The Price of a Bigger Apple
After seeing New York’s evolution over the last 10 years, I return to Manhattan to explore the impacts of gentrification and whether New York is still the home of superheroes….
By Kajal Sanghrajka, @kajalnyclon
For new readers, welcome to the 2019 Transatlantic Post a monthly editorial on innovation, startups and cities. With occasional British satire by Kajal
I am writing to you from Grey Dog café in New York’s Union Square whilst listening to Culture Trip’s playlist on New York. Grey dog is an old favourite independent café around the corner from where I used to live. It is now surrounded by corporate coffee chains as the pace of gentrification accelerates in Manhattan. For the 7 years I lived in this city, I was witness to its renaissance from the hangover of halcyon days of Wall Street to born again “Silicon alley” startup hub. Gordon Gekko meets Elon Musk is quite the genetic hybrid.
Chain-smoking in New York
A chap sat next to me from Ireland is teaching Gaelic (of all things) at the nearby New York University — he laments over his two-hour commute into the city. He like many, have been priced out of renting in the city. Rents in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan have reached record breaking highs in 2019 so far, with Manhattan leading the way at averages of $3,217 a month. And it’s best to have low expectations for that average — I remembered a StreetEasy ad that captured it well “sure your window faces a brick wall, but behind that wall is New York City”.
Rent hikes are not restricted to residential apartments — there is also a parallel universe in the commercial sphere. Many New Yorkers I spoke with mourned the loss of beloved neighbourhood spots to chain businesses. The New York times is starting to track these losses in a series called “Endangered Spaces” featured in this month’s articles. I for one was 98.7% unenthused with the new Hudson Yards and its flashy condiment, the now most instagrammed NYC landmark “The Vessel”. A question to my New York readers, when did Manhattan confuse its identity with a Dubai Shopping Mall?
From Endangered Spaces to Endangered species?
With the disappearing old favourite spots, I also discovered that many of the creative people I knew when I was running a fashion business in in Manhattan had either fled to the few still affordable places in Brooklyn or migrated to places like New Orleans or LA. Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist, in his book “The Rise of the Creative Class” argued that to spur economic growth and innovation, cities must be able to attract creative and entrepreneurial talent.
The paradox is that once a city is able to do this at scale, it can become a victim of its own success. The same forces that power the growth of the world’s superstar cities like New York also generate significant challenges such as unaffordability and inequality. In this equation, it is then the creative and entrepreneurial class that are often the first to leave — rents of $3,217 don’t leave much wiggle room, unless of course you love roommates well into your mid forties.
As a once immigrant entrepreneur in New York (see my story below Making it America From London to New York”) my most pressing question was whether New York could continue to attract the best talent to its rising start-up hub? In the medium term, I landed on yes. New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is valued at £80bn with more than 9,000 start-ups and that creates its own gravitational network pull. With rising subsectors in AI, Big data, Cybersecurity and Life Sciences combined with the availability of both capital and diverse talent — the city’s allure is still holding up.
The rise of life sciences in particular hit home when I spoke with scientists and entrepreneurs in the field. Emmanuel Dumont, the founder and CEO of Shade, a company borne from postdoctoral research on wearable UV measurements at Cornell and Rafik Neme, an evolutionary biologist who is now opening his own Lab following research at Columbia. Both are good examples of the scale of innovation and entrepreneurial potential at New York’s leading universities.
Still a home for superheroes?
In the long-term, the jury is out on whether the forces of gentrification will push out talent but I am loathe to bet against this city. It is after all the home of Superman, Spiderman, Ghostbusters not forgetting the Ninja Turtles. As we have discussed that comes with the dark sides of Lex Luthors and Splinters but the superheroes keep us coming back time and again. I’ll leave you with some lyrics that explain this duality more eloquently than I can.
But before that, read below to check out what our community is up to, amongst other things, I was on the lookout for newsletters written by smart women, turns out there are quite a few. In between these newsletters, you can find me on Twitter, Instagram (which my Gen Z friends are teaching me!), LinkedIn and a new work in progress website.
Until next time…
“I’m the new Sinatra, and, since I made it here
I can make it anywhere, yea, they love me everywhere…..
…..Lined with casualties, who sip to life casually
Then gradually become worse, don’t bite the apple, Eve”
Jay Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”
Sincerely yours,
Kajal
t: @kajalnyclon | w: transatlanticpost.com | i: @transatlanticpost
NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY
Shout out to fellow Columbia Business School Entrepreneur Karl Philip Prinzhorn, founder of Digital Claim which was featured in the top 30 startups across Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
I was on the lookout for other female newsletter writers and thanks to Gemma Milne who writes the fabulous Brain Reel on science and tech, I was pointed to a few other great newsletters written by smart women including:
Molly Flatt who writes about tech and culture in her ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ Newsletter, next Laura Olin who sets out digital strategies for non-profits, democratic campaigns and public figures. Another is Nadya Eghbal who has a newsletter called ‘The Internet is a City’, which looks in depth into the economics of online creators. On to Zeynep Tufeki who writes and researches about the social implications of emerging technologies and the political and corporate responsibility associated with this movement.
Anjali Ramachandran who writes in her newsletter ‘Other Valleys’ about creative and technology related news. Another amazing read by Anna Codrea-Rado who has a newsletter ‘The Professional Freelancer’, talking about making it work as a freelance journalist. Finally, Charlotte Jee who is a writer at ‘techreview’, that brings you the latest intelligence on emerging technology.
And finally Aaliyah Sanghrajka’s new Spotify playlist of the month with some throwback songs for the old timers you can hear it on Spotify.
Do you have some news to share on innovation, startups across cities in the US or Europe? Please send an email to lgrace@thepocketva.com.
MAKING IT IN AMERICA FROM LONDON TO NEW YORK
In this article, I write about the 5 lessons I learnt when I set up my first company in New York. First off — Preparation, get to grips with the immigration system, securing the right visa and sort out your legals, having this all set up right from the ouset will make sure you are organised and in line. Second — Observation: Get to know the network hubs around the City that will really benefit your business, having a space to share knowledge is vital when starting your business. Finally — Understand: Take the time to understand the culture and language of the people you are surrounding yourself with, and often underestimated cultural nuances that if ignored, could make or break your business.
ENDANGERED SPACES: YOUR FAVOURITE NEW YORK SPOTS ARE VANISHING
For some, New York is known for the famous big name attractions, but the true identity of the City lies within the microscale urban fabric where each diverse and culturally rich neighbourhood brings its own identity. And those identities are being increasingly threatened by high rents pricing out the independents to the chainstores. As the big apple continues to grow, Endangered Spaces tracks disappearing landmarks from a circus studio to small tea rooms.
THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK’S SILCON ALLEY
Silicon Alley is New York’s small scale version of the world-famous Silicon Valley in California. In the mid 90s Silicon Alley was born and identified as the leading tech hub in New York spreading from midtown to union square. It is unlikely Silicon Alley will be going anywhere any time soon, as it has established its own unique spot within New York City.
ABOUT THE TRANSATLANTIC POST
A monthly editorial on startups, innovation and cities. With occasional British satire. Written and edited by Kajal Sanghrajka, Churchill Fellow and Founder of Growth Hub Global. For previous editions see the archive.
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