August 24, 2020

"You say New York will not bounce back this time. You will not bounce back. In your enervated, pastel-filled new life in Florida."

"I hope you have a long, healthy run down there. I can’t think of a more fitting retribution for your fine article. This stupid virus will give up eventually. The same way you have. We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you. And it will sure as hell be back. Because of all the real, tough New Yorkers who, unlike you, loved it and understood it, stayed and rebuilt it."

Jerry Seinfeld — in "So You Think New York Is ‘Dead’" (NYT) — kicks the ass of that guy who wrote that article on LinkedIn that we were all talking about last week.

136 comments:

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

New Yorkers are "tough"? Maybe 60 years ago, they were. Now they're a bunch of scared sheep who mindlessly vote for incompetents. Seinfeld is mistaking masochism for toughness.

Ampersand said...

How are the Hamptons these days, Jerry?

I hope your private security is doing its job, and that your kids are getting the very best private education.

Roughcoat said...

It helps to be rich, Jerry.

tcrosse said...

You gotta admire the pluck of this multi-millionaire.

Professional lady said...

I hope he's right. But as someone who has seen the long-term effect of riots, I think he and others are under-estimating the damage that they do.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

He’s right but Jerry will be dead or in a near-dead state like Joe Biden is now long before NYC returns to peace and prosperity. It took 25 years to recover from 1968. Those that DID recover. Detroit still has not 50 years later.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you.

That is just fine with me. Do what you want. I hope you can bring NYC back from the zombiehood it is now. I wish you well.

Just stop asking the rest of the country to bail your sorry asses out of the messes that YOU voted for and the situation that YOU created.

Your bed. You made it. Sleep well.

Bay Area Guy said...

Seinfeld has $800 Million in the bank. That's called leverage. He can say or do anything he wants. He, and his nice family, will no doubt bounce back. The average New Yorker, scraping by in a crime-ridden city, with restaurants closed, Briadway closed, and subways dangerous? Hmm, not so appealing. La Boca Vista sounds much better.

traditionalguy said...

Escape from New York is not going to stop until the ruling Communists pull out.

Rory said...

"Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side."

This can be said of 100 million.

rhhardin said...

I'm not living in NY, but, more important, I'm not tempted to move there.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

And now Kenosha? That’s a city I know better than any in WI.

Ralph L said...

Plywood-shopping will become a thing. Stores will paint their products for display.

mockturtle said...

Maybe not yet dead but definitely moribund. And it's not just about the virus.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Places die when the will, not the ability, to defend them is lost. Screw the WuFlu, NYC’s demise was strongly indicated by de Blasio’s re-election. An eyes-wide-open decision for decline, replicated in so many other Blue cities. Sure, they’ll continue to limp along but they’re all on the Detroit path now.

Big Mike said...

Oh, New York City can come back. But not easily and certainly not with Democrats still in charge.

Temujin said...

I love Seinfeld, but...the guy who wrote the article he's referring to was really showing his love for New York and was broken hearted- not because New York will be an empty city, but because it's going to have to be changed. As every place is now. Times are different. And in case Seinfeld has not noticed from his home in the Hamptons or his apartment on the 50th floor of some tower on the upper East Side, people have been leaving New York steadily for the past 10 years. Covid, and the destruction of law and order has pushed the move out to the point where movers are turning business away. They cannot keep up.

Seinfeld can castigate the guy who wrote it, but who voted for DeBlasio- twice? I'm sure Seinfeld did. Who keeps voting in the corrupt and clown-like Andrew Cuomo? I'm sure Seinfeld did. There are many, and there will be many more who go on to show how brave they are and how Real New Yorkers are tough and stick it out. But, as I've pointed out for some time right here in your comment boxes- "real" New Yorkers seem to have left New York, or have been told to shut up for years now. What took over were latte sipping, obnoxiously woke, simpering, whimpering bodies that live in New York, but hardly have the heart of the New Yorkers I remember.

Seinfeld goes on to say, "Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side." It's exactly what I've thought listening to EVERYONE on the left for years- especially the thumb suckers in the entertainment industry.

Finally- everyone has a place they like to call home. The thing about New Yorkers is that they cannot imagine living any place else and they think the rest of the world is clamoring to live there. Sorry Jerry. Most of the world has no intention of living there, nor do they want to. We like it just fine here in Florida, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada, Texas, et al. So, you can go on telling us how New York is the thing. It is A thing. Just not going to be THE thing any longer. In this day and age, it's just not necessary.

Will said...

Easy to tough when you have a 10 figure net worth.

D.D. Driver said...

I can't hear the phrase "bounce back" without thinking of Evers' "Badger Bounce Back" plan.

It's still online and interesting to check in on every now and then. The bottom line is if Evers would have had his way we would still be banned from all "non-essential" activities, including attending religious services.

rehajm said...

