[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Alliance still has more in Nashville than RBS had in Stamford the last 15 years. I have been in their first tower. Its huge. They kicked tenant outs as they added space.


150 is < 10%.

What does that have to do with anything? The company is floundering. Where’s your objectivity? It is funny you seem to poo-poo this fact but if a Connecticut company lays off a few workers, it’s the end of the world. Makes you wonder. Should make others wonder too. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

What does that have to do with anything? The company is floundering. Where’s your objectivity? It is funny you seem to poo-poo this fact but if a Connecticut company lays off a few workers, it’s the end of the world. Makes you wonder. Should make others wonder too. Jay

Stamford's RBS had far bigger layoffs, as did UBS. In that industry, 150 is tiny. They are far larger than their original deal with Nashville proposed, even after the 150. With several dozen floors.

The campus is breath-taking btw.

[Beeker2211]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Post covid, its more alarming. Midweek foot traffic in Manhattan is still 1/3rd down.

I expect, at minimum, far more back office stuff on Wall St (still 6 figures) to follow Icahn & Bernstein.

NJ was wise to grow their own economic base. The less we rely on them, the safer we are.

This is pretty much why knowing the key differences between the NYC and FFC metros is important. One, the era of the "brilliant moneyman" is thankfully, and gracefully, coming to an end. Ichan in particular is in some pretty hot water, although remains to be seen if the conduct is actionably criminal. That said even in the finance sector the FFC and NYC cores of growth have been vastly different: NYC's boom post 2010 has largely been in non-traditional US-based equities, "consulting servicing," M&A and venture financing, and it's own internal RE office market whereas CT has been more in payment services, consumer and business credit, and regional banking. Many NYC finance hot spot niches are far more acutely tied to interest rates than the services CT firms have been providing since the '08 crash.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Stamford's RBS had far bigger layoffs, as did UBS. In that industry, 150 is tiny. They are far larger than their original deal with Nashville proposed, even after the 150. With several dozen floors.

The campus is breath-taking btw.

Again what does any of this have to do with the act the company is floundering there? The very top financial people, the ones coming from the best schools or top talent in the industry, don’t want country music and the mediocrity it has. They want the financial capital of the world or a large city that offers a lot more.

It’s funny you bring up UBS it just stole a $1.7 billion Wealth Team from Alliance and are moving them out. So much for a breath-taking campus. Jay

https://www.financial-planning.com/n...aincebernstein

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

RE: RPA Study

Great article, but it seems to dance right up to but again buries the lede of CT's place in the region and it's particular conditions and needs. Which is I guess fine for this report because that isn't it's main thrust (NYC and it's Labor/Cultural Shed). But it does provide the data I've been harping about for years in a pretty clear way.

The point is that CT isn't powered, or even really buoyed, by NYC's economic engine. Access to Midtown is very lucrative for a select few that make super high wages but as a general destination cultural or economic is a bit of a myth in SW CT unlike LI, Lower Hudson, and Northern NJ where it literally is the rise and fall of their region. In my wanderings and just talking to people inside the county the belief that SW CT is dominated by commuting into Manhattan, and utter shock when I inform them it's less than 10% of FFC workforce... with many at the capped out $175k desk jobs.

This affects housing policy and most important transit policy, and why CTRail should be taking on a much more forward role in transit planning and vision internally. I know conditions have changed with the conductor/engineer shortage but the plan to decrease trainset couplets to increase frequency to close to 15/17min headways on the main line NHL a few years ago is now a non-starter with MTA but it's exactly what the CT side needs. The MTA connection to Penn to free up bays for LIRR at both stations is also directly at odds with general CT transit needs, but only a few voices are heard on that with none coming from top brass in the state.

EDIT: I just want to clarify I'm actually not opposed to the MNRR connection to Penn, just the way it's being presented as a win-win-win and would be a boon for CT and Northern Westchester. I think I've posted the studies before 2019 so I'll look for them but the projected daily boarding for bi-directional MNRR users for Penn would be less than 5k, mostly from South Westchester. LIRR however would be gaining an entire foothold in Midtown where it hasn't had before in earnest at like 120k boarding with GCTM and increases it's boarding rate at Penn by a good number. Which would be incredible, don't get me wrong. But with MTA's insistence on through trains for nearly every ride you can easily see where this becomes an issue for existing CT ridership and a lack of willpower for New Haven to Mid Westchester termination trains.

The closest parts of CT to NYC in reality are in a transition zone from NYC to New England not just on the geographic front, but also in many others such as cultural and economic. The fact that CT is not as dependent on NYC for its own survival shouldn't come as a surprise.

In places like Stamford/Greenwich, which are closer to NYC while still being in CT, you own a business that requires selling hands on (as oppose to say a supermarket where the customers grab their own products, pay for them and leave without needing the assistance of a sales person) the mixed bag of customers from New York and native Nutmeggers is real and very obvious. By no stretch of the imagination are New York customers most of the clients and the further up along the coast heading to New Haven, the greater the share of native Nutmeggers. Yes, there is a difference between New Yorkers and native Nutmeggers, and this difference is not relegated simply to their home addresses (not to mention there are a lot of New Yorkers transplants, but they are included in the "New Yorker" label and not in the "native Nutmegger" label.)

I think in Long Island such a strong contrast between New Yorkers and native Long Islanders isn't as strong as it's in CT between New Yokers and native Nutmeggers. I suspect this contrast decreases in Westchester County as you get closer to NYC for obvious reasons.

[Beeker2211]

Antonio,

Agree on broad strokes with your post. The issue is when you see state officials continue to treat the region as something is not with concrete planning choices. See any state official talk about ffc transit: is all about increasing connections to nyc and any other benefit is secondary... but if you look at the numbers that makes zero sense with current conditions, and far less when you look at historical. Intra and inter metro mass transit is surely needed here

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Antonio,

Agree on broad strokes with your post. The issue is when you see state officials continue to treat the region as something is not with concrete planning choices. See any state official talk about ffc transit: is all about increasing connections to nyc and any other benefit is secondary... but if you look at the numbers that makes zero sense with current conditions, and far less when you look at historical. Intra and inter metro mass transit is surely needed here

Agreed. I can no longer find New Haven line ridership alone, but the total all MN lines are running about 200k now, 2/3rd pre covid. If the NH line is consistent in %, it should be around 160-180k of that. That means the 47k making an average of 241k each are under a third of the NH line ridership. We need to start acting on behalf of the majority using the line, rather than act like all ride the full length to GCT.

[norcal2k19]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Agreed. I can no longer find New Haven line ridership alone, but the total all MN lines are running about 200k now, 2/3rd pre covid. If the NH line is consistent in %, it should be around 160-180k of that. That means the 47k making an average of 241k each are under a third of the NH line ridership. We need to start acting on behalf of the majority using the line, rather than act like all ride the full length to GCT.

Would love to see BRT and light rail between Fairfield, Westchester, and New Haven counties.

[JayCT]

South Korean aerospace manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace has announced that it will base its international engine division at its existing facility in Cheshire. The move will add 40 jobs to the 600 employees it currently has in its four Connecticut locations. Great news. Jay

https://www.ctinsider.com/business/a...s-18480262.php

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by norcal2k19

Would love to see BRT and light rail between Fairfield, Westchester, and New Haven counties.

We just need faster trains on the New Haven line. Priority one.

Light rail within cities would be great. The light rail study in New Haven was very promising but I haven't heard any updates about it in a while.