The Mayor Has 11 Homes, Most of Us Can Barely Afford 1

 My 2/3 of my income goes for rent and then comes the utilities. One bedroom in one of the cheaper boroughs.  I’am for sure not talking Manhattan.  Not too long ago there was a bill in the city council that will restrict renters from giving more than 1/3  of their incomes to the landlords for rent. Every year the landlords cry and yell for a rent increase because they don’t make enough money. They always get what they want. Because they don’t make enough money.  I have yet to meet a worker getting any salary that feels that he gets enough or too much money.  If they didn’t make enough money they would be in another business. They would sell to another person and go and make enough money someplace else. Buildings don’t go out of business.  Building have been abandoned or seemed to have been abandoned because the landlord wants to have the building emptied of rent controlled tenants and either convert to co-ops or to high paying tenants.

  

 John Surico wrote the following post on the Village Voice  
that I think hits the big scary bull in the eye.

    A few months back, Runnin' Scared coveredwhat seems to be 

the biggest conundrum of the Big Apple: the fact that rents are higher than ever (averaging a solid $3,418 a month) yet no one is leaving the island. Actually, recent years have shown a huge increase in Manhattan newcomers, raising the question of whether the island will go the way of Venice.

These facts stand in huge contrast to the life of the Hozziner, the highest representative of all things related to New York City and shunner of Gracie Mansion. It seems like old news to say that Bloomberg is the King of New York: whether he's riding his helicopter over the East River late night or boosting the sales of Bloomberg Media, it's evident that Mayor has solidified his empire both in business and in city politics. 

But to compare and contrast the lives of normal New Yorkers and that of the Mayor is a job that must be done every so often just to remind us where we're at as a City. And, if his recent tax records and buys are any indications, the wealth is still pouring in while we're scrounging together pennies to satisfy our landlord come the first day of the month.

The Post reported yesterday that Michael Bloomberg now has eleven places to call home after recently picking up two more properties, each with MegaMillion price tags.

His first new buy is in North Salem, an exclusive village up in Westchester. Home to David Letterman and many other members of the super-rich (is the One Percent still being used?), Bloomberg already had a $3.65 million ranch up there. But, hey, the more, the merrier: his recently acquired property maxed out somewhere around $4.55 mill. And that stands in awe compared to his other home.

The second new buy came three months later and is located in Southampton. You know, that summer dreamland of every New Yorker that the Hampton Jitney will bring you to ifyou have the money. The estate cost the Mayor $20 million; according to Forbes, that's 1/1100-th of his total wealth, which is around $22 billion. With that being said,, doesn't your $3,418 a month small studio in Midtown seem irrelevant?

The plethora of households means that the Hozziner is paying taxes all over the damn place. But, at least he is paying the right amount: his tax records also tell us that he pays a 34.69% tax rate, which is equivalent to $7,631,800,000. Who said the rich don't pay taxes? That's enough money to bankroll 1/4 of every New Yorker's rent.

As his financial information company continues to expand, it's always appropriate to point out a few things about our Mayor, even if his time in office is coming to an end soon. Now, it's just a mystery we'll have to accept as reality and, soon enough, it'll be another chapter in Gotham's truly absurd history.

[jsurico15@gmail.com/@JSuricz]