Jerry's right that the virus will be over and New York will be back - in some form.. I reject that classic New Yorker argument- those people who view themselves as superior for suffering the dirty, crime ridden, dysfunctional NYC of the 70s...or today. I'd argue those defectors are rational people making a rational choice...

I'd also argue relative to those gritty New Yorkers Jerry is a pussy that grew up in the burbs and is now pontificating to the rest of us from his enclave in the hamptons, like some Bruce Wayne figure with all the toys but Zooming orders to everyone else instead of putting on the bat suit...

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I'd like to throw this on the pile

When Half Of NYC’s Tax Base Leaves And Never Comes Back

The wealthy should be taxed, but fairly. When the government takes too big of a bite, there are consequences.

Rick.T. said...

Says the guys who's almost a billionaire. Also "stayed and rebuilt it" is just a tad...premature don't you think? At least according to that recent video of almost every store on 5th Avenue boarded up.

Crimso said...

The stupid virus was the straw that broke the camel's back. The problems of NYC run much deeper than the stupid virus. The one-two punch of the stupid virus and the Sandinista mayor will be very difficult to overcome. The systemic racism on top of it all makes it impossible. Got to know to when to fold 'em, Jerry. Guess you can afford to take the loss, and are willing to do so. Others can't afford it, or aren't willing to do so.

Michael K said...

So Seinfeld, resident of Los Angeles, is the new authority on New York City's recovery from de Blasio.

h said...

Here's how a post-Covid NYC looks to Jerry Seinfeld: If you miss eating out, hire a chef. If you are tired of the bad-smelling street people, spend a couple weeks at your house in the Hamptons. If you are bored with the limited nightlife, move to your House in Telluride for a few weeks. And wait it out until pre-Covid NYC returns. This is how a real New Yorker will tough it out.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

If you want to rebuild NY - Seinfeld, 9who is probably a good and steadfast liberal0, ya might want to wake up and realize OAC and DeBlassio are dead end streets. kick out the cancer that is killing NYC. The modern democrat-communist- party. It's an asshole.

I Callahan said...

I like Jerry Seinfeld, but he's just being a homer here.

The facts are: they have a Communist mayor who's basically encouraged people to destroy businesses while keeping them locked down more than even Cuomo is for the rest of the state. He's chased out a big chunk of the taxpaying populace. It's the Curley effect, and maybe one day New York will come back, it's going to take a Rudy Giuliani for that to happen, and considering the above, what would a Rudy get in a vote? 30% tops?

Sorry, Jerry, the original article writer was correct. If you're the last one out, please kill the lights.

Temujin said...

Oh yeah. I forgot. Jerry spends most of his time in Los Angeles. He, too, left New York.

What's left to say?

TreeJoe said...

"Bounce Back" assumes return to where it was. Yes, that's possible, in multiple decades - 20-40 years.

And if that's what you want to invest in, that's fine.

DavidUW said...

Sure Jerry. Just like it bounced back from the Harlem riots about 40 years later.

Amadeus 48 said...

Jerry is just punching back here with no program and no analysis. It reminds me of Bluto's pep talk in Animal House.

Some changes are needed in NYC. If they happen, the city will come back. If they don't...well, they were warned.

What are the odds?

Howard said...

You people better hope Jerry's right. Otherwise New York City politics is coming to your Shitholes counties.

Brian said...

Seinfeld is talking as a member of the Elite. He doesn't want to see that things have changed. But it's not the virus that killed NYC. It just started the preference cascade.

He's right, that energy is important. But what guarantees that NYC will have energy going forward? He just assumes that because it has bounced back before.

Detroit didn't bounce back. Baltimore hasn't bounced back. My own home town, St. Louis, has never bounced back. And it's been over a 100 years. Decline can last a long time.

Johnathan Birks said...

NYC will come back when it stops electing socialist tyrants. Nobody with any sense is taking their chances.

wendybar said...

I live near NYC, and I won't be back. Jerry can do stand up for his Antifa, Progressive buddies...but they won't have money...so he would have to do it for free...which he won't.

RNB said...

Not even an original joke. I recall when Anne Rice excoriated Americans for 'abandoning' her beloved New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Rice was living in La Jolla, CA at the time.

Kevin said...

George Costanza : Jerry, just remember. It's not a lie if *you* believe it.

Drago said...

"Jerry Seinfeld’s Hamptons Home Has a $17,000 Coffee Maker
The sitcom king purchased the impressive 12-acre estate from pal Billy Joel back in 2000"


Inside Jerry Seinfeld's $18.3 Million Colorado Crib

Jerry Seinfeld: Net Worth, House, Private Jet and Moka Yacht

Sure sounds like Jerry is "toughing it out" like all the rest of the New Yorkers. Did we mention his private security?

Now imagine being a mid-level cop in NYC with a wife who is a nurse.....with 3 kids.....

Leland said...

The virus isn't NYC's problem. Who they vote for is. And if that's what they want, they can keep it and the people who voted for it. Florida doesn't want them either.

Fernandinande said...

Long live Florida Man!

