Urban Digs:economics of NYC real estate
urbandigs tracks real estate in NY -- more aimed at investors than at consumers.
July 27, 2008
July 19, 2008
Starbucks jumped the shark
OPEN LETTER
Dear Starbucks,
Hey, is there anywhere to get a decent cup of coffee around here?
Oh, come on. Don't look so sad. When we're in the mood for a twenty-four-ounce cup of pumpkin-pie-flavored Cool Whip, a Feist CD covered in mocha fingerprints, a possibly exaggerated memoir by a former child soldier, and some customer "service" that denies our essential humanity, we still head straight to our corner Starbucks. Or the one across from that one. Or the one that will have opened farther down the block by the time we finish typing this sentence.
Here's the thing, though: We're never, ever in that mood.
What we do like is coffee. If coffee were smack, we'd be Pete Doherty and we'd refuse to give it up, even if it cost us our career and our supermodel girlfriend. And we'll tank up anywhere: the neighborhood joint with the womyn-friendly breast-feeding policy and the couches composed entirely of rusty springs; the swill dispenser down the hall; an AA meeting. Anywhere, that is, but Starbucks.
In this we're not alone. America is a caffeine nation, perpetually jacked up on gallons of magma-hot ****-yeah juice, and logically you guys should still be making more money than Halliburton and Hannah Montana combined. Instead your market share is crumbling, and so is your cultural primacy. Snooty people have moved on to snootier coffee--shade-grown, fair-trade, artisanal, brought down the mountain by mules that have good dental coverage. Everybody else went back to Dunkin' Donuts. You're still part of the fabric of American life--think of Mary-Kate Olsen's ever present Venti cup, proof despite massive evidence to the contrary that she's Just Like Us--but so is soul-crushing corporate suckitude. Your new ads spotlight a straight-down-the-middle brew called Pike Place Roast. We're glad you're getting back into the coffee business--seriously, is there anything you haven't put in a latte yet? Courvoisier? DayQuil? unicorn tears?--but we've tried this stuff, and it should come with an Egg McMuffin on the side. It's a rich, complex blend of desperation and mediocrity.
The real problem is that there used to be something about you, Starbucks, and now there isn't. You were a quintessentially '90s company. You were from Seattle, the same rainy cradle of anticorporate corporateness that gave us Microsoft and major-label grunge. Young dreamers camped out in your stores all day like the cast of Friends, filling napkins with business plans for e-commerce Web sites. ("It's like Pets.com for Wiccans!") We were all going to get crazy rich and wear ironic sexy grandpa T-shirts to offices where we'd play Frisbee golf instead of working. A $4 latte wasn't an extravagance; it was a little rehearsal for the cushy life that was about to be ours. Even your stupid fake-Italian language made us feel sophisticated. The 7-Eleven crowd could have their week-old bubblin' crude; we'd be over here, talking like Marcello Mastroianni, because we knew better. Even back then, you seemed a little evil-empire-ish. But man, your chairs were comfy. So we drank your overpriced espresso-shakes. We drank them up!
...
In other words, you've brought this on yourself. If we learned one thing from The Wire, it's that you can only control all the corner real estate in town and pay disenfranchised young people to sling an addictive product for so long before you lose your grip on the game. But we're not mad at you, Starbucks. Give us a call sometime. We'll grab a coffee. It's on us--we just shorted your stock.
Yours with shaky hands,
GQ Magazine, July 2008
[Via Men/ Style and F-chat]
See also Sant Ambreus Coffee in NY.
May 30, 2008
Subway Maps, overlay, by on ny turf
August 7, 2007
Sunscreen between her toes, Manhattan dermatologist Patricia Wexler
Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Patricia Wexler puts sunscreen between her toes.
But as proof that she is not merely some phobic S.P.F. showboater in
Gandhi clothing, Dr. Wexler explained that her favorite moment comes
when she can finally escape her portable sun shields for an immobile
one truly out of the sun. That would be the 10-by-10-foot Treasure
Garden cantilever umbrellas next to her pool at her house in East
Hampton, N.Y. They are the product of a long, long search.
“Every year I would look for something better than what I had,”
she said. And every year the Atlantic winds knocked over each
new arrival. “So you could never really relax,” she said. “You’re
trying to read, but you’ve always got one eye on the umbrella to
make sure it’s staying put.”
The Treasure Garden umbrella’s base, which when filled with sand
weighs 300 pounds, does just that. “This is the ultimate umbrella,”
she declared, which explains why she bought four, at $1,255 each,
at Hildreth’s in East Hampton. “They’re worth every penny.”
