By: Logan MacGuire

Like rats from a sinking ship, bureaucrats are running away from the New York City Department of Education.

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza’s first deputy chancellor for just two years, Cheryl Watson-Harris, is bolting. Her next job will be schools’ superintendent in DeKalb County, Ga., an Atlanta suburb with about 99,000 students. Watson gave her resignation effective June 30, and begins her new job on July 1.

Tomas Hanna, the department’s chief human capital officer, is also getting out of Dodge. He will take over as superintendent in the Coatesville, Pa., school district, which boasts 6,024 students. He also gets a slight raise: from $218,671 a year in the Big Apple to $220,000 in Coatesville.

“Their departures follow Andre Spencer, one of the nine “executive superintendents” whose $209,000-a-year positions Carranza created after becoming NYC’s schools chief in spring 2018,” reported The New York Post. “He landed a superintendent’s post in Manor, Texas, with 9,621 students.”

Unnamed officials inside the department told the Post that a combination of factors has served to destabilize Carranza’s already largely unstable hold on things. “The Titanic is sinking, and the deck chairs are being moved around,” an administrator told The Post.

Carranza has raised many eyebrows during his tenure, and critics today are saying he lacks even a plan to reopen schools this fall. Only days ago he admitted as much in a letter to principals and school superintendents in which he noted: “It is my job to be an anchor for you and provide as much support, leadership, and guidance as possible during these difficult and unpredictable times. Today I am writing with an important update about how the reopening of school buildings in the fall. We started planning for this return the moment that we closed buildings in March. While there are still significant uncertainties with respect to COVID-19 and its impact on New York City in the months ahead, one thing is for sure: it will take all of us working together to rise to the occasion to support student learning, address the trauma of COVID-19 disruption and loss, and keep our children on a path to success.”

He continued: “Since we cannot yet predict what September will look like, we can—and we must—be prepared for a range of possibilities. Our job is to be ready and nimble.”

He threw even more fuel on the fire when he added these progressive sentiments in his letter: “At this moment you are serving our students, families, and colleagues not only in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but as we mourn anew the senseless loss of Black men and women at the hands of police, and confront the institutional racism from which it springs. I remain amazed and humbled by your commitment and perseverance.”

By: Jennifer Peltz

New York City ventured into a crucial stage of reopening as stores let people in Monday, offices brought workers back, restaurants seated customers outdoors and residents both welcomed and worried about rebounding from the nation’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak.

From Macy’s “Miracle on 34th Street” store to the World Trade Center’s office towers, the city was getting back to business, though with new virus-safety measures after a three-month shutdown.

Larry Silverstein, for one, couldn’t wait.

The 89-year-old World Trade Center developer was eager to return to his office there as Silverstein Properties staffers started coming back on staggered schedules Monday. Employees have to wear masks in the 7 World Trade Center lobby, and footprints mark where to stand in elevators now limited to about a quarter of their usual capacity.

To Silverstein, returning to office life and in-person teamwork brings “a joy, a fulfillment, such a sense of being able to function.” He doesn’t buy into arguments that the pandemic bodes poorly for office work or New York City.

“I went through 9/11. I remember people telling me we were never going to be able to get people to come back to lower Manhattan,” said Silverstein, who leased the twin towers six weeks before the 2001 terrorist attacks destroyed them. “Never bet against New York, because New York always comes back, bigger and better than ever before.”

At Macy’s famous flagship store, Tammi Marilus was in line when doors opened at 11 a.m.

Shoppers have to wear masks. Workers must undergo temperature checks. Makeup testing is temporarily banned.

Still, with the store reopening, “it feels like it’s coming back to normal, even though we all know it isn’t over yet,” said Marilus, 42, who brought hand sanitizer with her and was pleased to see workers disinfecting counters.

“We have to live our lives. We have to take risks,” she said.

But some New Yorkers were apprehensive.

Alex Michaels may return soon to a retail job. He agreed it’s important to revive the economy, but he worries about potential coronavirus exposure from working with the public, even with new safety measures.

“Something’s got to give. I get that,” said Michaels, 30, but there could be “a high price to pay.”

