NYC Banning Personal Cars?

Economy, ,

carsNew York City has always had too many cars. Getting around the city is a problem. Uber and other such companies have recently been created to try to counter the issue on some level (and as a business venture).

In more recent news, NYC took another step toward the goal of clearing up the city’s car overload at both West Drive of Prospect Park and Central Park North of 72nd Street. West Drive will become car free July 6, 2015 and in two days from now Central Park will no longer allow cars.

This is great for the environment and also for those who just want a nice walk in the park. Given that housing in NYC typically does not cater for those with kids who want to run around in their gardens, it is really important that public parks do. Therefore some of the arguments are that NYC should be banning personal vehicles from not just parks but from the entire city. This of course, will take a lot more persuasion and work, but for now, it’s a good start.

New York Business Law: An End to Discrimination?

Economy,

chrysler-buildingThe New York City Council just passed a law forbidding private sector employers from asking job applicants if they have been convicted of a crime via the Fair Chance Act. While this has been supported by the Mayor, businesses are less than enthusiastic. The Partnership for New York said the bill favors “ideology over practicality.”

Meanwhile, the New York job market is actually thriving. According to numbers from the State Department of Labor, the state increased its private sector jobs by 126,200 from April 2014 to April 2015. It hasn’t affected the overall unemployment rate, during the same time frame which is at its lowest since 2008.

Still, the question is, who in New York is actually taking these jobs, and, perhaps more worryingly, who is not getting the jobs? Is this to do with discrimination?   Really one could argue that the additional jobs in the New York state area are more connected to a stabilizing economy as opposed to fairer equal opportunities.

There again if one is looking for a job, there might still be a vacancy left by Foster Huntington who quit his job in New York in the fashion industry to go live in a childhood fantasy-tree house, on land his real estate parents had bought years ago.

And for those who are really prepared to work and don’t mind what they do, perhaps they should look into a job in the fast food industry, where the number of workers increased 87% between 2010 and 2014.

There’s always work to be had, if someone wants it bad enough. It’s unclear if this law is necessary.

New York: Mixing Business with Charitable Pleasure

News, ,
by mumbot
by mumbot

It’s great to succeed in business. But it’s even better when one’s business venture can work with a successful charitable endeavor and help others at the same time.

That is what is happening in New York right now. Currently Coffeed has six cafes in New York (as well as a restaurant oversees), and works with a charity in all of these places, thereafter giving a percentage of its revenue to Founding. In response to this, they pay a mere $6,000 a month in rent at a very popular location.

In addition, around a quarter of the space in the café is dedicated to promoting information about Foundling and how much inequality and poverty exists in America.

Perhaps the next step for them should be opening up a market in Del Paso Heights where there has not been “a supermarket in over a year.” Dollar General carries some canned and dried goods but there is no fresh produce, poultry, fish or meat. It is hoped in the meantime that within the next two months, Viva Supermarket will open its doors to residents. But in the meantime, it’s been way too long that the city has been without a place to purchase fresh produce.

There’s a big market for thriving businesses in New York. But, likewise, there’s also tremendous potential for helping out others.

New York Art

Art,

artNew York art is a great investment. According to Christie’s, just recently one of Mark Rothko’s paintings – ‘No. 10’ – sold for a staggering $81.92 million. Not only was that a huge price but it was actually close to twice its estimated value.  His highest paid work to date was the painting ‘Orange, Red, Yellow,’ which, three years ago sold for $86.88m.

But that’s not all for New York. In a mere three days, Christies sold over a billion dollars worth of art which beats the world record for art and puts it to the next level, higher than Sotheby’s. in addition, ‘The Women of Algiers’ at Christie’s sold for $179.4m following a tense 11-and-a-half minutes of ferocious bidding from four to five prospective buyers. This was the highest price for any piece sold at auction.

This is significant not just for the art world, but for the economy. Indeed, according to Abigail Asher, an art consultant, it is indicative of the presence of “a new type of buyer in town.” She explained, “the past few years have been building up to this moment. A new class of buyer has entered the market and they’re prepared to pay staggering sums for trophy pictures….[recent sales have become] a spectacle of excess at the highest level”.

What’s good for art therefore, seems good for the economy.

New York Business Women Rise to the Top

News

womenNew York City is today home to four of the 50 fastest-growing female-owned companies. According to the Women Presidents’ Organization and American Express Global Corporate Payments, these firms boasted $10m+ in revenue last year. The firms are: Leslie Firtell’s Tower Legal Solutions, Rebecca Cenni’s Atrium Staffing, Elizabeth Eltin’s TransPerfect and Moira Moser’s M Moser Associates.

