#fonz productions

[thesteph97]

Outro

[msclaritea]

This dirty, duplicitous piece of MKULTRA shit can go straight to hell. His days of fooling anyone around here, are OVER.

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

The Playlist website:

“Thank you to the Television Academy for this honor. I feel incredibly grateful to be recognized alongside my fellow nominees and awe-inspiring cast-mates Niecy Nash-Betts and Richard Jenkins. Congratulations to our brilliant directors Paris Barclay and Carl Franklin on their nominations, as well as to our entire cast and crew who worked tirelessly on Monster. I feel beyond grateful to Ryan Murphy for his unbending support, to all our courageous and irreplaceable writers, and to all our pre and post-production teams. Thank you!!!”

-Evan Peters

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

https://theplaylist.net/emmy-nominee-reactions-jessica-chastain-pedro-pascal-evan-peters-elton-john-more-20230712/

<333

(i'm just seeing henry winkler got a nomination for best supporting actor. i don't know the series he is in, but i loved classic sitcoms growing up and happy days was my favorite.. the fonz was like, the biggest deal to me as a kid lmao recently was at an antique shop and found a signed mint in box action figure and snatched it up. how wonderful for him)

[erik-powery-for-america]

Koffee Brown - After Party (Video Version)  Koffee Brown - "After Party" (Music Video Version) w/ Next, Jaheim, and Divine Mill All-Stars  https://youtu.be/6iHJ4ci7y-o?si=KgshvqMCkL04nKz1 via @YouTube  Performed by Vee & Fonz.  Written, Produced, and Arranged by Kay Gee for Naughty By Nature Productions.

[shamelessrabbithole]

I don’t want a spin off but I wanna point out that spin offs aren’t always exactly the same in terms of tone/style (sometimes very different) e.g.

TBBT/Young Sheldon, Beavis and Butthead/Daria, Buffy/Angel, Frasier/Cheers, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, Hercules/Xena etc.

in that sense if they really wanted to do a spin-off it wouldn’t be weird to change the tone and style of the original show for the spinoff. It’s done quite alot to try and get the spin off to stand on its own feet.

That’s true. You make a good point. Although I’d say the vibes of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were similar. TBBT and Young Sheldon is a good example of where the shows diverge but in a way where audiences are satisfied by each for its own merits.

Since you brought up much older shows like Cheers and Frasier, I’ll go back a little further and mention Henry Winkler on Happy Days. He played an iconic character similar to how Noel played Mickey and interestingly, he couldn’t get work for years afterward because of that.

Post Happy Days

After Happy Days ended in 1984, Winkler was typecast, and could not get acting roles until 1991. He later stated that his "agent would put me out there and people would say, 'You know, he's great, he's a wonderful guy, really good actor. Funny, So funny. But he was the Fonz.'" Winkler, who desired to be a working actor, felt "rudderless" during this period; desiring to continue a presence in the industry, he started the production company.

I hope Noel doesn’t feel rudderless and that he can go onto years more onscreen greatness like Henry Winkler did. 🙏

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

1/15/24: It was 50 years ago today, January 15th, 1974, Happy Days would premiere on the ABC television network. This intro has the original theme song which was a re-recorded 'Rock Around the Clock' by Bill Haley & the Comets... this would be supplanted by the more familiar 'Happy Days Theme' in the show's 3rd season (reaching Billboard #5 in '76!). The ultimate in Boooooomer nostalgia this show was, and the early seasons were pretty loyal to the '50s theme, although throughout the 11 seasons it got harder and harder to mask that this was somehow a throwback. The show was immensely popular, fueling several successful spin-offs including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy (and less successful like Joanie Loves Chachi... p.u.!!). Now famous director Ron Howard was the center of the show's story as Richie Cunningham, along with his family and his friend Potsie (Anson Williams); however, he would be largely supplanted by Henry Winkler's iconic character the Fonz, or Fonzie, who would eventually be the top billed star after Howard left the show after season seven (1980). Another by-product of the show for the internet age was the 'Jump the Shark' moment when Fonzie literally jumps over a shark in water skis in season five-- this phrase later came to represent when a television show (or really, I guess anything) hit its peak and then began falling. I watched a shitload of this show in both new shows and reruns when I was a kid... eleven fucking seasons worth. It even had a horrible Saturday morning cartoon churned out by Hanna-Barbera in the early 1980s. Definitely a cultural touchstone for Boomer (and some Gen X) nostalgia.

