7 ms·

Regretting Move, Bank May Return to Manhattan

40 points by siculars 15y ago

siculars 15y ago
"... although Goldman Sachs equity traders revolted in 2002 when the investment bank tried to relocate them to an expensive new tower in Jersey City, a mere mile from its Lower Manhattan headquarters." Location still matters.
- ryanfitz 15y ago
  Also distance doesn't accurately represent the inconvenience it takes to get from new york city to a place not connected by subway. To go from Manhattan to jersey city you will most likely be taking a subway and then connecting to a path train or ferry, that mere mile distance could easily make your commute over an hour each way.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - siculars 15y ago
    For anyone who is familiar with the traffic patterns in and around Manhattan, a "mere mile" as the crow flies is a far stretch from reality. NYC is really a village... at 3am with no traffic. But when you need to navigate public transportation you will no doubt be left wanting wings.
    - melling 15y ago
      Of course it doesn't need to be this way. Hopefully, they'll extend the 7 line to Jersey and continue adding subway lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Subway_Extension http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Subway_Extension
      - siculars 15y ago
        Talk to me in a few decades... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway Subway extensions are notoriously difficult to pull off in NYC. NYC, in specific, and the USA, in general, have become woefully inadequate in their ability to pull of Major infrastructure projects. The list of overbudget and behind schedule projects in the last few decades is a mile long. I won't hold my breath waiting for the day I can take the 7 from Flushing (where I grew up) to Jersey.
        muhfuhkuh 15y ago
        It really puts things in perspective when you have a monolithic, monocultural, centrally-planned country like China building all of these science-fiction scope projects like the massive Beijing Subway[1], and doing them in record time. Seriously, are our troubles building things like the Big Dig really because of Unions, as Free Marketeers have laid blame? Or, is it because the Chinese government can plow through any problem because they're communists and not "inefficient democracy"? Or, is it because of their "monoculture" (I've always hated that argument; I mean, what does culture or cultural mix have to do with getting something built or accomplished?). Or, maybe it's the almighty dollar/yen/yuan (and lack thereof). Whatever it is, it's really depressing. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxMjjwwV9tQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxMjjwwV9tQ
        guelo 15y ago
        Somehow this country, the richest country in history, is in the grips of an amazing can't do attitude. A big part of it is the rise of the conservative movement and its "government is evil" mantra. And part of it is just that democracy is messy since you have to get more people to agree and make compromises.
        enjo 15y ago
        From the outside it sure seems like its the bureaucracy involved that is our issue. Environmental impact study after environmental impact study followed by detailed design reviews and constituent hearings. The actual engineering and building are still strengths of ours, its every little special interest we put between conception and execution that seems to be the issue. At least what I can gather talking to people working in those fields. We used to sublet out of an architects office, and it was fascinating listening to them deal with all of the regulatory insanity.
  - skorgu 15y ago
    Goldman's idea was to use ferries between FiDi and Jersey City to mitigate this. They called it the 'Venice strategy', I have no idea how well it worked.
  - ch1x0r 15y ago
    The difference may add 15-20 minutes to the commute, if you're coming down from points east. Not insignificant, but it's not like it is taking people 10 minutes on one hand, over an hour on the other.
- dr_ 15y ago
  Because, of course, the financial district is home to the hottest restaurants, lounges and nightlife.... The city should give up wasting time on banks and bankers and focus more on growing it's tech sector. Otherwise you're never going to find a Google, FB or Apple HQ in Manhattan.
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Why is the time spent on banks wasted? Reading your comment objectively is extremely hard when it's on HackerNews. "Stop wasting money on the industry I'm not in, and start focusing on me!"
    - clobber 15y ago
      Maybe because financial services don't make anything. They don't build anything.
      - Vargas 15y ago
        They are middleware, They enable others to make something, build something.
    - dr_ 15y ago
      The comments below sum it up. I am neither in financial services nor technology, although because I live in the region I associate with people who work in both industries, and although it's not right to generalize - in general there are vast differences in their outlook on life, the world, and what they contribute to manhattan.
  - showerst 15y ago
    Doesn't google already have a huge office/datacenter in one of the biggest buildings in manhattan? http://mashable.com/2010/12/03/google-manhattan-1-9-billion/ http://mashable.com/2010/12/03/google-manhattan-1-9-billion/ Granted, it's not the headquarters, but still.
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
iqster 15y ago
I was just in Stamford last weekend helping my gf find a place there. We both currently live in NYC right now. First off, rents in Stamford are insane. Decent 1-bedrooms currently rent for over 2 grand (which is what I pay in Manhattan). Granted you get 200 more square feet and a parking spot, this is still a large increase over what rents were in Stamford in 07 (about 500 bucks cheaper). The real-estate agents we spoke to claimed that RBS and UBS were hiring like gangbusters and this was pulling rents higher. Most of the high end apartments we say had a shuttle service to the Metro North station. It seems there are a lot of folks who live in Stamford and who commute to Manhattan.
guelo 15y ago
Yikes, that picture of that massive cubicle farm gave me the creeps. What is the idea with these trading floors always having open plans? It's not like anyone's going to be shouting across that room.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Cheaper than giving people offices, I'd wager.

