Saturday, December 27, 2008

"The landscape of New York will be virtually unchanged for two years"


From the Times:

Nearly $5 billion in development projects in New York City have been delayed or canceled because of the economic crisis, an extraordinary body blow to an industry that last year provided 130,000 unionized jobs, according to numbers tracked by a local trade group.

The setbacks for development — perhaps the single greatest economic force in the city over the last two decades — are likely to mean, in the words of one researcher, that the landscape of New York will be virtually unchanged for two years.

“There’s no way to finance a project,” said the researcher, Stephen R. Blank of the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit group.

Charles Blaichman is not about to argue with that assessment. Looking south from the eighth floor of a half-finished office tower on 14th Street on a recent day, Mr. Blaichman pointed to buildings he had developed in the meatpacking district. But when he turned north to the blocks along the High Line, once among the most sought-after areas for development, he surveyed a landscape of frustration: the planned sites of three luxury hotels, all stalled by recession.

3 comments:

Ken Mac said...

well, crap not a second too soon. Now how do we turn back the clock?

EV, I was at Blarney Cove Christmas day around 1pm. Had a scotch, took that shot, hit the road...that is one sweet and cozy bar!

Anonymous said...

Sweet and cozy, indeed! I thought about some xmas-day drinks there, but didn't quite make it...

This was your first visit, right?

Ken Mac said...

yep, first time in that hood. Nothing else over there!