[julieannsboutique]

Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond This is an affiliate link that will direct you to the store where this product can be purchased. This program is read by the author. From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole. Henry…

[robfinancialtip]

In this exclusive AARP interview, beloved actor Henry Winkler reflects on overcoming dyslexia, typecasting and self-doubt to create a wide-ranging career that led to his first Primetime Emmy at 72 years old. He is featured on the cover of AARP The Magazine’s October/November 2023 issue.

Henry Winkler was not someone destined for success in Hollywood. Growing up in 1950s New York City as the son of German Jewish immigrants who fled the Holocaust, he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia, which made it difficult for him to read and achieve in school. Nonetheless, at 28 years old, he scored the part of Arthur Fonzarelli, also known as “Fonzie” or “The Fonz” on the hit ABC sitcom “Happy Days,” created by Garry Marshall. Playing Fonzie transformed Winkler into an international superstar and a household name.

After “Happy Days,” Winkler faced a new struggle: typecasting. Casting directors couldn’t see Winkler pulling off anything other than a leather jacket-wearing “greaser.” Despite this, Winkler pushed forward and developed his own path. He started his own production company and executive produced a number of TV shows and films, including Rob Reiner’s “The Sure Thing” (1985) and the original “MacGyver” TV series (1985-1992.) He also performed with John Ritter on Broadway and cowrote 39 children’s books, including a series about the adventures of a boy named Hank Zipzer, who has dyslexia.

Winkler’s acting career picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s. He landed roles in films such as “Scream” (1996) and “Holes” (2003), and he worked with Adam Sandler on films including “The Waterboy” (1998) and “Click” (2006). In 2003, he started a role as lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in Mitch Hurwitz’s “Arrested Development,” and in 2013, he got a recurring role as Dr. Lu Saperstein on Michael Schur’s “Parks and Recreation.” Winkler’s next big break came in 2018 when he debuted as acting teacher Gene Cousineau in the HBO dark comedy “Barry,” created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg. His role as Gene earned him his first Primetime Emmy in 2018 for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series.

[houseofedtech]

Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective #EdTech - HoET221

Featured Content (2:47)

Frank Bouchard is the co-founder of Wipebook. During our conversation Frank and I talk about the following:

The history and technology behind Wipebook's reusable notebooks

Examples of how Wipebook's notebooks are being used in education settings

Wipebook's technology in the future

Why should people use and or purchase products from Wipebook

EdTech Thought (26:13)

Our AI Responsibility

In a recent blog post, Fonz from My EdTech Life discusses the growing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and the potential risks of overreliance on AI tools. His post highlights the importance of using AI as a tool for critical thinking and meaningful application, rather than a crutch that hinders learning. The post emphasizes the need to teach students responsible AI usage, including awareness of data laws, ethical concerns, and digital citizenship. By promoting a balanced approach to AI in education, students can be better prepared for success in the modern workforce.

We also need to help our colleagues by sharing knowledge, experiences, and best practices related to AI in education.

Actively seek opportunities

Foster a culture of collaboration

Provide mentorship and guidance

EdTech Recommendation (0:00)

3 Must-have Chrome Extensions

Save to Google Drive

Have you ever found an article or image online that you want to save for later, but don't want to clutter up your bookmarks? Save to Google Drive is the perfect solution. This extension allows you to save web content like images, videos, links, and various types of files to your Google Drive for later viewing. This is a great way to keep everything organized in one place and easily accessible from any device.

