His response ― “I am proud of you.”

As the 2012 Election Day nears, I find myself thinking of this first voting experience. I think how my political views, like those of so many of my peers, were and may still be formed and directed by those of our parents.

Four years later I am twenty-five years old. Four years later, I live in Birmingham, Alabama. Four years later I will be ‘true’ to myself.

Awash in money and piles of debt

The amount of money thrown at rescuing the world economy since the Great Recession began is truly staggering, probably more than US$14 trillion (NZ$17.7 trillion) and the financial spigots are still open.

Industrialised and emerging nations pledged another US$430 billion to boost the International Monetary Fund's lending power this weekend, doubling the size of its crisis-fighting war chest in case Europe's problems worsen and engulf more countries.

Three weeks earlier, European Union leaders set aside US$1 trillion for Europe's bailout fund creating a firewall to prevent the euro zone's sovereign debt woes from spreading.

Major central banks haven't finished pumping money into the global economy either.

The Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday (US time) and the Bank of Japan meets on Friday (Japan time), and their bias toward monetary easing through bond purchases is likely to remain firmly in place. Japan may even ease again to counter deflationary pressures.

The IMF has recommended more action from the European Central Bank, and the People's Bank of China is seen cutting its bank reserve requirements this year to underpin growth.

But can all this money restore growth to robust levels anytime soon?

Government officials and economists point to the same problem: too much debt. Rescue funds and central bank stimulus measures are just keeping the world economy afloat until the hard and painful work of repairing balance sheets gets done.

"The real solution has to do with the fiscal and structural reforms that address the real causes of this crisis, particularly in Europe, but also elsewhere," said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's finance minister and head of the IMF's steering committee.

"The firewall is absolutely essential, but by itself it is not sufficient, and the real solutions require attention."

In 2009, the IMF calculated that official rescue efforts totalled nearly US$12 trillion, and since then the Fed and the ECB have pumped more cash into the economies they oversee.

All of this money - equivalent to the annual output of the U.S. economy or roughly US$2,000 for every man, woman and child on the planet - cushioned the economic blow worldwide from collapsing house prices in the United States and parts of Europe, bank failures and the steep contraction in business and household spending.

Almost four years later, the world economy is expanding at a moderate pace of 3.5 per cent GDP growth this year, by IMF estimates, in line with its average rate of 3.4 per cent between 1994 and 2009.

The U.S. Commerce Department will report its initial estimate of first-quarter economic growth on Friday (US time), and economists polled by Reuters have a median forecast of 2.5 per cent growth in GDP, down from 3.0 per cent the prior period.

To quicken the pace of growth, the increasingly urgent message delivered to finance ministers and central bankers attending three days of IMF/G20 meetings that wrapped up in Washington on Saturday was: Get on with the job of paying down the debt.

The size of that task is daunting.

In the United States, the epicentre of the credit crisis, US$8.3 trillion in household wealth evaporated as housing prices collapsed. While US households are making progress, buoying hopes for a healthy consumer spending rebound this year, David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International, is less optimistic.

He has studied US consumer debt piles and concluded a long and arduous climb still lies ahead. "The lessons of history suggest that the remaining process of healing will likely be measured in years rather than quarters or months."

As for governments, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said since 2008 their debt loads have swollen to 100 per cent of GDP on average in advanced economies.

Reducing public debt to 50 per cent of GDP in 2050, considered a manageable level, would require immediate fiscal tightening equivalent to 12 per cent of GDP in Japan, and 8 per cent in the United States and the UK, it said.

Rats alert as rubbish piles up in missed collections fiasco

Frustrated homeowners yesterday vented their anger at Cornwall Council over the county's continuing rubbish and recycling fiasco.

Cory Environmental took over responsibility to collect rubbish and recyclables from more than 250,000 homes across the county on April 1. The eight-year contract is worth about 125 million.

But the first few weeks of its tenure have been dogged by missed collections, with thousands of complaints flooding in from the length and breadth of the county.

Residents on a housing estate in Launceston said they had been plagued by rats after Cory failed to collect their rubbish for three weeks.

People living on Roydon Lane said they had had no rubbish, recycling or green waste collection since the beginning of the month.

Local Lib-Dem councillor Adam Paynter said: "Sixteen houses have had rubbish piling up.

"I've reported this by email and telephone, but there's been no action.

