(8th) Street Hassle

09-02-2005

Steve~~Is the Mosquito Beach the building that's being worked on right across from Alhambra? We wondered what it was going to be.

Summer

**ryberg** · 09-03-2005

Yes, that's right.

Annoying news from there this morning is that they have put in place a number of semicircles of cut stone and cement, about as high as my knee and extending 3 feet into the street from the sidewalk, all along their side of the street. Silly me -- I was under the impression that when you bought the land, you didn't get to build in the street, as well, but maybe I'm mistaken.

This is a concern there because the street there can already be crowded and chaotic enough in terms of parking, so if people all along that stretch now park 3 feet further into the center of the street (as is already happening with their own workers' cars), well it could only make things more crowded and chaotic. Perhaps tránsito will re-establish no parking anywhere on that side of the street, officially, but even if they do, people ignore that and I still wonder how you build on the street legitimately...

Steve

**ryberg** · 09-12-2005

Following up on that point, it turns out that if you're ever in a similar position of wanting to build on the street to your liking, the trick is to sell the construction you want to do to those in power as a beautification project you're "donating" to the city.

It also turns out that those things will be on both sides of the street, actually, thereby cutting about 5-6 feet of the width of the street. The officials in charge of the project (and, rather inexplicably, some establishments already on the street) are quite convinced that this will not cause a problem with access for guest arrivals/departures and so forth because they will leave enough space between each pair of these things to fit a car for parking. The diagrams and artist's conception drawings all show this, the little sketched rectangular boxes with their little wheels all neatly fitting in just as described. Nevermind that this is Mexico and that people are already parking 2-3 feet farther into the center of the street, as we could observe while carrying on a discussion about the project on Saturday.

Steve

**ryberg** · 09-22-2005

Splitting this off into a new thread (thanks, Denise!) to corresponde to the new direction. This may be more of an illustration of the sometimes dark underbelly of business in Playa that may be interesting to some, as well as an update involving 8th street.

Precisely as I was saying previously, those in charge of putting in these little tree things on 8th have made rather a mess of things. You may recall that the issue of parking space was our concern about this project, and that I noted that in the artist's conception drawings, all the cars fit nicely between each pair of stone circles surrounding the trees. Well of course in reality it turns out that in some cases a gap of only about 9 feet was left between a pair (maybe enough for a Mini or Smart), in one case 13 feet (not enough for a van), in some cases 17 feet (probably enough for a Suburban-type transfer van or not too large delivery truck), and in one notable case, a whopping 54 feet (enough for about 3 transfer vans) is open

.

Remarkably, that last gap of 54 feet was left centered perfectly around the entrance to the Alhambra, possibly doubling what was the designated parking area for them, while the gap of 13 feet was left in what was previously the parking area for Playa Maya, cutting that hotel's designate parking area in half (especially given the platform to be built at the end of the street later). Bear in mind that those parking areas were officially designated and marked off by transit officials of the city. Yes, that is the same city that is in charge of this beautification project (although to hear the owner of Mosquito Blue/Beach talk about how much money it is costing him, you could not be blamed for getting confused on that point

). Interestingly said owner deals only with Alhambra, refusing to acknowledge that we have any concern in the matter, despite the demarcation of parking areas by tránsito or that the construction is in the street, which is of course not owned by anyone.

Anyway after some considerable struggle we managed to have them agree to remove one of these things greatly reducing our space (they'd already broken the sidewalk next to Alhambra for it and put in part of the cement), such that Alhambra will only have double rather than quadruple the parking available to them that we have to us.

Coming soon (I'm guessing): a remarkably similar struggle over the prospect of closing the entire street, a la the situation on 4th. You gotta love Playa!

Steve

dbeauch6xx · 09-22-2005

Sounds like Playa's version of Boston's Big Dig. Hope they're finished by the time my wife rolls her steamer trunk, er her duffle bag, (her suitcase wise guy's) down 8th in June.
Keep us posted Steve.

Thanks,
daveb

**denisea** · 09-22-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryberg

Splitting this off into a new thread (thanks, Denise!) to corresponde to the new direction.