They worked, it turned out, too well, casting her entire patio into
shade. “I have a few friends we’ve had for a long time,” she
said carefully. “They have that real Miami skin — dark, dark tan
and definitely aged. And when they visit, they want to go and
sit by the pool with a drink, just to make sure they get every ray.
They won’t get near the umbrellas.”
Continue reading "Sunscreen between her toes, Manhattan dermatologist Patricia Wexler " »
June 22, 2007
IBanking Oasis
ibankingoasis hobnobs with the junior monkeys of investment banking.
Example: their life in NY.
June 17, 2007
Bed Stuy, txt or die
Virgin mobile's copywriters phone it in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘Murray Hill’ and ‘Rule’ used in the
same sentence before,” he said. “The copywriters certainly
deserve some credit for this. It’s not that easy to go from
bashing Sutton Place to selling prepaid phone service in
less than 50 words.”
-- John Reardon.
April 20, 2007
FHA mortgage limit should be $600,000
The government has fairly low limits on how big a mortgage
it will insure, so borrowers in New York City, for instance,
can receive a loan of about $363,000, far less than the
area’s median home price of about $470,000.
In Fairfield County, Conn., the maximum F.H.A. loan for a single-family
home is about $363,000, but the median price in the county’s largest
municipalities is $473,000.
Congress is considering raising the maximum loan to about $600,000, which
“would obviously help a lot of borrowers, especially in the Northeast.”
-- Brian J. Chappelle, founder of Potomac Partners in Washington,
consultants to the mortgage industry.
April 14, 2007
Playoff time in NY
April 1, 2007
Mortgage Who's who: Bob Tedeschi on mortgages at NYT
March 26, 2007
Busses for the poor
I considered taking the Long Island Rail Road,
but I can’t afford it, and I don’t have a car.
-- Sheryl McKenzie, who lives in Manhattan and commutes
to a nonprofit company in Hempstead.
February 23, 2007
Vulgar prestige of bottle services in NY
It used to be the promoter who was at the forefront.
Over the last three years, it’s very much the bottle hosts
who have become the most prominent person in the club.
-- Jamie Mulholland, an owner of Cain on West 27th Street.
To critics of bottle service, these hosts are further trappings
of a warped system in which the old intricacies of after-hours
chic have been vulgarized down to mere spending power.
For club owners, bottle hosts who bring in business help
them survive in an increasingly competitive industry in
which overhead costs like insurance and rents are climbing,
scrutiny by the city and law enforcement is increasing, and
some clubs are losing revenue as traditional New York
patrons pause in their tracks at the sight of the police
barricades blocking off West 27th Street, known informally
as club row.
Continue reading "Vulgar prestige of bottle services in NY" »
February 10, 2007
Pocket Change speed dating, NY
Pocket Change offers speed dating, NY style.
January 16, 2007
January 12, 2007
idonothingallday
I Do Nothing All Day, scenery from the streets of NY.
Best of 2006 at Atom Films.
December 12, 2006
Men's Warehouse suit vs banking attire
Is a Men's Warehouse suit banking attire ? LSO comment.
... with each new crop of banana republic groupies and
you’ll see first hand that all the accounting minor from B
ucknell ever taught them was that blue shirt plus khakis
equals acceptance.
November 2, 2006
Half-baked macaroni as art project
Other parents found the teaching in their public schools
unimaginative.
“People went through the motions, they could claim there
was an art program, but I didn’t feel it was very rich”.
-- Susan Drews, 49, who lives in Yorktown Heights,
in Westchester, said that art in the first grade at her son’s
public school, for instance, involved “half-baked projects”
like gold-sprayed macaroni glued to paper plates.
October 18, 2006
Standard Deviant, NY life
Many bloggers have an irreverent, ironic take on NY life.
The Standard Deviant, a substitute school teacher, is not
left out.
October 16, 2006
kizmeet, a slick 'missed connections'
kizmeet: example:
October 14, 2006
Multiple Listing Service: Long Island, New York.
October 11, 2006
WCBS NYC TV News
CBS in NYC: wcbs TV in New York City: news, topstories,
with non-hideous website design.
October 3, 2006
NY traffic lawyer for speeding tickets
I was not speeding: traffic lawyers and ticket fixers in NY and NJ:
The National Motorists' Association NY referrals.
--------
Frank Desousa at ticketproblems.com
516-505-7715
also
--------
NotSpeeding.com
fax (877) 742-2268
ph (877)965-3237
Fax them your ticket, they phone back with a free consultation.