"I'll now have to call in environmental health as rats have been seen among the black bags."

It has been a similar story for the residents of Lodge Hill, on the outskirts of Liskeard in South East Cornwall.

Neighbours Chris Onions and Jenny Jones said they had been left with two weeks' worth of rubbish after bin men had failed to turn up on the right day and then arrived unannounced when they had taken their black bags in.

Mr Onions, an educational psychologist, said he had spent an hour and 40 minutes on the phone on Tuesday trying to get the problem sorted.

"The phone system in place is not helpful – it's obstructive and designed to hold you up for as long as possible," Mr Onions said.

"It is all very frustrating, particularly when we had a system which worked well."

Mrs Jones added: "I have sent an official complaint by email, but still haven't had any reply. You just can't speak to anyone about it."

Cornwall Council admitted yesterday that it has received more than 7,000 complaints from householders whose refuse or recycling, or both, had not been picked up as scheduled.

Its waste and recycling number has received some 3,200 calls a day since the start of April while many, frustrated at waiting times of about half-an-hour, have called its main customer services number.

Councillor Alex Folkes, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group at County Hall, has called for an inquiry.

He added: "The council needs to stop pretending that this is a few teething problems and start apologising."

A spokesman for Cornwall Council said 7,266 reports of missed collections had been passed on to Cory Environmental.

During the same period it had completed more than 470,000 refuse, recycling, garden waste and clinical waste collections.

He said yesterday: "We are aware that there are still problems in specific areas and are working with Cory Environmental to identify where the problems are occurring and what needs to be done to rectify them.

"A team of officers from the council are working directly with the depot supervisors at Cory to deal with problems using their local knowledge of the area and are prioritising areas that are experiencing repeated missed collections."

Rats are moving in as rubbish piles up

A LAUNCESTON housing estate has been plagued with rats after Cornwall Council failed to collect rubbish for three weeks, say its residents.

Roydon Lane has received no rubbish, recycling or green waste collection since the new contract started on April 1.

Diane Crocker said the situation was ridiculous.

"We telephoned the helpline last week and were promised a collection within 48 hours, but we're still waiting," she said.

Ruth Martin said in 41 years living there she had never known a problem like it.

"I'll be asking for a rebate on my council tax," she said.

Ross Griggs said council leaflets had told them the first collection was due on April 2.

The rubbish has been piling up since, and Mr Griggs said the refuse made "a very unattractive, unhealthy and obstructive selection of garden and pavement features.

"The bin men duly collected refuse from the rest of Roydon Lane but, when challenged, said that they weren't going to collect it as it was supposed to be left down on the road, the houses forming a double terrace serviced by a central footpath at the top of a ramp," he said. "There are actually signs at the bottom of the ramp prohibiting the leaving of rubbish at that point.

"As you can imagine, myself and the other residents of these houses would very much like to see this resolved."

Adam Paynter, Liberal Democrat Cornwall councillor for Launceston North, said: "Sixteen houses have had rubbish piling up."

"I've reported this by e-mail and telephone but there's been no action. I'll now have to call in Environmental Health as rats have been seen amongst the black bags.

"This is yet another disaster caused by the Conservatives at County Hall."

Mr Griggs said they felt adverse publicity was the only way residents could get the service they paid for without facing abuse from council employees who weren't carrying out their job properly.

"There are elderly and disabled people who have to use this narrow path as their main access to the road and the amount of rubbish is becoming a hazard," he said.

Service changes have also led to rubbish piling up at the town's Ridgegrove Estate.

It has large communal bins in which residents put their black bags, and before April they were emptied two to three times a week, with the contractor cleaning and disinfecting them each time.

Lib Dem Alex Folkes, Launceston Central's Cornwall councillor, said the new contract downgraded the service to one collection each week, leaving the bins overflowing.

"According to the officer who told me this, the person in Truro who wrote up the new contract simply 'forgot' that Ridgegrove needed a different type of service," he said.

"I've asked Cornwall Council for an explanation of why the service has been down-graded and for an urgent rethink to restore the previous service, but so far, I've had no answer from any of the key decision-makers.

"It goes to show that Cornwall Council simply didn't understand local needs and was incompetent when it came to writing the new contract. As a result, Ridgegrove residents will suffer." He had asked for an urgent meeting with the relevant officers and Cabinet members, he said.