WEAK JOB GROWTH……EXCEPT IN BIG CITIES.

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 18th, 2013 Corporate results are showing an eerily similar trend: profits are growing, but revenues are not. Is this mostly related to the fact that companies are not hiring while demand grows very slowly, thereby deriding profits mostly from reduced labor costs and low interest rates? Are existing workers… [Read More]

150 CHARLES STREET: HALF A BILLION IN SALES IN 4 WEEKS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 16th, 2013 The New York Times ran an article for this weekend’s REAL ESTATE section talking about the ‘Downtown Spring awakening’:  150 Charles Street, the Witkoff Group developed, CookFox-designed building in the West Village achieved over HALF A BILLION in sales in 4 weeks, certainly a record for New… [Read More]

NEW YORK SCAFFOLDING LAW AND THE INSURANCE RACKET

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 10th, 2013 Everyone is chattering at the rising costs of a New York apartment. What most don’t realize is the dramatically increased costs of land, and worse, the rising costs of insurance during construction. Its time to reform New York state’s infamous scaffolding law. The law, which dates back… [Read More]

DIMENSION DEMENTIA

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 9th, 2013 Now that New York real estate buyers are back to buying apartments from floor plans have you noticed how some developers ‘cook’ the numbers by including the kitchen in the living room dimensions to make the living room appear much larger dimensionally? Something is being cooked here…..

REAL ESTATE TAX ROBBERY: THE MOST CORRUPT TAX SYTEM IN THE WORLD?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 27th, 2013 The overly corrupted, inequitable real estate structure of New York reveals further evidence now to showcase just how bad the situation is:  Did you know that Class 1 (single family) properties in Manhattan have gone up over 37% since 08 yet Brooklyn’s Class 1 properties increased only slightly since 08,… [Read More]