I've been watching Bloomberg's new building go up on the site of the old Alexander's department store. There isn't an awful lot of new construction in the city, mostly empty storefronts. Three bodegas and two Korean markets in my neighborhood have gone out of business since the cigarette tax went up high enough to drive the cost to almost $8 a pack. I'm willing to bet that we'll see restaurants and pubs falling to bankruptcy as all of these unemployed hipster types stay home to smoke and drink.

I always used to mix up Alexander's and Gimbel's. David used to take me to the philaety department at Gimbel's. I'd buy a plate block and then we'd go for an egg cream.

I know Bloomberg's got his hands full with the disaster our city has become, but it seems like the most prominent legislation he's pushed through has only been to benefit Bloomberg. So I watch this expensive building going up and wonder if there's a place for me there.

Six phone calls later, I discover there is not.