Browndog said...

How is it even remotely possible for NYC to recover with de Blasio as mayor?

Is Jerry that insulated from politics?

rcocean said...

The last thing we want is for Left-wing new yorkers, the same assholes who voted for de blasio in the first place, to move to other parts of the country. Let them stay in NYC and fix the mess they made.

If NYC real estate is down, this is a buying opportunity.

Ken B said...

It's just about the virus?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Remember when the show "sex and the city" was all the rage?

The show openly mocked the man who made the city SAFE, so the cast and crew could prance around in high heels and fuck anything that moved.

Democrats are asshole.

rcocean said...

BTW, I love how the Center-Right always has this attitude of "We'll move. That'll show 'em". LOL - the liberals WANT you to move. They WANT total control and are happy you're leaving. As for all the rich people leaving NYC, guess what? Rich people from overseas (the sainted immigrants) will take their place. Plenty of wealthy Chinese, Indians, Russians, etc. who'd LOVE To live in NYC. The conservative working/middle class is even more expendable to the Liberal/Left Pols that run NYC. They don't like them, and wish they'd leave. Cuomo, for example, invited every Pro-life person in NY State to shut up or leave.

Jupiter said...

"This stupid virus will give up eventually."

Ya think? Why would a virus "give up"? Especially when state and local governments are carefully hoarding fuel for the contagion, feeding it just enough to keep it going. It won't be over until we are all immune, and that will be "never" at the present rate.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Indeed DBQ.

Desperate crumbling democrat run cities always need a bailout from the deplorables.

As Freeman said in another thread.... We need to simply respond - "Fuck off"

Qwinn said...

I was reading an article that made a non-intuitive point and very important point - that at least for now, all the people fleeing NY are making it *more* blue, not less, and that the emigrants are actually making the places they're fleeing to more red, not blue. Apparently native Texans actually voted for Beto, and it was refugees from California and elsewhere that made it go for Cruz. That at least in these initial waves, the emigrants are more conservative than they are liberal. Which does make sense when you think about it.

Does NY have any chance when the emigration is actually making it more blue, not less?

I really don't think so. No chance at all.

hombre said...

New York’s biggest problem is that the grownups are leaving the state. The residue, like Seinfeld, will find themselves in the hands of the likes of Killer Cuomo and the nincompoop DeBlasio.

Narayanan said...

We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you.
------------============
but Jerry has fled NYC - Jerry Seinfeld lives in East Hampton, NY. He purchased the property from rocker Billy Joel for $32M in 2000.

How much is Jerry Seinfeld net worth?

Jerry Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. Seinfeld is best known for playing himself in the sitcom ‘Seinfeld’, which was written by Larry David and himself. He’s had an incredibly successful career as a stand up comedian; and in 2019, Jerry Seinfeld’s net worth is estimated to be $950 million.

so he is almost as rich as Trump! who now lives in FL

Pillage Idiot said...

Ralph L. is correct about the damage wrought by BLM/Antifa.

I should have bought plywood futures and plate glass futures in my retirement account.

I wouldn't have "Seinfeld" money, but I would have a healthy nest egg by now.

Mark said...

This stupid virus will give up eventually.

Another covidiot who wants to kill us all.

Bob Boyd said...

Do people really hate working remotely?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Getting a distinct Chip Diller vibe here.

Lucien said...

New York: that was the city too scared to have KSM’s trial there, right? Really tough bunch.

Joe Smith said...

NYC will be back, but as Seinfeld alluded to, it will mutate...It won't ever be the same as it was.

Partly because of the virus and partly because powerful people in government now have undeniable proof that the masses can be controlled.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I thought Seinfeld was smarter than this ad-hominem piece

frenchy said...

One thing is business has learned it is all that office space in skyscrapers and traffic nightmares that go with them are completely unnecessary. Other than that, the unintended consequences of the blue city blue state anti-Trump "shutdowns" are incalculable, mainly because they are still playing out.

deepelemblues said...

Jerry whistling past the graveyard.

Kramer will show up at city hall tomorrow with a shovel and a hard hat - "I'm here for the rebuilding!" - and start a riot.

Pookie Number 2 said...

I’m sure it feels great to kick that guy’s ass, but as long as New York prioritizes victimhood, relatively few people will choose to sacrifice themselves and their livelihoods for some abstract sense of New York-ness.. The reason New York worked they way it did was because enough individuals found it fruitful to play their particular roles. As that becomes less true, people will behave differently, notwithstanding DeBlasio’s idiotic political beliefs.

jaydub said...

Funny, the wife and I close on a house in a very red area of Florida on Wednesday. We aren't moving there from NYC but have already met plenty of neighbors who did.

"Seinfeld goes on to say, 'Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side.'"

Hey, dipshit, I did three combat tours in two wars but don't remember seeing anyone named Seinfeld during any one of the three. Don't know about the other guy, but, then, he's not the one doing the projecting.

JZ said...