--------
NYTraffic Lawyer
A former NYC Traffic Court Judge
NYC speeding tickets a specialty
--------
traffic-summons.com aka Michael Spevack
recommended at SQC
---------
Speedlaw.net
Casey W. Raskob: has personally lobbied for the 65 mph limit in Albany
and at numerous Traffic Safety Conferences in New York State and
elsewhere. With the National Motorist’s Association he has testified
before the New Jersey State Senate and NY/NJ Port Authority on
motorist’s issues. Self-description; recommended on NE Mini.
September 26, 2006
September 18, 2006
Larchmont housing market strength
One place that seems to be holding up better than most is
Larchmont. There, the number of sales for the first 10
months so far this year has exceeded the corresponding
period in 2005, with 157 sales this year, up from 147 a
year earlier, said Debbie Doern, manager of Century 21
Residential Brokerage. In addition, the median sales price
during the period was slightly more than $1.1 million, up
from $999,000 a year earlier.
Ms. Hellman at Merritt Associates attributed the village’s
relative resistance to a distinctive combination of assets:
an architecturally varied and well-maintained housing
stock from the 1920s and 1930s; a thriving downtown
within walking distance of almost anywhere else in the
village; a location next to Long Island Sound; and proximity
to Manhattan.
Farther north, on the Village Green in Bedford, Missy Renwick,
the broker-owner of Renwick & Winterling, a family-owned real
estate agency, reported that some towns — among them Pound
Ridge, Armonk and Bedford — have so far remained relatively
unscathed.
“Gosh, everybody is saying the market is awful,” Ms. Renwick
said, “but we just had the best October in a long time, with a
$17 million sale, two $7 million sales and some for $5 million.
At worst, we have a few low bidders out there looking at
the leftovers.”
In one segment of Westchester’s market, that of new luxury
condominium sales, the sales picture has been downright
rosy. As Louis R. Cappelli, a Valhalla-based developer,
observed, referring to condos he is building, “there may
be a slowdown in some locations, but we’re certainly not
seeing it in White Plains and New Rochelle.”
Since the sales center opened last month, Mr. Cappelli said,
contracts have been signed for more than a third of the units
at his 44-story Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains
— where prices range from $750,000 to more than $6 million.
September 15, 2006
Sant Ambroeus coffee
santambroeus makes great coffee.
NYC and Southampton, NY.
September 9, 2006
Fourtitude: Audiworld++
Fourtitude community of Audi, and like makes.
Events like
Audi Forum Meet
Showing of the new Audi R8 at the Audi Forum New York City
has been confirmed as a go. This Saturday, October 28 from
3-5 o’clock PM, Fourtitude readers will have a chance to get
up close and personal with Audi's new supercar one last
time before it is packed up and shipped out of the Audi Forum.
Of course, the Audi Forum holds up to five cars, so accenting
the R8 will be a 1939 Auto Union Type D silver arrow racecar,
an RS 4 sedan, a Q7 and a $175,000 A8 W12 kitted with just
about any option quattro GmbH can dream up.
While many guests will be local Manhattanites, we hear some will
be travelling from far-flung places like Florida and points west.
Look for a little something special for the person coming in from
the furthest point on the map.
Audi Forum Director Axel Catton will offer a short presentation on the
forum and the cars, followed by a casual time where visitors can
examine the cars, ask questions of Audi and Fourtitude staff on
hand, and simply enjoy the atmosphere.
The Audi Forum New York City is located on the South East corner of
Park Avenue and 47th street in the heart of Manhattan.
September 5, 2006
Fairway market grocer
Fairwaymarket, modest NY grocery.
August 31, 2006
Bridge and Tunnel Club
bridgeandtunnelclub is about everything NY which is not Manhattan.
Long live the outer boroughs.
Musings about Park Slope.
August 29, 2006
New York channel
The Coruscation New York channel:
NY, Queens", CT, NJ, VT.
old NY Wiki 2003 January - 2005 October
old old NY Wiki 2003 January - 2004 January.
August 25, 2006
NY BMWCCA
August 24, 2006
Urban Digs
Another consumer guide to NY real estate: urbandigs
August 23, 2006
Ryan McGinley
In 1999, Ryan McGinley, then a graphic design major at
Parsons School of Visual Arts in New York, sent his
50-page home-cooked book of urban idyllic photographs
The Kids Are Alright, which he had produced on
his desktop computer, to 100 magazine editors and artists
he admired.
From NYT, The Virus Underground, Clive Thompson, 2004 Feb 08.
At the time, fashion photography was ending its infatuation
with gritty photography. Decaying beauty, as found in
moody images of slouchy, stoned, skinny girls by artists
such as David Sims, Glen Luchford, Mario Sorrenti and
Corinne Day, were being wiped off magazine pages in
favor of buoyant stylized shots of pretty Brazilian girls
with party-ready bodies and supernaturally white teeth.
