My wife and I visited two native New Yorkers who moved to the outside arc of occasionally commutable distance from Gotham. They live an entirely agreeable life, with views of hills and farmers' fields from their first floor windows. Neither the husband nor the wife regretted their departure from permanent residence in New York. In their view, it was time to go.
We jointly noted how Whole Foods Brooklyn, where they lived before the wild real estate rush into the borough, was rapidly approaching Manhattan-level rent rates and ownership prices.
A recent New York Times article observed how aspirational couples and individuals can no longer hope to live in "commutable" Brooklyn. They now are supposedly eyeing Queens and selected New Jersey suburbs. That sounds like retreat for those who imagined New York life consisted of living on Manhattan Island or the portion of Long Island called Brooklyn.
Part of the real estate squeeze comes from the rush of wealthy international buyers purchasing apartments and townhouses. Why should anyone care? Well, these buyers are using New York real estate as their tangible rainy day fund.
A BBC report quoted real estate executive Jonathan Miller as characterizing the buying and construction frenzy this way:
I like to describe the phenomenon as: we're building the world's most expensive bank safe deposit boxes.
So how does your rainy day fund look, eh?
On a walk, recently from Penn Station down 8th Ave. to Abingdon Square Park (betw. 12th & Bleeker), to visit a friend, I noticed several empty storefront. A former Chinese takeout place here, an Italian restaurant there, a couple on every block. At first I though it might be the result of the recession, tighter wallets, etc. My friend told me that landlords simply jack up the rent, squeezing out businesses that had been doing OK, and simply wait it out a year or two for an upscale business to pay double or triple the rent. In the meantime, folks who've been there for years like my friend (a jazz musician, and we know he hasn't got deep pockets, right?) are finding it more expensive to shop for food in the area. Instead of a $20 brunch, it can easily be double that. It's a sickening phenomenon.
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