I'm glad Jerry Seinfeld is standing up for Ne York. He an afford to and he should, but lots of people will leave if for no other reason than the debt.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

OT:

Denver might be handling the Antifa-Brownshirt terror differently than Leftwing Commie Seattle and leftwing commie Portland.

lets hope.


‘This Was A Riot’: Denver City Leaders Vow To Hold Suspects Accountable

John henry said...



 BleachBit-and-Hammers said...



The wealthy should be taxed, but fairly.

Wealthy or high income?

We don't do wealth taxes in the US. At least not federally.

Constitutionally prohibited.

John Henry

Mike said...

This was a weak response from Seinfeld. I appreciate his attitude, but he didn't really counter anything in original piece.

SensibleCitizen said...

New Yorkers will elect another Republican who will straighten out the mess so that another run of Democrats can screw it up again. Guilliani and Bloomberg created the world's largest theme park that was printing money for the US economy. One democratic is less than two terms has set the city back a decade or more.

I'm a liberal, but Democrats do not know how to run big cities.

Joe Smith said...

"It helps to be rich, Jerry."

At one of the televised celebrity roasts, Jerry Stiller was the roastee but Jerry Seinfeld was't there.

Comedian Jeffrey Ross noted that Seinfeld wasn't there that night because he had a prior engagement "to fuck a model on a pile of cash."

Mike said...

Seinfeld is right about doing stuff remotely. It sucks. It does have some positives with certain types of work, but for everything else it's terrible.

Blackbeard said...

Civilizations rise and fall, and cities rise and fall. Detroit, Baltimore, St. Louis, and others were once among the most successful in America and people flocked to them. Not any more. New York was headed the same way under the leadership of mayors like Lindsay, Dinkins and Beame but then, surprisingly, we reversed course and enjoyed a generation of reasonably good leadership under Koch, Giuliani and Bloomberg, and the city came roaring back. But the demographics of NYC have dramatically changed and I doubt we will see leaders like that again. We may look back on DeBlasio fondly, terrible as he is, compared to what is likely coming. And that, not COVID-19, is why the city will not bounce back.

Mary Beth said...

Maybe NYC is just pining for the fjords.

rehajm said...

Do people really hate working remotely?

One data point: our office has been at least as productive from home but staff is inquiring about when they can return to the office. The young'uns are kind of pleading...

Yelling kids and barking dogs and leaf blowers are a few of the culprits. I think the crummy dating scene in the kitchen has a lot to with it, too...

Unknown said...

Seinfeld goes insult comic - he used to hate the lazy Banyons

Altucher is accumulating (garnering) some good responses

https://twitter.com/jaltucher

Seinfeld made me laugh, but Altucher made me think.

James Altucher
I’m glad I inspired @JerrySeinfeld to finally write new jokes.

Narayanan said...

Lucien said...
New York: that was the city too scared to have KSM’s trial there, right? Really tough bunch.
---------===========
i did not know that

NYC - soon to be Beirut on the Hudson and East River

gspencer said...

"Jerry, it's Jack, Jack Klompus. GO STICK IT!"

Browndog said...

rcocean said...

BTW, I love how the Center-Right always has this attitude of "We'll move. That'll show 'em". LOL - the liberals WANT you to move. They WANT total control and are happy you're leaving.


PREACH!

Cede the institutions, cede the territory, cede the elections not bothering to even run an ad in "blue" districts, then wake up one morning and wonder why radicals run the country as your neighborhood burns.

Narayanan said...

Unknown said...
I thought Seinfeld was smarter than this ad-hominem piece
----------===========
Jerry and his wife Jessica have three kids: a 19-year-old daughter named Sascha, a 17-year-old son named Julian, and a 14-year-old son named Shepherd.

maybe Jerry is pre-emptive avoiding Conway family scenario?

Yancey Ward said...

Wow, Jerry Seinfeld is down and out in NYC? I guess a half a billion dollars doesn't go as far as it did a year ago.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Seinfeld's 12 acre, $32M East Hamptons estate

$24M Beresford Apartment (Central Park West), unit next to Seinfeld's

Remember when Seinfeld was 38 and he started dating a 17 year old (Shoshonna Lonstein)?

Pretty sure he met his current wife a couple of days after she got back from her honeymoon with her first husband--she married Seinfeld a few months later.

I bet ol' Jerry's kids went to, or are going to, public schools, huh?

Anyway, good for him, but let's save the sanctimony, yeah?

Steven said...

Yeah, I recognize that. That's 100% pure-quill Detroit civic boosterism. Everybody remember the 1980s, when Detroit was still the 6th-largest city in the US? That's what lots of people in Detroit sounded like. This year's Census, we get to find out whether or not Detroit is still in the top 25.

See, the "energy" he talks of? It's a living thing, the result of the people engaging in activity in that place, not an inherent property of the geography. The deadly threat to NYC is that the Wuhan coronavirus has killed the city's "energy", rather than sending it to merely slumber.

