buisnessmen in New York

Alessandra Kelley said:

What sort of a businessman? They range from owning townhouses in the Upper East Side and vintage Porsches to sharing rent-controlled apartments the size of an average living room and using public transportation because driving and parking in Manhattan is insane.

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Correct. There is no way to answer your questions definitively. If you are thinking of a stereotypical big businessman--corporate officer, for instance--he might live on the Upper East Side, somewhere betweeen East 55th Street and East 86th Street. The building would have a canopy outside and a uniformed doorman. The closer your man lives to the East River, the more apt he would be to live in a newer high-rise. The closer he lives to Fifth Avenue, the more apt he would be to live in an older, elegant building. He would probably be in a high-rent apartment or co-op. (We have many more co-ops in NYC than condos.) Living a block from the Metropolitan Museum of Art or from the Guggenheim Museum would tell us something about his economic status. He would not necessarily own a car. Very few New Yorkers, businessmen or not, drive here. But if he is among those who keep a car for getting out of town on weekends, he could own practically anything. A Volkswagen would do as well as a Rolls-Royce.

On the other hand, he might live in a moderately priced apartment on the Upper West Side, in Murray Hill, in Chelsea, in Greenwich Village or Washington Heights or maybe in Long Island City or Brooklyn Heights. He might live in a rent-stabilized apartment. He might take taxis, but he could just as well ride buses or the subway. Unless he is at the corporate-board level, he wouldn't own a limousine. A bigshot businessman would probably belong to some kind of club that includes similar types. A small businessman might hang out at his local pool parlor. Getting promoted and so forth? There is probably more pressure in NYC than elsewhere, but essentially, that sort of thing is no different from Podunk.

The type of business he is in would affect his lifestyle to a greater or lesser degree depending on dozens of factors. Did he grow up in New York City? If so, he might have lived in the same building, even the same apartment, for most of his life.

It's mostly up to you.

I'm assuming your guy is the kind who hops retail stores and push his products to them, ie, not a major account guy flying a private jet to play golf with the owner of Foot Locker or its SVP Merchandising.

Does he have to be a sales rep for Nike products (can he sell Adidas or better yet, houses or drugs)? Does he back-stab his colleague/boss to go up the ladder? Will he bribe to make more money? Is he a lucky fellow? Is he outrageously smart? Is he a Harvard grad or something and well connected to movers and shakers? Will he moonlight? Has he published a few best selling novels?

Say no to all of the above, chances are he'll retire as a sales rep making $25k to $80K a year. He'll live 45 mins (by subway) + walking time away from work. If he has bought a home, chances are it's a condo in the outer boroughs. (Even at $80k a year, ie $2.2k a month accommodation budget, he may have a very hard time living in Manhattan other than north of 110 St or Lower East Side, depending on his family size.) While living in a house is possible (depending where), it's easier and more convenient to portray him living in a typical apartment.

He will not drive unless his job requires it and/or he's willing to spend 20 mins looking for street parking (and then walk home from there), or is willing and capable to dole out $400-900 a month for garage parking. (Even a $50 million townhouse may not come with a garage.) Billionaire Wall Street mogul Steve Feinberg allegedly drives a Harry-Davidson bike, for pleasure, never to work.

He may go to a Yanks (or Mets/Knicks/etc) game once in a while or even on full season ticket. Boring? You can portray him as an art enthusiast and spends most of his free time in the various museums flirting with creative minds.

All of the businessmen in my NYC satellite office live in Jersey.