Urban space
I’m sitting at a food court across from the Roosevelt Hotel. It’s July 2023 and the boarding space is at capacity with migrants from the Mexican border.
I’m eating vegan comfort food and sipping on an Alagash White when I sense someone talking to me and take out my AirPod.
He worked at the Roosevelt as a banquet captain and banked $260K/year for 27 years. He loved the work. The team was a family.
He tells me the union didn’t even try to make a deal. A Pakistani airline and $4B from the city...a match made in heaven nobody wanted to get between.
I literally gasped.
What the fuck? A Pakistani airline owns the Roosevelt?
“Of course they do.”
This guy comes around every couple of months to grab a bite and just look at the building.
I could see the loss in his eyes. He keeps saying, “I don’t know how to think about it.”
It’s clear he’s been trying.
“These people are humans and they deserve to be supported, but we’re paying for it.”
He got a nice compensation package, but it’s clear that’s not what this is about.
A lost job, disrupted communities, disempowerment and taxes.
Taxes.
When you do the math, it’s over $200/day per room, and “guess who pays for
it.”
New Yorkers...while New Yorkers are on the street, and the streets are dirty. This is a political proxy and far more layered than the news can say.
Nineteen floors at full capacity and “one of the most beautiful lobbies in New York City,” he reflects.
This man is visibly disappointed, and now so am I. There’s no conclusion and nothing to say, so we sit there somber and stare at the building. I quietly admire the architecture and wonder what he’s thinking.
We agree the problem is that this country doesn’t have the structures in place to solve the problems we have...the problems we’ve helped create.
It’s bigger than us, and it’s a shame.
When I leave moments later, I have to pass the hotel. I walk by lines of motorized bikes and families eating pizza on the ground.
When I turn the corner, I’m greeted by the brand new and very shiny JP Morgan
Chase building.
The dichotomy...our values...
Where are we going with this? Where does it take us?