De nada Steve. Nice job... both moderating and reporting. Thanks!

dibiggs · 09-29-2005

Thanks Steve for all the updates down there.......Like Denisea says NICE JOB!

playacarol · 09-29-2005

Hola Steve, the other night we tried to have dinner at Playa Maya and were told you were not open for dinner? How late are you open for lunch? Wanted to try you famous coconut shrimp. Is this because it's low season? Also we had to enter the hotel from the beach. Don't you have a street entrance? Or did we miss it? Thanks

**ryberg** · 10-08-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by playacarol

Hola Steve, the other night we tried to have dinner at Playa Maya and were told you were not open for dinner? How late are you open for lunch? Wanted to try you famous coconut shrimp. Is this because it's low season? Also we had to enter the hotel from the beach. Don't you have a street entrance? Or did we miss it? Thanks

Sorry, we were away last week and I didn't see this message.

Due to overwhelming tendency to go into town to eat dinner, we usually take our last food orders around 5:30 or 6:00. Our bar continues in operation until at least 9:00, but later if people request it. Sorry you didn't arrive in time for that!

No, we offer beach-only entrance.

This has turned out to be a plus in terms of both security (no passers-by can try to claim they're just passing through to get to the street, for example) and keeping the property nice and quiet (no street noise, since we're nowhere connected to any street!).

Hope we can serve you lunch the next time around!

Steve

**ryberg** · 10-08-2005

And now getting back to the main topic of this thread, namely the construction in the street by the city and those at Mosquito Blue involving the placement of trees and a new cement "end" to the street where it reaches the beach. Some may recall my alarm (mentioned in a previous post on this thread) at one aspect of this project, after which we were reassured numerous times by the management/ownership at MB that no harm would be done to any of the water tubes, TV cables and (most dangerous) high voltage electricity lines that run under the sidewalk on the north side or 8th street and eventually supply us (and possibly others) with the aforementioned services.

Well now I understand why I felt little sense of reassurance upon hearing that! Witness...

...the care taken with one such hole (said cables barely visible beneath various items but entirely exposed for 5 feet or so)...

...and with another (high voltage in green, water in white)...

...and damage already visible (a gash of about 4 inches in length, already half filled in with sand) to the casing for a high voltage line. (Probably lucky nobody ended up in the hospital or died on that one!

Meanwhile, work at the end of the street resulting in the unceremonious removal without warning of the sign with map placed there (ironically as part of another public works project approved by the same city officials who approved the placement of the trees!). And as if to add insult to injury, the uppermost part of the sign, the oval where we'd paid to have our name and logotype advertised to help guests upon their arrival here, was damaged and will have to be redone.

Ah, yes, and apparently during the same process, workers managed to flood a storage area of the bar/restaurant at Alhambra located at the front corner of their property when workers broke through some type of retaining wall this past weekend.

It's getting to be like a lesson in how not to introduce yourself to the neighborhood!

Steve

**Heather** · 10-10-2005

Last Wednesday at about 7 pm I walked down 8th street to deliver a message for a Playa Maya guest. Wow, what a lot of work they've done, and what a mess they've made. I can't believe you've been dealing with it so calmly!

**ryberg** · 10-10-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heather

Last Wednesday at about 7 pm I walked down 8th street to deliver a message for a Playa Maya guest. Wow, what a lot of work they've done, and what a mess they've made. I can't believe you've been dealing with it so calmly!

I am becoming the Buddha, you see...

Steve

Jacko · 10-10-2005

Buddha huh?...Well, he said ..."The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze. "

So don't worry...the mess is not really there

**ryberg** · 10-11-2005

Yes I had not thought of it in quite that way, Jacko! THanks.

I was approaching it more from the angle of Buddhists being grateful to those who present frustrations, and more grateful to those who present even more frustrations, for offering the chance to rise above such things.

Which means in this case we are very grateful, indeed.

Ha -- it just occurred to me that in citing Eastern religious/philosophical views that focus on tranquility and harmony, I have inadvertently stolen a bit of shtick from another party in this little mess, the Alhambra! D'OH!

