Apple Ousts Nine West in West 34th Showdown July 12, 2006
Posted by farshadf in NYC, Uncategorized.add a comment
[Mashup made possible by PropertyShark's street photo archive]
Can anything save the dingy retail blocks of West 34th Street? Why yes, come to think of it, something can: the glory that is Steve Jobs. With the gleaming Fifth Avenue Cube now open, our obsession shifts to the shadow of the Empire State Building, at 21 East 34th between Fifth and Sixth, where the next great Digital Mecca is set to rise. An email tipster passes along late-breaking news:
I remember an article stating that apple would be opening a W 34th Street store. I believe that this is at 21 W 34th Street, a vacant building marketed by Cushman and Wakefield. I now notice that Nine West has closed next door. I havent been able to find the managing agent at SL Green to see if this is true. Do you guys have any info on this? It is suppose to be a 30,000 SF store.
All signs point towards Apple taking over this swath of the block. But why stop there? Imagine it: the entire Empire State Building, remade into a single, gleaming retail destination, with a small, gleaming fruit shining from the top.
· Apple Plans New Store Opposite Empire State Building [Apple Insider]
Why are there so many parking garages in the city July 12, 2006
Posted by farshadf in NYC, Uncategorized.add a comment
Here’s a map of garages and parking lots in midtown Manhattan. We all (even those of us who don’t own cars) know how crazy parking is in New York. And it’s fairly obvious why developers like buying parking lots and garages for their condo projects — no pesky residential tenants to evict, no long term commercial leases to buy out.
But why are there so many parking lots in the first place? The answer has a lot to do with how property taxes are set. NYC’s property tax system seems to encourage real estate speculators to buy up underutilized properties and then to sit on them (unimproved) for years or decades. This is because commercial property is taxed mainly on its income potential and not on what it would sell for in the open market. Vacant lots have very little income potential, so their taxes are very low. Holding a vacant lot is cheap. Sure, you might as well pave it over and get get a little income, but that’s a minor consideration.
Of course, as real estate values escalate in particular neighborhoods, that matrix evolves, and lots become construction sites.
Restore Your iPod’s Shine With iDrops July 12, 2006
Posted by farshadf in Buy this, iPod.add a comment
googleTag = ‘iDrops’; IDrops, get it? It’s like “eye drops” but with an iPod “i” instead. Genius! Anyway, PodShop’s iDrops is a special cleaning fluid designed to restore your iPod’s once glorious luster and shine. Since iPods pick up fingerprints and grime faster than the US’ World Cup exit, keeping it nice and shiny is a often an exercise in futility. While you can buy abrasive cleaners like Brasso to polish the metal on the iPod, iDrops is intended to be used on the plastic (or polycarbonate or acrylic, depending on your iPod model). IDrops is compatible with all models of the iPod, from the Frankenstein-like first generation to the fifth generation iPod with video. The cleaning solution can also be used on other electronic gadgets, like GameBoys, iBooks and CDs.
IDrops retail for $14.95 per bottle on PodShop’s eye-pleasing Web site. – Nicholas Deleon
