Famously, there are approximately 900 statues, or moai, located around the remote Pacific island, known to locals as Rapa Nui. Most are found around the coast, and were built sometime between the years 1200 and 1600.

So why, and how, did they end up there?

Researchers from New York’s Binghamton University are suggesting that the lost civilisation used the iconic statues to signal locations where fresh water was available.

Carl Lipo, an anthropologist who has been looking into how the local Rapa Nui people were able to survive with such limited access to drinking water, led a team who conducted field studies of groundwater around the coast.

He wondered how, with no springs or streams and very little rainfall, did the civilisation of approximately 15,000-20,000 people survive?

According to the research, published in the Hydrogeology Journal, they were forced to rely on brackish groundwater — which is saltier than fresh water but not as salty as sea water — found in coastal areas, for their source of drinking water.

“Two field surveys indicate abundant locations of brackish but potable water along the coastline,” the study states.

“Although coastal groundwater sources are of poor quality, they were apparently sufficient to support the population and allow them to build the magnificent statues for which Easter Island is famous.”
The statues, believed to be of religious and political significance, can stand up to 9m high.

“Now that we know more about the location of fresh water, however, the location of these monuments and other features makes tremendous sense: they are positioned where fresh water is immediately available,” Dr Lipo said.

“Fortunately, water beneath the ground flows downhill and ultimately exits the ground directly at the point at which the porous subterranean rock meets the ocean.

“When tides are low, this results in the flow of freshwater directly into the sea. Humans can thus take advantage of these sources of freshwater by capturing the water at these points.” The researchers now aim to further explore the link between the location of the moai and the accessibility to drinking water, which remains a key piece of the puzzle when figuring out what happened to the lost civilisation, and how they build the statues.

It’s believed the Rapa Nui people met their demise upon the arrival of European explorers, with many succumbing to disease.

Early accounts of the island described the people appearing to “drink seawater”. It’s believed this may be referring to groundwater discharge. “This information ultimately sheds light on the conditions that drove and enabled these communities to work together to achieve their feats of engineering,” Dr Lipo said.

“By gaining knowledge about community-scale behaviour, we can gain insights into the general conditions necessary for group-level co-operation — whether in the past or in contemporary society.”

He said they are now “tantalisingly close” to putting together all pieces of the island’s puzzle.

But Mr. Goldman, the president of BLDG Management, is now putting the finishing touches on his first ground-up rental building in Midtown.

The 42-story, 429-unit building, at 222 East 44th Street, is just a couple blocks west of the United Nations’ headquarters and is named Summit New York, in part to honor the type of high-stakes tête-à-tête that diplomats engage in.

Coming up with an ambassador-attracting name — a runner-up was Emissary — was challenging, said Mr. Goldman, who added “one of the skills I lack is wordsmithing.” Mr. Goldman, 60, who owns a major stake at the World Trade Center, is also known for having studiously avoided the press for decades. But as BLDG increasingly develops buildings, instead of just buying existing ones, Mr. Goldman, who has previously renovated thousands of units, seems to relish the minutiae of designing.

At Summit, which has mostly studios to two-bedrooms, he led a tour and pointed out niches he had installed in walls near doorways, so renters can quickly stash their phones, to free up hands, when arriving home. Similarly, conduits in the wall allow unsightly TV wires to be hidden from sight.

Mr. Goldman also pointed out that the “saddle” threshold stones typically placed at seams between bathroom and living room floors, to hide imperfections, were not needed at Summit, because the floors are so flat.

“If you’re going to build a new building,” he said, “you might as well be at the top.”
The apartments, with floor-to-ceiling windows, offer compelling views, largely because Summit, near Third Avenue, is set at an angle to the street. The unusual positioning of the building, from Handel Architects, allows many windows to face the Chrysler Building. Others take in the East River. For building amenities, Summit offers 36,000 square feet spread between three levels. The top floor has a wine-locker-lined lounge. The lower “arena” area has a section for boxing, a 60-foot pool and 75-foot basketball court. There are also 9,000 square feet of shared outdoor space, including sloping lawns. Access to all amenity floors is $2,200 a person a year, with discounts for families.

“It’s in an elite class,” said Matthew Villetto, a senior vice president with Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, which is leasing the $350-million project, a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments.

Of the 320 market-rate units, one-bedrooms start at $4,500 a month, while two-bedrooms at $7,700, according to Mr. Villetto, who is offering a month of free rent as a concession. The three-bedroom penthouse will be $30,000.

The 109 affordable units are being assigned through a lottery run by Breaking Ground, a social-services organization that has received 89,000 applications, BLDG said. To lure residents from the diplomatic corps, Summit will target the residences of United Nations officials that line the area. Marketing materials include a hardcover 68-page book the size of a place mat. Even though there are not many contemporary luxury rentals in the vicinity, Summit may have to compete with condo sublets that are similarly fancy, said Ray Urci, a salesman with Bond New York who works and lives in the area.

He’s currently listing a three-bedroom at 50 United Nations Plaza, a 43-story condo from Zeckendorf Development, at $19,000 a month. An ambassador recently toured it, Mr. Urci said, but didn’t like that the dining room could fit only eight, and not 15, people.

“But there’s a market for U.N. workers,” Mr. Urci added. “They come with a big entourage.”

