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Uncommon Economic Indicators

The Brian Lehrer Show's online and on air collaborative project on the economy

Odd Jobs - Craigslist

Story submitted by: David CG

Thursday, September 24 2009

Brooklyn, NY

I am helping a friend who is sick and getting treatment in Boston by packing and moving his belongings out of his apartment in BedStuy. I posted an ad on CL, offering to pay 100 dollars to 3-4 people for several hours of work just to pack the place up. I received 92 postings in the last 24 hours - not just from the expected recent grads, musicians and writers, but also from Engineers, Architects, PHDs, Construction Managers, x-Military, etc... I was shocked.

Cleaning

Story submitted by: Trin Frost

Thursday, September 24 2009

As a disabled female liviing with 3 males I am SO SO grateful to have someone help with cleaing.

Before October she could be hard to get. After Oct.she was more available. Recently it seems she is busier. Good for her, bad for me.

uncommon drinking habit indicators

Story submitted by: Nell

Thursday, September 24 2009

538 East 14th Street, NY NY 10009

I live in Brooklyn and own a rock and roll tiki bar in the East Village (Otto's Shrunken Head). Traditionally people went to bars as a meeting place, a kind of town hall. Today people are still coming in to celebrate and commiserate, however the purchasing is different. Top shelf whiskey, tequila, vodka... and imported beer sales are down. And the sale of cheaper domestic (ie $3 PBR) beer and well drinks is quite noticeably on the rise. Also, bartenders will tell you that regulars are still tipping, but the weekend warriors that only come in occasionally are either not tipping or tipping less.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong...

Story submitted by: The Corrections

Thursday, September 24 2009

The whole Atlantic Avenue piece by "Gaye Leslie, Wednesday, September 9 2009" is completely wrong. Lisanne has not been open in years and the storefront is now Betty Bakery which is owned by the same owners. Downtown Atlantic is still going strong. The bizarre rant about the diner on the Smith and Bergen is just delusional. Sounds like she's depressed and disconnected.

uptick

Story submitted by: Greg

Thursday, September 24 2009

I've noticed a slight uptick or should I say improvement in the amount of temp work that I'm doing--not fully recovered yet from the depression myself, but seeing some signs of light at the end of the tunnel.

My work as a musician is still pretty flat and has always been a clear barometer of the overall economy conditions.

Under Construction, Again

Story submitted by: Evan Player

Thursday, September 24 2009

Construction seems to have resumed in a lot of the Williamsburg condos that were idle all summer.

hard to tell through just observation

Story submitted by: tom

Thursday, September 24 2009

i know the economy is bad, but something like the store "life is good" in Hoboken, never did well and failed to 'not belonging in Hoboken' . the store was an outcast from the beginning and never did well. point being, some of these places were going to close in the first place.

wonderful nanny available

Story submitted by: Nina

Thursday, September 24 2009

Jackson Heights, NY

It seems that everyone in my neighborhood is looking to place their wonderful nanny. We recently told our own sitter that we might need to reduce her hours drastically. We told her she should take some time to think about what she wanted to do. She said she didn't need to think about it, she was staying with us. She knows how many sitters in the area are looking for work. Fortunately, we wont have to reduce her hours after all.

School Choice

Story submitted by: Anne

Wednesday, September 23 2009

I have a child at one of New York's most sought-after public elementary schools. In the last year, its population has increased by more than 10%, including going from 7 kindergarten classes to 9. At the same time, it is much less diverse than when we first got acquainted with the school and its community 5 years ago. Similar to what happens when a cold front runs into warm, it rains. Hard. Between the real estate boom and the financial market crash, all the new people in the neighborhood who are panicking are wealthy finance professionals and corporate CEOs who, in the past, would have sent their kids to one of the many elite private schools nearby. Now we have to deal with their sense of entitlement toward their kids and anger that they have had to cut back. Wait until they discover their weakness before the Department of Education...