40 points by siculars 15y ago

"... although Goldman Sachs equity traders revolted in 2002 when the investment bank tried to relocate them to an expensive new tower in Jersey City, a mere mile from its Lower Manhattan headquarters." Location still matters.

ryanfitz 15y ago
Also distance doesn't accurately represent the inconvenience it takes to get from new york city to a place not connected by subway. To go from Manhattan to jersey city you will most likely be taking a subway and then connecting to a path train or ferry, that mere mile distance could easily make your commute over an hour each way.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- siculars 15y ago
  For anyone who is familiar with the traffic patterns in and around Manhattan, a "mere mile" as the crow flies is a far stretch from reality. NYC is really a village... at 3am with no traffic. But when you need to navigate public transportation you will no doubt be left wanting wings.
  - melling 15y ago
    Of course it doesn't need to be this way. Hopefully, they'll extend the 7 line to Jersey and continue adding subway lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Subway_Extension http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Subway_Extension
    - siculars 15y ago
      Talk to me in a few decades... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway Subway extensions are notoriously difficult to pull off in NYC. NYC, in specific, and the USA, in general, have become woefully inadequate in their ability to pull of Major infrastructure projects. The list of overbudget and behind schedule projects in the last few decades is a mile long. I won't hold my breath waiting for the day I can take the 7 from Flushing (where I grew up) to Jersey.
      - muhfuhkuh 15y ago
        It really puts things in perspective when you have a monolithic, monocultural, centrally-planned country like China building all of these science-fiction scope projects like the massive Beijing Subway[1], and doing them in record time. Seriously, are our troubles building things like the Big Dig really because of Unions, as Free Marketeers have laid blame? Or, is it because the Chinese government can plow through any problem because they're communists and not "inefficient democracy"? Or, is it because of their "monoculture" (I've always hated that argument; I mean, what does culture or cultural mix have to do with getting something built or accomplished?). Or, maybe it's the almighty dollar/yen/yuan (and lack thereof). Whatever it is, it's really depressing. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxMjjwwV9tQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxMjjwwV9tQ
        guelo 15y ago
        Somehow this country, the richest country in history, is in the grips of an amazing can't do attitude. A big part of it is the rise of the conservative movement and its "government is evil" mantra. And part of it is just that democracy is messy since you have to get more people to agree and make compromises.
        enjo 15y ago
        From the outside it sure seems like its the bureaucracy involved that is our issue. Environmental impact study after environmental impact study followed by detailed design reviews and constituent hearings. The actual engineering and building are still strengths of ours, its every little special interest we put between conception and execution that seems to be the issue. At least what I can gather talking to people working in those fields. We used to sublet out of an architects office, and it was fascinating listening to them deal with all of the regulatory insanity.
- skorgu 15y ago
  Goldman's idea was to use ferries between FiDi and Jersey City to mitigate this. They called it the 'Venice strategy', I have no idea how well it worked.
- ch1x0r 15y ago
  The difference may add 15-20 minutes to the commute, if you're coming down from points east. Not insignificant, but it's not like it is taking people 10 minutes on one hand, over an hour on the other.
dr_ 15y ago
Because, of course, the financial district is home to the hottest restaurants, lounges and nightlife.... The city should give up wasting time on banks and bankers and focus more on growing it's tech sector. Otherwise you're never going to find a Google, FB or Apple HQ in Manhattan.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Why is the time spent on banks wasted? Reading your comment objectively is extremely hard when it's on HackerNews. "Stop wasting money on the industry I'm not in, and start focusing on me!"
  - clobber 15y ago
    Maybe because financial services don't make anything. They don't build anything.
    - Vargas 15y ago
      They are middleware, They enable others to make something, build something.
  - dr_ 15y ago
    The comments below sum it up. I am neither in financial services nor technology, although because I live in the region I associate with people who work in both industries, and although it's not right to generalize - in general there are vast differences in their outlook on life, the world, and what they contribute to manhattan.
- showerst 15y ago
  Doesn't google already have a huge office/datacenter in one of the biggest buildings in manhattan? http://mashable.com/2010/12/03/google-manhattan-1-9-billion/ http://mashable.com/2010/12/03/google-manhattan-1-9-billion/ Granted, it's not the headquarters, but still.
- burgerbrain 15y ago

iqster 15y ago

I was just in Stamford last weekend helping my gf find a place there. We both currently live in NYC right now. First off, rents in Stamford are insane. Decent 1-bedrooms currently rent for over 2 grand (which is what I pay in Manhattan). Granted you get 200 more square feet and a parking spot, this is still a large increase over what rents were in Stamford in 07 (about 500 bucks cheaper). The real-estate agents we spoke to claimed that RBS and UBS were hiring like gangbusters and this was pulling rents higher. Most of the high end apartments we say had a shuttle service to the Metro North station. It seems there are a lot of folks who live in Stamford and who commute to Manhattan.

guelo 15y ago

Yikes, that picture of that massive cubicle farm gave me the creeps. What is the idea with these trading floors always having open plans? It's not like anyone's going to be shouting across that room.

pavel_lishin 15y ago
Cheaper than giving people offices, I'd wager.