The local paper for Downtown wn
OTDOWNTOWN.COM
MARCH
NEW YORK'S MR. HOSPITALITY
19-25
Q&A, P.14 >
2015
OurTownDowntown @OTDowntown
DOWNTOWN’S MOSAIC MAN, TILTING AGAINST NEARLY EVERYTHING PROFILE Jim ‘Mosaic Man’ Power, artist-turned-activist BY ROBIN SCHER
“Jim ‘Mosaic Man’ Power, everybody,” announces a tour guide, motioning to an old man in a patchwork leather jacket and seated on a red mobility scooter. The thronging tour group thwarts my approach, just as
Jim takes this grand introduction as his cue to leave. A white mane of hair billows from under Jim’s worn cap as I chase after him. My impression of a humble artist dedicated to the creation of mosaicked street poles in selfless pursuit of beautifying the city seems reaffirmed. At least until, several blocks later, at the corner of Astor Place and Cooper Square, I catch up to him. “None of these people … got
it right. They just don’t got it right,” Jim shouts over an amplified beat-boxer who’s chosen this moment to begin an onslaught of mouth drumming - a fitting score to our meeting. “I’m not only going to attack this society, I’m going to shred it in front of the world for being outdated, lame, MORONS.” A lot of things piss Jim off: his deteriorating health, his constant lack of money, the
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FINANCIAL DISTRICT APARTMENTS NOW TOP $1 MILLION Neighborhood sales and rentals benefit from new transit, development projects
The Fulton Transit Center, among the improvements in lower Manhattan cited for higher rents. Photo via Flickr by Nathan Congleton
For the first time in the history of the financial district, the average price of an apartment has topped $1 million. A report from Platinum Properties reviewing real estate trends in the district for 2014 finds that the average selling price totaled $1.1 million last year, up from $989,297 in 2013. The number of units sold last year reached 499, down from 541 last year. In its report, Platinum attributes the strong sales last year to a completion of years-long infrastructure and development projects in the neighborhood, including the Fulton Street subway station, One World Trade Center, and 70 Pine Street, a 66-story residential tower. Among the other trends last year: a 47% increase in the number of threebedroom apartments sold, as the district moves to a more vibrant, 24/7 culture more amenable to families. Two-
bedroom apartments, by comparison, showed a 18% decline in sales and studio sales were down 9%. In terms of rentals, one-bedroom apartments commanded the biggest chunk of the rental market, accounting for 41% of the market share. Rents for one-bedroom apartments averaged $3,804 in the financial district last year, a 4% increase from a year ago. Two-bedroom apartments averaged $5,570, up less than 1%. Vacancy in the financial district fluctuated throughout the year, but showed an overall decline as the year progressed. The most notable trend, according to Platinum, was a dramatic drop of nearly 40% of available studios following their peak in August. As supply decreased, prices went up. “With several new developments hitting the market, the vacancy rate should be an interesting statistic to following in 2015,” according to Platinum President Daniel Hedaya, author of the report.
In Brief ANTITRUST DEAL FOR TOUR BUS COMPANIES Beloved by tourists, tolerated by locals. The big tour bus companies like City Sights and Gray Line have become a staple in Manhattan, as much a part of the tourist draw as Broadway shows and the Empire State Building. But they’ve also become a headache for locals, who complain about clogged traffic, aggressive hawkers, even unwelcome gawking if you happen to live on the second floor along their routes. Turns out, they’ve also been running an antitrust racket, according to a settlement reached this week between the bus companies and investigators. City Sights and Gray Line agreed to pay $7.5 million and give up nearly 50 of their stops in Manhattan to settle a lawsuit brought by state and federal investigators. That lawsuit, filed in 2012, accused the two companies of teaming up to eliminate competition and push up prices. By locking up the best stops at the top sights in the city, the two companies effectively kept other companies from entering the market, keeping prices high. So those armies of hawkers peddling tickets in color-coded windbreakers? They’ve basically been working for the same company, creating an illusion of competition when in fact little real competition existed. “This settlement allows competition to thrive once again, and ensures that these companies did not profit from operating an unlawful and anticompetitive joint venture,” Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement following the settlement. The attorney general and the Justice Department said the two companies created a joint venture, Twin America, to control the best stops for hop-on, hop-off tours, increasing prices for riders by 10 percent since 2009.