The recession is only for poor people.

Did you pay cash, or did you charge it to your credit card, only to make the minimum payments for the next 15 years?

What a stupid person you must be BRABUS.....even if this is a joke!!!

Didn't you get the memo BRABUS? Feigned austerity is the new black!

"Feigned austerity is the new black"

I thought gay was the new black

Gay is so passe, that was the 90's. Once it left cable and went to network TV, most lost interest. FA definitely has an 18 month run ahead of it. Then we will search for the new, new thing. Black, gay, its too mainstream.

Don't appreciate BRABUS's way of expressing him/herself but there is some truth to it. In my son's preschool class all parents went either skiing or to warm areas for the holiday break.

Yeah, the recession is only for poor people. That is why sales at Saks have plummeted by 40% and Porsche has temporarily closed their factories.

At my daughter's ues private school a number of families went skiing, within driving distance. Many, including us, stayed at home.

"Black, gay, its too mainstream."

I saw a t-shirt in Union Sq that said "Obama is the new black"

uppereast... I pretended that we went skiiing just to keep up appearances.... I even drove around the block a few times.... :)

BRABUS = ColonelKlink?

No because I happen to be ColonelKlink, but I was not BRABUS. I'm not an asshole. And disliking you doesn't make someone an asshole.

Why is everyone so jealous?

And Alpine, since when was Saks Fifth Avenue and Porsche exclusive? I suppose it could be for someone of your type, but walk into any Saks Fifth Avenue and the majority of the things you see do not constitute as high-end (unless you're poor and have low level of standards, of course). Walk into any Porsche dealership, and you can lease one of those silly little vehicles for less than $700 a month. Fact is, these brands are seeing major drops because they cater to aspirational middle-classes, such as yourself, who have depleted the funds on their measly credit cards and are now in default with their creditors.

Unless highly inaccessible labels that I frequently shop at such as Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Hermes, Tom Ford, Lanvin, Audemars Piguet etc. have had significant drops in sales, I don't want to hear it.

Now if you'd excuse me, the Bentley is out and I have a roof top party to attend across the street.

Well, lets be realistic BRABUS, I agree with your sentiment on Saks, as with Tiffany etc. But you don't, and no one else does FREQUENTLY shop at Rolls Royce or Audemars Piguet. Oh, and Hermes, Tom Ford, and Lanvin - put that in the Saks category.

Brabus..."roof top party" - it's 27 degrees. LMAO

nopig- pls explain? what is it about the letters "w,t,h,s,r,e" and the numbers "6,7" that you despise so much? Did I eat a shrimp or a pig in front of you when it wasn't proper? Go stuff it you loser RE Broker... pls post under one name.. so at least I'm not swinging wildly... :)

Well, w67th street, according to my invite from Diane Von Furstenberg, their glass covered rooftop addition in the district is simply referred to as "rooftop".

But who are we kidding, you probably can't even pronounce Furstenberg, let dream of being in attendance at such an event with the likes of Naomi and Kate Moss so let's not waste time here.

Must leave now.

w67th, lets do a pretend party at my rooftop. Bring your hottie wife.

"let dream of being in attendance at such an event with the likes of Naomi and Kate Moss so let's not waste time here"

Dream? Sounds like a superficial bore. The majority of rich people I know are shallow & dull. Quel dommage.

What a snob....and money does not buy you class!

DVF got the memo; not sure why BRABUS is out in the cold: http://www.slate.com/id/2191398/

jgr, dwell, prada and jrd... say it with me... "Caviar.." good... now "PORSCHE..." okay... good good good... okay we're ready to PARTY! w/ BRABUS....

OMG... I can't stop laughing MAO.... pls help me stop... I'm gonna wake up the kids....

FYI... B. if you think my end game in life is to party with a coke head and a some sagging assed has been supermodels... well then tip another glass of champagne and enjoy your "rooftop" party... I'll hang our with any of the above (at least their posts are funny). Peace out 4x to u B.

NO soup for you B. :)

BRABUS - dig your stuff. Keep it coming.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Diane von Furstenburg. She can be gassy, though. Doesn't seem to know when it's happening, either, which is awkward (and unpleasant) if there's no dog around to take the fall. Brabus, you ever notice that?

no one wants naomi the psycho and kate the coke addict at their parties anymore. the model to have in attendance is agyness deyn. period. your pose was almost working until then. hopefully you were kidding.

