2025-06-09 “Quick Lunch” by Hannah (born 2002)

2025-06-09 QUICK LUNCH by Hannah (born 2002)—Good afternoon from the sliver of time I have between that earlier thing and the next one! Grabbing lunch, completely replete with deliciousness and loads of things doctors don’t recommend.

I’m in Queens double-checking markups on an old blueprint for one client and having a face-to-face “what do you exactly want?” meeting with another. Liza McDuffy (she’s still interning at NYC SysCo) is with me. She snapped the photo and said I should post it.

Just to catch up, Devon’s first term at Columbia went well. He’s also interning at NYC SysCo, and is in fact out in the field with Merritt today. 

Meanwhile, Merritt and I are knocking off criteria for our NY Engineering licenses. 

Things with the Humanity Housing program we’re starting up (Stop-Gap Housing) are moving quickly. Tom has lined up a property and the blueprints are approved. It’s in the hands of the General Contractor now, who is starting the permit-pulling process.

And… as for General Contractor details…

You may recall that Shay Ryder’s mother, Carol, has injected herself into the Stop-Gap Housing project. She has all but forced Kent (who was glad, but surprised) into the process of getting a General Contractor license. You’ll recall that he’s a licensed electrician with his own company. 

Carol is using her assets and connections to (her words) hurry Kent along!

Getting licensed as a general contractor in NYC isn’t something that happens overnight. First, you’ve gotta set up a legitimate business—Kent’s got that done. Then, there’s a $20,000 bond. Carol… even though we have plenty of money from Traveling Friends LLC…

After that, you submit everything to the Department of Buildings and wait. If you’re organized, the whole thing might take four months start to finish, but realistically—especially if you hit any snags with insurance or business filings—it can take closer to a year. 

Kent’s already got the experience and a solid reputation, so that helps. And Carol is making sure there are no snags.

So… that’s happening.