So I spent the last few days in nyc on a work trip. Walked a lot. I know folks love to dump on major cities these days, so a few personal observations.
1. All told, the City actually looks pretty good. A surprising amount of construction in midtown given real estate and other economic trends these days, and as NY goes, no less clean than any other trip I've taken there, and maybe even a little more. And, no more unsafe feeling than any other trip I've taken there - most unsafe i felt was actually waiting for a cab at Union Station in DC where some creepy bum was leering at this hottie in front of me in line.
2. Had lunch with an old friend who is in commercial real estate, who jogs regularly in Central Park ... at 11pm. Interesting discussion with him about live and remote work, the latter of which he felt was just noticeably less efficient when it comes to documenting agreements.
3. There was a decent energy to the place, with lots of people on the streets, and the small italian place I went for dinner was fairly busy for a tuesday and wednesday. Still lots of small mom and pop street level retail that survived.
4. Not really a fan of the new Moynihan train building. Call me crazy, but I miss the grungy entry at the Garden. Too sterile.
5. Went to early mass at St. Patrick's. Looked absolutely beautiful with the "crowning" of roses throughout. And just a spectacular church anyway, where any of the thousands of architectural details within the place could stand on its own as an object of beauty. And man, that organ can growl with the best of them.
6. They've done a lot of restriping of streets to accommodate bikes. I suppose it's fine for now, but if it ever comes back to the level of activity in the past, getting around could end up being a real nightmare.
7. Coincidentally, another buddy from here in VA was up there seeking capital for his company. Interesting text exchange with him about how the supposedly "genius" ivy leaguers in capital markets are not only ignoramuses who just parrot what they've heard at conferences rather than thinking themselves (and get offended when called on it), but are also so lacking in courage as to be unwilling to take any financial risk, even with hedges approaching the level of guarantees built in. For my money, it is precisely this lack of courage, which has made its way into pretty much every aspect of our culture, that is really going to be the cause of our ultimate downfall.
In short, NY has it issues - always has - and in my mind is sorta like vegas in that there's a pretty steep diminishing returns curve after a couple of days. But , like my trip to Chicago last winter, there's really not much that suggests obvious decline, just a marginally lower level of energy. Obviously, the data says crime is up, including petty crime, and while I've not looked at the data, I suspect that if you dig into things, you'll probably find that it's more or less the same old same old (ie, black on black crime in centered in economically depressed areas).
1. All told, the City actually looks pretty good. A surprising amount of construction in midtown given real estate and other economic trends these days, and as NY goes, no less clean than any other trip I've taken there, and maybe even a little more. And, no more unsafe feeling than any other trip I've taken there - most unsafe i felt was actually waiting for a cab at Union Station in DC where some creepy bum was leering at this hottie in front of me in line.
2. Had lunch with an old friend who is in commercial real estate, who jogs regularly in Central Park ... at 11pm. Interesting discussion with him about live and remote work, the latter of which he felt was just noticeably less efficient when it comes to documenting agreements.
3. There was a decent energy to the place, with lots of people on the streets, and the small italian place I went for dinner was fairly busy for a tuesday and wednesday. Still lots of small mom and pop street level retail that survived.
4. Not really a fan of the new Moynihan train building. Call me crazy, but I miss the grungy entry at the Garden. Too sterile.
5. Went to early mass at St. Patrick's. Looked absolutely beautiful with the "crowning" of roses throughout. And just a spectacular church anyway, where any of the thousands of architectural details within the place could stand on its own as an object of beauty. And man, that organ can growl with the best of them.
6. They've done a lot of restriping of streets to accommodate bikes. I suppose it's fine for now, but if it ever comes back to the level of activity in the past, getting around could end up being a real nightmare.
7. Coincidentally, another buddy from here in VA was up there seeking capital for his company. Interesting text exchange with him about how the supposedly "genius" ivy leaguers in capital markets are not only ignoramuses who just parrot what they've heard at conferences rather than thinking themselves (and get offended when called on it), but are also so lacking in courage as to be unwilling to take any financial risk, even with hedges approaching the level of guarantees built in. For my money, it is precisely this lack of courage, which has made its way into pretty much every aspect of our culture, that is really going to be the cause of our ultimate downfall.
In short, NY has it issues - always has - and in my mind is sorta like vegas in that there's a pretty steep diminishing returns curve after a couple of days. But , like my trip to Chicago last winter, there's really not much that suggests obvious decline, just a marginally lower level of energy. Obviously, the data says crime is up, including petty crime, and while I've not looked at the data, I suspect that if you dig into things, you'll probably find that it's more or less the same old same old (ie, black on black crime in centered in economically depressed areas).