It happens. Jerry brings up Silicon Valley, but he doesn't bring up Route 128. Why doesn't he bring up Route 128, the other pole of the tech industry in 1980? Because Route 128 as a center of tech died, so nobody talks about it anymore, except in "What happened to Route 128" pieces.

And for New York City, the relevant "energy" is that of finance. The city is utterly dependent on Wall Street money. It doesn't matter if everybody else comes back to New York City after the Wuhan coronavirus is whipped; it only matters if the finance people do. And that requires them to decide that it's worth going back. If they decide to stay away, then the tax base collapses.

Finance hasn't left NYC before. No matter how stupid governance got, the money was still there to revive the city. But if the money leaves, all voting in good government will be able to do is soften the edges as the city dies.

Big Mike said...

Among the people “voting with their feet” by leaving New York City was Donald J. Trump, ten whole months ago. Guy is always ahead of the curve, isn’t he? Jerry can’t see what’s happening after it’s already happened. Lo

Wilbur said...

Jerry Seinfeld doesn't know - or want to know - what tough is.

Such a sheltered life.

Yancey Ward said...

The finance industry is one that can work from home productively. Indeed, these days, there is no reason for Goldman Sachs or JPM to actually have employees in New York City- it is all the legacy of the late 19th and early 20th century industrialization. And I have written it before- without the finance industry, New York is a big Cleveland or Baltimore.

n.n said...

Collateral damage, but is it viable? Seinfeld is clinging to the urban lifestyle, sprawl, and heat island effect driving catastrophic anthropogenic cooling... warming... change, protests, riots, etc.

I'm Full of Soup said...

The current situation is the result mainly of self-inflicted wounds by dumb, biased, incompetent elected officials and social justice warriors [and I realize I am repeating myself]. So any rebound will be far smaller than previous ones. That is my prediction and I am sticking to it.

Jupiter said...

"Detroit didn't bounce back. Baltimore hasn't bounced back. My own home town, St. Louis, has never bounced back. And it's been over a 100 years. Decline can last a long time."

Wellllllllllllll .... NYC doesn't actually have that problem. Just a Commie mayor and a killer virus. Those will pass in less than a century. Of course, by then the whole place will be under water, so ...

doctrev said...

This isn't even getting great play on r/ nyc. The core of Seinfeld's article is celebrating the energy and personality of New York. Except the personality of New York SUCKS, and acting like a New Yorker will get you punched in the face in most civilized parts of the country. He's in complete denial about the city's problems, which are summarized as "terminal convergence." And that's before the realization that Donald Trump needs to destroy New York as a financial and media center in order to weaken his enemies for the coming conflict.

Bay Area Guy said...

Here's a test for NYC. The next mayoral election is 2021. Not sure if Comrade deBlasio can run for a 3rd term. But if he does or his crazy wife does or one of his acolytes does, and they win, NYC is kaput. They have learned nothing.

n.n said...

This stupid virus will give up eventually.

The virus has evolved despite mitigation strategies to flatten the curve and delay its progress. Also, it is estimated that most people are either immune or not vulnerable to disease progression. We could have reduced excess deaths and collateral damage through early treatment, special precautions for vulnerable individuals (e.g babies before they are eligible for vaccines, drugs, etc.), avoiding wicked solutions including Planned Parent, and stopping the spread of social contagion (e.g. protests).

hstad said...

Jerry Seinfeld puts out a nice PR piece? He completely pans over serious problems, which began an acceleration of wealth flight, when De Blasio came into office. However, NYC was bleeding finance related companies long before even De Blasio was elected. They first moved out of Manhattan to New Jersey. Just look at Jersey City a historical dump transformed into a vibrant city over the past 15 years. Then, at the same time, there's a rush to upstate NY and CT. Now there's another exodus from NJ and NY to Florida. When the big wealthy players leave that hits NYC in the pocketbook. Once the finance industry cuts and runs what's left for NYC - no jobs, no growth, higher taxes to make up for wealth flight. Not a good prescription for survival. But that's ok, Democrats like Seinfeld know better - LOL.

buwaya said...

" Plenty of wealthy Chinese, Indians, Russians, etc. who'd LOVE To live in NYC"

They love to live in NYC because of all the white American rich people who live there. Let me tell you a secret about rich Chinese - they don't want to live with other rich Chinese. Rich Chinese aren't cool. I suspect the same is true for some at least of those other groups.

Ken B said...

Perhaps, in the near future, some entrepreneur will establish a new growth industry in Manhattan: window smashing tourism. Buy up all the buildings, and charge people to go up in the elevators to smash some glass.

chuck said...

I think it is great that Seinfeld is willing to work for free. Give that guy a hard hat.

Sebastian said...

"all the real, tough New Yorkers who, unlike you, loved it and understood it"

Tough enough to submit to DeBlasio, masochistic enough to love it, understanding the absurdity of the prog project.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Nobody ever grew cotton in Wisconsin, so why is there so much obsolete farm equipment in Kenosha?

