New Day, New York

Thierry and I stay at the NY Palace Hotel on 50th between Madison and Park Ave (disconcertingly I can see my first offices on the 39th floor of Park Avenue Plaza). My room faces east with Queens and Long Island in the distance; the center tower is the old GE Building (570 Lexington) which is Manhattan's 64th tallest at 50 floors and built in 1931. It was bought by Columbia Business School for administrative offices but I don't think there are too many MBAs working there - though I see people shuffling about at this early hour (so clear, I can see the windows are open).  The Waldorf's twin peaks (47 floors) to the right.

We have a bunch of useful meetings : Guardian Life, Columbia, Dupont , others - and while all are welcoming, some more so than others.  Yale's endowment staffed by three Bulldogs who are direct and  serious despite one guy (class of .. '07) in a Patagonia sweatshirt which is a mis-match to my Hermes tie. When I joke the entrance sign states "no solicitations" we get barely a chuckle.

Me: "Madeleine, guess where I am?"
Madeleine: "New York?"
Me: "I'm on the 48th floor of my hotel!"
Madeleine: "Whoa."
Me: "What do you think of that?"
Madeleine: "Do you have to take the stairs?"