MASS SURVEILLANCE: MASS STUPIDITY?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 26th, 2013 The world is AGHAST at the revelations that the US has been monitoring phone calls and e-mails across the globe, as if spying and intelligence gathering were something very new to our planet. The Germans (with their deep history of isolation?)are especially perturbed about this subject: really???… [Read More]

THE HIGH END TEAR-DOWN

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 27th, 2013 A report released recently shows that many houses in the Hampton’s are being torn down again to be replaced by much larger ones, fueled by a very strong high end market. I have often heard buyers of old dilapidated houses wishing they had torn down the old… [Read More]

MULTIPLE BIDS FOR WEST VILLAGE APARTMENT

Posted on October 26th, 2013 A rather nice apartment with a large terrace located at 99 Jane Street, designed originally by CookFox architects to be a rental building, came on the market last week for $8 million. By the end of the week, a contract was signed after multiple bids for shy of $10 million……about 25% over the asking… [Read More]

KISS THE RING: DE BLASIO SPEAKS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 24th, 2013 I went to a fundraiser for New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio last night in a very fancy Upper East Side townhouse full of (mostly)Republican real estate big-wigs….wow, what a crowd! Hearing de Blasio speak was heartening in some ways as he seems to geniuniely care… [Read More]

THE BORGATA, ATLANTIC CITY: ESCAPE FROM THE DARKNESS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 22nd, 2013 I just returned from Atlantic City after a 20-hour visit for a Douglas Elliman conference where Kevin Spacey thrilled the audience with a speech about his re-invention that was truly inspiring…..smart, witty, informative, clever! Equally inspiring was escaping the confines of the BORGATA: I recall walking miles… [Read More]

150 CHARLES CONTINUES GROWING

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 21st, 2013 150 Charles Street, the CookFox-designed, Witkoff-developed condominium in the West Village that achieved the largest, fastest sell-out in history ($3/4 BILLION in 3 months!)keeps growing….

OLDER (RICH) NEW YORK LUXURY REAL ESTATE BUYERS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 21st, 2013 Increasingly I am finding older buyers entering the Manhattan luxury market. They are not necessarily ‘old’ but they are a lot older than the developers, buildings, apartments and brokers catering to buyers. Every time a developer asks me about what demographics to expect for a building their… [Read More]

THE INVESTOR VISA PROGRAM DRAWS FOREIGN BUYERS TO NEW YORK

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 19th, 2013 KNIGHT FRANK recently ranked the most tax-friendly cities in the world to evaluate their quality of life (and cost)….New York did not make the list! We are reminded of our super-high real estate taxes every time a foreign buyer asks about monthly carrying costs when buying in… [Read More]