I report from downtown Brooklyn on the supermarket king who tore down a neighborhood’s only supermarket to make way for luxury condos. (Also: pictures of cute kids!) It’s undoubtedly not how John Catsimatidis, the billionaire Gristede’s owner and rumored 2009 … Continue reading
In part two of my debunking of overinflated economic impact studies, I examine the claims that New York City will see an influx of tourist spending as a result of the “Waterfalls” public art exhibit: I was riding the B … Continue reading
I’ve been digging into claims of economic windfalls from sporting events for quite a while, so why quit now? Today, I investigate New York City’s claims that the All-Star Game will generate $148 million for the local economy, this time … Continue reading
The rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is hideously behind schedule, but the bigger problem is what the city will end up with when it’s finally done: Last week’s Port Authority report on progress (or lack thereof) at ground … Continue reading
The “Geoffrey Loophole” is not only a way that big corporations get out of paying taxes that their small-business competitors have to, it’s also the only tax dodge named after a cartoon giraffe: When the Massachusetts passed its much-delayed state … Continue reading
New York City is facing the prospect of bus and subway fare hikes again, but could there be another way to do this? As if New Yorkers hadn’t been beset by enough bad news of late — foreclosures going through … Continue reading
A look ahead to Saturday’s Mermaid Parade, which itself is looking ahead to Tuesday’s public hearing on the future of Coney Island: Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade isn’t usually a place for broad political messages, except when reclaiming pasties as … Continue reading
…and still more, including new figures for the amount of public subsidy the Yanks would be getting. (And if you’re worried about the technical details being too dry, note that I’m now officially “someone who can write about [stadium finance] … Continue reading
More on the New York Yankees’ latest demands for city-backed bonds… When the rich want to get richer off the public till, one trick is to make the theft so boring that only a trained accountant could understand it without … Continue reading