Earnest Prole said...

So Seinfeld, resident of Los Angeles, is the new authority on New York City's recovery from de Blasio.

Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t lived in Los Angeles since Bill Clinton was president.

buwaya said...

Recovery scenario - San Francisco went through this @1965-85.

Population flight especially of the middle-upper middle class, back then to the suburbs, also many were chased out by school busing, which came earlier there than in Boston, etc. Also deindustrialization of the piers, loss of good railroad access, etc. Major companies like Chevron moved out. The Stock Exchange became redundant (its a health club now).

Home values collapsed. Formerly fancy properties like those famous Victorians became affordable to marginal people. All that hippie stuff happened because of low rents. It became "gritty", hence "Dirty Harry" and "Streets of San Francisco". Alternative lifestyles abounded. Hence "Tales of the City".

All of this seemed absurd by the 1990's. There was no way Anna Madrigal could afford her place on "Barbary Lane" (I know the area well), though plausible in 1978.

This led to a lot of misbegotten redevelopment schemes that came to nothing.

Recovery took 20 years or so, mostly because there was so much money everywhere else in the Bay Area. SF became a "hip" bedroom community for Penninsula yuppies. There were dedicated buses to Genentec and Oracle. Prices and rents rose, and the bums, hippies, artists and "activists" were driven out, as was most of the black population.

gadfly said...

I don't believe the comments that I am reading. The anti-progs of the world are agreeing with Jerry Seinfeld, the funniest man alive, who didn't spend his life protecting conservatism. Worse - Seinfeld is confused despite having performed in author James Altucher's "Stand Up New York" comedy club.

He says Everyone’s gone for good. How the hell do you know that? You moved to Miami. Yes, I also have a place out on Long Island. But I will never abandon New York City. Ever.

In response to his critics, Altucher says: "I live in NY. I still own a bar/comedy club in NY. My kids go to school in NY. My family is there. My friends are there." Yeah, he is temporarily renting a Miami property - concerned about NYC dying. "I’m temporarily, although maybe permanently, in South Florida now."

On the other hand, Jerry used to own a house in Hollywood Hills (so he obviously did temporarily abandon NY City) and currently owns an estate in the Hamptons, purchased from Billy Joel, to go along with his digs in Manhattan's renowned Beresford apartment building, northwest corner of 81st St. and Central Park West (just down the street from the address of "129 W. 81st" where sitcom Jerry lived).

n.n said...

Cede the institutions, cede the territory, cede the elections not bothering to even run an ad in "blue" districts, then wake up one morning and wonder why radicals run the country as your neighborhood burns.

Good point.

Kimberly will work with the Trump Administration and we will bring Baltimore back, and fast. Don’t blow it Baltimore, the Democrats have destroyed your city!

Help the people to help themselves. They can do it.

GingerBeer said...

I'm skeptical that Seinfeld has even been to NYC since mid-February. So what's with all this "we" stuff?

buwaya said...

There is a big difference between SF and NYC. Nature.

New York does not have the beauty or the weather.

SF will recover when it becomes more affordable again, and then will go to exorbitant pretty quick - again. Its not really tied to any single industry. Its just a nice place for well off people to live.

NYC? It needs an industry. Its also much too big to live on being cool in a hippie-artist way.
Immigrants need jobs.

Joe Smith said...

"Seinfeld goes insult comic - he used to hate the lazy Banyons..."

That's gold, Jerry...gold!

"Remember when Seinfeld was 38 and he started dating a 17 year old (Shoshonna Lonstein)?"

Who will cast the first stone? Sure as hell won't be me : )

Jupiter said...

The whole point of a city is to defend the property of the citizens. That's why they used to have walls around them. As technology and social organization advanced, it became both possible and necessary to defend that property by other means. But the idea that citizens will continue to pay taxes to a city whose government allows their property to be destroyed or stolen, and indeed uses those taxes to maintain a standing army of property destruction experts, while arresting and charging anyone who defends his own property, seems unlikely. But it's their theme park, they can run it how they like.

Tom T. said...

This is the Seinfeld we get when Larry David isn't doing the writing.

cubanbob said...

Trump is brilliant. He truly fucked NYC, NY State and the other Big Blue cities. All those smug assholes clamoring for more taxes and Trump actually gave them more taxes by eliminating the SALT. Notice that Senile Biden bin Hidin publically is calling for higher taxes while at the same time calling for the removal of Trump's SALT cap.

stevew said...

New York will come back, will take another Giuliani type to do it though. DeBlasio ain't gonna get it done.

rehajm said...

One more data point: Zoom isn't working right today.

Michael K said...

Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t lived in Los Angeles since Bill Clinton was president.

Spends a lot of time there. Friends of mine service and sell him his Porsches. See him all the time. I guess you know him better.

CWJ said...