BRABUS--You're a complete loser! Anyone who actually had money AND class would not write such a thing. You must be overcompensating for a small package. Get over yourself.

BRABUS --
1. "invite" as a noun: very non-U ... declasse ... poor-boy drivel. Try "invitation"
2. Alex von Furstenburg is the new Diane von Furstenburg. Try to keep up.

BRABUS, care to tell us which condo buildings you're looking at? And what's your price range?

Recessions are an opportunity for those withcash (ie. Rich people) to buy low and sell high.

except the rich people already bought high (at 15 cpw and the plaza).

I grew up in Queens in a pretty rough hood wouldn't trade the streets smarts and experience for all the money in the world. Our highlight on many weekends was going into the city and beating up on shitheads like BRABUS and preppies on the UES.

I beg your pardon?

First of all, it's Furstenberg, you poor unwashed soul. Secondly, did you just utter that Alex von Furstenberg is the new Diane von Furstenberg? Where did you get that silly memo from, Women's Wear Daily circa 2003?

Excuse me while I go erupt in laughter on my freshly slaughtered YSL fox fur.

Oh, BRABUS, any fool with a computer and time could name drop as well as you. In fact, most could do much better.

>Unless highly inaccessible labels that I frequently shop at such as Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Hermes, Tom Ford, Lanvin, Audemars Piguet etc. have had significant drops in sales, I don't want to hear it.<

Rolls-Royce- Reminds me of some 70 year old that rigorously stays below the speed limit. Ditto for Bentley which a late 60s neighbor of mine picked up last year. Looks like something one would drive to a funeral. Can you spell B-O=R-I-n-G. I'll take a 911 any day of the week (specially the `1995-96, the last of the air cooled models) Assuming you know anything about Porsche, the '73 Carrera would be a nice option as well.

Ferrari-Beautiful work of art if you own your own track. In traffic, they are a piss poor option. I do admire them specially the original Enzo designs of the late 50s and those of the 1960s. Now, those Enzo creations are as you call "inaccessible". The new models can probably be easily found in CT used car lots just about now.

Hermes- A dime a dozen. Really?

Audemars Piguet- You might do some reading on watches. Many of their models use off the shelf ETA movements. Modified yes but still not special at all and nothing a watch collector would go after. Heck, Hamilton uses some of the equivalent ETA movements. If you want a real watch, stick with brands that manufacture all their movements in-house with zero outsourcing of any of theor components. Not many left outside of Rolex, Jaeger, Vacheron & Patek (the latter 2 used Jaeger moments for many years).

Tom Ford-Ex GUCCI designer. I'm envious. :) Get a real tailor instead.

Luxury condos- No need to purchase when one can rent in just about any building in the city for a fraction of the cost and not be caught in some financial sink hole. Sorry Dude, but wealthy folks I know don't like to loose money and they aren't exactly frivolous with their wealth. No, they are not interested in Manhattan RE for many moons to come. The new rich, sure they like to flaunt it but that herd is undergoing one serious culling process.

Cheers!

Im jealous

let the revolution begin!

Darn, I forgot to address Lanvin.

Available at Bluefly.com if you're interested in saving a few bucks. :)

BRABUS,

Furst of all, are you too slow-witted to catch the joke in "Furstenburg" -- burg meaning minor city or town?

Moreover, I don't read dreary industrial publications that have as their real audiences tragic consumers of top-down fashion dictates, so no, I didn't get it from WWD, any year.

Enjoy your faux-rabbit jumpsuit.

My wife has a nice Furstenburg wraparound dress. I call her a Furstenburgian. Some days when I walk by 28th and 5th avenue, I see girls lined up for a block to have a shot at a dress from a sample sale at the Furstenburg store. I guess the goods are still moving.

As for watches and ETA movements, yeah, Swatch owns ETA and produces a lot of the movements used in high end watches. For true handmade movement, how about something from Dornblueth & Son, like this:

http://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=83&idcategory=0

I have a Hamilton Chronograph with a Valjoux 7750 (?) movement that I got a good deal on used from someone on www.timezone.com. You don't have to spend a fortune on a mechanical watch but you can, if you want to.

Hermes originally made saddles (and still do) so their leather work can be amazing. Don't disparage them so quickly. If you really have the scratch, ask Hermes to stitch together a leather interior for one of your cars.