Steve

barbj050 · 10-11-2005

personally i think this unfair to the mosquito beach...this being a one sided discussion of a hotel owner near where the mb is being built....just my opinion...

09-12-2005	#3 (permalink)
ryberg playa maya guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: wandering between the Village Vanguard, NYC, 1961 and the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 1965 Posts: 10,488	Following up on that point, it turns out that if you're ever in a similar position of wanting to build on the street to your liking, the trick is to sell the construction you want to do to those in power as a beautification project you're "donating" to the city. It also turns out that those things will be on both sides of the street, actually, thereby cutting about 5-6 feet of the width of the street. The officials in charge of the project (and, rather inexplicably, some establishments already on the street) are quite convinced that this will not cause a problem with access for guest arrivals/departures and so forth because they will leave enough space between each pair of these things to fit a car for parking. The diagrams and artist's conception drawings all show this, the little sketched rectangular boxes with their little wheels all neatly fitting in just as described. Nevermind that this is Mexico and that people are already parking 2-3 feet farther into the center of the street, as we could observe while carrying on a discussion about the project on Saturday. Steve Last edited by ryberg : 09-22-2005 at 08:18 AM.

09-22-2005	#4 (permalink)
ryberg playa maya guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: wandering between the Village Vanguard, NYC, 1961 and the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 1965 Posts: 10,488	Splitting this off into a new thread (thanks, Denise!) to corresponde to the new direction. This may be more of an illustration of the sometimes dark underbelly of business in Playa that may be interesting to some, as well as an update involving 8th street. Precisely as I was saying previously, those in charge of putting in these little tree things on 8th have made rather a mess of things. You may recall that the issue of parking space was our concern about this project, and that I noted that in the artist's conception drawings, all the cars fit nicely between each pair of stone circles surrounding the trees. Well of course in reality it turns out that in some cases a gap of only about 9 feet was left between a pair (maybe enough for a Mini or Smart), in one case 13 feet (not enough for a van), in some cases 17 feet (probably enough for a Suburban-type transfer van or not too large delivery truck), and in one notable case, a whopping 54 feet (enough for about 3 transfer vans) is open . Remarkably, that last gap of 54 feet was left centered perfectly around the entrance to the Alhambra, possibly doubling what was the designated parking area for them, while the gap of 13 feet was left in what was previously the parking area for Playa Maya, cutting that hotel's designate parking area in half (especially given the platform to be built at the end of the street later). Bear in mind that those parking areas were officially designated and marked off by transit officials of the city. Yes, that is the same city that is in charge of this beautification project (although to hear the owner of Mosquito Blue/Beach talk about how much money it is costing him, you could not be blamed for getting confused on that point ). Interestingly said owner deals only with Alhambra, refusing to acknowledge that we have any concern in the matter, despite the demarcation of parking areas by tránsito or that the construction is in the street, which is of course not owned by anyone. Anyway after some considerable struggle we managed to have them agree to remove one of these things greatly reducing our space (they'd already broken the sidewalk next to Alhambra for it and put in part of the cement), such that Alhambra will only have double rather than quadruple the parking available to them that we have to us. Coming soon (I'm guessing): a remarkably similar struggle over the prospect of closing the entire street, a la the situation on 4th. You gotta love Playa! Steve __________________ Stephen Ryberg *Playa Maya: Your beachfront home* Of late focused on and of course

09-29-2005	#8 (permalink)
playacarol toe in water Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Connecticut & Playacar Posts: 54	How do we get to your hotel? Hola Steve, the other night we tried to have dinner at Playa Maya and were told you were not open for dinner? How late are you open for lunch? Wanted to try you famous coconut shrimp. Is this because it's low season? Also we had to enter the hotel from the beach. Don't you have a street entrance? Or did we miss it? Thanks

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09-02-2005	#1 (permalink)
Summer05 Posts: n/a	Steve~~Is the Mosquito Beach the building that's being worked on right across from Alhambra? We wondered what it was going to be. Summer