Compose AI

Improving your writing skills is crucial in today's digital age, and Compose AI is here to help. This extension enhances grammar checking and generates text using AI to auto-complete sentences in your browser, such as in Gmail, Outlook, and Google Docs. Compose AI can also suggest ways to improve your writing and make it more engaging.

Privacy Badger

Privacy is a growing concern for many people, and Privacy Badger is here to help. This extension blocks trackers based on their behavior to improve privacy while browsing the web. Created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Badger helps protect your personal information and keep your browsing habits private.

Just Give It A Try (34:47)

New Canva Tools!

Draw

Magic Design

Magic Presentation

Magic Edit & Eraser

Beat Sync

Animation

Translate

House of #EdTech VIP (40:08)

Alli McCrary

Waltham, MA

Teacher, EdTech Coach, Digital Literacy Focused, Chat GPT & AI Obsessed.

aiclassroom.me

Check out this episode!

[thesecrettimes]

Coinbase Launches Wallet-as-a-Service to Bring Millions to Web3

On March 8, Coinbase announced the launch of its Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) product. The WaaS product aims to “bring the next hundred million consumers into Web3 through a seamless wallet-onboarding experience.” The Coinbase WaaS offers wallet infrastructure application programming interfaces (APIs) to companies, enabling them to build their own custom Web3 crypto wallets.

Coinbase’s Wallet-as-a-Service Aims to Simplify Onboarding

Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) has revealed a new addition to its suite of offerings and services: Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS). In a Twitter thread, Coinbase stated that the WaaS “is a scalable and secure set of wallet infrastructure APIs, enabling companies to create and deploy fully customizable onchain wallets.” Additionally, the Coinbase wallet infrastructure provides “multi-party computation (MPC)” cryptography, which removes the need to manage a complicated 24-word recovery phrase. 1/ Today we introduce Wallet as a Service, making it easier for any company or brand to seamlessly onboard their users to web3 …even if they have never used cryptocurrency before. pic.twitter.com/5IKUJHpQlS — Coinbase (@coinbase) March 8, 2023 Coinbase detailed that crypto firms such as Tokenproof, Floor, Thirdweb, and Moonray are already using its Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS). Coinbase believes that the WaaS will aid in bringing the “next hundred million consumers into Web3.” “More and more companies are realizing that Web3 will generate a massive industry of new decentralized applications and services, and they want to empower their customers to access it,” Coinbase stated in the announcement. “When users download the Tokenproof app, we’ll create their first wallet, powered by Coinbase, to welcome them into Web3,” said Fonz, the founder of Tokenproof, in a statement. “This is a significant step towards making the space more approachable and accessible, and we’re excited about the opportunity to work with such a highly trusted partner.” Besides the WaaS, Coinbase provides developers with a wallet software development kit (SDK), a payments SDK, the commerce API, and other blockchain integrations. What are your thoughts on Coinbase’s Wallet-as-a-Service? Let us know in the comments section below. Read the full article

[ledenews]

'The Rachel & Steve Show' – Does Television Still Tell the American Story?

There were young boys pounding on every jukebox they could find in the 1970s because they were praying for a magic moment of super coolness. That’s what The Fonz did, after all, so young men from 7 to 17 years old attempted to flip their leather collars and impersonate the star of “Happy Days” on those Tuesday nights in front of their parents’ console TV. There were Ralph Malph, Potsie Weber, Joanie, Mr. and Mrs. C., and, of course, the all-knowing Richie Cunningham. But “Happy Days” provided a story about how America operated during the 1950s, and nines times out of 10 the endings were happy and filled with smiles. But were there other shows, like “Good Times,” All in the Family, and “The Jeffersons,” that were telling tales about a nation perpetually mourning the murders of the two men brave enough to promote and push for racial unity. Both shot. Both dead. And no one was sure how to frame the American Dream for some time, especially on TV. That’s why, in the 1980s, the dysfunctional family took TV’s center stage with “Growing Pains,” “Full House,” and “Married with Children” toyed with the notion of family fun, and only a few shows, like “M*A*S*H*, “Murphy Brown,” and “Family Ties,” turned political from time to time. These days it appears children – and their parents – have more choices than what I did so many years ago, and streaming, of course, is king. The topics of the shows appear to be more obvious, too, but that could be a product of the 40-plus years that have passed since I was Rachel's age and in eighth grade. Drugs, sex, relationships, and gender identification all topics, and those issues were handled with whispers when I was a kid. That's why, I believe, the conversation Rachel and I will have tomorrow afternoon will be most interesting because of the change that's taken place with the delivery of social messages, and why the hints I received have turned into over-the-head-and-obvious directives. Read the full article