Eve Gonzalez, who’s not yet back at her food-industry job, feels it’s too soon to relax restrictions.

“I’m dying to go out, but people’s health is more important,” said Gonzalez, 27.

The virus has been blamed for over 22,000 New York City deaths, with the toll down to single and low double digits in recent days. Infections have plummeted from an early-April peak, but the last two weeks have still averaged about 250 positive tests a day, city data shows.

Reopening began June 8 with construction, curbside-pickup retail, wholesaling and manufacturing. The city estimated 150,000 to 300,000 additional workers would return to their jobs Monday.

Meanwhile, cooped-up kids finally could climb playground monkey bars instead of apartment walls. And shaggy heads could get salon haircuts.

Victor Suarez had a socially distanced full house for much of the afternoon at his barbershop in Queens’ East Elmhurst neighborhood.

“It’s a lot of changes, a lot of rules we have to follow,” Suarez said. “But it’s the new normal. We’re excited to be back.”

Monday marked just the second of four reopening phases, but Mayor Bill de Blasio called it “the biggest step,” particularly for a restaurant industry he described as “so much the identity of New York City.”

At Melba’s in Harlem, customers filled the 62 new outdoor seats faster than expected Monday afternoon.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said owner Melba Wilson, president of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. She said outdoor dining was “the infusion that we so greatly needed” after three months of struggling to get by on takeout and delivery.

(AP)

By: Gregg Tewilman

New Yorkers are delighted to be getting back to normal – even if it’s a new normal.

Just ask Alex Shamuelov.

The Ace of Cuts barber shop in Manhattan pulled out all the stops for its Phase Two reopening, including an outdoor DJ booth and a bar.

No kidding.

“Drinks are ready to go. You can’t spell barbershop without ‘bar,’” Alex Shamuelov, one of the owners the East Village barber shop, told The New York Post in an interview. Shaggy haired customers showing up at the shop, located at East 6th Street near Avenue A, will find a full fledged celebration going on. “Our customers can’t wait. They’ve been telling us how much they miss us. I can’t wait to see everybody, how much hair has grown on their heads, and what I’m going to transform them into.”

Tim Toohey, the owner of Public Image NYC on West 27th Street, told the Post that he has had to take care of “a million little things” to get ready for the resumption of business. “I’m hearing from people who can’t wait to fix the botched haircut their spouse or friend tried on them.” (For the full story, check out https://nypost.com/2020/06/21/nyc-barber-plans-dj-stocked-bar-to-celebrate-reopening/).

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced guidance for the City’s Open Restaurants program, which allows qualifying restaurants and bars to expand outdoor seating on sidewalks, curb lanes, backyards, patios, plazas, and Open Streets as New York City begins Phase 2 of reopening.

The city administration provided clear guidelines for the reopening of hair salons and barbershops under phase two. As the city notes, “Remember the four key actions to prevent COVID-19 transmission:

• Stay home if sick: Stay home if you are sick unless you are leaving for essential medical care (including testing) or other essential errands.
• Physical distancing: Stay at least 6 feet away from other people.
• Wear a face covering: Protect those around you. You can be contagious without symptoms and spread the disease when you cough, sneeze or talk. A face covering may help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
• Practice healthy hand hygiene: Wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available; clean frequently touched surfaces regularly; avoid touching your face with unwashed hands; and cover your cough or sneeze with your sleeve, not your hands.”

Barber shops, like other businesses, are required to:

• Develop a Safety Plan and post it at your work site.
• Read New York State (NYS) guidelines and affirm compliance. The State requires that you affirm that you have reviewed and understand the State-issued industry guidelines and that you will implement them.

By: Carla Arrucci

The woman who has been called the late Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘madam,’ Ghislaine Maxwell, is reported to be lying low – in the lap of luxury, of course – in the pedophile’s $8.6 million apartment in Paris, France.

Maxwell “fled to France, where she was born, to avoid questioning in the US by the FBI over her links to the late disgraced billionaire,” according to The Sun. The apartment is reportedly just a five-minute drive along the Champs­Elysees from Epstein’s ritzy apartment on Avenue Foch.