Regarding the potential flight of finance. Think of Transamerica Corp. headquartered in Cedar Rapids, IA. Think of Bank of America headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

I know of only one counter example. Lincoln National Corporation moving from Fort Wayne, IN to Philadelphia. But that was a home state vanity move on the part of the then current CEO including buying the naming rights to the NFL stadium.

So which will win out - the business logic or the vanity of the people at the top?

buwaya said...

Re Shoshonna Gruss nee Lonstein -

I looked her up. She is ... built. I understand the appeal.
She's 45, three kids and currently unattached. Also apparently quite wealthy.
You bachelors might want to look her up.
You will probably need to be rather rich though.

doctrev said...

buwaya said...
Re Shoshonna Gruss nee Lonstein -

You bachelors might want to look her up.
You will probably need to be rather rich though.

8/24/20, 12:18 PM

Men with that kind of money will be going for grad students, thank you.

TestTube said...

Three points:

1) The original essay by Altucher, I could read -- posted on LinkedIn for all to see. Seinfeld's rebuttal in the NYT is behind a paywall.

2) NYC, and other cities, have benefitted from rich, capable altruists who gave generously of themselves and their talent and their money to advance the common good. NYC's recovery will require more such people. Is Seinfeld one of these people? Or does he just talk big?

3) I would greatly value Robert Cook's insights on this subject. I find his commentary enlightening in general, and he is known to be an enthusiastic resident of NYC. Robert, where are you? We need you!

William said...

I live in NYC and will continue to do so. Inertia has always been the guiding principle of my life. I predict that the future will happen and that it will be very different than any further details I might add about how it plays out.....I lived through some of the bad times and was pleasantly surprised when the city had this renaissance. Koch had his problems, but you felt that he was on your side. Beame, Dinkins, now DeBlasio. NYC has had some real clunkers, but the positive thing about Beame and Dinkins is that they didn't win re-election. DeBlasio is demoralizing. He won re-election. This is more his town than my town..... I'm not a fan of Cuomo, but I can see his appeal. I just don't see one likable or redeeming quality in DeBlasio's persona. There are term limits, and he can't run again. That's the good news. The bad news is that his successor will probably be a bigger jerk. We'll go from Rahm to Lightfoot.....It's always darkest before the apocalypse. Well, I'm an old man. I live on the upper east side. This neighborhood will probably be the last living maggot on the corpse of NYC, so I'm good for now.

DavidUW said...

Regarding the potential flight of finance. Think of Transamerica Corp. headquartered in Cedar Rapids, IA. Think of Bank of America headquartered in Charlotte, NC.
>>>
Again.
I work for clients in finance.

there are 2, count them, 2 left in Manhattan. Out of my top 25, and heck out of my top 125.

TWO.

I'm not kidding.

Working from home and now the home is anywhere but NYC. It might be close like NJ or PA or the Hamptons. But it's more frequently Florida, South Carolina, even out here in California. Because as pointed out above, SF will recover from a downturn when it gets cheap enough because of the weather. A city with crap weather like NYC (and Detroit etc) does not recover when the SOLE industry it's utterly dependent on (Cars, Finance) moves out.

Period.

NYC is dead.

MikeD said...

To quote a quite infamous person,"what difference does it make?". All the "right thinkers " have told us NYC is going to be underwater in 30 or so years.

rehajm said...

All those smug assholes clamoring for more taxes and Trump actually gave them more taxes by eliminating the SALT.

Yes, that was brilliant.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Trump is brilliant. He truly fucked NYC, NY State and the other Big Blue cities. All those smug assholes clamoring for more taxes and Trump actually gave them more taxes by eliminating the SALT. Notice that Senile Biden bin Hidin publically is calling for higher taxes while at the same time calling for the removal of Trump's SALT cap.”

Every time, it seems that I get into a mixed discussion (between leftists and rightists), the leftists claim that the Trump Tax Cuts were enacted to benefit the ultra rich, and hurt the middle class. Which is, of course, extreme projection. The cut in rates was partially funded by the SALT deduction caps - and being a cap, only affects the really rich. So, of course, Biden (etc) want to repeal the rate cuts and the eliminate the SALT deduction caps. How many here have ever had more than a $10,000 tax deduction on their federal income tax returns for State And Local Taxes (SALT)? We have two very nice houses, and have never come anywhere close. Heck, here in MT, the combined property taxes for the house, 22 lots, and room for a projected 20 more lots (plus a couple estate lots) was under $2K this year. No sales tax, which leaves state income taxes. So, of course, Palsi’s Dem House has passed legislation eliminating the SALT cap, and Chuckie Scheamer Has promised the same, if he can flip the Senate his way.

The reality is that the ultra rich run one party - the Dem party, and manipulate the poor to elect their politicians. The Republican Party has long had a strong middle class constituency, but in recent years, their elites have moved to the Dems, while lower middle class have become Republicans. Thus, the Republicans control the middle, while the Dems have the top and the bottom in terms of income. The Trump Tax Cuts helped most of the middle class, while hurting the really rich, with the poor not being affected much, because they don’t pay federal income taxes. The Dem platform, being extolled by Biden and Harris, is to reverse this, transferring money from the middle class back to the ultra rich. It is significant that they are so open about their intent. That means to me that eliminating the SALT tax deduction CAP is one of the most important issues affecting the billionaires and centamillionaires funding the Dem party these days.