-- ArtNet.
Many photos look very after in the Muriel's Wedding sense.
Not confused with Ryan McGinness.
After a long and lonely struggle for cool-kid status,
the meatpacking district is finally attracting modish artists:
The poppy painter Ryan McGinness has bought a
one-bedroom condo at 350 West 14th Street for $814,000.
August 18, 2006
subway map mashup for NYC
google-subway map mashup by onnyturf.
See previously: Dynamap layered map.
August 17, 2006
The Real Estate Observer
therealestate.observer by the New York Observer
tracks New York real estate's luxury and upscale
developments.
August 16, 2006
NY water Taxi
nywatertaxi connects lower Manhattan across the East River
* Queens Hunters' Point to Midtown
* Brooklyn Williamsburg, Fulton Ferry, Red Hook to Battery Park
and
across the Hudson to NJ.
* World Finacial Center to Jersey City, NJ.
August 15, 2006
Hickey Freeman
August 14, 2006
Amagansett, Martha's Vineyard: real yatching and tennis
August 11, 2006
Suit for $400
Business attire by English Cut.
$400 off-the-rack suit. In short — disregard the brand and
look for the best-fitting single-breasted (2 or 3 button)
gray or blue wool suit that you can find. Pants can go either
plain front or pleated. For more details about lapel and
sleeve buttonholes and pockets...
Blogrolled: thomas mahon, bespoke savile row tailor, london.
August 3, 2006
LIRR in LIC
Long Island City has two Long Island Railroad stations.
Manhattan --- LIC --- Hunter's Point --- Jamaica ---
Hunters' Point Station: AirFoto
on 49 Ave between 21st Street and Skillman Ave,
Long Island City, NY 11101
Long Island City station: AirFoto
on Borden Ave, between 2nd Street and 5th Street.
Long Island City, NY 11101
StaphHangers weigh in.
August 1, 2006
Larger apartments, higher ceilings, open views, add value
Strong demand for larger apartments with higher ceilings,
open views and well-designed kitchens and bathrooms
— the type of apartments that have not been built in
large numbers in a generation.
The bullish view of the Manhattan real estate market is based
on the belief that it is unique -- a magnet for wealth from
across the country and around the world.
Continue reading "Larger apartments, higher ceilings, open views, add value" »
July 29, 2006
Long Island Multiple Listing Service
MLSLI, the MLS of Long Island.
House shopping in suburban Long Island.
July 13, 2006
Bulgogi Korean BBQ beef in Flushing, Queens
Korean bbq place in Flushing, Queens. Recommended.
San Hai Jin Mi
36-24 Union Street,
Flushing, Queens, NY 11354
(on Union just south of Northern Blvd. )
ph 718-539-3274
Great bulgogi and they’re open 24 hours as well though they
are not set up for tourists like the ones on K-town 32nd Street.
Continue reading "Bulgogi Korean BBQ beef in Flushing, Queens" »
June 26, 2006
NY Real Estate maps: Shark Bites
Curbed and Property Shark team for NY Property Map theme of the week at Shark Bites.
June 23, 2006
Investment Dealers' Digest on analyst earnings
IDD (Investment Dealers' Digest) looks an analyst earnings.
Continue reading "Investment Dealers' Digest on analyst earnings" »
June 18, 2006
LIE Conditions
L.I.E aka I-495, the Long Island Expressway conditions.
Queens, Nassau, Suffolk to Riverhead.
June 11, 2006
Curbed: New York Real Estate / Lockhart Steele
Deflate real-estate hype. Update twice per shift. Former magazine
editor Lockhart Steele mocks overpriced condo listings and the
language brokers use to pump up and pimp out properties.
PriceChopper highlights grossly overpriced apartments and
takes credit when the asking price drops.
BubbleWatch links to optimistic market forecasts. Curbed's major
feature drawback is its New York-centric coverage and its
obsession with celebrity and luxury properties. Occasional
ganders at Los Angeles and Boston.
June 6, 2006
Bankers' Ball
Bankers' Ball, banking life, with CFA follies.
May 14, 2006
Matrix @ Miller Samuel
Home buying reasons vary by generation and that open
houses are now on iPod video.
-- Matrix at Miller Samuel.
May 5, 2006
Chicago personal injury lawyer or New York lasik
Chicago personal injury lawyer or New York lasik laser eye surgery are
valuable search words.
So hire a Chicago personal injury lawyer if your New York lasik fails.
Continue reading "Chicago personal injury lawyer or New York lasik " »
April 23, 2006
Wall Street Folly
Wall Street Folly: clipping service for the aspiring beta banker.