“The 58-year-old, who vanished from public life in 2016, moved into her secret bolthole on Avenue Matignon, in Paris’s exclusive 8th Arrondissement, to remain undetected,” reported The Sun. “Maxwell, who is a long-term friend of the Duke of York, was spotted on Avenue Matignon in the days before France announced its Covid-19 lockdown in March. She remained in Paris during the virus crisis and hopes to benefit from her status as a French citizen to avoid extradition, should she face any criminal charges in the US.”

The youngest child of disgraced publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, she moved to the United States after her father’s death in 1991 and became a close associate of the financier and subsequently convicted sex offender Epstein. She has faced persistent allegations of procuring and sexually trafficking underage girls for Epstein and others, charges she has denied.

Maxwell founded the ocean-advocacy group The TerraMar Project in 2012, according to Wikipedia. The organization announced closure on 12 July 2019, a week after the sex trafficking charges brought by New York federal prosecutors against Epstein became public. On 27 December 2019, Reuters reported that Maxwell was among those under FBI investigation for facilitating Epstein. Since Epstein’s arrest, Maxwell has been in hiding, communicating with the courts only through her lawyers who, as of 30 January 2020, have refused to accept service of three lawsuits on Maxwell’s behalf. On March 12 of this year, she filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands seeking compensation from Epstein’s estate for her legal costs.

“Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s ‘Pimp’ Hiding From US Investigators in Paris, Report Claims,” blared a headline from sputniknews.com recently. “Ghislaine is moving locations every month to keep private investigators off her tail and is staying at the residences of trusted colleagues and contacts,” an insider was quoted as telling the publication, “adding that she intends to stay in France for “as long as she can to take advantage of extradition laws.”

By: Cameron Moorsonian

A bill has been put forth that would eliminate ATM fees for out of work residents of the Big Apple who are collecting benefits.

Senator Brad Hoylman has introduced legislation to prohibit banks holding state contracts to offer benefit banking services from charging benefit recipients’ fees for using their benefit debit cards. This legislation is being introduced after hundreds of unemployed New Yorkers waited outside a single KeyBank ATM in Manhattan to withdraw unemployment insurance benefits without paying a fee.

Hoylman said, “In the middle of a massive economic crisis, every dollar counts. Charging a fee to someone who is already facing financial hardship is adding insult to injury. My new legislation will allow New Yorkers to access unemployment insurance and other public benefits without being charged this nuisance fee. We can’t allow big banks to nickel and dime unemployed New Yorkers.”

Hoylman’s legislation would prohibit banks, ATM owners and ATM operators from imposing any fee for benefit banking services related to the use of an electronic benefit transfer card. The legislation would cover any federal, state or local benefit that is distributed through an electronic benefit transfer card; this would include unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, occupational training act program benefits, adoption subsidy electronic payments, medical assistance benefits and SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.

Currently, unemployed New Yorkers are given the option of receiving UI benefits on a KeyBank debit card; roughly half a million New Yorkers are utilizing KeyBank debit cards for their UI benefits. KeyBank only operates a single ATM in New York City, which many New Yorkers visited—some waiting in line for more than two hours—in order to avoid paying a fee.

After news reports called attention to the situation, KeyBank informed New Yorkers they could use additional ATMs in the AllPoint network; despite this public information campaign, New Yorkers continue to line up at the KeyBank ATM on 22nd Street in Manhattan.

Official numbers coming out of Albany show that New York City’s unemployment rate increased from 15% in April to a whopping 18.3% in May. Other parts of New York State showed an 11.9% rate in May, down from 15.6% in April.

Hoylman serves as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, represents New York’s 27th State Senate District which covers much of the heart of Manhattan including the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Columbus Circle, Times Square, the Upper West Side, the East Village, Midtown East, and the Lower East Side.

By: Cory Handlerson

Reports say that the US House of Representatives is slowly becoming Judenrein – free of Jews – as some retire and others face uphill battles for re-election.

At present, there are 27 Jews in the House.

“I’m not worried, but it will be different,” Yossi Gestetner, co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, told The New York Post. “Losing members from the tribe makes it more difficult going forward.”

