The 1 Percent Shrug: New York’s Rich Are Cool With Cuomo’s Tax Tweak
In light of the passage of Governor Cuomo’s tax bill last week, The Observer decided to informally poll the rich. What’s your take, you happy few? Read More
taxes
Edgar Bronfman Jr. Loves His Wife to the Tune of $16 M.
Edgar Bronfman Jr. announced yesterday that he was stepping down from his position as the chairman of Warner Music Group, effective January 31. Turns out he is stepping down from his perch at 812 Park Avenue, as well.
According to city records, Mr. Bronfman has transferred sole control of the triplex penthouse to his wife Clarissa Bronfman, with whom he bought the home in May for $16 million. Read More
Bloomberg: Spending Cuts As Demonstrated By ‘Meth Addict With Flamethrower’
The debt ceiling, spending cuts, the political hostage situation that even the characters of the West Wing aren't entirely clear on: they're complicated. Alas, the world needs more simple ways to understand the long-stretching implications of these problems. Thankfully, this is where Bloomberg comes in.
Read More
Co-op Flop: City Reassesing Serious Tax Hikes
If the computer's don't kill us, the taxes will.
The city's Department of Finance began using a new formula along with new computational software last year to calculate taxes for the city's vast swathes of co-operative housing stock last year. It resulted in huge new assessments for hundreds of buildings, according to The Journal, driving up Read More
Schumer Pounces on Boehner’s Big Oil Comments [Update]
House Speaker John Boehner was in his Ohio district yesterday, and told ABC News "I don't think the big oil companies need to have the oil depletion allowances, but for small, independent, oil and gas producers, if they didn't have this, there'd be even less exploration in America than there is today."
Today Senator Read More
Q Poll: Property Tax Cap, Same-Sex Marriage Are Popular
Support - Opposition:
79-17 percent support capping property taxes.
56-38 percent support same-sex marriage.
51 percent support independent commission drawing legislative lines
29 percent support a commission with input from legislators drawing lines.
12 percent support lawmakers drawing legislative lines.
55-40 percent support lawmakers disclosing their law firm clients. (That's up from January; 48-42 percent.)
52-41 oppose public financing Read More
New York Homeowners: A Taxing Situation
It's no secret that more than a few New York homeowners actually live beyond the boundaries of the Empire State. They own a small apartment in the five boroughs, or a vacation home on Long Island or in the Hudson Valley, but they actually live in New Jersey or Connecticut or Pennsylvania.
Owning a piece of Read More
Assessing Tax Hikes
While the city's economy is showing signs of life, the real estate community knows all too well that property values remain far below what they were at the height of the market more than two years ago. It's estimated that on a per-square-foot basis, property values have fallen by 38 percent compared with the pre-crash Read More
810 Fifth and Taxes: Felix Rohatyn Gives Co-op, $11.25 M. to Family Trust
Felix G. Rohatyn, the titantic Lazard banker, has been much in the news in recent years, as he reflects on his specialities, profligate bankers and broken public finances. Mr. Rohatyn is most often remembered not for the usual business of big deals, though there are those--KKR and RJR Nabisco, Sony and Capital--but his hand in Read More
No New Taxes for Brooklyn Bridge Park (But What About a Parking Lot?)
Oh, those entitled Brooklyn Heightsies. They decry the thought of condos lining Brooklyn Bridge Park -- thus supporting the new greensward's ongoing maintenance -- because it would block their harbor views. Yet they also do not want to pay new taxes to help fund the park, even though the proposal helped State Senator Read More
Dear Andy, the M.T.A. Is Not Your Piggy Bank
A group of 30 transit advocates, environmentalists, planners and labor leaders sent Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo a letter [PDF] this morning with a simple request: Don't allow, or, god forbid, encourage, the Legislature to continue raiding dedicated transit funds for the purpose of covering budget shortfalls.
The Paterson administration did exactly that not once but Read More
Morning Roundup: More Like ‘Operation Inflated Stats’!
- In a bitter stroke of irony, the Justice Department may have been padding its numbers yesterday when trumpeting the sweeping results of its multibillion dollar antifraud initiative, "Operation Broken Trust." [NYT]
- The President and Congress have agreed: The Bush tax cuts will be extended for two more years, and labor-market casualties will continue to receive Read More
No Ifs, Ands, or Butts! Cigarette Sales in Free Fall Post-Tax Hike
When Governor Paterson raised tobacco taxes, anti-smoking advocates were overjoyed. The taxes, they had hoped, would lead to a significant drop-off in sales — maybe even 10 percent.
They weren't even close. The New York Post reports that since the cigarette levy was upped to the nation's highest in July, sales have nosedived 27 percent Read More
City Launches Attack on Sodium as Soup Season Approaches
It comes along at a certain time each year — that turning point when the wind picks up and the bone-cold air ignites within New Yorkers a craving for something warm to eat. And when this desire sets in, there's no better way to succumb than to whip up a big, scalding-hot, salt-blasted bowl of Read More
Morning Roundup: Great Election, Guys!
- There was an election yesterday. This definitely impacts the financial markets and the economy, although hardly anyone can say how, exactly. [AP]
- Now that the election's over, traders are looking to see what the Federal Reserve's next monetary move will be. Whatever happens, it will definitely impact the financial markets and the economy, although hardly Read More
