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Why are you dismissing his personal observations with such a condescending attitude? First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are bei

Why are you dismissing his personal observations with such a condescending attitude? First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are being bought by wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there. As a result, these wealthy areas are eerily empty: "In a three-block stretch of Midtown, from East 56th Street to East 59th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, 57 percent, or 285 of 496 apartments, including co-ops and condos, are vacant at least 10 months a year. From East 59th Street to East 63rd Street, 628 of 1,261 homes, or almost 50 percent, are vacant the majority of the time, according to data from the Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey." [1] The increasingly empty storefronts in Manhattan are also well-documented. Anyone who's lived in Manhattan for multiple years has noticed this - commercial venues shutting down, and either remaining vacant or being replaced with Chase bank retail branches or megachains. There are a ton of trust fund kids who don't work, noticeably more compared to any other city I've lived in. Of course it's probably a minority, but doesn't change the reality of it. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/realestate/pieds-terre-owners-dominate-some-new-york-buildings.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/realestate/pieds-terre-ow...

delfinom 7y ago
>The increasingly empty storefronts in Manhattan are also well-documented. Anyone who's lived in Manhattan for multiple years has noticed this - commercial venues shutting down, and either remaining vacant or being replaced with Chase bank retail branches or megachains. The joke is the city is looking into giving "grants" for small businesses to move into storefronts instead of trying to fix the actual issue. Basically just feeding the bubble.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vonmoltke 7y ago
> First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are being bought by wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there. As a result, these wealthy areas are eerily empty: > "In a three-block stretch of Midtown, from East 56th Street to East 59th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, 57 percent, or 285 of 496 apartments, including co-ops and condos, are vacant at least 10 months a year. From East 59th Street to East 63rd Street, 628 of 1,261 homes, or almost 50 percent, are vacant the majority of the time, according to data from the Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey." The Times quote does not demonstrate your statement. It demonstrates that a significant chunk of a portion of Midtown is owned by largely-absent owners. It does not demonstrate at all that these owners are "wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there".
- JDiculous 7y ago
  Yea, there are a million other articles that talk about wealthy foreign Chinese investors and Russian oligarchs laundering their money through Manhattan real estate if you're interested in learning more about that.

delfinom 7y ago

>The increasingly empty storefronts in Manhattan are also well-documented. Anyone who's lived in Manhattan for multiple years has noticed this - commercial venues shutting down, and either remaining vacant or being replaced with Chase bank retail branches or megachains. The joke is the city is looking into giving "grants" for small businesses to move into storefronts instead of trying to fix the actual issue. Basically just feeding the bubble.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

vonmoltke 7y ago

> First of all it's a well documented phenomenon that NYC apartments are being bought by wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there. As a result, these wealthy areas are eerily empty: > "In a three-block stretch of Midtown, from East 56th Street to East 59th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, 57 percent, or 285 of 496 apartments, including co-ops and condos, are vacant at least 10 months a year. From East 59th Street to East 63rd Street, 628 of 1,261 homes, or almost 50 percent, are vacant the majority of the time, according to data from the Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey." The Times quote does not demonstrate your statement. It demonstrates that a significant chunk of a portion of Midtown is owned by largely-absent owners. It does not demonstrate at all that these owners are "wealthy foreigners to invest and/or launder money without actually living there".

JDiculous 7y ago
Yea, there are a million other articles that talk about wealthy foreign Chinese investors and Russian oligarchs laundering their money through Manhattan real estate if you're interested in learning more about that.