[ofpd]

[ID: a screenshot of a New York Times article by Madison Malone Kircher, published on November 22nd, 2022. the article reads:

Tumblr cinephiles have a new favorite movie this week. It's decades old, so maybe you've already seen it. It is called “Goncharov” and stars Robert DeNiro in the titular role as a Russian hit man and former discothèque owner. It takes place in Naples, Italy. Cybill Shepherd plays his wife, Katya, and rounding out the cast are Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, and Harvey Keitel.

The 1973 film, billed as “Martin Scorsese presents,” has everything: murder, a love triangle, homoerotic undertones, a striking original score, and a dramatic final scene that film buffs have been debating for years.

There's only one other thing to know about “Goncharov.” it does not exist.

The story of Tumblr's beloved fake film began with a shoe. Several years ago, a Tumblr user posted a photo of a pair of “knockoff boots” they ordered online that arrived with a strange tag. “The greatest mafia movie ever made,” read the top line. “Martin Scorsese presents GONCHAROV.” “Domenico Proccacci production,” it continued. “A film by Matteo JWHJ0715.” “About the Naples Mafia,” read the final line. (The user's Tumblr is no longer active and attempts to reach the user were unsuccessful.)

In August 2020, Aveline McEntire, a college student in Missouri, reblogged the image on her personal Tumblr after seeing it on a friend's page.

Ms. McEntire added an additional image to her reblog, a screenshot of a comment from a third Tumblr user, reading, “this idiot hasn't seen goncharov.” Ms. McEntire, 20, had not thought much about this post until recently when it suddenly started gaining popularity, with tens of thousands of people beginning to reblog it earlier in November.

As of Monday evening “Goncharov” was the No. 1 trending topic on the platform, with Mr. Scorsese taking the second spot. Pokémon was in third.

Even Tumblr has gotten in on the act. “Goncharov” was ahead of its time “and its contribution to cinema is remarkable,” the platform tweeted on Sunday from its official account. “Rarely does a film tell so many diverse-yet-interconnected stories. Hard to imagine so few people have seen it.”

On Tumblr, users have created an entire universe to support the idea that “Goncharov” is real. A poster for the film, riddled with bullet holes and crediting Matteo JWHJ0715 as the director of the “greatest mafia movie (n)ever made,” was created by Alex Korotchuk a 20-year-old artist in Prague, who said 50 people have placed orders to buy a print version of the poster. Alix Latta, a 25-year-old music teacher in Indiana, composed a theme song—a waltz inspired by the theme from “The Godfather.”

There are Tumblr posts full of lore and vivid details about the plot, including stills and GIFs pulled from other films and TV shows being repurposed as scenes from “Goncharov.”

“It's essentially a Russian gangster coming to Naples, and it's a long story about his eventual downfall and betrayal by everyone in his life,” said Erika Paulson, 27. “To quote one of the posts that's been going around, it's him coming to Naples to try and escape his life of violence.”

A frequent tumblr user, Mx. Paulson, who lives in Philadelphia, remembered seeing the “Goncharov” boots years ago and was excited to contribute to the story, posting several pictures of a cat, now known by some on Tumblr as Patchka, with the caption “anyway i think we all know who the true best character in Goncharov (1973) is.” People have pointed out that the cat could be another nod to “The Godfather,” but Mx. Paulson was inspired by street cats on a trip to Rome. “What's a gangster movie without a cat?”

