tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post1610812075242254594..comments2023-04-01T06:34:38.141-05:00Comments on Hyde Park Progress: NIMBY's Corner: Deconstructing Hanschicago pophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17055796523227869734noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-67835531880126716022008-11-17T00:49:00.000-06:002008-11-17T00:49:00.000-06:00Re: the PubI got my new annual membership in Sept....Re: the Pub<BR/><BR/>I got my new annual membership in Sept. for $5, but the price has since gone up to $10. Worse, though, is that the one-time cover charge fees have risen from $1 to $3! Anyone know the who made this change and why? (obviously for more money, but...) Though I love the beer selection at the Pub, when I go out with non-pub member friends it'll probably be to Jimmy's, since they won't have to spend the price of a drink on admission...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16436516480877225896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-27839415411615861822008-11-16T23:22:00.000-06:002008-11-16T23:22:00.000-06:00'smart guy' was in air quotes. Hans is coasting in...'smart guy' was in air quotes. Hans is coasting in Hyde Park. He has taken his toys and decided that it is better to invest elsewhere (downstate) rather than to reinvest it in this community. Making beds and lying in them is a decision that we all must make. Sometimes the decisions made are head scratchers.Zig and Louhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07437539835562937888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-90854585336929260772008-11-16T20:31:00.000-06:002008-11-16T20:31:00.000-06:00Zig and Lou said... Hans is a smart guy, any thoug...<I>Zig and Lou said... Hans is a smart guy, any thought that he is managing the Pub out of any sort of "charity" is nonsense.</I><BR/><BR/>Hans may be a smart guy, but he apparently thinks everybody else is kind of dumb, if he expects them to accept his epistles to the little people of HP as the received truth.David Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470344472613171012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-33703924878197206392008-11-16T01:34:00.000-06:002008-11-16T01:34:00.000-06:00I have never understood Hans' obsession with bashi...I have never understood Hans' obsession with bashing the University at every opportunity. Would the Med even exist if it weren't for the steady stream of U students flush with loan and grant money?<BR/><BR/>I miss the Pub. Haven't been in since I lost contact with my last alumnus-friend. They used to be pretty slack about checking people for Uni IDs but last I heard that was all over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-22950111765694103862008-11-15T23:24:00.000-06:002008-11-15T23:24:00.000-06:00I agree with you that the Pub has not ben the same...I agree with you that the Pub has not ben the same without Victor the Elder. As a "club" the Pub must belong to the University and it would seem that Hans is simply a tenant manager. Perhaps Hans is no longer motivated by offering a quality product and experience and is simply 'phoning it in" at the Pub. It would seem that the patrons of the Pub deserve much more. Maybe he is tired, maybe it is time for a change. Perhaps a new, and more interesting menu would be in order. Wing Night must stay though. Hans is a smart guy, any thought that he is managing the Pub out of any sort of "charity" is nonsense.Zig and Louhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07437539835562937888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-44549093470900164172008-11-15T20:56:00.000-06:002008-11-15T20:56:00.000-06:00The Pub is actually a private club - I dunno how t...The Pub is actually a private club - I dunno how the contract works. And it also closes periodically when the University is on break.<BR/><BR/>When Hans was publishing broadsides against the University during the "Stay Up 4 Ever" debacle (does anybody remember that?) he as much as claimed he only ran the pub as a charitable cause out of the goodness of his heart. Perhaps he would be eager to turn it over to someone else. The truth may be otherwise.<BR/><BR/>To my tastes, The Pub has a superior menu to the Med (plus it has ... beer ... lots of beer), but the kitchen is upstairs. Hans periodically decides to close the down the kitchen and serves crap bar food. Anybody who simply promises to keep the kitchen open gets my vote.<BR/><BR/>Some people think The Pub hasn't been the same since Victor retired.David Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470344472613171012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-31862026472928346282008-11-15T16:21:00.000-06:002008-11-15T16:21:00.000-06:00And about that Pub contract with the University......And about that Pub contract with the University... is that forever? How would one go about competing for such a contract? Just wondering...Zig and Louhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07437539835562937888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-58163548554273451272008-11-15T15:58:00.000-06:002008-11-15T15:58:00.000-06:00Everybody here is aware that Hans runs The Pub at ...Everybody here is aware that Hans runs The Pub at the University, too, right?<BR/><BR/>I still go there. Fancy Belgian ales are thicker than parking.David Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470344472613171012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-68147499922090595522008-11-15T14:14:00.000-06:002008-11-15T14:14:00.000-06:00I wonder if everyone who voted to dry up the 39th ...I wonder if everyone who voted to dry up the 39th precinct (that is, who voted for <I>stagnation</I>), voted for Obama for "change."Elizabeth Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04931639156261179425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-38142371592831721752008-11-15T13:07:00.000-06:002008-11-15T13:07:00.000-06:00I wonder how the dry-precinct people would have re...