Democrats Nita Lowey and Susan Davis are set to retire. Lowey has served as a U.S. Representative from New York since 1989. Her district was numbered as the 20th from 1989 to 1993, as the 18th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 17th since 2013. Lowey, who New Yorkers first elected in 1989, chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Davis, a Californian with 19 years under her belt, will also leave behind a number of senior committee posts. Two Jews, Adam Schleifer and David Buchwald, are running for Lowey’s seat in Tuesday’s primary.

Susan Carol Alpert Davis represents California’s 53rd congressional district, having served there since 2001. Her district includes central and eastern portions of the city of San Diego, as well as eastern suburbs such as El Cajon, La Mesa, Spring Valley, and Lemon Grove.

At the same time, next door in New Jersey, Rep. Josh Gottheimer is taking on progressive Indian-American neuroscientist Arati Kreibich, an ally of former presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders. Gottheimer a lawyer, writer, and public policy adviser serving as the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 5th congressional district, which includes a swath of exurban and rural territory west of New York City. He was active in the Democratic Party as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton and as an adviser to the presidential campaigns of Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton. He has also worked for Burson-Marsteller, the Federal Communications Commission, Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft.

Also facing rough opponents on the right are Staten Island’s Max Rose and Virginia’s Elaine Luria. Rose  is a military veteran serving as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 11th congressional district, which includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. He served in the U.S. Army as a platoon leader in the War in Afghanistan, where he was wounded, from 2012 to 2013. For his service, he was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Luria is a Navy veteran who has served as the Representative for Virginia’s 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. Her congressional district serves most of the heart of Hampton Roads, including all of Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Poquoson and portions of Norfolk and Hampton. Before running for Congress, she served as a Navy officer for 20 years. Luria rose to the rank of commander and spent the majority of her career deployed on navy ships. She defeated Republican incumbent Scott Taylor in 2018, and she is running for a second term in 2020.

By Ellen Cans

Despite the pandemic, the rioting, and the seemingly unsurmountable challenge of social distancing in the big bustling city, New York City’s value has been often considered unwavering and timeless.  International buyers around the world competed to purchase property.  So did celebrities including the Hadid sisters.  As reported by the NY Post, supermodel sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid have silently laid down large amounts of cash for Big Apple real estate over the past two years.

Towards the end of 2019, Bella shelled out $6.1 million for a renovated SoHo penthouse.  The pad had originally hit the market asking $6.99 million, and the last listing priced was $6.49 million.  The-23-year-old, who in 2019 was declared as the most beautiful woman in the world by Models.com, purchased the two bedrooms and two bathrooms lair at 63 Greene St from Kaspar Basse, founder of Joe & the Juice.  Basse had bought the apartment in 2017 for $5.85 million.  Bella’s identity as the new buyer had remained a mystery to the public till now.

Bella’s new condo features  2,180-square-feet of space, with smart wiring, custom lighting, motorized blackout shades in the bedrooms, built-in closets and a “dramatic 100-bottle custom back-lit wine room,” as per Gimme Shelter.  The six-story SoHo building was converted into condos in 2016, but it was originally built in 1877 as part of Soho’s Cast Iron Historic District.  Douglas Albert and Brian Rice, of Corcoran, who listed the property declined to comment. Bella’s rep, “Million Dollar Listing New York” star Ryan Serhant, of Nest Seekers International, also declined to comment.

Her older sister, Gigi, 25, also has her own property to brag about.  In December 2018, Gigi, 25, soundlessly purchased the only townhouse at 10 Bond St., designed by Annabelle Selldorf.  The $5.82 million deal was never even reported.  The supermodel already owned another unit in the Noho building and plans to combine the two units together.   Her first 10 Bond purchase was a two-bedroom, 2½-bathroom unit, which cost her close to $4 million in 2015.

As per Gimme Shelter, the latest townhouse Gigi purchased is a duplex boasting three bedrooms and 3½ baths spanning more than 2,955 square feet.  It includes a 770-square-foot landscaped private terrace with a fire pit, grill and outdoor refrigerator.  “Gigi, Bella and their mother, Yolanda, were involved,” says a source. “They loved the privacy of the townhouse, which comes with a garage.”

