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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...
What the market never saw!
This may be one of the best buyer markets I’ve ever seen, and almost no one is talking about it. There’s something happening in residential real estate right now that not too many people seem willing to say out loud. Private...
The Gift of Not Knowing the Rules
I read Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power in my fifties, and the first thing I thought was, "I wish I'd read this in my twenties." I agree with every single law. Not philosophically, but practically. I've lived through...
The Gilded Age 2.0
Mark Twain gave us the phrase. A period of explosive growth, concentrated wealth, political corruption, and a widening divide between those building fortunes and those simply trying to survive. More than a century later, walking the...
Control is Not a Strategy
Residential brokerage is actually pretty simple. Sellers want the highest possible price. Buyers want the best possible home for their money. Agents are hired to represent their clients’ best interests and guide them to the strongest...
Who Taught You?
Donald Harrison was one of the first professors I met at the New School almost 40 years ago. I was in an ensemble playing a 12-bar blues in F and was still using my metal Dukoff D7 mouthpiece, because that is what my sax hero, David...