BLDG’s roots stretch back to the early 1950s, Mr. Goldman said, when his father, Irving Goldman, and his uncle, Sol Goldman started their real-estate careers by snapping up a pair of small buildings in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, near where their parents ran an Italian grocery store.

Just a decade later, the Goldman brothers, with other investors, owned the Chrysler Building. Their strategy was to target existing buildings and hang onto them for decades. If they did sell, the Goldmans often retained ownership of the land beneath the buildings, then leased it to builders. New developments, Mr. Goldman said, were nonexistent.

But after many years, some older buildings “reached the end of their useful life,” said Mr. Goldman, who founded BLDG in 1984 after the Goldman brothers’ portfolio was split between the brothers’ children. (Sol Goldman’s buildings ended up in Solil Management, run by two of his children, Jane Goldman and Allan Goldman, who have so far also stuck to a no-build strategy.)

Today, in New York, BLDG owns the Montana, at 247 West 87th Street, the Blake, at 220 East 63rd Street, and the Mayfair, at 145 Fourth Avenue, which are among 250 residential and commercial properties the firm controls nationwide, in places like Florida, Massachusetts and Arizona.

Nothing was off the table at Variety magazine's Power of Women luncheon held in Beverly Hills on Friday, almost exactly a year since The New York Times and The New Yorker published accounts from dozens of women alleging sexual misconduct by the once-powerful movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Weinstein, who has denied any wrongdoing, was quickly ostracized by the entertainment industry, which helped gain momentum for the #MeToo and Time's Up movements.

In a commanding 15-minute speech, Portman addressed the underrepresentation of women in all industries and laid out guidelines to incite change, such as donating to Time's Up, opting against depicting violence against women in films and hiring women for positions they're not typically considered for. She was being recognized for her humanitarian efforts in co-founding Time's Up, a legal defense fund that was created following the rise of the #MeToo movement to address and combat inequality in the workplace.

The Oscar-winning actress was being recognized for her humanitarian efforts in co-founding Time's Up.

"Be embarrassed if everyone in your workplace looks like you," Portman said.

Portman said Weinstein is "still free" because "our culture protects the perpetrators of sexual violence, not its victims." She added that the Time's Up defense fund has served more than 3,500 people from "workers at McDonald's to prison guards to military personnel to women in our own industry who have faced gender-based harassment, coercion and assault."

"Recently our lawyers helped Melanie Kohler triumph against Brett Ratner and his lawyer Marty Singer...who tried to use Brett's enormous financial advantage over her to try to bully her into silence," Portman said. "Because of our lawyers ... he dropped his case of defamation."

Regina King, an honoree supporting the I Have a Dream Foundation, followed Portman saying "Man, Natalie Portman 2020."

More: Natalie Portman slights former Harvard classmate Jared Kushner: He's a 'super villain'

More: Natalie Portman savages the Golden Globes' 'all-male nominees' for best director

Portman was not the only person to get a standing ovation Friday. Eighteen-year-old Emma Gonzalez, who became a nationally recognized advocate for gun control after surviving the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, also brought the well-heeled Hollywood crowd to their feet.

Advocating for March for Our Lives, Gonazelz, wiping away tears, said to the women in the vast ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, "You know that you are forces to be reckoned with. You can and have inspired peace and understanding and most importantly right now, you can inspire your audience to vote. Now more than ever, women need to continue to rise up."

Gonzalez was introduced by George Clooney who announced himself as "Amal's husband." The audience, in turn, cheered. Clooney struck a more serious tone in discussing a time where fear is capitalized on — "fear of Muslims, fear of immigrants, fear of minorities, fear of strong women."

"Are we really scared of all the things that actually make America great? And if the answer is yes, then we'll have history to answer to," Clooney said. "After all the jokes, and insults, and reality show frenzy, what will be remembered, what will stand the test of time is holding responsible these wolves in wolves' clothing."

Everyone who took the stage got a word in for a cause they were passionate about. Honoree Lena Waithe, there for The Trevor Project, said Time's Up has had a huge impact on her life in the past year.

More: Lena Waithe gave a powerful speech after making history for black women at the Emmys

"I've befriended so many women I probably would have never even met or had a reason to speak to, and I can't remember a time in this industry when women have huddled together. We've all gotten on the same page," Waithe said. "I wish it didn't take something so tragic to bring us together. I wish trauma in the workplace and sometimes at home wasn't the thing we had in common. Luckily we have refused to be victims. Luckily we've refused to be silent. Luckily we've decided to rise up and scream at the top of our lungs and become a force of rebels who won't be treated like second class citizens."

The event, presented by Lifetime, with sponsors such as Audi, Morocco Oil and The Venetian Resort, also honored Tiffany Haddish, who spoke about the non-profit The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company and Participant Media CEO David Linde for helping to make female-focused films from "Roma" to "RBG."

More: Kanye West calls Parkland's Emma Gonzalez his 'hero,' but she deflects the compliment. 

Answers:

1 The sexual harassment

2 domestic violence

3 voting right for women

1 Super Bowl

2 Lunch Power of women

3 grammy awards

    2 Time’s up

    3  NEA

1 The affair Weinstein

2 The presidential elections

3 The Cannes fashion show