Charlie Attias, who was with Corcoran at the time and is now with Compass, was the representing broker for both Hadid and the townhouse’s seller. He declined to comment.

By: Mike Mustiglione

In this age of thought crime, it doesn’t take much to kick start an investigation.

City officials are apparently investigating a social media message from a Staten Island assistant principal. According to published reports, the Facebook post has something to do with citizens on public assistance nonetheless paying $200 for sneakers.

The allegedly racially-charged comments from New Dorp High School’s Deborah Morse-Cunningham have raised eyebrows. “Privilege is wearing $200 sneakers when you’ve never had a job. Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance,” read the Facebook post, as reported by the New York Post. It allegedly continued, “Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don’t have a water bill, where rising property taxes and rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table.”

Though the alleged post says nothing whatsoever about race, it was enough to spark one parent to begin an online petition to – what else — have Morse-Cunningham fired. The petition says, among other things: “As someone responsible for the tutelage of our youth, this is especially troubling and problematic rhetoric to say the least. This leads me to question what kind of practices she’s instilled in the culture at New Dorp High School, and what kind of environment our children are learning in, especially Black youth.”

Miranda Barbot, press secretary for the Department of Education, bravely commented that “The DOE stands against racism and schools must be safe and inclusive learning environments. Teachers and staff have a responsibility to uphold those values, and the principal reported this incident for investigation.”

According to silive.com, citing screenshots of the post on social media, it read in full: “Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance. Privilege is having a Smartphone with a Data plan which you receive no bill for. Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don’t have a water bill, where rising property taxes and rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table. Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worrying about calling out of work and the consequences that accompany such behavior.”

Quick to chime in, New Dorp High School’s principal, Deirdre DeAngelis, relayed a message to school parents saying that “We are taking this matter very seriously and have reported it to the appropriate investigatory office. We want to assure you that New Dorp High School does not stand for or condone language that promotes intolerance or hatred of any kind. The words contained in the post go against the beliefs and values of our school and do not represent us in any way.”

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

The summer months are upon us.  After staying home several months, having longstanding international trips and many summer camps cancelled, Americans are now filling up their gas tanks and heading on road trips.  Still weary of airports and crowded hotels , many are taking trips that are within 200 miles of their own homes, and opting for private rental homes.  Airbnb, the short-term rental giant said that it made more US bookings in the weeks between May 17 and June 3, than it did last year during the same time frame, its CEO, Brian Chesky  told Bloomberg News.

As per a recent article in the NY Post, New Yorkers too, are opting for a change of scenery via an Airbnb visit.  Some are even planning extended stays, as they will be working remotely and can do so from anywhere.  Here are some of the Post’s pick of most popular road trip destinations.

An A-frame cabin dating back to 1968, in Red Hook of Hudson Valley, NY is offering a retreat on 6 acres of untouched, peaceful land.  The cozy two-bedroom home feature a fireplace, wooden ceilings, a dining area a full wall of windows for plenty of sunlight and a patio with woodsy views. The nightly rate is $302, and it can lodge up to six guests.

The increasingly popular Hudson Valley also has rentals that feel like something that belongs far from New York.  There is a Bali-inspired cottage with four bedrooms connected by walkways, featuring bamboo ceilings and peaked roofs.  The $624 per night house retreat fits up to 10 guests.  It includes fireplaces, waterfront patios, hammocks,  a guest cottage and a hot tub overlooking the  pond.

New York’s Finger Lakes has a newly constructed home with four bedrooms and three full bathrooms.  The house is just steps away from the east side of Seneca Lake.  It is listed for $518 per night, and can accommodate up to 12 people.  It includes a modern kitchen with new appliances, a fireplace, and a porch with an outdoor dining area.

Camping enthusiasts can travel to Connecticut for a charming 144-square-foot cedar octagon situated by a brook on 100 acres of forested land.  The cabin has vaulted ceilings, and electricity but no running water or Wi-Fi.  There is an outdoor dining area and a fire pit, and a hiking trail with a waterfall and pond close by.  The cabins accommodates 2 guests, and is listed for $106 per night.

