Whilst on the real estate theme, here is an apartment for you wealthy Baby Boomers out there. A new and imaginative skyscraper with floors that each rotate independently at different speeds was presented in project form on Tuesday in New York by architect David Fisher. The 420m Dynamic Tower in Dubai, will be the world’s first ‘moving’ building.

The 80 story building will be built around a central column and will have up to 79 wind turbines, each fitted between floors to power not only itself but generate electricity for surrounding buildings as well. Each floor of the tower would rotate independently – on voice command - allowing the building to constantly change shape, resulting in a unique and evolving architectural structure. It will take between one and three hours for an apartment to make a complete rotation.

Another great plus, well innovation is that the skyscraper itself could be built entirely from prefabricated parts resulting in cost savings. The approach - known as the Fisher Method - requires far fewer workers on the construction site, lowering costs.
Even so, these apartments won’t come cheap. They will range in size from 124 to 1200 square metres and cost between $US3.7 million and $US36 million. Construction is due for completion in 2010.

Seven days in New York might be just enough time to capture just a little of taste of what this busy non-stop city is all about. One of the busiest visitor locations in the city is the Empire State Building and even if you don’t get to the top there is still a great deal to see. Of course, many people prefer the view form the Rockefeller Center which is a little higher, but it can be difficult to see anything when there is bad weather. Huge numbers of visitors have meant it can often be difficult landing at the Statue of Liberty and getting off the tour boat at Ellis Island is often the easier option.

As an alternative why not go to Staten Island via the free ferry and look at the Statue of Liberty from there; dropping off at the terminal is the best place because it is where there are some good street artists. Probably on everyone’s list is where the World Trade Center Towers once stood; it has become an obligatory stop and no seven day trip to New York would feel complete without a visit to this tragic site. Twin Towers stood on but not one where a photograph would be appropriate. For those who love to shop there is of course the famous Tiffany’s and Broadway plus some fantastic old discount warehouses worth a look down on the Lower East Side.

Of course you must not miss out Maceys where there is always a sale on or the very expensive Bloomingdales. An excellent tourist location is the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum which is likely to be closed until the end of 2008; if you’re going to be there next year it will be a worthwhile place to see. The highlight of this museum is the USS Intrepid, a World War Two aircraft carrier which houses the likes of the supersonic plane - Concorde not to mention a number of submarines. Although it is actually free to enter, the NY City Police Museum is funded by donations from visitors (five dollars is the recommended amount); all sorts of items are on display here and it’s a great place for souvenirs.

Then it is worth seeing some of the older history of New York back when there were huge numbers of migrants entering the city and the Lower East Tenement was where most of them ended up; this is now a museum and a time capsule. If you visit Central Park (and why wouldn’t you?) you can call into the Museum of New York City which has some excellent exhibitions about the past, present and future of the city. It is all housed in a beautiful building and entrance is free but a nine dollar donation is recommended. Most visitors seem to be on a flying visit so end up missing some of the most beautiful areas and that’s why seven days in New York should really be the minimum stay.