Let me note my prejudices here. We are far from rich, but made out like bandits with the Trump tax cuts, not paying much more than half in federal income taxes as we would have paid under the previous rules (and causing us to significantly change long term tax planning for our family company).

Rick.T. said...

Related to the work from anywhere that's going to make it tougher for cities to come back: the corporations who now let you work from home are now figuring how they can move your job to somebody else's home in Mumbai.

Anonymous said...

The Seinfeld disdain for Florida dates back over two decades.

veni vidi vici said...

He's a considerably less convincing "man of the people" than is Donald Trump.

Especially since he lives in LA and was making a million a week minimum on his series during the last year or so and has been on fat street with syndication ever since. He can literally afford to go, live anywhere under secure comfortable conditions. He speaks only for himself, and with dubious credibility.

Eric said...

During New York's last great era of crisis, the Today Show ran a story about the city's homeless. Bryant Gumble reacted, saying that he didn't see many homeless people in New York, leading Jane Pauley to say something on the order of "you go everywhere by limousine, do you ever look out of the window?"

Jerry Seinfeld may want to walk in a middle class New Yorker's shoes a bit.

Jessica said...

Making fun of Florida and the rest of the country isn't an argument in favor of NYC rebounding;
Insulting the author isn't a counterargument to the thesis;
New York has faced tough times before, but nothing like this, ever. No society has done this to itself ever. There is no historical precedent.
No discussion of the tax or fiscal situation;
No discussion of crime or homelessness;
No discussion of schools;
No understanding of what life in NYC is like for people not worth $1bn. \

I'd bet any money he's not even living in NYC right now.

HMuns said...

It's New Detroit not New York - get it right.

HMuns said...

It's New Detroit not New York - get it right.

Static Ping said...

I think it is less about whether NYC can be rebuilt as to whether anyone will care. 2020 has made it clear that a substantial number of people who live in NYC do not need to live there anymore if they don't want to. When one of the key arguments of living in NYC is you have to live there for your job and suddenly that argument is nullified, it changes things significantly.

Static Ping said...

Bruce Hayden: The SALT caps did hit the middle class in some parts of the country. In some areas, owning an average house will put your property taxes over $10K quite easily and that's before the state taxes get added in. And I do mean the suburbs.

Kai Akker said...

<>

That guy was truly ridiculous. I don't care for Jerry, although he has more common sense, I suspect. But I won't know, because, like the commenter I am citing, TestTube, I'm not paying the NYT a nickel for anything; that's at least 10 cents more than it's worth. But that original piece was funny for all the wrong reasons. Thank God he's got a competent wife.

Butkus51 said...

Its simple math. Their tax revenue will be half what it was 6 months ago. Thats the best case scenario. Those socialists sure have a way of screwing things up. Again and again and again.

Bilwick said...

"Remember when Seinfeld was 38 and he started dating a 17 year old (Shoshonna Lonstein)?"

I do indeed remember. I was never more jealous of a celebrity in my life.

Gahrie said...

Jerry will be gone in December, so he doesn't have to pay New York taxes next year.

Kai Akker said...

--- How many here have ever had more than a $10,000 tax deduction on their federal income tax returns for State And Local Taxes (SALT)? [Bruce Hayden]

Static Ping is right, Bruce, and understates it. I'd guess more than 50% of the homeowners living within 35 miles of Manhattan are over $10,000 SALT.

A 3BR split level built in 1952 in Midland Park, NJ, has 1,824 sq feet, minimal charm and minimal insulation, and its annual real estate taxes are over $12,000. Just glanced at Zillow.

Original Mike said...

"In some areas, owning an average house will put your property taxes over $10K quite easily and that's before the state taxes get added in."

Yep, You need to get out more, Bruce.

Bruce Hayden said...

“ Yep, You need to get out more, Bruce.”

So, where do you think that I should move that has taxes high enough that I would be behind after the Trump Tax Cuts? (And, if you think that I am moving the goal posts, you would be correct - rates were cut, and the Standard Deduction raised significantly).

Original Mike said...

I don't think you should move, Bruce. But you asked, "How many here have ever had more than a $10,000 tax deduction on their federal income tax returns for State And Local Taxes (SALT)?". We own a two bedroom house in Madison, WI and have a healthy income, but by no stretch of the imagination are we rich. Our combined property and state income tax are well over $10k. We are currently ahead on the Trump tax plan, because of the standard deduction. But if we buy a second house, which we are considering, we will be behind.

jg said...

persuasion by FOMO
pandering to the locals
no evidence this man has any power of prediction

jg said...

comedians are good persuaders
rarely do they employ their ability with courage+discernment