Locations, Locations

In NYC real estate is king. As big as this city is, there are so many people who want to live and work here that every inch of the 5 boroughs is in demand.

Location, location, location is the constant refrain. Or is it?

In a city of 8.6 million people -- a city brimming with people who want to buy things and use services -- there is more vacant commercial property than ever before. That means lots of stores and places where people could shop and get services don't exist! don't This segment from WNYC radio yesterday explores the alarming rise of empty commercial space in NYC but I don't need the media tell me this -- just walk down any commercial street in this city, in an neighborhood in any borough, and you'll see lots of vacant store fronts. It's stunning to think that, at a time when the city's population is bigger than ever, there are fewer and fewer places for New Yorkers to shop. 

The reasons are obvious: rising rents, online shopping. Also: tax write-offs -- some commercial landlords can actually make more money writing-off empty space than getting rent. That's depressing -- and hopefully the tax law will be changed. What's awful about retail stores closing in neighborhoods that they help give neighborhoods a sense of identity, a sense of individuality, a sense of self. Take them away and you ruin the neighborhoods.

Vacant store fronts are the blight of NYC today. 

One thing, however, we don't want in NYC is a Trump Presidential Library. Hopefully that'll never happen although a Staten Island City Councilman wants it here (in Staten Island of course) and some nitwit journalist thinks it's a great idea. 

How can I put this? UGH!

The idea that we would build a monument to this evil man in this city, a monument of hate and division, is horrifying. I hope, when the time comes (sooner hopefully rather  than later), any proposal for a Trump Library in NYC will be stopped. It will be the last, great triumph of the Resistance.