Evelyn Kanter has a lifetime of experience as journalist -- as a magazine and newspaper writer and photographer, radio and television news producer and reporter, and guidebook author and editor, all focusing on travel, automotive, lifestyle, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
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 InterContinental Times Square is NYC's largest LEED certified hotel The brand new InterContinental New York Times Square Hotel is the largest hotel in New York City to achieve LEED certification, as well as the largest new hotel in The Big Apple to open since 2002. The 36-story, 607 room hotel is a shining example of eco-friendly green luxury.
Floor-to-ceiling windows let in the view — which includes Times Square, the Hudson River and Central Park — and cuts down on heating requirements in winter and the need for lights during the day. Green roofs on the second and seventh floors feature low-maintenance plants that retain heat in winter and absorb sunlight and heat in summer. Motion sensors in stairwells and storage areas reduce electric usage, along with use of LED and flourescent lighting in guestrooms.
Housekeeping uses only green, eco-friendly cleaning supplies, and the hotel restaurants — including a high-end Todd English restaurant – are composting food scraps and waste. The green IntercContinental Times Square New York was constructed with 20% recycled materials, most of which was from within 500 miles of Times Square, which reduced both transportation costs and the pollution associated with moving construction materials long distances. Eco-friendly green paints, carpeting and other materials, with reduced volatile compounds, are used throughout for better air quality.
The hotel’s decor also reflects a sensibility that supports both green, sustainable practices and also New York City — Meeting rooms are named for New York City parks, and the lobby and hallways feature original artwork by local artists.
All rooms in the new InterContinental New York Times Square feature 42-inch HDTV flat panel television screens and touch-screen computers and ‘rainforest’ showers. Guestrooms range from 350 sq. ft. to the sumptuous three-bedroom penthouse Presidential Suite on two levels, with a gas-fired fireplace on both levels and panoramic views on three sides of the building. That one rents for $15,000 a night.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over the official ribbon cutting, saying travelers want to know when they visit a city that sustainability is important to the city and to the hotel where they are staying. I couldn’t agree more.
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 The end of July is packed with travel bargains. In addition to airfare bargains, there are some discount deals to get you between the airport and home or downtown. Grab these great green travel deals before they disappear.
Delta Airlines has launched a global sale on both domestic and international flights. You have to book by July 29, 2010 and complete your travel by November 17, 2010. Some representative fares — keep in mind these are each way based on a round-trip purchase, and these ticket prices don’t include taxes and any baggage charges –
- Atlanta – Miami, $69
- Salt Lake City – Philadelphia, $134
- Boston – Bermuda, $129
- New York City (JFK) – Athens, $309
- Portland, Oregon – Amsterdam, $399
American Airlines is offering triple miles for flights between New York City’s LaGuardia and Chicago’s O’Hare airports, and between LaGuardia and Boston’s Logan Airport. The triple mile deal is valid for flights through August 31, 2010. Use the NYPTL coupon code on the American Airlines website.
Southwest Airlines has a similar triple rewards offer for flights between LaGuardia and Chicago Midway and three airports in the Boston area — Logan, Manchester and Providence, also for flights though August 31, 2010. Isn’t competition wonderful!
Super Shuttle is offering additional passengers traveling to and from a residential address a ride for just five dollars. That means a family of four would pay one full price plus $15. The Summer Lifts Family Fare Sale is good through August 31st, plus, you’ll get double miles on all of SuperShuttles’ airline partners. SuperShuttle serves 33 U.S airports, including Los Angeles, New York, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Washington, D.C. and Miami.
 London — Heathrow Express, the fastest and least expensive way to travel between downtown London and Heathrow Airport, is offering a 50% discount for two adults or a larger group travelling together. A family of four can save more than $60 with this discount deal, which is good for travel through September 5, 2010.
 Hollywood icon Cary Grant and a vintage BMW Isetta microcar Small cars are back in style, thanks to gas prices that peaked at $4 per gallon last year, and the additional power, style and comfort manufacturers have been able to pack into new models like the Ford Fiesta and Audi A3 TDI clean diesel, named Green Car of the Year by the Detroit News. Perhaps these will be tomorrow’s classics. Yesterday’s icons are on display at a very small car show in Chicago, the Tres Petite Concours: An Exhibition of Micro & Minicars.
The car show takes over the 900 block of West Armitage Avenue, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, the weekend of July 17 and 18, 2010. The show features microcars and minicars from the 1950s and 1960s including the iconic BMW Isetta, a three-wheel vehicle with a single door that opened in the front, in front of the driver and passenger. Another car being featured is the Fiat Cinquecento, the inspiration for the Luigi character in the wonderful animated film Cars. And the Citroen Deux Chevaux, also known as the 2CV.
 Fiat Cinquecento, inspiration for Luigi in "Cars" Movie The Tres Petite Concours will also exhibit current small cars, including the Smartfortwo and the Mini Cooper, as well as a car of the future, an electric small car called the X-Car. Cars can be viewed around-the-clock from a sneak preview beginng 6 p.m. Friday, July 16 through 4 p.m. Sunday, July 18. Best of all, you can view the cars for free, since they are parked on public streets.