While we are on this subject, I think all people should own a couple of fountain pens. The writing experience is wonderful, there are lot of inks available, and they're fun. I have a Pelikan 800 that I love as well as a Sheaffer Legacy 2 pen, one of the last ones made in this country before production was shipped overseas.

With all this said, I think everybody watches everybody. The lower watches the middle, the middle watches the uppers, the uppers watch the middle, around and around. We're all in this together.

I agree that recessions are only for poor people.

The problem is, a lot more people become poor in recessions. Even the rich become poor.

i just intercepted one of the Furstenburg "roof party" invitations.

it said:

Come to my roof party.
We will sit around and post on website posting boards.
Because that is what us really wealthy people do.

I am not so sure the rich become poor in recessions, I think they become a little less rich, but since they have more options, they hold their own. They liquidate where they have to and cover themselves. Those in the middle and lower have fewer options when things turn bad. It's all about having options.

PAS, it depends on how leveraged they are.

I was more kidding than anything, but, yes. A lot of folks who get called as rich, buying rich people houses and goodies, are doing so off high salaries and credit, without a huge amount of net worth behind it (see, uh, much of Wall Street). Folks like this will have the hardest time of all.

Yes, we can play games about whether or not they were actually rich in the first place, but clearly their consumption will go from "rich-level" to not so rich level...

Agreed, the amount of leverage matters. I often wonder what the world would look like if there was a percentage owned sign tacked on to houses, cars, and other goods, so you could see how much the person actually owned and how much the bank owned.

serge07 ,

A 1995 Porsche? Dreadful. What's next, last decades Tom Ford for Gucci kimono? Why would I rub my Alexander McQueen atelier monkey fur on such grotesque seats? And if you knew anything about luxury goods, you would know that the newer generation Ferraris such as the 599 GTB Fiorano are flawless in traffic with the "auto-mode".

And, $5000 is the entry price for Tom Ford. The again, you wouldn't know because if you dared to walk towards the Madison Avenue boutique with your Duane Reade plastic bag crackling in tow, you would be bounced out of the high doors faster than Anna Wintour's costume change during last season's MET.

Pravda, you've gotten better and better at name-dropping mass-produced mass-marketed "luxury" names. Save it for rufus.

Uh, Brabus. Bentley? I would expect better.

Try Aston Martin DBS.

LOL. This whole discussion is a reminder of how lame and shallow NYC people are.

Even "wealthy" people in NYC live in shitty 80/20 rentals or condos that are near housing projects. With the exceptions of those who live in buildings like 15 cpw, the "wealthy" in NYC live worse than people in other major cities.

rufus, I recently visited a good friend who lives in one of the high rises on N Lake Shore Dr, in the Gold Coast in Chicago. It's a nice enough neighborhood but I don't think anyone who's been there can say it's "so much better" than New York with a straight face. There isn't a whole lot to do in the immediate area either. I will say this BRABUS character adds nothing to Streeteasy.

Sweetheart, I only started driving the Bentley GTC when going to the Dolce&Gabbana to pick up my one-of-a-king crocodile goods from the Steffano's home and I hate driving through the narrow streets of Milan with my oversized Rolls-Royce Phantom. Hopefully my one-of-a-kind Murcielago will be ready before the end of La Semaine de la Mode.

In any case,I wouldn't call an Aston Martin a true super car. When Ford, oops, I mean, Aston Martin called my people to make arrangements for the personalization of one of those monstrosities I turned them down and instead purchased a pair of red croc Hermes coats tailored by Veronique Nichanian and master tailor Cifonelli. My philosophy is - If there's more than one on the road, it belongs amongst the poor.

>A 1995 Porsche? Dreadful.<

Goes to show that you know next to nothing about Porsche.

Ferrari- My statement stands. Check out the used car lots in CT. Far from being the rare & exclusive find you insinuated. Yes, I'm familiar with the 599 GTB, beautiful piece of machinery car as stated, I do admire their works of art. I would not drive a Ferrari in traffic, sorry. That would be a total waste & certainly not the purpose the designers intended for the vehicle. Of course, someone that would just want to be seen wouldn't give a rats' behind about such things.

I am a sports car nut. I'll take a 1969 Camaro SS convertible or '63 split window coupe, that you very much.

Tom Ford- I choose to spend $5K on far better investments. Shorting the Euro & RE comes to mind. The designs do less than zero for me as they did when Mr. Ford designed for GUCCI. To each his or her own.

