Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 23rd, 2014 The news items of the day are not that great, or maybe they are? 1) Mayor De Blasio is planning to abolish wood-burning fireplaces in New York. While I love a crackling fire in a living room, quite frankly they do make some horrific pollution… [Read More]
HOME OF THE FREE? ASK AIRBNB…..
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 21st, 2014 AIRBNB is under attack by New York Law that prevents the rental of any apartment for less than 30 days. Nearly two-thirds of the New York apartments recently listed on Airbnb were being offered in violation of the law: 64% of its 19,500-plus offerings covered an entire apartment,… [Read More]
THE TALLEST TOWER IN THE WORLD
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 20th, 2014 And you thought the Freedom Tower or those buildings on the 57th Street corridor of New York were tall? Hah! Work to build the world’s first 1km-high building…..yes, 3,280ft tall, or almost TRIPLE the height of 432 Park Avenue….. the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, is set… [Read More]
FUZZY MATHEMATICS AND REAL ESTATE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 17th, 2014 In this morning’s POST an article addresses the concerns of activist Reverend Dennis Dillon that Mayor De Blasio’s administration is not as diverse as the City and doesn’t reflect its composition: African-Americans account for about 23% of New York City’s population, and make up 26% of the… [Read More]
IS THE CO-OP BACK?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 17th, 2014 With the recent $70 million sale of the 960 Fifth Avenue Bronfman penthouse and the $ 42million Central Park West Jon Stryker sale (by Robby Browne)that just closed, we may conclude that rumors of the CO-OP’s demise have been grossly exaggerated! The Central Park West sale is… [Read More]
IS SELLER PRICING AMBITION OUT-PACING BUYER TOLERANCE?
Posted be Leonard Steinberg on April 16th, 2014 The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the expected SPRING RUSH has not happened quite as planned throughout the US Housing market, although the Manhattan market has been rather strong, and one reason may be that asking prices have been escalating to the point where they… [Read More]
THE SOLUTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING? BUILD LOTS!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 15th, 2014 The answer to New York’s affordable housing problem may ultimately be solved by building LOTS: If you need any evidence of this, think back to the 2007/2008 recession where masses of housing stock sat idle…..and resulted in prices dropping, often dramatically. Or look today towards China…. In… [Read More]
NEW YORK DOORMAN COSTS AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 14th, 2014 New York Doormen are a hallmark of New York buildings, the first and last impression of a guest and often a wonderful welcome home at the end of a long day. They perform numerous tasks during the day and night, many more than the expected opening and closing of… [Read More]
MAYOR DE BLASIO’S NEXT 100 DAYS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 13th, 2014 Many have asked my opinion of Mayor De Blasio’s first 100 days in office: I was lambasted by many for vocalizing my support of him……surely someone in real estate could not support this obviously liberal mayor for New York City? Well, I did. And I did so with good… [Read More]
THE BENEFICIARIES OF FEDERAL TAXES: NO, NOT NEW YORK!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 13th, 2014 For every tax dollar New Yorkers give the Federal Government each year, they only get back 79 cents in Federal funding. You might conclude that the Federal Government is wasting our money somewhere, but oh no: just like most corrupt tax systems, this one has its beneficiaries…. [Read More]