New York City is going to turn around. Remember the Vets today.

0:00 Speaker 1 With us this Sunday morning, Memorial Day weekend is Bruce Moslim. He was very much involved with The Intrepid and also with Cushman and Wakefield. He’s chairman. And here’s a few things to say about both. Bruce. I’ve seen you on Fox Business a few days ago and you were terrific. You’re real cheerleader for New York.

0:28 Tell us what the heck is going on in the real estate business in New York. And we’re making progress over falling backwards.

0:37 Speaker 2 So John, the reality is that we’re dealing in Manhattan right now with demand from corporate America that is off by about forty percent over year. It’s notable that last year we had thirty five million of takeup, which is just about the ten year average, so one year ago decisions were being made. At the moment, America is on pause,

1:02 looking to see what’s going to happen from a macroeconomic perspective, geopolitical perspective, and watching interest rate movement and the potential for a recession. So there on pause. That said, we are seeing demand for the in a flight to quality, to the new development, to property that has been reinvested in.

1:26 So by and large, there’s been a bifurcation of the marketplace. I look for the second half of the year to be better than the first half. But the bottom line is this, The pause is temporary. We know people are back to work. We’re fifty percent occupied and rising. There has been a structural change in the hybrid work force,

1:46 but that means people are coming in two to four days. It’s not going to change the footprint maturely right now. What’s on pause is demand, not the value proposition.

1:58 Speaker 1 Now. I live in New York like you do, and Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays it’s busy, like heck, the restaurants you can’t get a reservation in and and But Friday, Saturday, Sundays, Mondays, it’s not. Uh. And we had Tom DiNapoli on last week.

2:21 Speaker 2 Uh.

2:21 Speaker 1 And Tom DiNapoli says, sales tax that was budgeted for seventeen billion dollars in April came in forty percent less at ten billion. And he’s not pressing the panic button yet, but he’s he’s a little bit concerned, and they’re going to continue to you know, the monitor, see what happens in May. That seems that forty percent number seems familiar

2:49 with your forty percent number.

2:51 Speaker 2 Well, and I think John, it’s reflective of people’s apprehension about the market and about an impending recession. So you know, when sales tax is off, you’re looking directly at what the consumer is thinking about, so you know it’s to be watched. But the flip side is really twofold one.

3:13 Tourism is up. Well. As the co chair of the Intrepid, we track numbers very closely in terms of tourism. This year our volume is close to where we were a pre pandemic, but not quite there. So we know tourism is back. That’s a good thing. On flip side, we can’t ignore the fact that with rising interest rates and

3:33 the potential for you know, economic downturn it is, it is causing people to be more cautious. That’s temporary, John, I think the broader issue is New York as a whole. To your point, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, even in some cases Monday, we’re back. You can’t get a reservation, you can’t get into a show. It’s it’s the vibrancy is clear as

3:57 opposed to other gateway cities. Well, I don’t want to say anything negative about some folks out on the West coast. But at the end of the day, we’re very different, in a very different place, and in much better shape.

4:09 Speaker 1 And have ready to go for San Francisco.

4:12 Speaker 2 I can’t say anything we, you know, John, is a very difficult time. I have no doubt in the long run it will recover, just as people forget and we want to talk about the negative, but we are fifty percent back in terms of occupancy. Seventy is full occupancy from the reality perspective, and I’m going to tell you

4:34 that a year from now we won’t be talking about occupancy. People will be back. Even in the hybrid workplace. People will be back two to four days a week minimally, and maybe more so we will.

4:47 Speaker 1 I pre The other item is when you talk about tourism. The mayor made a statement the other day that fifty percent of the hotel rooms in New York are occupied by migrants. Where the hour us going?

5:02 Speaker 2 Yeah, you know, John, I don’t know because I don’t track those numbers. But I think what the mayor and the Governor have been saying is that we need help from the federal government and there needs to be a much broader plans as to what to do. I think the mayor has his hands full. I praise him for

5:23 all the hard work he’s been doing to keep New York at the top of the heap and at the end of the day doing the best under very difficult circumstances. And at the end of the day, we are all immigrants and so we have to have compassion. But the bottom line is federal government has to help us.

5:42 Speaker 1 Absolutely correct. I agree with you. Now enough with that. It’s Memorial Day weekend. You’re very much involved with the Intrepid. Yeah, you had a beautiful event the other night. Tell us about what you’re doing for Memorial Day weekend and how you’re respecting our veterans.

6:03 Speaker 2 So, John, Memorial Day is that sacred day where we are honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s the day where President Kennedy reminds us where and to quote him, it’s to assure the survival and the success of liberty and those that make that ultimate sacrifice are recognized on Memorial Day. We host it each year on the Intrepid.

6:29 We’re honored to do so. It’s it’s the least that we can do. And it also reminds us that the price of freedom is not free. That people pay a very dear price so that you and I and others can live and prosper in a free country. And this is this is the day to remind everyone. Then it

6:51 comes at a cost, at a very high cost. And we’re very fortunate to live in the United States of America.

7:00 Speaker 1 I agree with you. We all agree one hundred percent. Bruce Mosler. I commend you for everything you do for our veterans, especially with Cushman and Wakefield. I commend you on your wisdom. I commend you on trying to help New York come back, and we’ll catch up again real soon.

7:23 Speaker 2 Thank you, John, Thank you for everything that you do, so quietly and so anonymously, but nevertheless you do it.

7:30 Speaker 1 God bless and godspeed, and we’ll see you soon

7:35 Speaker 2 See you soon.