New York – Page 5 – Philip Greenspun’s Weblog

Flush toilets in New York City for $60 per hour

February 19, 2021February 26, 2021 by philg

Our mole inside the New York real estate industry told us about a newly available career path: toilet flusher. “The office towers are empty and if you don’t have someone go in and flush toilets and run sinks, you’ll get Legionnaires’ disease. Even when the sinks and toilets are electronically controlled, nobody ever envisioned a time when buildings would be vacant for months or years. So there is no way to program them to run themselves automatically every few days. We’re paying people $60 per hour to go in and flush toilets.”

Why isn’t it $20 per hour? “There’s government funding for this so it has to be prevailing wage,” he replied. “Union wages start at $60 per hour.”

Full post, including comments

Wealth migration from New York measured by K-1s

February 18, 2021February 9, 2021 by philg

A friend of a friend runs a real estate business in Manhattan: “We have 18 limited partners,” he said. “Ten years ago, we mailed 18 K-1s to New York addresses. This year it was 0.” Where did the rich limiteds migrate to? “Two went overseas, one to Switzerland. Most of the rest went to states with no income tax. Florida, South Dakota.”

Full post, including comments