<I>I wonder how the dry-precinct people would have reacted a year ago if someone had sketched out for them what life is like with a future President living in the neighborhood</I><BR/><BR/>I'm sure they would have pushed for a zoning change that would have made it impossible for a President to live in the 4th or 5th Wards, and demanded a full-blown, taxpayer-funded parking study from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the F.B.I., and the State Department, which would of course confirm that that things in Hyde Park would change if Obama were elected, and that you should therefore vote for McCain.chicago pophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055796523227869734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-39716710561646306352008-11-15T13:03:00.000-06:002008-11-15T13:03:00.000-06:00One of my fellow bloggers suggests that the Univer...One of my fellow bloggers suggests that the University of Chicago should drop any future catering contracts with Morsbach's restaurant.<BR/><BR/>I say: Here, here.chicago pophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055796523227869734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-78682480467583827472008-11-15T00:40:00.000-06:002008-11-15T00:40:00.000-06:00I wonder how the dry-precinct people would have re...I wonder how the dry-precinct people would have reacted a year ago if someone had sketched out for them what life is like with a future President living in the neighborhood, with all the security entourage that entails-- what kind of referendum would they have sought to have on the ballot?susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03010924159038600405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-78846318918711029522008-11-14T22:33:00.000-06:002008-11-14T22:33:00.000-06:00C.Pop said, "And of course, plucking Hebraic analo...<I>C.Pop said, "And of course, plucking Hebraic analogies from the Pentateuch is risky business..."</I><BR/><BR/>And if you look in the Tanakh for your analogies instead of the Pentateuch you find ... the golden hemorrhoids. There for the taking. But I object to all the name-calling, of course.David Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470344472613171012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-43944032722612837962008-11-14T20:18:00.000-06:002008-11-14T20:18:00.000-06:00...let us not ignore Greg Lane's phony comparison ...<I>...let us not ignore Greg Lane's phony comparison of the dry-precinct promoters to David and the U of C to Goliath</I><BR/><BR/>Remove the flattering rhetoric, and what you have are two groups of about 250 residents of the 39th Precinct each, both with their own Goliath/Proxy supporting their activities.<BR/><BR/>You could call it Goliath vs. Goliath. Except one Goliath actually lives in the neighborhood.<BR/><BR/>Much less glamorous that way.<BR/><BR/>And of course, plucking Hebraic analogies from the Pentateuch is risky business: Greg Lane may like the flattering comparison with King David, but he might not like to contemplate the destruction of the Second Temple.chicago pophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055796523227869734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-47050457875948886922008-11-14T19:57:00.000-06:002008-11-14T19:57:00.000-06:00Let's face it, that bunch who pushed for the dry p...Let's face it, that bunch who pushed for the dry precinct will do anything, say anything to get what they want for themselves, and they don't care who they snooker into going along with them, nor do they care what damage they do to the rest of the neighborhood. Morsbach's self-serving letter in the Herald proves that. <BR/><BR/>Also, let us not ignore Greg Lane's phony comparison of the dry-precinct promoters to David and the U of C to Goliath (Herald, Nov. 12, p.2). The dry-promoters had the whole Unite Here labor union bankrolling the effort, and threatening the Alderman to boot. The residents didn't pull it off. The union did it by steamrolling it.Richard Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02773215580457414540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-60693542362095180082008-11-14T19:34:00.000-06:002008-11-14T19:34:00.000-06:00For most of its life, Doctors Hospital was a worki...<I>For most of its life, Doctors Hospital was a working hospital, and all of the parking and infrastructure objections are moot - what is being defended is the abnormal.</I><BR/><BR/>That is a most illuminating point. Maybe one of the most powerful I've come across. The baseline of comparison that a lot of hotel opponents may be working off of is certainly not normal. And no one seems to have noticed anything being different when the hospital was actually in business.<BR/><BR/>That is telling.chicago pophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055796523227869734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186587935097536129.post-47598180423255104202008-11-14T17:26:00.000-06:002008-11-14T17:26:00.000-06:00Reading between the lines of Hans's letter, it's c...Reading between the lines of Hans's letter, it's clear that a vacant building is the preferred long-term solution. In most neighborhoods, people do not want vacant buildings and empty lots, because it implies nothing good. But in Hyde Park, people can have their cake and eat it, too, because they can thumb their noses and block anybody's plans, and then bask in the security of round-the-clock protection from UCPD. And it's especially good if the plans they block are the University's - that's sticking it to them. This is just not a normal situation. For most of its life, Doctors Hospital was a working hospital, and all of the parking and infrastructure objections are moot - what is being defended is the abnormal.<BR/><BR/>I interpret all the various reasons and explanations in that letter as, "So much for that plan. Oh, but we really do want a hotel there - ha-ha. Now suggest something else, and watch us peck it to death with objections, demands for study after study, unworkable alternative plans, and things you can't even imagine. Not interested? Oh, too bad - I guess it will just have to stay the way it is." <BR/><BR/>Didn't the St. Stephens developer finally give it up when he met every objection to his plans, and then the neighbors started demanding changes to the interior design?David Farleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13470344472613171012noreply@blogger.com