New York City Doorman Strike Averted

Union for New York City’s doormen, handymen gets contract, averts strike  

Service Employees International Union 32 BJ, or SEIU 32BJ, agreed to a tentative four-year deal that includes a 11.3% raise for doormen and handymen who work in residential buildings.

BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS 

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Published: Friday, April 11, 2014, 4:27 PM

 

Updated: Friday, April 11, 2014, 6:47 PM

  

The union representing doormen and handymen reached a tentative agreement Friday with the Realty Advisory Board, averting a possible strike that would have affected thousands of city residents.

Service Employees International Union 32 BJ agreed to a four-year deal that includes a 11.3% raise for doormen, supers, handymen and porters who work in residential buildings.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/union-nyc-doormen-handymen-won-strike-article-1.1753726#ixzz2yyZnCBe3









 

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They named this building after me ;)

1 Month Free on Spacious 1 Bedroom in Heart of Midtown w/ Large Walk-In Closet, Open Kitchen, Bamboo Floors, and No Fee

 

 

 

 

 

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New York rebuilds - 911 Memorial opens to the public Monday 9/12

Photo credit: AP

Visitors line up to enter the 9/11 memorial plaza in the World Trade Center site in New York. (Sept. 12, 2011)

They came. They saw.

They remembered.

And many of them cried.

Certainly, to a person, visitors to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which opened to the public for the first time Monday, found themselves moved by the simplicity, the beauty and the significance of the site -- a memorial erected where the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001.

"There are no words," visitor Eileen Cristina, 64, of Lititz, Pa., said upon seeing the memorial up close Monday morning.
Read the full story here: http://www.newsday.com/911-anniversary/9-11-memorial-opens-to-public-1.3163719

Rent out your loo?

Hmm, I'm all for entrepreneurship, however, I'm not completely "sold" on this one. First off the logistics of finding a bathroom that's close enough to where you happen to be when the need arises seems challenging at best.
I don't think I'd be OK with the random "friend of a facebook friend" considering at least 10-20 percent of most people's "facebook friends" are people they don't really interact with often,  popping over to use my bathroom.
I do think that by the time you did your loo search, recieved confirmation and walked over there; wouldn't it had been easier to stand in line at Starbucks?
To see a short video clip and to read the full story click here:

http://lifehacker.com/5837900/rent-out-your-toilet-with-cloo

When Income Is Freelance

Financing the purchase of a new apt or home has become increasing challenging and it's imperative to work with a mortgage professional who can get you results with the least amount of headache and time. I always advise my buyers to speak with a minimum of 2-3 mortgage brokers from different banks, because rates and programs can vary widely.

With lower down payment requirements, FHA loans have helped many buyers secure housing loans who otherwise wouldn't have qualified. Despite these loans, buyers still had to show a solid income history, a high credit score as well as supporting documents.

The article below touches on a huge segment of the population whose round peg doesn't fit into the square box. However all hope is not lost! Ironically, This article speaks to real estate professionals such as myself who earn income on commissions only.

WITH the job market still soft, many people have turned to contract or freelance work to pay the bills, which increases the challenges involved in qualifying for a home mortgage.

Read Full Story Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/realestate/loans-for-freelancers-mortgages.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

I brought you the 90 sq ft apt in an older post. Meet the 78 sq ft "apt" in NYC's Hell's Kitchen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4FoAr8i26g&feature=player_embedded

No Surprise...Manhattan Rents on the rise...

Manhattan rents rise, with room to go higher

July 08, 2011 12:00AM By Adam Fusfeld

The Manhattan apartment rental market has been heating up for months, and second-quarter market reports released today by residential brokerages Citi Habitats and Prudential Douglas Elliman show skyrocketing rents. Now, the question is how long the rent increases will continue.

The Citi Habitats report, which covers all transactions brokered by the firm in the second quarter and takes concessions into account, shows a year-over-year increase in price of about 10 percent for Manhattan apartments. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan was $2,672 and two-bedroom units averaged $3,757 per month, up 9.2 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively, from the second quarter of 2010. But three-bedroom apartments experienced the largest price increase over last year -- 11.3 percent -- and now rent for $4,985 on average.

The most expensive area was the West Village where one-bedroom rents reached $3,457, followed by Soho and Tribeca where one-bedrooms netted $3,454 on average. The least expensive areas were Upper Manhattan and the Upper East Side, where rents averaged $2,621 for a one-bedroom apartmen
Read the full story here:

The 10-room apartment at the San Remo has some updates, but it retains many original details.

The 10-room apartment at the San Remo has some updates, but it retains many original details.

Big Ticket is a new feature with the Big Deal column that will list one of the priciest sales of the previous week.

Trading hands for the first time since the 1950s, a 10-room co-op at the San Remo was the highest sale of the week, according to transactions posted on Streeteasy.com.

The three-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath apartment retains the original bathrooms and kitchen — with St. Charles steel-and-glass cabinets — installed in 1930, when the San Remo, designed by Emery Roth, was built. The kitchen and pantry lead to a “servants’ hall and three maids’ rooms waiting for your touch,” according to the listing.

Full Story here:   http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/big-ticket-sold-for-14-million/?ref=realestate

Rent Guidelines Board Approves Preliminary Range Of Rent Hikes

Market takes its toll on NYC trophy rents.: An article from: Real Estate Weeklyhttp://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/top_stories/138423/rent-guidelines-board-approves-preliminary-range-of-rent-hikes

Robust market lifting apartment rents

Effective rents in Manhattan jump 7.4% in first quarter as landlords ease back on concessions and vacancies evaporate; market tilts in favor of owners.

The Manhattan residential rental market remained strong during the first quarter of this year with rents rising and vacancy rates falling, according to two industry reports released Thursday.

Tenants paid more rent in the quarter than they did the same period last year, according to a report by Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Inc. Median net effective rent, which includes landlord concessions, rose 7.4% to $2,808, while average net effective rent rose 3.9% to $3,342. Considering the net effective rent on a per-square-foot basis, the increases were far more dramatic, soaring 20.3% to $47.62.






Read full story here:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110407/REAL_ESTATE/110409915

Doormen and Owners Reach Agreement, Strike Averted -- Daily Intel

Doormen and Owners Reach Agreement, Strike Averted -- Daily Intel

When Love Is a Schlep - NYTimes.com

BIG cities like New York are both deeply convenient — two steps to the deli for milk in the morning — and deeply inconvenient. It is possible to live in the same city as the person you are dating, and have to travel an hour, or even two, to get together.

Click below for full story

When Love Is a Schlep - NYTimes.com

Think your housing costs are high? Think again

Pocket Change - Newsletter