The Tres Petite Concours is sponsored by The LeMay – America’s Car Museum and Vintage Microcar Club and Clean Tools. The event producer has the absolutely perfect name of Teeny Tiny Productions. Visitors will be invited to vote for their favorite car. Voting makes you eligible for a raffle drawing. The prize is a microcar and a driver for 4-6 hours. Sounds like fun. There’s also a best in show award, as there always is in car shows.
Just so you know — The definition of a microcar is a passenger car with a 500cc or smaller engine. Minicars are 501cc to 999cc.
BMW just announced it will manufacture an all-electric city car, the 21st century verison of the Isetta, called Megacity. The BMW plug-in EV Megacity is scheduled to arrive in 2013.
 Gas prices are down substantially from last year, and you can buy great new car for under $20,000, but owning and maintaining a vehicle is still expensive. These websites will help you save green — dollars, that is — with whatever you drive.
Repairs — Check Repairpal.com to find out what the job should cost. This website monitors thousands of repair shops to determine what costs what, and where, since some parts of the country are simply more expensive than others, and lists the three top-rated repair shops in your area. You can also find the authorized dealer nearest you handling recall repairs.
Recalls — Not all of them are announced in front page headlines, like the Toyota and Lexus gas pedal fiasco. Some recalls are under the radar, and it may take months for a manufacturer to let you know. Safecar.gov is the direct link on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) website to check by make and model year to see if your car is on the lemon list. And this page also lets you file a complaint.
Gas — You can estimate the cost of your family vacation or business trip on FuelCostCalculator.com. Just enter the make and model year you are driving, and the distance you are traveling, and the website will calculate how much it will cost to get from here to there.
More Gas Savers — Find the cheapest gas station in your area, or the one you are visiting by using GasBuddy.com or GasPriceWatch.com
Speed traps — Ironically, some police departments want you to know about Trapster.com, which posts the location of the speed traps that can result in a speeding ticket of $100 or more, and perhaps points on your license, as well. Knowing where the speed traps are encourages you to slow down, which cops really want you to do. Makes sense to me.
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 The W San Francisco makes history by earning the first LEED certification for an existing building belonging to a major hotel chain, and only the seventh hotel in the United States to earn the LEED Silver rating. The W San Francisco is also certified by the state of California as a green business. This is all good.
I’ve stayed at the W San Francisco several times, and love it for its clean decor — especially the window seats that invite curling up with a good book, or a glass of wine and the sunset. Ask for a room on a high enough floor with a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge. The W San Francisco is centrally located close to top San Francisco attractions including the Embarcadero, Union Square and several great museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. It’s also got a hot after-work bar scene at the XYZ, where fashionable locals mix with guests.
 Window seats are an inviting feature at W San Francisco But green, LEED certified hotels are also fashionable right now, and the W San Francisco is a green leader. There are motion sensors in the hallways, so when you step off the elevator, the lights go on, and when nobody is in the hall, the lights are off. Motion sensors in the guestrooms turn off air-conditioning when nobody’s there, and the guestroom computers have similar energy saving features. The hotel hosts ‘zero-waste’ carbon-neutral meetings and events.
The W San Francisco is considering installing wind turbines on the roof, which would be a first for a commercial building in San Francisco. Now this would set a green hotel trend!
 The W hotel brand is part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which has 67 hotels and resorts that are either LEED certified or registered or in the process of getting LEED recognition.
Other top green hotels in the U. S. –
The W San Francisco is one more example of how a hotel can be comfortable, trendy and green at the same time.
 US Passport fees increase substantially on July 13, 2010 If you have been planning to get a U.S. Passport, or renew one, act fast. U.S. Passport fees increase dramatically on July 13, 2010. The cost of a new passport jumps from $100 to $135. Renewing your existing passport will rocket from $75 to $110, a 47 percent increase. Charges for a minor to age 16 increase from $85 to $105. Even the cost of a Passport Card, for land crossings into Canada and Mexico is going up from $45 to $55. These represent the third increase in the last five years.
And the feds are adding an entirely new passport fee, too. If you are a frequent traveler who needs to add additional pages to an existing passport, that will cost $82 after July 13, 2010. Right now it is free.
So, if you think you’ll need a passport in the next few years, if your existing passport is expiring in the new couple of years, or if you think you’ll run out of pages soon, the apply, renew or expand now, before the price goes up on July 13,2010. You can apply at many US Postal Service branches, by mail, or in person at a passport office.
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Where to Find Me 
July
Norwegian Epic
Inaugural Cruise
San Francisco
Launch, 2011 VV Jetta
Trinidad/Tobago
June
Speaker
SATW Meeting, Newport, R. I.
May
Speaker
Alternative Fuel Conference
Las Vegas
Author Book Signing
Peaceful Places NYC
My new travel guidebook
Book Expo America, NYC
Cuba
Havana, Cienfuegos,
Trinidad, Santa Clara
April
San Francisco
Launch, 2011 Ford Fiesta
March
Dubai
Bangkok, Chang Mai
Beaver Creek, Colorado
Where I’ve Been January
Beaver Creek, Vail, Colorado
2009
Miami - Audi A8 launch
Los Angeles Auto Show
Detroit - GM, Ford
St. Lucia
Guadalajara, Mexico
Frankfurt Auto Show
Stuttgart, Munich, Augssburg
Edmondton, Canada NASCAR
Churchill, Canada, "Polar Bear Capital of the World"
Taos, Albuquerque
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