For those looking for a more luxurious getaway, New Jersey’s Atlantic City has a four- floor home just steps from the beach.  The seven bedroom, 5,500-square-foot house has plenty of space for an extended family getaway.  Added bonuses include an indoor elliptical machine, outdoor decks, beach chairs and towels, and six bicycles.  The home can sleep up to 19 people and is priced at $1,233 a night.

New Jersey also has a four bedroom home with water views.  The home boasts a rooftop deck, overlooking the small beach and a dock attached.   It is listed for $995-per-night rental and can accommodate 12 guests.

By: Seth Havemeyer

Cantor Fitzgerald is moving its operations division out of New York State – and releasing 76 employees.

The firings, as reported inside a filing with the state Department of Labor, are coming when other companies – most notably Citigroup and Morgan Stanley – have rolled up their sleeves in an attempt to preserve jobs.

“It isn’t clear where the Cantor jobs are going,” Crain’s New York Business reported, “though the firm has offices in dozens of cities including Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Charlotte, N.C. The firm said the personnel moves will begin in September and continue through the end of the year.”

Cantor Fitzgerald is a bond broker that achieved notoriety of a sort 19 years ago when it was rocked by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Cantor CEO Howard Lutnick displayed his mettle by holding fast and keeping the firm alive. But the pandemic is yet another body blow. “An affiliated firm, BGC Partners, cut its dividend in March as quarterly earnings sank by 77%,” noted Crain’s.

The storied financial services firm was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, and commercial real estate financing. It is also active in new businesses, including advisory and asset management services, gaming technology, and e-commerce. It has more than 5,000 institutional clients. In fact, Cantor Fitzgerald is one of 22 primary dealers that are authorized to trade US government securities with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The firm’s 1,600 employees work in more than 30 locations, including financial centers in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Together with its affiliates, Cantor Fitzgerald operates in more than 60 offices in 20 countries and has more than 8,500 employees. In 2011, Cantor’s affiliate, BGC Partners, expanded into commercial real estate services by its purchase of Newmark Knight Frank and the assets of Grubb & Ellis, to form Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

The firms’ refusal to go out of business in the wake of the attacks has become the stuff of legend. Its corporate headquarters was on the 101st to the 105th floors of One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, only a handful of floors above the impact zone of a hijacked airliner. They were destroyed during the attacks. Every employee that reported for work that morning was killed in the attacks; 658 of its 960 New York employees[, 68.5% of its workforce, which was considerably more than any of the other World Trade Center tenants or the New York City Police Department, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, or the United States Department of Defense since all stairwells leading past the impact zone were destroyed by the initial crash or blocked with smoke, fire, or debris.

By: Jeff Mortuch

Momentum has swung back in favor of renters, and so landlords across New York City are giving and giving in the hopes of renting and renting.

Clearly, one of the factors involved has been the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of vacancies is clearly in the rise, and prices are down. To attract renters, then, property owners are having to make concessions of various kinds – just in time for those entering the workforce or arriving in the Big Apple for the first time.

“The market is adjusting itself, and rents will be stagnant for a bit,” Bobby Florian, a rental agent with Bond New York who often works on the Upper East Side, pointed out in an interview in Crain’s New York Business. “But I’m hopeful.”

Not that anything has become exactly cheap. For instance, as Crain’s pointed out, the least costly studio apartment in the Sky luxury tower on the Far West Side, is going for $2,828 a month. Sweetening the deal, the Moinian Group is offering a pair of free rent months when renters sign a 14-month lease, StreetEasy has reported.

TF Cornerstone’s Max complex, which began renting apartment only about 24 months ago, is also offering up to two months’ rent free and picking up the broker fee for some apartment.

“Nearby are the 1,359-unit Silver Towers from Silverstein Properties. The towers have 17 available apartments, including a studio for $2,760 per month,” Crain’s reported. “Covid-fueled concessions there include leases that can be written for just six months, down from the typical year. “We believe residents may feel anxious about committing to a year lease,” a company spokesman said.”

