Empty store fronts

[abcdefghijk]

Finally a logical explanation for what certainly always looked like some mysterious scam.

THANK YOU

And so the bank sells off the loans as AAA just like they sold the sub prime mortgage loans as AAA. When they aren't .

And commercial rents in our neighborhood are definitely not worth what is being asked.

Reality is that the properties are being overvalued to rort the system.

This is just like the sub prime fiasco 10 years ago. Only this time with commercial landlords.

This explains why some store owners pay far less rent.

My guess is the landlord pretends they pay more. In order to create the illusion the property is worth far more than it is worth.

Very imaginative scam. That will eventually come crashing down. As all scams do.
Because the valuations are false.

As for the neighborhood...it is left behind completely in this scam.

[abcdefghijk]

Unfortunately my guess is that even an investigation/audit won't stop this scam.

After all Madoff was investigated many times and never caught.

It only came crashing down when the economy tanked.

[fish2001]

Can we put an end to this practice and keep retail spaces occupied by changing the law to require landlords prove the space is actually rented at the new rate before there's any reassessment?

[dssjh]

Can we put an end to this practice and keep retail spaces occupied by changing the law to require landlords prove the space is actually rented at the new rate before there's any reassessment?

can we donate as much to politicians as landlords do, in order to get an equal voice?

[abcdefghijk]

The only possible way I can see the lid being blown off this racket... is some serious investigative journalism by the New York Times or Village Voice. My guess is the headline EMPTY SHOP SYNDROME would interest all New Yorkers.

Perhaps the reporters might be curious to read these particular blog topic posts...?

[Ed]

You like that, you should check out LTV or "loan to value" financing in the real estate/development world.

[dssjh]

this exact thing happened when i lived on the lower east side in the early '80s.

people were SHOCKED and APPALLED and dozens of stories were written in efforts to keep the mom and pop ethnic businesses safe from harm amid 700-1000 percent rent hikes. i wrote my journalism school thesis on the topic. my focus was a lovely 40 year old coffee shop called the orchidia - packed from breakfast through dinner - that had a landlord who asked $5000 per month, versus the $500 they were paying. they couldn't pay, and were replaced by the then-hip Steve's Ice Cream chain, which lasted five months.

nothing happened.

nothing happened in carroll gardens. nothing happened in the west village. nothing happened in the meatpacking district.

 just a few weeks ago, you posted an ode to how the city is always changing, and noting how foolish it is to try to stand in the way of "progress" -- the phony "progress" that is the goal here.

The only possible way I can see the lid being blown off this racket... is some serious investigative journalism by the New York Times or Village Voice. My guess is the headline EMPTY SHOP SYNDROME would interest all New Yorkers.

Perhaps the reporters might be curious to read these particular blog topic posts...?

[abcdefghijk]

DSSJH...

As I have mentioned and explained often, I refuse to take the bait.

Good luck baiting others.

[dssjh]

as i've mentioned before, those who cannot defend their positions do not have defensible positions.

good day, sir or madam.

[Ed]

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/san-francisco-gentrification-longtime-businesses

https://www.sfheritage.org/legacy/legacy-business-registry-preservation-fund/

https://sfbay.ca/2017/03/15/24th-street-small-businesses-gain-city-protection/

http://voterguide.sfelections.org/en/preserving-space-neighborhood-arts-small-businesses-and-community-services-certain-neighborhoods

[dssjh]

i'd happily let the folks who run San Francisco take the reins in NYC - even from 3000 miles away. they do a wonderful job -- although their residential rent problem is even worse than ours.

[Beherenow]

The solution at the end of the Daily News article seems like a no-brainer:  "phasing out of tax deductions for landlords with persistent vacancies."  Does anyone know if this simple idea has ever been seriously considered and/or proposed in the City Council or the state legislature? It makes sense not only for neighborhoods like ours, but because the public sector needs tax revenues. I couldn't find any reference to it on Google (admittedly didn't look too hard).

[abcdefghijk]

From what I figure it's not only tax deductions...the  landlords are after...

It's the inflated (false) values of the buildings to use as collateral in order to get loans to invest in high yield ventures.

Thinking about it...I suppose that this practice might stop naturally as soon as interest rates go up...

Interest rates for loans are historically low...and I imagine that can't last forever...

The scam is really a function of low interest loans that are readily available these days (and have been since the Recession)

So there might be some cessation of the racket in the future...when interest rates go back up...

[dssjh]

i made my monthly (ish) trek to Sorisso this morning, and decided, on a whim, to walk down Steinway instead of getting off at 46th as i usually do.

i lived in Astoria from the very end of 1989 until the very end of 1996, and i've never seen it look as much like a ghost town as it does. since i saw two back to back vacant storefronts as soon as i turned from Broadway - the former Claire's and a leather store - i decided to count.

Steinway between B'way and 31st avenue: 8 vacant storefronts, mostly large ones.
Steinway between 31st and 30th avenue: 18 vacant storefronts. Eighteen.

what's left is mostly national chains, big name fast food and banks. the locally owned stuff is almost all gone. this could be our future if things keep going the way they are.

[jeanette]

I was on Madison and 38th yesterday. My fave old restaurant Chez Laurence is still shuddered for its 15th year in a row.