09-03-2005	#2 (permalink)
ryberg playa maya guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: wandering between the Village Vanguard, NYC, 1961 and the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 1965 Posts: 10,488	Yes, that's right. Annoying news from there this morning is that they have put in place a number of semicircles of cut stone and cement, about as high as my knee and extending 3 feet into the street from the sidewalk, all along their side of the street. Silly me -- I was under the impression that when you bought the land, you didn't get to build in the street, as well, but maybe I'm mistaken. This is a concern there because the street there can already be crowded and chaotic enough in terms of parking, so if people all along that stretch now park 3 feet further into the center of the street (as is already happening with their own workers' cars), well it could only make things more crowded and chaotic. Perhaps tránsito will re-establish no parking anywhere on that side of the street, officially, but even if they do, people ignore that and I still wonder how you build on the street legitimately... Steve

09-22-2005	#5 (permalink)
dbeauch6xx way into it Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Holyoke,MA Posts: 176	Sounds like Playa's version of Boston's Big Dig. Hope they're finished by the time my wife rolls her steamer trunk, er her duffle bag, (her suitcase wise guy's) down 8th in June. Keep us posted Steve. Thanks, daveb

09-29-2005	#7 (permalink)
dibiggs beachaholic Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Vancouver BC Posts: 422	Thanks Steve for all the updates down there.......Like Denisea says NICE JOB!

10-08-2005	#10 (permalink)
ryberg playa maya guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: wandering between the Village Vanguard, NYC, 1961 and the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 1965 Posts: 10,488	And now getting back to the main topic of this thread, namely the construction in the street by the city and those at Mosquito Blue involving the placement of trees and a new cement "end" to the street where it reaches the beach. Some may recall my alarm (mentioned in a previous post on this thread) at one aspect of this project, after which we were reassured numerous times by the management/ownership at MB that no harm would be done to any of the water tubes, TV cables and (most dangerous) high voltage electricity lines that run under the sidewalk on the north side or 8th street and eventually supply us (and possibly others) with the aforementioned services. Well now I understand why I felt little sense of reassurance upon hearing that! Witness... ...the care taken with one such hole (said cables barely visible beneath various items but entirely exposed for 5 feet or so)... ...and with another (high voltage in green, water in white)... ...and damage already visible (a gash of about 4 inches in length, already half filled in with sand) to the casing for a high voltage line. (Probably lucky nobody ended up in the hospital or died on that one! Meanwhile, work at the end of the street resulting in the unceremonious removal without warning of the sign with map placed there (ironically as part of another public works project approved by the same city officials who approved the placement of the trees!). And as if to add insult to injury, the uppermost part of the sign, the oval where we'd paid to have our name and logotype advertised to help guests upon their arrival here, was damaged and will have to be redone. Ah, yes, and apparently during the same process, workers managed to flood a storage area of the bar/restaurant at Alhambra located at the front corner of their property when workers broke through some type of retaining wall this past weekend. It's getting to be like a lesson in how not to introduce yourself to the neighborhood! Steve

10-10-2005	#11 (permalink)
Heather Staff Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Playa del Carmen Posts: 9,042	Last Wednesday at about 7 pm I walked down 8th street to deliver a message for a Playa Maya guest. Wow, what a lot of work they've done, and what a mess they've made. I can't believe you've been dealing with it so calmly!

10-10-2005	#13 (permalink)
Jacko añejo Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 17,984	Buddha huh?...Well, he said ..."The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze. " So don't worry...the mess is not really there

10-11-2005	#14 (permalink)
ryberg playa maya guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: wandering between the Village Vanguard, NYC, 1961 and the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, 1965 Posts: 10,488	Yes I had not thought of it in quite that way, Jacko! THanks. I was approaching it more from the angle of Buddhists being grateful to those who present frustrations, and more grateful to those who present even more frustrations, for offering the chance to rise above such things. Which means in this case we are very grateful, indeed. Ha -- it just occurred to me that in citing Eastern religious/philosophical views that focus on tranquility and harmony, I have inadvertently stolen a bit of shtick from another party in this little mess, the Alhambra! *D'OH!* Steve

10-11-2005	#15 (permalink)
barbj050 life=playa Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: in my mind pdc Posts: 577	personally i think this unfair to the mosquito beach...this being a one sided discussion of a hotel owner near where the mb is being built....just my opinion...

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