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Empire State Building

February 15, 2012 by · Comments Off on Empire State Building 

Empire State Building, You might soon get a chance to grab a piece of Empire State Building, the art deco-style, 102-story skyscraper at the corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The company that controls the Empire State Building is planning an initial public offering that could raise as much as $1 billion.
The Malkin family, which owns the art deco-style building, will group the 102-story limestone skyscraper and 11 other New York-area properties into a real estate investment trust that will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ESB symbol, as reported in several business magazines.

This possibly means that though you cannot afford to buy a home, you definitely can buy a stake in perhaps the nation’s most idol office building. At least until the government sells shares in the Pentagon.

Well, the Empire State Building IPO is certainly a rarity as most real estate ventures, especially those in New York, are traditionally kept private. Throughout the U.S., roughly 90 percent of all real estate is private, business news say. The notable exception: shopping malls.

The IPO offering would give investors ownership of one of the world’s most famous buildings and other Midtown properties as New York’s real estate values rebound after the recession. Midtown Manhattan office values have gained 87 percent since a mid-2009 trough, according to Green Street Advisors Inc’s statement given to a construction magazine. Green Street Advisors Inc is a REIT research firm in Newport Beach, California.

The planned Empire State Building IPO comes after near about 10 years since the real estate investor Peter Malkin bought the 102-story Art Deco landmark from Donald Trump and a business partner for $57.5 million.

While the tower’s Art Deco styling has been a fixture in the New York skyline, the building has been a less-than-stellar performer for investors. For years, the Empire State Building underperformed because of friction and litigation between parties in a complex chain of ownership. The landlord, Donald Trump’s organization for a time, leased the entire building to a venture controlled by Peter Malkin and Lawrence Wien, which then subleased it to a Helmsley partnership.

Wealthiest in Congress : Richard Blumenthal Minimum Net Worth $54.9 Million

December 20, 2011 by · Comments Off on Wealthiest in Congress : Richard Blumenthal Minimum Net Worth $54.9 Million 

Wealthiest in Congress : Richard Blumenthal  Minimum Net Worth  $54.9 MillionWealthiest in Congress : Richard Blumenthal Minimum Net Worth $54.9 Million, The Hill, a publication that covers politics in D.C., has come out with its annual list of the 50 top wealthiest members of congress. I have listed the top 10 below, and the entire list can be found at TheHill.com.

I am a Democrat, a Liberal, and for me it is disturbing that the only people who have a chance to run a successful campaign are the extraordinarily wealthy and this includes both parties. As you will see, the top 10 is dominated by my party, and although I do think the Democratic Party is the party who works for the interests of the middle class, with all this money floating around D.C., just how hard will they fight for us versus further enriching themselves.

In saying that, the Republicans of today don’t even make an effort to hide their agenda, and that is to enrich their constituents who fund their campaigns, the mega wealthy, by giving them further tax cuts while raising the taxes of the middle and lower classes.

They are still entrenched in the belief of “trickle down economics.” Give all of America’s wealth to the top-tier of our society and they will in turn rain it down on the serfs, the peasants of our country, us.

The Hill’s Findings

Analysis for The Hill’s Wealthiest shows that 2010 was a banner year for many well-heeled members of Congress.

Last year’s wave election brought big changes to The Hill’s rankings. More than a dozen lawmakers appear on the list for the first time, including 10 Tea Party-backed GOP freshmen with backgrounds in business, medicine and auto sales, among other professions.

The richest GOP freshman is Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio), who reported a minimum net worth of $35.9 million, ranking him 11th on The Hill’s list. GOP gains in the 2010 elections helped shift the list toward Republicans. Six Democrats who made The Hill’s 50 Wealthiest in 2010 lost their reelection bids.

The rankings include 32 Republicans and 18 Democrats. By chamber, the breakdown is 29 from the House, 21 from the Senate. To compile the rankings, The Hill reviewed all the congressional financial disclosure reports that lawmakers filed for the 2010 calendar year.

Top 10 Wealthiest Lawmakers

1. Michael McCaul, R-Texas — $287 million
McCaul’s wealth exploded in 2010, making him the richest member of Congress by tens of millions of dollars.

2. Darrell Issa, R-California — $220.4 million
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman has always been one of the richest members of Congress, but his wealth shot up in 2010 by almost $60 million.

3. John Kerry, D-Mass — $193.3 million
Kerry no longer holds the crown of richest member of Congress, but he still was able to increase his wealth by nearly $5 million in 2010.

4. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.VA — $81.6 million
The West Virginia senator’s wealth fell by more than $2 million this year, down from $83.7 million in 2009, due to some of his assets losing value.

5. Mark Warner, D-VA — $76.3 million
Warner’s fortune climbed by more than $6 million in 2010.

6. Jared Polis, D-Colo — $65.9 milion
Polis’s fortune grew by almost $10 million in 2010.

7. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ — $55.1 million
Lautenberg saw a more than $5 million boost in his fortune in 2010.

8. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn — $54.9 million
Blumenthal’s minimum net worth is $54.9 million, making him the wealthiest new member of Congress this year.

9. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA — $45.4 million
Feinstein’s minimum net worth decreased slightly, by more than $600,000, in 2010.

10. Vern Buchanan, R-FL — $44.4 million
Buchanan saw his wealth slide in 2010 by roughly $9 million.

Empire State Building

November 9, 2011 by · Comments Off on Empire State Building 

Empire State Building, An asteroid bigger than the Empire State Building will pass by Earth today closer than the moon, the largest object in more than three decades to fly so near, NASA said.

The spherical rocky object, 1,300 feet (400 meters) in size, is the largest asteroid to come this close since 1976, when another body passed by undetected, according to a statement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

At 6:28 p.m. New York time, the asteroid, dubbed 2005 YU55, will be about 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) from Earth, or about 0.85 times the distance from the moon to the planet, NASA said. No discernible effect on the gravitational field will be felt, according to the agency.

The asteroid is one of more than 8,500 near-Earth objects to be cataloged, NASA said. At a quarter of a mile long, the asteroid is larger than the Empire State Building, which is 1,250 feet.

Today’s flyby is the closest this asteroid has come to Earth in the past 200 years. The next approach of an asteroid this large will be in 2028, the agency said.

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