Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 19th, 2011 Cornell University is the winner of a competition to build a new science and engineering campus in the city: An official announcement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected later today. The city has offered free land on Roosevelt Island and up to $100 million worth of infrastructure…. [Read More]
WALL STREET UN-OCCUPIED: IS 2011 THE YEAR OF EXTREMISM?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 22nd, 2011 The news is out: Wall Street is shrinking with more than 200,000 jobs lost in the global financial-services industry this year, eclipsing 174,000 in 2009, according to a report by Max Abelson of Bloomberg. (That’s a lot of potential real estate buyers and renters). Wall Street rebounded from… [Read More]
TIME FOR A HOUSING TRUTH AND RECONCILLIATION COMMISSION?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 7th, 2011 Mayor Bloomberg recently passed most of the blame for the Housing crisis on Congress. Occupy Wall Street is blaming Wall Street. I grew up in South Africa in the 60’s and 70’s, a time when the country was plagued by a host of sins. was a court-like… [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]
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]
MY WAR ON CABS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 9, 2011 Cabs in New York City have become expensive. Still they are not nearly as expensive as those in London or some other cities. I don’t particularly mind paying for this service as it is one that I find extremely convenient and efficient. I had thought of getting… [Read More]
DEAR MAYOR BLOOMBERG: ABOUT YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES….
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 23, 2011 Mayor Bloomberg we love you: you are the greatest mayor this town has had. BUT, we have a serious problem with the real estate taxes in this City, and you are avoiding the big issue. You recently said in the NEW YORK POST that you feel the… [Read More]
NEW YORK: THE MOST CORRUPT REAL ESTATE TAX SYSTEM IN THE WORLD?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 18, 2011 Co-op and condo owners are slated to pay much higher real estate taxes next year, under a preliminary assessment roll released on Friday by the Bloomberg administration. The city attributed the rises, due to take effect in July 2011, to higher market values placed on apartment buildings… [Read More]
IS THERE REAL LUXURY? OR IS IT JUST A BIG CON?
In this morning’s Financial Times, Aswath Damodaran, the NYU business school professorwho moonlights as the guy who teaches Goldman Sachs trainees about how to value companies, said he defined luxury as an industry that has figured out how to leave people feeling good about being suckered. He also said you can’t value luxury; it’s in the… [Read More]