Lynda Carter got in on it too on her Tumblr. The “Wonder Woman” star posted two black-and-white photos of herself and Henry Winkler captioned, “Me and ‘The Fonz’ at premiere of Goncharov (1973) at Garuman's Chinese Theater.” The image is actually a photo of the two actors at the 1977 Golden Globe Awards. A representative for the movie reviewing platform Letterboxd said it had removed multiple user reviews of this fake flick.

Elena Asofsky, 23, initially fell for the mythmaking. “I start asking my roommates. I'm like, ‘Hey, have you heard of this ‘Goncharov’ thing? What is this? Can we get in on it?’ And my roommate's like ‘I know, it's all fake. It's all not real.’” Since then, Ms. Asofsky, a substitute teacher and illustrator in Columbus, Ohio, has been making fan art inspired by the imaginary movie.

Mx. Paulson pointed out that Tumblr users have a rich history of this very particular brand of creativity, recalling how users several years ago created a similarly real fandom for “Squiddles,” a fictional TV show within the universe of the web comic “Homestuck.” But for some Tumblr users, it can be frustrating to be on the outside of inside jokes when other users refuse to admit the things they are talking about aren't real.

“The fact that people have been willing to break the joke long enough to tell people what's going on and then bring people into the fold, so to speak, is nice,” Ms. Mays added in a phone interview with The Times.

How the title “Goncharov” came to be on the boot's tag in the first place continues to be a mystery. Michael Littrell, a musician from Minneapolis, has a theory. After seeing the boots floating around Tumblr for years, Mr. Littrell, who studied journalism in college, started investigating in October and eventually came across Italian producer Domenico Procacci (the same one named by the boots.) From there, he connected the dots to a 2008 film called “Gomorrah,” about Italian organized crime.

Mr. Scorsese was not the director, but according to Mr. Littrell, 24, and a years-old story from The Hollywood Reporter, “Gomorrah” had a presentation credit from the famed director when it arrived in the United States.

A poster Mr. Littrell found in his search reads, “Martin Scorsese Presents” and is styled much the same as the boots' label, with Mr. Scorsese's name in red and the title of the film in capitalized black letters. The director of “Gomorrah” is Matteo Garrone. Who shares a first name with Matteo JWHJ0715.

The tagline proclaims “Gomorrah” to be “BASED ON THE BEST SELLING EXPOSÉ BY ROBERTO SAVIANO ABOUT THE NAPLES MAFIA.” Details that bear a striking resemblance to the boots that started this whole saga.

“I really want Scorsese to see this and maybe make Goncharov,” reads a reply on Mr. Littrell's Tumblr post documenting his findings.

end ID.]

I think one of the funniest Goncharov things so far, is the fanartists and tumblr movie theorists being contacted and interviewed by news reporters.

[writergeekrhw]

25 THINGS I’VE LEARNED IN 25 YEARS IN TV WRITING

Well, it’s actually been 30 years now, but here’s a spew I did 5 years ago on the bird app to commemorate my 25 years as a TV writer. 

I’ve edited it a bit for clarity. Hopefully some of you will find it useful.

1. In TV writing (and writing in general) there is only one unbreakable rule: Thou shalt not be boring.

2. Write characters people want to hang out with for an hour or so once a week for years to come. Even if they're bad people, make them interesting, engaging bad people.

3. If your lead is a bad person, make them funny and/or sexy. Direct most of their bad behavior toward other bad people or themselves. Make them well motivated. Maintain rooting interest.

4. What makes a character special should be intertwined with what makes them struggle. Perfect people are boring.

5. Characters should complement/conflict with each other. No two characters should serve the same purpose/have the same backstory/have the same voice.

6. Cast the best actor, adjust the character to suit.

7. Give your leads the best lines/moments. No one is tuning in to watch the funny guest star. Like Garry Marshall said back on HAPPY DAYS, “I’m paying Henry Winkler $25,000 an episode. Give the Fonz the jokes.”

8. Your characters, good & bad, should reflect the reality of our wonderful, diverse world. White male shouldn’t be the default.

