NEW YORK IS WORLD’S TOP FINANCIAL CENTER

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 15th, 2015 New York has ousted London amid growing regulation, scandals and EU concerns as the world’s top financial center. The top 4 cities in the twice-yearly survey by consultancy Z/Yen Group remain the same: London, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong. London has held on to the lead over New… [Read More]

DOES AFFORDABLE HOUSING MEAN RENTAL HOUSING?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 9th, 2014 As the cries for AFFORDABLE HOUSING grow in a city where labor, land and material costs keep escalating, it is probable that the only real solution for affordable housing is RENTAL housing.  The percentage of new homes being built as rental apartments is at the highest level… [Read More]

GLOBAL SUPER-RICH ARE RICHER AND NEW YORK IS ‘CHEAPER’!

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 7th, 2014 Today the Euro is trading around 1.39 to the dollar and the pound about 1.67, making New York increasingly ‘cheaper’ for the global rich who have grown in numbers over the last year as the world’s economies expand. Those Ultra High Net Worth Individuals whose combined assets… [Read More]

ART AND REAL ESTATE

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 6th, 2014 The Art Shows are in town and the next few days in Manhattan will be verrrrry art-focused. As always, the art crowd at the Armory Show were quite ‘arty’, mostly adorned from head-to-toe in black with seriously serious conversation the order of the day. I enjoy looking… [Read More]

LUXOFLATION: THE WORLD JUST TUNED IN

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 3rd, 2014 The World has finally caught onto what I have been talking about for years – LUXOFLATION – the excessive inflation on luxury products, including real estate. In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, an article addresses the subject specifically related to retail. Despite expanding into new markets, the… [Read More]

5 INSANE DOUBLE STANDARDS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 1st, 2014 Here are some crazy double standards to ponder….. 1)   NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden has sought refuge in Russia (the world’s shining bastion for human rights) from the abusive horrors of the US spying on its citizens…..while Mr. Putin boasted during the Sochi Olympics that every e-mail, text and phone call… [Read More]

THE COLD STATE OF HOUSING

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 25th 2014 Has the success of the housing market in the past few years been a result of ultra-cheap money and artificial demand because REIT’s and investors have bought large swaths of housing stock? Housing starts in the U.S. dropped in January by the most in almost 3 years as… [Read More]

55 NEW MULTI-MILLIONAIRES: WhatsAPP WITH THAT?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 20th, 2014 It has been reported that Facebook will be buying WhatsApp for almost $19 billion, hence making each of their 55 employees multi-millionaires. If this were to be averaged amongst them (highly doubtful) they would each be taking home an average of around $344 million, making POWERBALL winners… [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]