by Ryan Markiewicz | May 29, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
All,
Had a very nice and full day in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
Got in at midnight. Gordie and I both got up early and walked around the town. Pretty quiet, clean, and safe, with some cool sites. Had a nice breakfast.
Typical “English” breakfast. Delicious.
We signed up for a bike ride to a very cool underground winery. (Moldova is famous for wine.) Over 100 miles of tunnels and caves. Pretty cool. https://cricova.md/en
This place is like an underground castle.
A really cool place!
This is a picture and a thank-you letter from Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go into space. Word is that he visited here in 1964 and ended up spending the night (a combination of too much wine tasting and getting lost in the underground maze). Funny, he could get to space easier than he could find his way out of this place đ
The bike ride itself was pretty tough. Through the city with a guide (just the 3 of us) and (I know you’re all gonna laugh at me and think I’m full of shit) but pretty much all uphill. And through mud roads once we left the city itself. It was really hard, though I felt much better that Gordie, who is an accomplished rider, also thought it was hard as hell đ€Ș.
Our guide, Ariel, was great. We never would have made it without him đ
Last night we had dinner with Shelby Magid and our friends from The Atlantic Council. Just a few folks–ex-US Ambassadors, some Kremlinologists, some security folks. VERY smart people. Gordie and I just kind of took it all in.
Looking forward to arriving in Odesa today. Will be traveling with our good friends from Allrise Capital. Will meet the Mayor and the Governor of Odesa and visit the soccer stadium, the port, and the women’s soccer school. And of course, see some of our LP team members–that will be my favorite part and what I am looking most forward to đ
Moldova is another very cool part of the world. Ex-Soviet Republic, looking to “westernize” and keeping an eye on how things go next door in Ukraine. Would likely be the next to fall if Ukraine is defeated, so clearly they/we have a stake in how this war ends. Hoping that the peace talks soon get “real” and that the US actually brings Putin to the table instead of continuing to kick the can down the road.
Lots of old Soviet style buildings.
National Theater. Named after one of the founders of the Romanian Theater.
There’s a miniature Arc d’ Triomphe here.
Nice broad walkways and parks. Chisinau is a very clean city.
Church. 95% of Moldovans identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians
Seems to me that there is SO MUCH to gain, for Russia, for Ukraine, and for the world at large if this war can end and everyone can get on with trade and investment and economic growth (not even to mention an end to all the senseless killing).
We’ll see. And we’ll do what we can to help.
Onward!
-JB
by Ryan Markiewicz | May 27, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
All,
On my way back to Odesa. Flew from NYC to Istanbul and then to Chisinau, Moldova (cool, historical place. Look it up đ)
The blue dot is on the flight.
The pics are out of the plane window. Â Looks very green and fertile.
And we left JFK airport at midnight last night. Flew all night and all day. And look where I ended up back in New York City in my Chisinau hotel hahahahahaha.
More tomorrow.
-JB
by Ryan Markiewicz | May 9, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
All,
It’s pretty interestingâand excitingâthat the new Pope is the first American Pope after 275 predecessors. I also read this morning (though not yet confirmed) that his grandparents and great-grandparents were from the Dominican Republic and have French/African Creole roots in New Orleans, making him, in many ways, a reflection of the broader American story and of humankind. Pretty cool.
Even more amazing? Heâs a graduate of Villanova University in Pennsylvaniaâwhere, as it happens, my former son-in-law teaches.
That Villanova connection brought to mind a story that says a lot about how far weâve come.
Back in 1931, my DadâAlbert Berlinâwas a standout athlete in New York City, recruited by several colleges to play football, including Villanova. Their athletic director at the time was Harry Stuhldreher, one of Notre Dameâs legendary âFour Horsemen.â My Dad had been offered a spot⊠until the school found out he was Jewish.
I have the original letter, which is still on my wall today. In it, Stuhldreher regretfully withdraws the offer, citing overcrowding and limited scholarships. But in person, he admitted the truth: Jews were not allowed at Villanova back then. The name âBerlinâ had slipped through. Once discovered, the decision came down from above: no go.
To his credit, Stuhldreher was ashamed. He helped my Dad get into NYU and stayed in touch with him for years.
Decades later, when I was with Governor Ed Rendell (a Jewish New Yorker and proud Villanova grad) receiving the Pennsylvania Exporter of the Year Award, I showed him that very letter. We both marveled at how the world had changed.
And now, here we are. A new Pope, from America, from Villanovaâhopefully another sign of how far weâve come. From exclusion to inclusion. From shame to progress. From whispered apologies to global milestones.
The arc does bendâif we help it along.
Onward! -JB
by Ryan Markiewicz | May 5, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
I just had breakfast with Brandon Beane at the stadium. Thanks to M&T Bank for the invite, and to our good friend Bill Hanes for the private introduction. Iâve met Beane beforeâthoughtful guy. Smart. Grounded. You can see why players want to be here.
