" Mark Samuels, whose Basin Street Records showcases New Orleans musicians, considers it his "biggest and best business development tool.

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Birmingham's once-barren Gas Street Basin has already been transformed into a swanky new development.

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He is an Old Boy of the city's King Edward's School and has an apartment in that triumph of 'statement architecture', the 25-storey Cube building which now towers over Gas Street Basin.

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Heading west from the park, pick up afternoon treats at New York iconic Zabar's food market (2245 Broadway), and later, as dusk unfolds, meander the serene firefly-flecked Riverside Park amid the Upper West Side's manifold joggers, strollers and dog owners, to the stunning outdoor 79th Street Boat Basin Cafe (W 79th St at the Hudson River) for a huckleberry vodka nightcap.

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Others developments have included canal-side planting in Piccadilly Basin, the creation of an orchard in St John's Gardens and a Northern Quarter pocket park on Thomas Street, and a revamp of Albert Bridge Gardens.

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