The city’s faster-than-expected recovery continued in August: the local economy added 6,500 private sector jobs, continuing to surpass the nation’s growth rate. Jobs were added mostly in the real estate and banking arenas. New York’s August unemployment rate held steady at 9.4%, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Labor. The… [Read More]
ZOMBIE BUILDINGS…..DOES NEW YORK HAVE ANY?
In this morning’s Wall Street Journal the subject of Spain’s 1,5million vacant apartments in ZOMBIE BUILDINGS is addressed: do we have ZOMBIE BUILDINGS in Manhattan? Two that come to mind are 1 Madison Park and 245 Tenth Avenue, both really wonderful buildings caught in the financial storm of 2008/2009. “The difference between these two buildings… [Read More]
IRAN + VENEZUELA’S WORST NIGHTMARE?
When is this clever idea coming to the USA with its MILLIONS of square feet of parking spaces in sunbelt areas? Imagine every Wallmart and Home Depot, not only providing shade to all its parked cars to reduce their need for that initial AC blast, but also producing enough power from the overhead SOLAR PANELS… [Read More]
MONACO SAFRA PENTHOUSE SELLS FOR $ 17,600/sf: A NEW RECORD
The chatter on the French Riviera is all about the recent sale of a Monaco penthouse, once the home to Edmund Safra and featured recently in Architectural Digest….recently we reported the London penthouse that had sold for around $ 220 million making it then the world’s most expensive private residence: Now the record has been shattered with the… [Read More]
WE LOVE THIS LIGHT! THE UN-FLUORESCENT, EFFICIENT LIGHT.
We found this simple, elegant light fixture in the bathrooms of a hotel in Italy and thought it to be the best lighting for a bathroom. “This lighting is both super-efficient and also did not give you that hideous blue-white, sickly appearance created by the average fluorescent lighting fixture found now in too many bathrooms,”… [Read More]
DOES BEST LOCATION = WORST QUALITY RESTAURANT?
I am currently traveling in Europe researching trends and getting a breather: it ceases to amaze me how many restaurants located in the very best, most desirable, attractive locations seem to have the worst food and service. Is this an international phenomena? Thinking of New York City, I guess the definition of ‘best location’ helps… [Read More]
BIG CITY FEDERAL TAX CREDIT ESSENTIAL!
The Obama administration is about to define ALL single persons earning $ 200,000.00 or more or ALL couples earning $ 250,000.00 or more rich: It is time we stand up to this sheer stupidity. Yes, these incomes would definitely qualify you as rich in Oklahoma City or a small town in Vermont, but it is… [Read More]
EATALY: MANHATTANS NEW FOOD COURT
Yesterday I visited EATALY for the first time, the new food emporium of Mario Batali…..what an experience! The line at the front door was the reminiscent of Studio 54: who would be chic enough to get past that velvet rope from a line stretched around onto 5th Avenue? I had to negotiate hard, explaining a… [Read More]
WHAT'S REPORTED HAS ALREADY HAPPENED
In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, an interesting article talks about the timeliness of real estate data. We have been talking about this for years…. “We have repeatedly cautioned anyone to use real estate quarterly reports to get the best gauge of what is really happening in the markets right now,” says leonard Steinberg of… [Read More]
MAJOR MANHATTAN SKYLINE CHANGES COMING?
It is now certain that within the next 10 years, the Manhattan skyline will look very different. Plans for a spate of significant high rise buildings appear to be moving forward now as the economy slowly un-locks. Developers are readying two residential towers that will rise above most of Midtown. The massive mixed-use development planned… [Read More]