Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 29th, 2014 RATS! New York has always had a rat problem, but it appears to have worsened recently with the acute levels of construction and digging around the city: Now, a new city “rat squad” is launching an offensive against colonies in parks and sewers where rodents lurk and infest… [Read More]
FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS DWINDLE HIGHLIGHTING INFLATION FARCE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 25th, 2014 First-time buyers are a diminishing sector of the housing market and now account for about 16% of new-home purchases, down from 25% – 28% between 2001 and 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In the existing-home market, first-time buyers accounted for 29% of purchases in April:… [Read More]
BROKER ETHICAL STANDARDS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 24th, 2014 I am always impressed by the public emphasis real estate leaders place on honesty and strong ethics in the real estate industry: I am nevertheless ceaselessly disappointed in how poorly these ethics are policed. The silence is deafening. And silence is the equivalent of an endorsement of bad behavior… [Read More]
FABULOUS FLIPPERS COME TO 57th STREET!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 21st, 2014 As new neighbors such as the Nordstrom Tower, Steinway Tower, MOMA Tower and 220 Central Park South, 432 PARK AVENUE get added to the 57th Street area mix competing with One 57, a new classification of competitors has joined the mix: re-sellers/flippers….. or FABULOUS FLIPPERS? Yes, re-selling and flipping… [Read More]
THE UNREAL WORLD
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 19th, 2014 Last night’s BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS ‘performance’ by Michael Jackson highlighted the unreality of our world. There was Michael Jackson performing for the world through high technology. Amazing. Obviously it was a holographic image but it was eerily real. And yet it was not real. It was about… [Read More]
DELUSIONAL RENT-STABILIZED TENANT ENTITLEMENT
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 18th, 2014 The cover story of the NEW YORK TIMES real estate section this weekend addresses the outrageous sense of entitlement of rent controlled and rent regulated tenants who for some insane reason believe they are entitled to have access to the exact same amenities and services as those… [Read More]
DE-GOOGLE ME!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 15th, 2014 Could the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision requiring internet search engines such as GOOGLE to remove information deemed inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant be coming to the USA? In real estate land when we want to know something about someone, the word ‘google’… [Read More]
RELATED TO BUY THE MOST IMPORTANT SITE IN WEST CHELSEA?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 14th, 2014 I would argue that the site at 511-525 W. 18th St in West Chelsea that is about to be bought by RELATED is the most important build able site in the West Chelsea area. While some skeptics may argue that paying more than $700/sf for this site was absurd, and… [Read More]
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ELEVATOR DOESN’T STAY IN THE ELEVATOR!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 13th, 2014 The recently released TMZ video clip of a heated Jerry-Springer-style altercation in the elevator of the Standard Hotel between Solange Knowles (sister of Beyonce) and Jay-Z highlight an element to daily New York life that many forget……we are being watched, especially in elevators. In my building every… [Read More]
ENGELS AND VOLKERS OPENS IN NEW YORK: A GROWING TIDE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 13th, 2014 Another major real estate firm has opened offices in Manhattan: Following the recent announcement that Connecticut/Massachusetts based William Raveis opened an office in Midtown Manhattan, we heard that Engels and Volkers, the German-based international real estate firm with 520 offices in 38 countries, is opening 12,000sf offices at… [Read More]