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]
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]
SPELLING MANSION SELLS + CLOSES
Most expensive US house closes.
MORE BANKER FOLLY…..OR THE SIGNS OF HOPE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 4th, 2011 Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co have started modifying tens of thousands of mortgages where the banks deem the loans especially risky, even if the borrowers have not asked, the New York Times reported yesterday. In some cases, the banks are slashing the amount… [Read More]
SO WHATS SO GREAT ABOUT USA REAL ESTATE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 4th weekend, 2011 As we pause in the middle of the year I reflect on what is great about the USA, and specifically what is so great about American real estate. Here is my list: 1) You don’t have to know the royals to build something: Unlike… [Read More]
TOY BUILDING SELLS – WITKOFF IS THE WINNING BIDDER
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on June 30th, 2011 The Witkoff Group won in the bidding for the Toy Building, the Madison Square Park landmark once slated to be condominiums by developer Yitzhak Tessler. Supposedly the bidding was fierce with competitive bidders S.L. Green and Macklowe losing out on the purchase of this magnificent structure that… [Read More]
THE STUPIDITY OF GOVERNMENT-THINK BANKS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on June 29th, 2011 Some banks are being like governments right now: stupid. When banks do not want to lend to highly qualified, super-reliable, well educated, credit worthy clients, we should conclude that we have a MAJOR problem. When these same banks make everything in the application process so difficult, cumbersome,… [Read More]
THE AUTOMATED PARKING GARAGE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on June 21, 2011 NY1 reported yesterday on the new automated parking garages opening up in New York, a system where a mechanized system takes your car and parks it in a compartment without the need of a parking attendant. The cars are stacked on top of one another in ‘contained… [Read More]