High-Rent Blight Monopoly

You may receive got seen them popping upwards on high-rent blight simply about town. Monopoly cards pasted to the windows too walls of shuttered shops. They listing outrageous rents too come upwards amongst a Jane Jacobs quote.



They're the creation of an creative individual called Symbol. I asked Symbol to explicate the projection too what inspired him to create it. He told me:

"Everywhere I walked inwards Manhattan at that topographic point were empty storefronts, too it seemed similar 1 big game betwixt landlords too tenants. All these landlords waiting for a chemist's shop or banking concern to sign a 10-year lease. Is at that topographic point a improve analogy for that thence the game of Monopoly?

Seems similar no 1 genuinely wins at Monopoly but everyone simply tires out. All the fiddling stores simply seemed to disappear. There were no replacements too Manhattan lost its juice. Bleecker went from high rent/Sex too the City famous to an empty side street.

The signs on Lexington are Amazon-colored orange. The online shopping has exclusively added to the work too added to my tipping point. Yeah, I tin purchase cufflinks on Amazon but where's the fun of wandering into some onetime lady store too finding a cool pair? Same affair amongst flea markets. Sure, it was generally crap, but it was fun crap.

I'm non certain what the answer is too I incertitude the politicians tin bargain amongst what is essentially a complimentary marketplace issue. Hence the Jane Jacobs quote. I'm an creative individual inwards a dissimilar medium too I wanted to brand a disceptation instead of crying nigh what was happening. (And buying a box of Kleenex on Amazon Prime.)

I grew upwards idolizing the metropolis from nearby too receive got lived hither for some time. Every tiddler growing upwards simply exterior of Manhattan has that same feeling. Let's become to the metropolis are the words that are electrifying. I hateful anything could tumble out on a Fri or Sat nighttime too unremarkably did. Fell inwards love, danced, drank, got lost, ate at a straight off closed diner, ended upwards at habitation equally the Sun came upwards too earlier my parents woke up.

I promise kids nonetheless experience that way. I don't. You desire fun? Move to the boroughs."

You tin honour to a greater extent than Monopoly cards on Symbol's Instagram page



This is genuinely non a complimentary marketplace issue, although the politicians too real-estate manufacture desire us to believe that. As I explicate inwards exceptional inwards my book, Vanishing New York, the marketplace isn't free. It's rigged heavily inwards favor of big developers too landlords, giving them taxation breaks too other incentives, too it industrial plant against pocket-size draw of piece of work concern people. There are many things that tin survive done to remedy this. One is the Small Business Jobs Survival Act.

If you lot desire to halt massive commercial rent hikes that pose pocket-size businesses out of business, receive got action:

- Write to the mayor too inquire him to back upwards the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA). Here's a quick form you lot tin create amount out inwards simply a few slow steps.

- Write to Council Speaker Corey Johnson too inquire him to back upwards a rigid SBJSA too convey it to a vote. Here's a quick too slow form for that, too.

- Here's more you lot tin do.

- And utter nigh it. Talk to your friends, family, too co-workers. Tell them that mom too pops aren't vanishing "because of the market" or "all because of the Internet," they're vanishing because the metropolis too nation back upwards landlord greed -- but this tin change. There are solutions. The outset stride is raising consciousness. We receive got to imagine a dissimilar city.


0 Response to "High-Rent Blight Monopoly"

Post a Comment