Hard Left Turn

Great typo. The days of prisons for debtors and the poorhouse.

Victorian England was kinder to the non-wealthy than was the administration that followed Dinkins'. It was that unmentionable cretin who proposed charging homeless people for their stays in homeless shelters.

Rock bottom.

Anyway, Dinkins was an excellent captain in treacherous economic waters, setting up deals (fed $ for cops; Times Square rehab) that made NY's recovery possible afterwards. And largely diffused, through diplomacy, a so-called (by Murdoch headline-hoppers) "riot" in Brooklyn. Now it's a global brand.

Saw a NY Post article on the cops hired 20 years ago for Safe Streets Safe City getting to retirement after 20 years (ridiculous, but not the point of my post). The article said that the cops hired 20 years ago and who joined the force during Rudy were retiring. The sentence was most likely interpreted by most readers that Rudy did the hiring. Later when I refreshed the article it was better written to say that the officers hired by Dinkins and who started during Rudy...

Once I heard Dinkins say of Rudy, that if he were so good at fighting crime, why did he have Bernie Kerick as his police commissioner (and before that corrections commissioner.)

Yes. In fact, he was mayor the first time I set foot in the Palladium. November 1993. I remember the 90's fondly. Concerning affordability; I am seeing some massive drops of rental units. I have all kinds of streeteasy updates set up and one just came across with a listing at 341 East 22nd and while its not Perry St, it is a nice block. The point is, the price was just reduced to $1770 down $200. I am seeing the velocity of these types of scenarios pick up in the last 2 weeks alone. I've been tracking this segment of the market very closely. I can without question state that the lower end of the market has peaked. This is relevant to your post since there might be some relief in sight for single professionals who don't have any form of assistance (I.e. parental, government, etc). This group, myself included, has been tattooed for the last two years. As people always say, things go in cycles, well, this cycle is coming to end. I'm seeing some other fairly good studios and 1bdrms listed on streeteasy over the last couple weeks and some below $2k.

Whats ironic is that my landlord is jacking up the rents massively in my building. A lot of units have turned over in the last 4-6 months. I'm willing to bet their stock sits empty for an extended period of time around this time next year. People will go through the 1 year cycle. The idiot next door to me rented a 1bdrm for $3850 about 3 months ago, the same apt that was $2600 1 year ago. Granted the landlord renovated it, it's true value in the market was probably closer to $2850-$3000. And yes, the tenant does absolutely nothing and his mother is paying the rent and he's no college student either. It's a false inflation of the market.

Plus, if the winter is as cold and snowy as being written, then a lot of landlords are going to fall back hard this season. Obviously this is all highly speculative, so we'll see. If I had the choice right now, I'd bet rental prices come in a lot in the 4th and 1st qtr. I'm also seeing some parts of the market act very strange. There are some awful apartments available in midtown west and at some very unrealistic prices. Perhaps that's because it was always known to be a cheaper area and there was an influx of new residents over the last 24 months. There are comparable apartments available in the village that you can find much cheaper. Many people don't read much into these things, but I do and there is some sound rational behind seeing rents coming back down and in some cases, by a lot. No chance that a 5th floor walk up studio on West 49th currently asking/renting for $1950 goes for that price 12 months from now. It's no accident that some forward thinking landlords are offering no increase renewals. For others that seek 30% above last years rent, fine, short term profits are very good, but when the apartment sits empty for 3 months winter 2014/2015, you can pretty much flush those gains down the toilet.

Nah: You remember The Palladium in its nightclub era. You never saw a concert at that location in the 1980's, previously named: The Academy?
You are young and NYC has changed, since before you danced at Palladium (what do you think they did with all of those mirrors in the "Mike Todd V.I.P. Room"?) and after the 1990's. It's 2013: the times, they are a-changing.