9. Avoid stereotypes. Stereotypes are boring.

10. If all your POV characters know some secret, the audience should know it too.

11. If your show hinges on a big mystery, know more or less what the truth is from the beginning. You can change it later if you need to, but write to a specific.

12. If your story doesn’t test your characters mentally, physically, psychologically, emotionally, or spiritually, you don’t have a story.

13. You can start by figuring out the Beginning, the Middle, or the End, but you don’t have an episode until you have all three.

14. Big suspenseful act outs (the last moments before the commercials) aren’t just a gimmick. They’re a good way to structure an hour of entertainment to make sure the audience is invested and your pacing is solid.

15. Every scene should be a consequence of the previous scene or a refutation of it.

16. A scene also needs a Beginning, Middle, and End. The end should propel the characters and/or audience into the next scene.

17. Every scene is a negotiation/confrontation between two or more characters who want different things or have different ideas on how to solve the same problem.

18. A good action scene is still a character scene. With punching. (This applies to sex scenes too, but you know, with sex.)

19. A crap page is better than a blank one.

20. It’s easier to cut than to add.

21. Good things rarely happen in the Writers Room after dinner. Go home, get some rest, write pages at home if you have to, start fresh in the morning.  Writers who have a life outside the writing room are better writers. Beware the showrunner who doesn't want to go home to their family. That said…

22. Script by day one of Pre-Production. No matter what.

23. You’re a writer first. Almost nothing happening on set or in post is more important than the writing. Delegate when possible.

24. Make an extra effort to surround yourself with writers who are different from you (background, race, gender, orientation, etc). Listen to their perspectives, especially on experiences alien to you.

25. And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. In TV writing and life in general. 

PART TWO HERE:

https://at.tumblr.com/writergeekrhw/25-things-in-25-years-part-2-25-things-ive/okjzwofyiq6i

[stoportotouch]

hi i just wanted you to know that every time i have seen a post from you in the past on my dash i hadn’t taken a good look at your icon and from a quick glance i thought it was eric andre until literally right now when i actually looked at it. anyway have a nice day!

this is absolutely hilarious anon please have an amazing day

[weirdlandtv]

‪"Ay–I feel silly!“

And of course Fonzie had to have a dog that was called “Mr. Cool”. I believe that character was created specifically to piss me off.

Production art from the 1980 Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Fonz & The Happy Days Gang. Well-drawn though.

[arcticdementor]

I love NYC. When I first moved to NYC it was a dream come true. Every corner was like a theater production happening right in front of me. So much personality, so many stories.

Every subculture I loved was in NYC. I could play chess all day and night. I could go to comedy clubs. I could start any type of business. I could meet people. I had family, friends, opportunities. No matter what happened to me, NYC was a net I could fall back on and bounce back up.

Now it's completely dead. "But NYC always always bounces back." No. Not this time. "But NYC is the center of the financial universe. Opportunities will flourish here again." Not this time.

"NYC has experienced worse". No it hasn't.

…

Three of the most important reasons to move to NYC:

- business opportunities

- culture

- food

…

Midtown Manhattan, the center of business in NYC, is empty. Even though people can go back to work, famous office buildings like the Time Life skyscraper is still 90% empty. Businesses realized that they don't need their employees at the office.

In fact, they realize they are even more productive without everyone back to the office. The Time Life building can handle 8,000 workers. Now it maybe has 500 workers back.

…

"What do you mean?" a friend of mine said to me when I told him 'Midtown should be called 'Ghost Town', "I'm in my office right now!"

"What are you doing there?"

"Packing up," he said and laughed, "I'm shutting it down." He works in the entertainment business.

Another friend of mine works at a major investment bank as a managing director. Before the pandemic he was at the office every day, sometimes working from 6am to 10pm.

Now he lives in Phoenix, Arizona. "As of June," he told me, "I had never even been to Phoenix." And then he moved there. He does all his meetings on Zoom.