MNS Real Estate, a brokerage, has reported that, based on its research, the average Manhattan rent dropped to a paltry $4,108 last month, down 3% over four weeks.

Last week, it was reported by CNBC that Manhattan suffered its hardest month of May in at least 10 years in 2020. Certainly, the lockdown had a lot to do with that, but other factors also contributed. New leases fell 62% last month, according to research done by Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman.

“May also saw the largest year-over-year increase in new listings in nearly four years, with the number apartments listed for rent in Manhattan jumping 34%, to 7,420,” CNBC reported. “There were more empty apartments on the market last month than at any time since real estate appraiser Miller Samuel started collecting the data in 2006.”

By: Rusty Brooks

The Italian luxury brand “Valentino’ filed a lawsuit on Sunday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York seeking to terminate the lease on its four-story Fifth Avenue store, alleging that it was “impossible” to do business at this location in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, NBC reported.

The U.S. branch of Valentino initiated the legal proceedings in New York State Supreme Court to force 693 Fifth Owner LLC to release them from their 15-year Manhattan lease, nine years early. It cited losses due to the lockdown from the coronavirus outbreak. The landlord’s location is listed in the suit as in care of Savitt Partners LLC according to Crain’s.

Valentino signed a 15-year lease on the space in 2013.

“In the current social and economic climate, filled with COVID-19-related restrictions, social-distancing measures, a lack of consumer confidence, and a prevailing fear of patronizing, in person, “non-essential” luxury retail boutiques, Valentino’s business at the Premises has been substantially hindered, rendered impractical, unfeasible and no longer workable,”  the legal proceedings stated

“Even in a post-pandemic New York City (should such a day arrive), the social and economic landscapes have been radically altered in a way that has drastically, if not irreparably, hindered Valentino’s ability to conduct high-end retail business at the premises.

“The very purpose of the Lease, Plaintiff’s ability to use of the Premises to operate a high-end fashion retail boutique along a prestigious section of Fifth Avenue, has been completely frustrated,” it concluded.

According to a report in the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom, the court filing claims that a lawyer representing the landlord sent a letter on Friday disagreeing that Valentino has a right to surrender the lease.

Robert Cyruli of Cyruli Shanks Hart & Zizmor LLP, is representing the landlord and declined to comment to the WSJ: ‘My client won’t be litigating through the media.’

Cyruli Shanks is a boutique law firm located in the midtown Manhattan, with a satellite office in New Jersey. Their areas in which they specialize are real estate, commercial litigation, corporate law and automative law.

Many retailers across the US are facing similar problems. Many are re-negotiating rents with landlords or simply not paying rents period. COVID-19 has paralyzed NYC retail since March. Victoria’s Secret, another gigantic retail store is also in litigation with their landlord over the rent for their Herald Square location.

Even with the measured re-opening of the city business do not see any chance in the foreseeable future for retail to pick up in NYC.

Valentino’s legal team pointed out that the lease says, “All such uses by Tenant to be consistent with the luxury, prestigious, high-quality reputation of the immediate Fifth Avenue neighborhood (i.e. Fifth Avenue between 59th Street and 50th Street) in general, and for no other use or purposes,” the lease said.  Since retail is buried in NYC and they cannot use the building for any other purpose.

These are incredibly unique lawsuits such as the ones by Victoria Secret and now Valentino are difficult to win, according to legal experts. There is essentially no other cases to compare these cases against, as the pandemic is a first in modern times. There is no clause in the leases indicating that a natural disaster or pandemic which could affect their business, would allow them to get out of the lease.

According to the Daily Mail report, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation sued its NYC landlord for stalling on a sub-leasing agreement after they stopped paying rent.

Roc Nation says it invoked a clause in the lease, freeing it from its contractual obligations in case circumstances beyond their control arise – such as the coronavirus pandemic – and make the contract impractical or impossible to uphold, as was reported by the British publication.

Last week Valentino and Amazon filed a joint lawsuit against New York-based Kaitlyn Pan Group for allegedly counterfeiting Valentino shoes and offering them for sale online.

The move is Amazon’s first joint litigation with a luxury fashion brand and Valentino’s first with an online retailer.