I walk my dog down Madison Ave every frickin' day. For some reason, it does nothing for me but my four legged friend seems to enjoy it. Sorry, can't seem to find a Duane Reade in the area but I'll give one of their plastic bags s a try and see if it raises any eyebrows......doubtful.

Nevermind, I actually found that to be pretty funny.

bjw - the Gucci kimono reference WAS a nice touch, in my opinion. I don't know how anyone can take seriously "I hate driving through the narrow streets of Milan with my oversided Rolls-Royce Phantom." Of course, BRABUS, with the Rolls you meant your DRIVER going through the streets of Milan, but brevity for effect and all that, I'll forgive you for your lack of accuracy.

BRABUS - are you the Continental Cousin (even more privileged branch of the family, goes without saying)of W67th, perhaps?

lol@ "high end condos". You can't get into a co-op, brabus?

Exactly, the truly wealthy have always known that you have to have your own driver.

Oh, poor thing.

Co-Op? When you are at your residential co-op meeting, and after you are done discussing how your neighbor Larry should be banned from the community pool because his backhair keeps clogging the filters, you should start by explaining to those geriatrics how Prada went out in 2001 before you even attempt to present me with such silly question. If you do a good job I promise I'll get you out of the mayhem of living in a residential community and into your first showstopper of a house, the Duke Semans mansion maybe?

w67thstreet, I thought we'd never see you again. It's a pity that the recession has hit you so hard that you apparently refused to pay for a new Turbo and settled on shameful used one. I would have been glad to spare you some of my wealth had you contacted me via Vertu communication instrument.

And you have the nerve to dangle your silly "inner-circle" in my presence? Am I supposed to be impressed by your lifestyle? Poor thing, I'll make arrangements to have you move to the first row at Christian Lacroix in Paris next season. It's really frustrating when I can only catch a brief glimpse of you, my beloved peasant, sticking your neck out way in the back of the room. Just look for the crocodile Hermes portfolio as I'll be waving it just to ruin Anna's bob.

West67thstreet, you obviously haven't had the slightest clue who you're dealing with.

hmm...I like this thread and observing the reactions. because a lot of us who have been flamed as "bulls" share an opinion that is a close cousin to that is expressed by BRABUS. the wealthy do have tremendous purchasing power in a downturn. i think that is a basic fact. a lot of us "bulls" as steve loves to call us know that falling real estate means one thing: more to buy. i do not agree with how the message was transmitted as I do think it was meant to start drama; but hey..at least it wasn't another rent vs buy debate.

You guys are quite amusing. I think you'll click fabulously with petrfitz, BRABUS. :)

eah, but a lot of the bulls have lost their balls.

" the wealthy do have tremendous purchasing power in a downturn. i think that is a basic fact."

agree. Came across this recently: Katherine Graham's father bought the Washington Post in a BK sale in 1933. No doubt fortunes can be made in a downturn, as long as ya got the cash & ya know what yr doing.

I drive a Bugatti Veyron. I don't do watches. Clothes, well, my girlfriend designs all of them and sews them from scratch. Real estate? Well, my trust fund pays the maintenance and my lawyer and accountant handle all the paperwork. Don't know a damn thing about it other than the fact that the elevator man needs better cologne. And celebrities? Please. When I got to my villa on St. Bart's I beat 'em off with a stick, or, rather, I have my butler do so with a custom-made mahogany walking stick that I picked up in Buenos Aires last summer.

Barbus - please give us more! I am one of the unwashed massed who dream that one day one of my children could grow up to be one of your drivers or maids!

Brabus have you been hitting the worst of chick lit?

about ready, i think a better statement is a lot of people, bulls and bears, have lost their balls. on this board a shorthand seems to be that renters = bears who invest without error in the markets - how, this perception came about, i'm not sure but it seems to be a theme - and owners = bulls who only invest in real estate at the top of the market and are overleveraged slaves who don't invest in other asset classes.

so, in terms of losing balls, i guarantee there are a lot of renters who lost their ballls in the latest market nonsense. right now, there is castration for everyone.

Brabus... thx u for playing... u r gay :) Not that there's anything wrong with that... I see by your comment... that you were smirking while writing this.. I thought u were exit2... but you just want me to think that... you clever little pima donna you :)

i am sure you do w67. i think most of us on this site probably do. but thanks for the vivid description of yours.