Repaired Things

Story submitted by: Anne Percoco

Wednesday, September 23 2009

After reading an article in the Boston Globe titled "The Duct Tape Economy", about how repair and maintenance businesses have started thriving as a result of the recession, I began collecting pictures of things that have been repaired, and have organized them as a blog. I have taken some of these photos, but most were sent to me by other people.

I see these repairs as small acts of creativity and resourcefulness and gestures of self-sufficiency. They are often surprisingly beautiful as well.

Boston Globe Article:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/04/27/the_duct_tape_economy/

Repaired Things blog:
http://repairedthings.wordpress.com

Police Called over Costco Food Coupon Fight

Story submitted by: Professor Frederick Douglass Opie

Sunday, September 20 2009

20 Stew Leonard Dr, Yonkers

I am a regular Saturday morning grocery shopper at the Costco in Yonkers. I inquired at the entrance about if the store had the coupons that they mail out to all members. An employee said yes, “they are like gold man!” He repeated the phrase emphatically, “they are like gold!”
[Editor's note: you can read about the arrest incident on his blog: http://frederickdouglassopie.blogspot.com/]

More empty storefronts con't

Story submitted by: Kelly Kwedar

Sunday, September 20 2009

60 7th avenue, Brooklyn, NY

A laundry in park slope is closing after 52 years. More neighborhood history goes poof.

More empty storefronts

Story submitted by: Kelly Kwedar

Sunday, September 20 2009

60 7th avenue, Brooklyn, NY

A laundry in park slope is closing after 52 years. More neighborhood history goes poof.

jewish new year calendars

Story submitted by: cynthia ehrenkrantz

Thursday, September 17 2009

It's Rosh HaShanah this week, the Jewish New Year and I am usually inundated with calendars. Some raise money for charity and others come from businesses. This year, I haven't received even one and am going to have to go out and buy one.

sign of the times

Story submitted by: bonnie

Wednesday, September 16 2009

245 madison ave nyc, ny

on my way back from a museum I stopped for a Tasty d lite. In the 5 minutes it took to eat my treat, two people came in to fill out an application for employment. The owner asked the applicants not to fill out the applications in the store. Why? Because there were so many of them there would be no room for patrons!

College kids do web fundraising to pay for school.

Story submitted by: Phil Bernstein, Esq.

Wednesday, September 16 2009

I have a story to pitch. It involves the grand-daughter, Chautauqua Henderson, of a good friend of mine who is a black women and retired US Army veteran. The grand-daughter has over come a great deal of economic and personal adversity to get into college but, because of the recession she is having trouble paying for it - so she set up a web site for fund-raising for friends, family and even kindly strangers to help out. Apparently there is a company that helps people and organizations do this. It appears that the company makes some money from it as well. Hopefully they are not taking advantage of the kids. This may make an interesting story for WNYC or even NPR. Thanks & be well.

Story submitted by: bill subik

Wednesday, September 16 2009

i don't have an indicator. but i have a question about the spot you run. when the couple say that they're on the the corner of myrtle and knickerbocker, they see a 23 ft high---------- ---------? i can't ever figure out what they're saying ! what are those 2 words?

Smoke it if you got it

Story submitted by: Carol Gross

Tuesday, September 15 2009

10th Avenue W 50 St

As I was waiting for a bus in the theater district one night, I saw a nicely dressed middle aged woman stop, look at the ground, pick up a not finished cigarette butt, stop a few steps later to get out her lighter, light the butt and smoke it.

change is the easy part...

Story submitted by: Liam Arbetman

Monday, September 14 2009

This past Sunday I tried to find a coinstar machine to sort my big jar of change. I had to try 5 different locations in Manhattan before finally finding a working machine. When I finally found one at a Food Emporium on East 32nd there were four people waiting to use it. Which makes me wonder if the others were malfunctioning due to overuse?

Recession-Proof Jackson Heights

Story submitted by: Jax

Sunday, September 13 2009

Roosevelt Av, Queens

I hang out in clubs along Roosevelt Ave, Jackson Hts (under the 7 Train).

In the most densely-populated community in the USA, I have yet to see a shuttered storefront.

In addition to population density, many local businesses were never connected to the mainstream economy.