These days, merchants around Union Square, soup kitchen operators and commuters are buzzing about ghosts of the city past: street dwellers.
They are its flower arrangers and cleaners, its priests' housekeepers and its soup kitchen operators, its fete organisers and its catechists.
In a flagging economy, or even in boom times, those on the front lines -- soup kitchen operators and food bank administrators, who must rely on donations and government subsidies -- are always in the shadow of a shortfall.
Asked if the chain has followed through on its stated intentions to streamline the menu and simplify kitchen operations, most of the operators interviewed echo the one who told Kalinowski, "Nothing but lip service; not a serious initiative".
co-op in a prewar building; elevator operators, kitchen window, high ceilings, h/w floors; maintenance $1,118, 47% tax deductible; listed at $350,000.
Skiers on chalet holidays can normally rely on a varied selection of meals; having spent the best part of a day in the test kitchens of tour operator Inghams, I know how much effort goes into creating a week's-worth of dinner menus.
doormen, elevator operators, renovated kitchen; maintenance $1,478, 39% tax deductible; listed at $649,000.
co-op in a prewar building; elevator operators, renovated kitchen, dining room, washer/dryer, original moldings and detail; maintenance $1,458, 45% tax-deductible; listed at $798,000 , 4weeks on market (broker: Halstead Property Co).
JOSEPH SIANO Correction: August 11 , 2002 Sunday The Deals and Discounts column last Sunday misstated the telephone number for Vineyards and Kitchens in France, a tour operator based in Brattleboro, Vt.
And the operators of the kitchen will try to make today, Christmas Eve, a little special for the people in tough circumstances who show up for a meal.