I was talking to a book editor who has been out of the city since early March. "We've been all working fine. I'm not sure why we would need to go back to the office."

One friend of mine, Derek Halpern, was convinced he'd stay. He put up a Facebook post the other day saying he might be changing his mind.

…

People say, "NYC has been through worse" or "NYC has always come back."

No and no.

First, when has NYC been through worse?

Even in the 1970s, and through the 80s, when NYC was going bankrupt, and even when it was the crime capital of the US or close to it, it was still the capital of the business world (meaning: it was the primary place young people would go to build wealth and find opportunity), it was culturally on top of its game - home to artists, theater, media, advertising, publishing, and it was probably the food capital of the US.

…

In early March, many people (not me), left NYC when they felt it would provide safety from the virus and they no longer needed to go to work and all the restaurants were closed. People figured, "I'll get out for a month or two and then come back."

They are all still gone.

And then in June, during rioting and looting a second wave of NYC-ers (this time me) left. I have kids. Nothing was wrong with the protests but I was a little nervous when I saw videos of rioters after curfew trying to break into my building.

…

…

Summary: Businesses are remote and they aren't returning to the office. And it's a death spiral: the longer offices remain empty, the longer they will remain empty.

In 2005, a hedge fund manager was visiting my office and said, "In Manhattan you practically trip over opportunities in the street."

Now the streets are empty.

…

I co-own a comedy club, Standup NY, on 78th and Broadway. I'm very very proud of the club and grateful to my fellow owners Dani Zoldan and Gabe Waldman and our manager Jon Boreamayo. It's a great club. It's been around since 1986 and before that it was a theater.

One time, Henry Winkler stopped by to come on my podcast. He was the one who told me it had been a theater.

He said, "I grew up two doors down from here and used to perform in here as a kid. Then I went out to LA to be the Fonz and now I'm back here, full circle, to be on your podcast. This place has history." Things like that happen in NYC.

…

I love the club. Before the pandemic I would perform there throughout the week in addition to many other clubs around the city and in the past few months, clubs in: Chicago, Denver, San Jose, LA, Cincinnati, all over the Netherlands, and other places.

I miss it.

…

That said, we have no idea when we will open. Nobody has any idea. And the longer we close, the less chance we will ever reopen profitably.

Broadway is closed until at least the Spring. Lincoln Center is closed. All the museums are closed.

Forget about the tens of thousands of jobs lost in these cultural centers. Forget even about the millions of dollars of tourist and tourist-generated revenues lost by the closing of these centers.

There are thousands of performers, producers, artists, and the entire ecosystem of art, theater, production, curation, that surrounds these cultural centers. People who have worked all of their lives for the right to be able to perform even once on Broadway whose lives and careers have been put on hold.

I get it. There was a pandemic.

But the question now is: what happens next? And, given the uncertainty (since there is no known answer), and given the fact that people, cities, economies, loathe uncertainty, we simply don't know the answer and that's a bad thing for New York City.

…

My favorite restaurant is closed for good. Ok, let's go to my second favorite. Closed for good. Third favorite, closed for good.

I thought the PPP was supposed to help. No? What about emergency relief? No. Stimulus checks? Unemployment? No and no. Ok, my fourth favorite, or what about that place I always ordered delivery from? No and no.

Around Late May I took walks and saw that many places were boarded up. Ok, I thought, because the protesting was leading to looting and the restaurants were protecting themselves. They'll be ok.

Looking closer I'd see the signs. For Lease. For Rent. For whatever.

Before the pandemic, the average restaurant had only 16 days of cash on hand. Some had more (McDonalds), and some had less (the local mom-and-pop Greek diner).

Yelp estimates that 60% of restaurants around the United States have closed.

My guess is more than 60% will be closed in New York City but who knows.

Someone said to me, "Well, people will want to come in now and start their own restaurants! There is less competition."

I don't think you understand how restaurants work.

…

If the restaurants are no longer clustered, fewer people go out to eat (they are on the fence about where so they elect to stay home). Restaurants breed more restaurants.