He talked shop, of courseâall the work it takes to build a winning team. (Thisâll be Beaneâs ninth season, and the Bills have won the AFC East five of his last six. Pretty damn good.)
He looks for guys whose arrows are pointing upâor at least sideways/not down. Bosaâs only 29. They picked up some great D-line talent in the draft. Said the priority this year was getting the defense younger and hungrier. New leadership. TreâDavious White will help coach up Max Hairston, their first-round pick, and others. On offense, Khalil Shakir is a guy who can go slot or wideâslot first. Josh Palmer can go wide or slotâwide first. Different puzzle pieces. Salary cap always in play (BIG thanks to the Pegulas for putting their money where their team is).
And Josh Allen? Beaneâs first draft pick as GM 8 years ago. (Nailed that one!) Still ascending, he believes. Arrow still up. And as good as he is at QB1, Beane said heâs an even better human being. Said heâs been around this league a long time and seen plenty of guys who turn on the ânice and humbleâ for the camerasâbut act like a**holes when theyâre off. âAsk anyone in the locker room or anyone working in this building,â he said. âTheyâll all tell you: Josh is the real deal.â
Awesome.
But what stuck with me most wasnât the roster or the draft board. It was the idea of players being there. Brandon talked about team buildingânot in the corporate âletâs-do-trust-fallsâ kind of way. Just being present. Showing up. Listening. Learning.
He said, âSure, you can lift weights anywhereâbut working out together and then hanging out afterward? Thatâs a whole different thing.â I agree. Same with any business. You want your guys to play for each other. That’s what builds success.
Afterwards we got to walk on the fieldâpretty cool. And it struck me, as it did others who I talked to: itâs bittersweet. I know itâs the second-oldest stadium in the NFL, but there have been incredible memories and moments hereâfor the team and the fans. And I know for me, for sure. Canât wait for the new stadium in â26, but still⊠sad to see the old place go.
As I drove home, I couldnât help thinking about the long arc that brought me back to this fieldâmemories of the old stadium, the drives down I-90 a thousand times from Buffalo, first to Jamestown, then to Erie. Starting way back in 1982 when I got the job in Jamestown, driving truck for Oneida Motor Freight. Headed down on Monday mornings, back on to Buffalo on Friday. Sleeping in my old Chevy Suburban at the Rt. 17 rest area four nights a weekâjust trying to make something happen. Trying to figure out what was going to be the path for our young family.
So yeah, maybe itâs cornyâbut sometimes, a stadium isnât just a stadium. Itâs a time machine. A mirror. A metaphor.
And who knows? Maybeâjust maybeâthis coming season–the last one in this well-worn, much-beloved stadium, will be the year the Bills finally get to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
Howâs that for an ending?
Frigginâ poetry.
Onward!
Brandon Beane addressing the group inside the stadium suite, with the field as his backdrop. Smart, grounded, and clearly in his element.
Me with Brandon Beane after breakfast. A good man, and a GM whoâs built a culture players want to be part of.
The same tunnel the Bills run out of on game day. Walking through it never gets oldâthis place is full of memories.
The Superman-themed image I gave Beaneâone for him, one for Coach McDermott, and one for #17 himself. Because sometimes, Josh really does fly.
by Hannah McCall | Apr 16, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
LP has always prided itself on Hannibal’s old saying: “Find a way or make one”.
Here’s a wonderful example of a businesswoman who did just that.
Enjoy : )
JB
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIfCkRnhCH9/
by Hannah McCall | Apr 15, 2025 | Berlin's Wall
All,
Please see the article below about our good friend and colleague from TFA, Mark Antal.
https://nypost.com/2025/04/14/us-news/delta-force-veteran-forced-to-fend-off-brick-wielding-maniac-in-unprovoked-nyc-attack-they-feel-safer-in-kyiv/
Unbelievable.
How does our society allow people like this to repeatedly do what they do to innocent people? Â Luckily, Mark as a former US Special Ops team leader could protect himself, move that attacker away from his young daughters, and restrain this guy til the police arrived (while wisely holding back from using deadly techniques he knows all too well).
How does the guy have all these arrests and still get released back onto the streets time after time after time? Â I get compassion for people with mental illness but what if it had been Mark’s daughters, who could not have fended this guy off? Â What if this happened to you? Or your wife? Or your mother/father kids? Â TOO MUCH!!!
It’s like my Governor Shapiro said the other day after some nutjob broke into his home and tried to burn down his house with him and his children inside  and hoping to “beat him with a hammer”.
He said: “I don’t care which side of the political fence you are on. This is NOT acceptable.”
NYC (and other many communities) need a way more rational, effective and safe-for-its-residents policy than this “catch and release” IMHO.
This feels like Bizarro world.
Make it stop!
JB
Page 2 of 12«12345...10...»Last »
