Posted on August 21st, 2011 The new EQUITY/Sam Zell rental building at 500 West 23rd Street may be bringing a worthy counter-balance to its rather mundane architecture to the West Chelsea neighborhood: rumor on the street is the ‘ultimate gourmet market’ Citarella may be the new street level retail tenant. With 5 locations currently in Manhattan and… [Read More]
GLOBAL CENTER GATED UBER-COMMUNITIES
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 12th, 2011 As the political climate shifts to a more conservative stance, and the almost certainty that Rick Perry will be the next USA president, the super-wealthy will continue to seek out homes within communities that protect and separate them from the increasingly volatile outside world. These gilded, gated… [Read More]
CORRECTION OR CRASH? WALL STREET LOVES DRAMA!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 8, 2011 To-days dramatic market plunge following the S + P downgrade raises the question: is this a correction or a crash? Market corrections are not unusual events. From the market lows of July 2010 to the highs of April 2011, the S&P 500 was up over 26% without… [Read More]
THE S & P DOWNGRADE AND LUXURY NEW YORK REAL ESTATE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 6, 2011 The S & P downgraded the USA to AA+ credit rating from its previous top-notch rating of AAA, an embarrassment to the entire country for sure, but certainly nothing too un-expected considering the disgraceful political maneuverings in Washington….. the U.S. debt wasn’t downgraded because it didn’t have… [Read More]
SOME GOOD NEWS, PLEASE: 4,200!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 3rd, 2011 $4,200 is now the average amount carried by Americans on their credit cards…..that is down from over $ 11,000.00. That’s down rather dramatically. To me it means that should consumer confidence return, spending could rise nicely….and lets face it, this economy needs and relies on spending more… [Read More]
ITS TIME TO CHANGE NEW YORK CITY SCAFFOLDING
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 30th, 2011 We have covered this subject before in LUXURYLETTER: Manhattan and New York City sidewalks are constantly covered with hideous, unsightly construction sheds and scaffolding. Always dark, somewhat sketchy, and often covered with graffiti, the sheds leave much to be desired, which is why the Department of Buildings… [Read More]
ARE WE ALL GUILTY OF SEVERE HYPOCRISY?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 23rd, 2011 Are we all too quick to pass judgement without taking a long hard look in the mirror? This week saw two amazing instances of mass judgement: Firstly, everyone everywhere, especially in the press, voiced their OUTRAGE at Rupert Murdoch and his organization’s hacking misdeeds….of course, NONE of… [Read More]
SILICON VALLEY’S DAYS NUMBERED? TECH IS COMING TO NEW YORK!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 19, 2011 In another strong attempt to spur business growth in the New York area, forward thinking (not-focused-on-re-election) Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced details today of a request for “universities near and far” to submit proposals to build or expand a science and engineering campus in the city—a project he… [Read More]
GRIDLOCK HIGH TECH COMES TO MANHATTAN: MAN vs. TECH
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 19, 2011 The traffic clogged heart of Manhattan is getting a state-of-the-art bypass operation — with city engineers now directing Midtown traffic flow by typing a few keys in a Queens control room. Mayor Bloomberg yesterday launched the first-of-its-kind, real-time, congestion-busting system, which allows the engineers to control traffic lights… [Read More]
WEST CHELSEA’S FUTURE AS AN ARTS CENTER?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 15, 2011 The question arose this week (and many times before) about the future of West Chelsea as an Arts Center: will West Chelsea go the way of Soho? Will Gagosian become the Gap? Will Prada replace Paula Cooper? Chanel replace Cheim & Reid? “The biggest difference between Soho’s… [Read More]