Leading Economic Indicators: Chicken Fingers And Wings At Per Se Bar

Actually, the menu is yet to be determined, but Eater reports that Thomas Keller’s Per Se is planning to offer a bar menu:

According to various sources at the restaurant, Per Se is in the planning stages of launching an a la carte menu in its salon and bar area. A reservationist tells us the menu is in trials but has yet to get the final go-ahead.

. . .

On the one hand, it means both fans of Per Se and the uninitiated don’t need to commit to a full nine-course meal, the accompanying price tag, or the two month advance notice usually required for getting a resy to get a taste of Sir Thomas Keller. But this major departure for the restaurant could change the vibe substantially while proving every restaurant — even New York’s most four-starriest –must adapt with the economy in the crapper.

“We Came In And Said We Can Do Anything We Want”

The Daily News declares open season on the vestigial (“not much more than figureheads”) Office of the Borough President — all of them.

In addition to U.S. Senate aspirations, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has two chauffeurs:

“It’s true that the office had changed,” he said. “There’s no Board of Estimate anymore. We came in and said we can do anything we want.”

So, Stringer said, he created a policy unit and hired experts to research problems and develop solutions in Manhattan.

He employs 57 people, the smallest staff among the borough presidents, and has an overall budget of $46 million. The bulk of that — $42 million — is capital funding he directs to city agencies for specific projects.

Stringer was planning to spend $1.5 million of those funds on interior renovations at his 1 Centre St. office, but scrapped the plan last fall “given the state of the economy,” spokesman Dick Riley said.

Stringer uses his $4 million operating budget to randomly distribute 200,000 newsletters in December and May each year. The newsletters prominently feature his photograph.

His office also bought two Kobra 400 shredders for $4,477.70 last June “to replace the malfunctioning ones that were in the office,” Riley said.

Riley said the shredders are used on “investment memos and confidential employee or constituent information as it becomes outdated.”

Stringer’s office pays two chauffeurs a combined salary of $115,000. Only Brooklyn has more.

Meanwhile, Marty “Fugheddaboudit” Markowitz has three chauffeurs:

Borough president Marty Markowitz is known for putting on a show, so maybe that’s why he spent $38,000 on a tricked-out SUV and pays three drivers to cart him around Brooklyn.

His brand-new $38,705 black Toyota Highlander Hybrid comes with four-wheel drive, a touchscreen navigational system, heated seats, a power tilt/slide moonroof, running boards and “VIP glass breakage sensors.”

It is one of nine taxpayer-funded vehicles in his office. The drivers all work full time and earn between $37,000 and $67,000 a year.

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro dispenses with the chauffeurs and goes straight for the helicopter.

As a point of reference, the combined $450 million borough president slush fund* is larger than the 2008-09 City of Buffalo budget ($435 million).

*Yes, $42 million out of Scott Stringer’s $46 million goes towards capital projects like building parks — but what’s wrong with a legislative body deciding which parks to build? Why give one person the ability to raise his or her profile with major projects?

Recycling The Same Tired Ideas

Two things. One, don’t believe their lies:

A group lobbying against an expansion of the state’s bottle bill is going on the air with the ad below.

The group of bottlers — called New Yorkers for Real Recycling Reform — said in a press release that the ad will air in the Capital Region and around the state starting this week. The message is that an expansion of the bottle bill to include water and juice in addition to beer and soda would make those drinks more costly for consumers.

Jon Pierce, a spokesman for the group, said they will spend in the “mid-six figures” to put the air on cable and broadcast T.V. in Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and maybe New York City.

Bottlers don’t want this because the unclaimed deposit money will go to the state instead of staying in their grubby mitts — the governor knows, just as the bottlers already know*, that all those cans you just throw into the recycling are a nice source of income.

But two, there is no need for a bottle deposit when the City forces you to recycle in the first place, and puts pressure on you via stiff fines handed out by sometimes rather overzealous garbage cops. So clearly the point of bottle deposits is to raise money, first by the bottling industry (huge scam) and now by the state (huger scam). Screw both of them.

*Dude, if Catsimatidis ran for mayor I would support him on this issue alone — and the mayor has nothing to do with recycling deposits!

Leading Economic Indicators: Wal-Mart Willing To Put Up With New York City

In 2009, things were so bad retail-wise that Wal-Mart may be braving the potential shitstorm that would follow an announcement to open a store in Manhattan:

Manhattan’s retail rent rollback is causing Wal-Mart to give the city another look.

The giant discount chain has shopped for space in Union Square and among the big-box stores along Sixth Avenue in Chelsea, The Post has learned.

Wal-Mart recently passed on a proposal by Related Companies for a two-level store of about 57,000 feet in Union Square where Virgin Megastores and Circuit City are closing, sources said.

The company’s real-estate scouts have also been roaming the area around 620 Sixth Ave., said the sources.

Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo said the Union Square sites “were never under consideration.” But he said the company is “still interested” in opening stores in New York, despite strong political and union opposition.

Leading Economic Indicators: Mice

If you’re going to skimp, skimp on the Rolls-Royce and not pest control:

Brace yourselves for more fun news: recessions, it turns out, while bad for humans, may be good for cockroaches and mice.

Veterans in the pest control industry said that their customers, both residential and commercial, appear to be sacrificing on regular exterminations as a cost-cutting measure. While restaurants are bound by the threats of steep fines, apartment landlords and office buildings are cutting back services, the exterminators said.

Robert Agatowski, with Control Exterminating Company on East 33rd Street in Manhattan, recalled a recent call from a general manager of a business.

“He said, ‘It’s very simple. I don’t know if we can make the rent or the payroll,'” Mr. Agatowski recalled. “‘So in other words, you’re out. We’ll step on the bugs and kick the mice.’ The exterminating almost becomes like a luxury item.”

He and other exterminators interviewed this week were careful not to name names.