Comments by "" (@hewitc) on "New York City Just Got Worse" video.

  1. What small business owner is not greedy to some extent? Everyone wants to make what they can. My friend became a landlord. Unfortunately he wasn't greedy. He was nice to the tenants and did all the repairs etc. Some tenants (who were already paying ridiculously below market rents under rent control) took advantage of him and stopped paying any rent. He couldn't evict them because and eviction proceeding required a building code inspection. The tenant would break the light fixture in front of the mailboxes (a violation) just before the inspector arrived. The case was dismissed. My friend owned the building for ten years then sold at a loss.
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  2. Living in NYC is an education. If you cannot travel to foreign countries you can learn about them just be living in NYC. You can find things like Tibetan food that you would never see in any suburban area.
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  3. It's for special people. You need to be optimistic and ambitious. It's not for people who just want to repeat whatever their parents did. (Unless their parents were NYers too)
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  4.  @rebeccaa2433  Many of the people at home were told to come back to the office. No more goofing around and playing with the pets and babies. Back to Work!
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  5. I lived in a horrible tenement for $140/ month (1975), Vermin, falling plaster, shower in the kitchen next to the front door. No bathroom sink. Ugh. The owners fixed it up and sold the units as condos for $350K (2015). A combined unit went for $1M! Sublets now rent for $2,800.
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  6.  @jmr9735  It's cyclical. In the 1970's there were apartments selling for $35K that go for $20M today. In 1990 prime office rents sunk to under $20/ft. All the office buildings on Broadway in lower Manhattan were owned by mortgagees. The developers lost everything. Ten years later they were all profitable. If prices are low, now is the time to buy if history repeats itself. Politics has nothing to do with it.
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  7. It will enhance your life! Just walking around is an education.
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  8. Some of the high end places (watches for example) open them in prime locations to showcase their brand. The retail sales aren't meant to cover the rent and salaries, just defray them somewhat.
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  9. Are you nuts? "Malicious intent"? It's a disease. Viruses don't have malice.
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  10. The entire Wall Street office area was converted to residential years ago. There are extremely few "Wall Street" firms located on Wall St. now.
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  11. It's cyclical. Just look at the history.
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  12. And live where in the meantime? Mom and Dad's place?
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  13. That was not a walk in closet. I agree. And every studio is not a "loft"
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  14. It was like that in 1990. There was a recession then but people seem to forget.
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  15.  @Justine_Marie  But back then $15K/yr was middle class. You can't have it both ways.
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  16. Not unless you get a big raise. People apply for and get high pay jobs before moving there. If they are smart.
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  17. East 34th St near NYU hospital is thriving. Maybe that's not a good thing for the sick people but the area is booming.
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  18.  @cllc9722  Hellfire. 1. FYI your caps lock key is stuck. That gives the impression that you are screaming or raving. 2. You sound a little young or inexperienced. You think "greed" is a new thing? If you think NYC can be a harsh place to live check out what it was like for people living on the lower east side 100 years ago. That environment produced great people. How many great thinkers, inventors or humanitarians arose from placid Peoria? NYC has always been the melting pot and a place where people went to seek a better life. Most of them did. NYC is not for people who are willing to live a life that repeats what their parents did. It's not for people who are happy with a routing and doing only what is expected of them. It's for people who want change. The negatives are the eggs breaking to make the omelet. Personally, I preferred the old Times Square with the pawn shops, peep shows and Three Card Monte Games over the newer "Disney-fied" sanitary version designed for tourists. Watch De Niro in Taxi Driver. That was the gritty New York that was badass, but great.
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  19. Not every landlord succeeds in business.
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