Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 15th, 2014 This week we were again reminded how antiquated the garbage collection system is in our GLOBAL CENTER, New York City: Its truly outrageous. The endless snows have slowed garbage collection to a grind, with sidewalks piling up with garbage bags. Worse, when the trucks eventually roll around… [Read More]
MANHATTAN CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 13, 2014 Have you noticed recently just how bad the traffic has become in Manhattan? It seems every block has at least 2-3 constructions sites, some even more. These construction sites require bringing in large equipment and trucks that congest and cause traffic chaos. Most have a construction shed… [Read More]
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR WHOM?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 11th, 2014 The gorgeous building housing CITY HALL restaurant at 131 Duane Street just sold for over $18 million: this sale highlights an issue that Mayor De Blasio needs to address related to AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The building houses 6 rent stabilized tenants who are supposedly paying an average of… [Read More]
OBAMACARE GOOD FOR LUXURY REAL ESTATE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 7th, 2014 Is it possible that OBAMACARE could be good for the high end of luxury real estate in New York? This week it was revealed that the overall level of labor will fall by 1.5% to 2% over the decade, not merely by 800,000, according to the Congressional Budget Office… [Read More]
THE SARABETH EFFECT
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 7th, 2014 Have you noticed the effect that eponymous cafe SARABETH’S is having on certain neighborhoods? It all started on the Upper West Side in 1981, the bastion of ‘family-living’……a cafe/bakery that presented the home cooked and baked experience. The store started out as a bakery and jam shop, where… [Read More]
WEST CHELSEA RIVERFRONT SITE SELLS FOR $ 714/sf
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 2nd, 2014 The Atlantic Foundation, a nonprofit funding group founded by an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, has sold a development site at 540 West 21st Street in West Chelsea for $50 million, or about $714/sf to Casco Development Corp, which is controlled by a foreign real estate investor… [Read More]
FROM INSTAGRAM TO INSTA-ART?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 2nd, 2014 February’s REAL DEAL reports on our INSTAGRAM event where we printed and framed 49 Instagram shots from our account ‘luxury_loft_team’ as “INSTA-ART” to stage an apartment (a New York first?): Social media meets society? http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/social-media-becomes-the-latest-staging-tool/
NEW DEVELOPMENT DESIGN DIRECTION 2014
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 25th, 2014 Many developers are in a quandary: what is the ‘next’ design direction and how do you deliver this without taking on too much risk. In the last few years we have seen new adjectives emerge in the different styles of finish-out……here are some: 1) Richard Meier-esque:… [Read More]
MAYOR DE BLUNDER? JANUS SNOWSTORM CLEANUP DISAPPOINTING
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 22nd, 2014 I have received far too many calls today about New Yorkers angry at the City, and especially Mayor De Blasio, for the dreadful post-storm clean-up: why is it that the streets of Manhattan were so poorly ploughed? A visiting Chicago resident said ‘this would never happen in Chicago’…..TODAY SHOW Al… [Read More]
PEDESTRIAN ACCOUNTABILITY CRISIS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 20th, 2014 Is it just me or has accountability and personal responsibility evaporated from our society? Many are decrying the number of pedestrian deaths on our streets and it is rather horrific how many pedestrians die or are seriously injured in New York, often at the hands of careless, irresponsible… [Read More]