Dear Alice Tully Hall,
I hope this blog post finds you well. I often work at the cafe in your beautifully redesigned space, as blogged about here. I enjoy the glass walls, the proximity to that BCBG that always has good sales, and having Campari at my disposal at all hours of the day.
This is all why I was saddened a few months back when I realized that the only outlets in the cafe area had been mysteriously turned off. Too bad, I thought: I look so hip and awesome with my MacBook Pro; don’t you want me working in your window? Let me be your mannequin.
Around 5pm last night, I was delighted that my spot in the cafe was open and–what’s this??–a fancy new outlet had appeared! A working fancy new outlet. I immediately e mailed about four people and put the good news on Twitter. No sooner had I finished publicizing your cafe as a great work space, though, did a sinewy figure (i.e. waitress) approach.
“Are you plugged in?” she asked.
“To the wall? Or like..to society?” I replied.
“I’m sorry: Lincoln Center provides free internet, but you’re not allowed to use Lincoln Center’s electricity.”
“Did Nico Muhly put you up to this?
“Who?”
“So really, I can’t plug my computer into this here empty outlet that’s right behind me?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Really? Really?“
“Yes.”
She was perfectly pleasant, but I remain confused. Any information you can provide on this policy would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, I put American Songbook flyers on your tables before I left. Sorry for littering/you’re welcome for marketing.
Thanks for doing your part to further classical music’s reputation for being rigid and inaccessible, and all the best –
Amanda
Let’s say you have a pretty demanding lap top. That’s about 50 Watt. Let’s say you used it four hours. That’s 200 Watt. What do they pay per kWh? Maybe about 20 cents.
((50*4)/1000) * $0.2 = $0.04.
That means you cost them about 4 cents…
Now let’s see if they would replace one standard lightbulb with an energy efficient lightbulb. They’re burning maybe 8 hours per day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year.
Standard ((60*8*5*50)/1000) * $0.2 = $24
Energy efficient ((15*8*5*50)/1000) * $0.2 = $6
That means if they would switch just one lightbulb, you could use your laptop for about 1800 hours per year. That’s 75 days of non-stop use.
So maybe next time, just bring an energy efficient lightbulb to donate…
or four cents…