TLCMKT News (09.16.20): Mayor De Blasio Furloughs Himself, NYC Hotels Fear Closures, Landlords Want City Workers Back to Offices, NYC Prepares for Second Wave
Top NYC headlines for Wednesday, September 16th 2020
Select TLCMKT news headlines for Wednesday, September 16th 2020.
N.Y.C. Mayor to Furlough 495 Staff Members for a Week, Including Himself (NYT)
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced that he was furloughing his own staff at City Hall, himself included.
The Mayor warned that he would have to lay off 22,000 employees, a number that could be reduced depending on three factors: negotiated union givebacks, state approval for New York City to finance its operations with up to $5 billion in long-term debt and more federal assistance.
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New York City Hotels Fear Raft of Closures Due to Coronavirus (WSJ)
New NYC Council bill would extend certain protections currently afforded to unionized workers to all hotel employees.
The occupancy rate for New York City hotels was 38.2% for the week ending Sept. 5, which is 56.3% lower than the same period last year, according to the hospitality data tracking firm STR.
Richard Born, whose company BD Hotels owns more than two dozen hotels in New York City including the Pod hotels and the Maritime, said the new bill would likely reduce the number of hotels in the city and consequently end up reducing the number of hotel jobs.
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Mayor should bring city workers back to offices, major landlords say (Crain’s)
Major commercial landlords are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to start sending city workers back to their offices.
“If I was the mayor, I would be taking the subway every day with different leaders in the business and civic communities to show people that it’s safe to come back…I would bring people back to the office safely and responsibly to show what can be done and how it can be done.” - RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler
RXR, which has about 25 million square feet of Class A office space in the city, is still receiving rent from about 97% of its tenants, but only 12% have returned to the office so far.
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New York City Prepares for a Second Wave, With a Chance to Blunt the Worst (Bloomberg)
New York City officials know Covid-19 cases will climb this fall.
Experts from two academic groups working with NYC described what’s likely to be a significant increase in cases this fall, but with the opportunity to stop the worst with careful public-health measures like masks and social distancing.
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JPMorgan Stops Paying for Junior Traders to Take Uber to Work (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is no longer allowing junior sales and trading staff to take Uber to work on the company dime, reversing a measure enacted early in the coronavirus pandemic to help workers feel comfortable commuting to the office.
Change in policy is fueling anxiety among many junior workers who are uncomfortable taking the subway and buses.
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