And again, what happens to all the employees who work at these restaurants? They are gone. They left New York City. Where did they go? I know a lot of people who went to Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, upstate, Indiana, etc - back to live with their parents or live with friends or live cheaper. They are gone and gone for good.

And what person wakes up today and says, "I can't wait to set up a pizza place in the location where 100,000 other pizza places just closed down." People are going to wait awhile and see. They want to make sure the virus is gone, or there's a vaccine, or there's a profitable business model.

Or...even worse.

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If building owners and landlords lose their prime tenants (the store fronts on the bottom floor, the offices on the middle floors, the well-to-do on the top floors, etc) then they go out of business.

And what happens when they go out of business?

Nothing actually. And that's the bad news.

People who would have rented or bought say, "Hmmm, everyone is saying NYC is heading back to the 1970s, so even though prices might be 50% lower than they were a year ago, I think I will wait a bit more. Better safe than sorry!"

And then with everyone waiting... prices go down. So people see prices go down and they say, "Good thing I waited. But what happens if I wait even more!" And they wait and then prices go down more.

This is called a deflationary spiral. People wait. Prices go down. Nobody really wins. Because the landlords or owners go broke. Less money gets spent on the city. Nobody moves in so there is no motion in the markets. And people already owning in the area and can afford to hang on, have to wait longer for a return of restaurants, services, etc that they were used to.

Well, will prices go down low enough everyone buys?

Answer: Maybe. Maybe not. Some people can afford to hang on but not afford to sell. So they wait. Other people will go bankrupt and there will be litigation, which creates other problems for real estate in the area. And the big borrowers and lenders may need a bailout of some sort or face mass bankruptcy. Who knows what will happen?

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I lived three blocks from Ground Zero on 9/11. Downtown, where I lived, was destroyed, but it came roaring back within two years. Such sadness and hardship and then quickly that area became the most attractive area in New York.

And in 2008/2009, much suffering during the Great Recession, again much hardship, but things came roaring back.

But...this time it's different. You're never supposed to say that but this time it's true. If you believe this time is no different, that NYC is resilient, etc I hope you're right.

I don't benefit from saying any of this. I love NYC. I was born there. I've lived there forever. I STILL live there. I love everything about NYC. I want 2019 back.

But this time it's different.

One reason: bandwidth.

In 2008, average bandwidth speeds were 3 megabits per second. That's not enough for a Zoom meeting with reliable video quality. Now, it's over 20 megabits per second. That's more than enough for high quality video.

There's a before and after. BEFORE: no remote work. AFTER: everyone can remote work.

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Everyone has spent the past five months adapting to a new lifestyle. Nobody wants to fly across the country for a two hour meeting when you can do it just as well on Zoom. I can go see "live comedy" on Zoom. I can take classes from the best teachers in the world for almost free online as opposed to paying $70,000 a year for a limited number of teachers who may or may not be good.

Everyone has choices now. You can live in the music capital of Nashville, you can live in the "next Silicon Valley" of Austin. You can live in your hometown in the middle of wherever. And you can be just as productive, make the same salary, have higher quality of life with a cheaper cost to live.

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Wait for events and conferences and even meetings and maybe even office spaces to start happening in virtual realities once everyone is spread out from midtown Manhattan to all over the country.

The quality of restaurants will start to go up in all the second and then third tier cities as talent and skill flow to the places that can quickly make use of them.

Ditto for cultural events.

And then people will ask, "wait a second - I was paying over 16% in state and city taxes and these other states and cities have little to no taxes? And I don't have to deal with all the other headaches of NYC?"

Because there are headaches in NYC. Lots of them. It's just we sweep them under the table because so much else has been good there.

NYC has a $9 billion deficit. A billion more than the Mayor thought they were going to have. How does a city pay back its debts? The main way is aid from the state. But the state deficit just went bonkers. Then is taxes. But if 900,000 estimated jobs are lost in NYC and tens of thousands of businesses, then that means less taxes unless taxes are raised.

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What reason will people have to go back to NYC?