Happy Saturday everyone!
We have another amazing video for all of you this weekend. It’s another cool one from IrixGuy – this time’s he’s flying high above Caneel Bay and Honeymoon Beach. Check it out:
north shore
Fined Denis Bay Property Owner Featured in Architectural Digest
So back in January, we told you how Architectural Digest was planning to name Tony Ingrao to its 2014 AD100 list. For those of you not familiar with this list, it honors people it deems to be “the world’s best interior designers and architects.” And for those of you unfamiliar with Tony Ingrao, he’s the property owner in Denis Bay who was fined last year for building on and altering land owned by the National Park Service.
Take a moment to digest that if you will…
Not only has Architectural Digest honored Ingrao for his design and architectural skills, it also devoted an eight-page spread to his Denis Bay home in its 2014 issue – the same Denis Bay home that created an eyesore on the North Shore. But what riles me up the most is some of the verbiage used in the article. Take the headline for example:
“Making the most of a lush hillside spot, the duo carve out an exhilarating retreat overlooking the azure sea.”
Carve out. Yes, they certainly did carve out something over there in Denis Bay – they carved out a chunk of the National Park.
Let’s move on to the first sentence: “Americans are accustomed to taking liberties, especially when it comes to architecture.”
Ingrao certainly took some liberties when building his property. He built on other people’s land, created a landslide and carved a huge chunk out of the hillside.
But Ingrao’s quote near the end of the article is the pièce de résistance: “This house is elemental. It feels like it’s growing out of the park.”
That’s because it is.
Comment away my friends. Comment away.
Click here to see the full story in its entirety.
Click here to email the editors at Architectural Digest in case you want to vent.
Click here to read past coverage on Tony Ingrao and his Denis Bay property.
Safari-Style Taxis a Thing of the Past?
Ok folks, so there’s some more drama brewing with the island’s taxi situation and we have to admit, it doesn’t make us happy.
For those of you who have ridden around in an island safari taxi, you know how much fun it is to cruise down North Shore Road with the wind in your hair as you take in the island’s beautiful sites. Well it seems those days may be numbered due to a certain law that was created back in 2009.
This is a tad confusing, so please bear with us…
So back in 2009, the Virgin Islands Taxi Commission put into practice a new rule that sought to replace the islands’ open air safari taxis with enclosed vans. This 2009 mandate created a “moratorium on licensing new safari taxis built by island fabricators and installed on ‘incomplete’ truck frames imported from the U.S. unless the so-called ‘after-market’ fabrication is certified as meeting federal standards for operation, according to the St. John Tradewinds News.
Well it seems that there aren’t any after-market fabricators in the territory who can certify a finished safari. So what does that mean? It essentially means that as it stands now, no new safari-style taxis will be made. And once the current safari-style taxis run their course, they will be replaced with enclosed vans.
Not cool.
Seriously, could you imagine riding around the island in an enclosed van? Neither can I.
So what can you do about it? Well our friends over at Active St. John created a petition and they’d like you all to sign it. Here’s a sample of what they had to say about it:
Does anyone think its good for tourism and residents of the Virgin Islands to replace the Safari Taxis with passenger vans? Does anyone want to have to get in/out of a single van door in traffic as we drive on the left and the vans passenger doors are on the right?
How is this remotely safer? How could it be possible there are federal standards for operation for these Safaris? Can anyone imagine riding down a freeway in the states with a fully loaded Safari at 60mph and not getting arrested? The Safaris are part of the VI and must stay in the VI. Can anyone remember a Safari having a safety issue due to not having a federally-certified welder constructing these amazing vehicles? The sooner this gets repealed, the better … only you can make the difference to the VI’s future!
Interested in signing the petition? Click here to read it in its entirety and to sign it.
Major Waves Affecting North Shore – Be Careful
Just got this info from VITEMA:
An intense low pressure system across the northwest Atlantic is generating large swells that is impacting exposed coastlines of the northern U.S. Virgin Islands. The National weather Service in San Juan has issued a coastal flooding advisory which is in effect through 4 a.m. Saturday and a high surf advisory remains in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday.
These larges long period northwesterly swells could produce large breaking waves of 13 to 16 feet along the northern coastlines of St. Thomas and St. John and up to 4 to 6 feet on St. Croix. The swells are producing strong rip currents making swimming dangerous as well as hazardous surf conditions.
Localized flooding and minor beach erosion are also possible along the northwest through north facing coastlines of the Virgin Islands.
Beach-goers are advised to use extreme caution during recreational activities at local beaches.