OK To Geronimo

Superman may now return to Gotham! It’s apparently alright to “leap over tall buildings in a single bound,” in New York City. City-approved permits may now be obtained by parachutists looking to jump off Big Apple buildings. The building owner’s permission is also required. During the Great Depression, many people jumped off buildings because of their financial losses and uncertainty about the future. I wonder if the recent stock market plunge will cause others to “take the plunge,” permit or not, parachute or not.

City Construction Costs Climbing

Building in the Big Apple is getting more and more expensive. Prices have risen 32% in just the past three years alone. Blame that on the costs and availability of materials, higher labor rates and the general expense of building in congested areas like New York. What’s more, an office building here will cost twice as much as in Chicago, three times as much as in Atlanta. Don’t expect costs to go down anytime within the next few years either. These higher building costs greatly affect not only office buildings and skyscrapers but large public projects too. Ground Zero, the PATH Transit Hub, the Javits Convention Center’s expansion and the MTA’s Fulton Street Transit Center have all been delayed or scaled down to save money. Mayor Bloomberg is looking to increase bid competition for public-works projects to lower costs. That may help a bit, but increased building in India and China, coupled with less available steel worldwide, may be a building not even our Superman-like mayor can vault.