The Business Journals - Week of January 25

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TR US TE D J O U R NALI S M AT YO U R FI N G E RTI P S

JANUARY 25, 2021 VOL. 57, No. 4

westfaironline.com

NO. 46 Courtesy The White House.

BIDEN TAKES OVER

BY PETER KATZ

pkatz@westfairinc.com

I

n an outdoor ceremony at the Capitol under a clear blue sky, Joseph R. Biden Jr., the newly minted president of the United States, declared: “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends: Democracy has prevailed!” His words rang strong January 20 as they were delivered two weeks to the

day that the Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters. The National Mall, where hundreds of thousands would have listened to his words, was instead filled with thousands of red, white and blue flags. Biden shared the world stage with Kamala Harris, who had just been sworn in as the nation’s first female, Black, Asian-American vice president. In his address, Biden drew a sharp contrast between his approach

to governing and that of Donald Trump and renewed his campaign goals of overcoming the pandemic, bringing racial justice and fighting climate change. Biden also called for unity and, without mentioning Trump by name, criticized those who have stoked anger and division, and asked those who opposed him to “hear me out.” “Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. 6

» BIDEN TAKES OVER

Consider car dealerships, group says BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

W

e stche ster ’s commercial real estate market has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with soaring vacancy rates exacerbated by concerns that the economy may or may not rebound in 2021. But the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association believes it has at

Evan R. Corsello

Frank J. Gaudio President & CEO

203.302.4375

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least a partial solution: More auto dealerships. Such businesses are the fifth-largest retail employer in the area, association President Mark Schienberg told the Business Journal. “Big companies play a big role in the economy, of course,” Schienberg noted. “But there’s nothing like small businesses, which year in and year out contribute to not just their local economies, but to their communities as well.” According to the latest market report from Cushman & Wakefield, the overall vacancy rate in Westchester increased by 244 basis points (bps) to 25.1% in 2020. New leasing activity plummeted 38.4% from 2019 to an all-time low of 707,913 square feet

— 42.4% below the five-year annual average of 1.2 million square feet. And while Westchester’s unemployment rate has rebounded from last July — it stood at 5.8% in November, compared with 14% in July — it is still a far cry from the 3.4% it recorded in November 2019. But the auto dealers sector has done decidedly better. Although absent specific data about 2020, which is still being processed, Schienberg said the group’s 425 members “ended up doing fairly well. “It started off looking like we could lose a lot of our members when the pandemic hit,” he continued. “Business was off 85 to 86% right off the bat, and a » EMPTY LOTS

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