They all have different tips for developing, maintaining and growing a business. For example, Firtell – who managed to survive the crash – found new clients, persuaded them to pay up earlier and thus managed her cash flow issues. Cenni pointed out the importance of knowing your client so well that they will turn to you for all different types of work since one of the fastest growing parts of the economy is freelance/project work.

According to Elting, it is crucial that as a business person, one is able to move with the times and respond to change quickly, and with ease. Once a client sees you can do that they will trust you with all sorts of projects.

What might be of note is that today, many women who have risen to the top are actually helping others do the same. Historically this was not the case at all. It was believed that it was so hard for women to get to the top, helping others might just be detrimental to their success. Now they are recommending them, recruiting them and going in together to make deals. This is something that men have always done. An example of this was when Maggie Wilderotter found the best deal-makers to ensure the acquisition would transpire which resulted in the doubling of the size of Frontier Communications.

New York Disses Nuisance Fees

Economy,

feesIn an attempt to encourage businessmen in the capital, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently signed a repeal to rid the state of what has been termed “nuisance fees.” This forms part of the state budget package.

According to Cuomo what this will result in is an “eliminate[ion of] unnecessary costs and paperwork, helping to allow these businesses to reinvest and grow in New York.”

The eliminated fees generate approximately $3million revenue, and have been imposed on 300,000 individuals and entities in the state of New York.

Cutting Property Taxes in the City

Taxes

taxesA bill was recently passed in the senate requiring NYC to put a limit on how much money it raises from property taxes to a maximum 2 percent increase per year. The fact is, the limit is already in use in the rest of New York State. It is just NYC that is lagging behind.

However it might not be put in place so easily. The de Blasio administration is seriously against it, claiming it would result in a serious deprivation of billions of dollars for the city. Sometimes the property tax can get incredibly burdensome, such as what happened in 2003 when the property tax rate was increased by 18 percent in an attempt to stabilize recession revenues.

In 2004 property owner tax has increased 84 percent (totaling $22.6 billion). Further, homeowners have seen their yearly tax bill increase from an average of $4,607 from $2,354.

So this tax cap might be a welcome amendment to the city of New York.

Adjusting the Balance

Economy, ,

constructionIt seems that there is a disproportionate amount of African-Americans in construction jobs in New York. At least according to Greg David’s study, ‘Blacks missing out on construction jobs,’ which found that while a quarter of the city’s population is African-American, only 13 percent of them are employed in the field of construction. Further, there is only 33 percent of African-Americans holding one of the 8,000 unionized construction-industry apprentice jobs.

David also noted that there is a higher proportion of Latinos in construction jobs that are non-union which thus offer no health benefits, safety training or pensions, etc. The report thus recommended that NYC Mayor finds a way to increase the amount of union construction jobs as well as minority-youth access via pre-apprentice jobs.

With this in mind, the Construction Skills Program was set up, giving city high school graduates priority for apprentice programs. Forty-eight percent of NYC apprentice participants are African-American and 40 percent, Latino or Asian.

It has been called “the best pre-apprentice program in the nation,” by a study undertaken by researchers from Columbia University.

Chick-Fil-A in New York

News, , ,

chickenNew York isn’t short of fast food restaurants. But there is one it doesn’t have and by the summer that will no longer be the case. Chick-fil-A is due to open its doors in a new midtown Manhattan location on 6th Avenue and West 37th Street. Currently there is only one in the University campus of NY but that is not a full restaurant.

The fast food chain already generates over $5 billion in yearly sales, actually beating KFC, becoming America’s top chicken fast food chain. In Manhattan the store will be three floors and it is believed that the location will enable staff to serve those who have been requesting a store in New York for some time now as well as new customers.

New York Job Report: Looking Good?

Economy,

employmentLast month a New York report indicated that there was a drop in unemployment to 5.5 percent. In addition, 295,000 jobs were added.

While this is great news, it must be noted that the labor market is still not in as great a shape as it should be. For example, wages have not been increasing. If the job market was stronger this would not be the cases. But throughout the six years that the market has been in recovery, there has hardly been any wage increase.

Thus experts are hoping that the Fed will hold off until wages are running alongside inflation and productivity and meanwhile, use its regulatory powers to ensure low interest rate credit is actually put to productive, practical use. Congress also needs to play a part.