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Square Pegs
If you asked 100 real estate developers whether they would rather convert an office building into condos or build a new residential building on an empty piece of land, 99 of them would choose the empty site. I don’t have the data to prove...
The Wrong Aisle
I still remember the first time I walked into Tower Records on Broadway and East 4th Street in 1988. Three full floors of CDs and vinyl. Until then, the biggest music collection I’d ever seen was the small record shop on Rocky Street in...
What We Choose to Preserve
Imagine running a business where your costs increase almost 6% every year, but you’re prohibited from raising your prices. It wouldn’t take very long before that business stopped working. Last week, New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board...
3 Things To Do
Here are three things to do this summer: 1. Read this: Howard Hughes: Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness | McNally Jackson Books I knew very little about Howard Hughes before reading this book. What an unbelievable life. It’s hard to...
The Right Team
Every New Yorker has a Knicks story. I became a Knicks fan because I was trapped behind a bar. Thirty-seven years ago, bartending in Greenwich Village, I watched every Knicks game while I was working. I didn’t miss a game. Growing up in...
Get it in Writing
One of the main reasons I started CORE in 2005 was because of a handshake. And a broken promise. I was raised to believe that a handshake is as good as your word, and I still firmly believe that more than half a century later. I was...
Why Do You Ask?
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my life came over lunch. About 15 years ago, a friend took me to lunch with Ian Schrager. A trailblazer, innovator, pioneer, and risk taker, Ian had transformed hotels, neighborhoods, and...
The Sound of Peace
Our world is loud. Our phones don’t stop ringing, dinging, or vibrating. Our apps’ algorithms are mathematically engineered to manipulate and capture our attention. The heads of companies sit on panels and shamelessly bait each other into...
The Life of Things
Everything has an expiration date. Yes, everything. Milk. Memberships. People. Buildings. Industries. Ideas. Even art. One of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius is, “Soon you will have forgotten all things, and soon all things will...
The Same Road
If you really want to get to know a city, you have to walk its streets and go where the locals go. And this past week, I was reminded that if you really want to understand a country, you can’t fly over it. You have to drive through it....
No Accident
I had really high hopes for this mayor. Mayor Mamdani. The mayor many people called a socialist. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Yes, even as a firm believer in capitalism and as I witness anti-Semitism on the rise, I hoped...
Less Human
I used to spend nights at the Village Gate on Bleecker Street. I’d finish my bartending shift at 2am, walk across the street, and sit in the small room to listen. Sometimes, if I had the courage, I’d play. The room wasn’t...