Wall Street bonus money is flooding NYC economy with cash

[Regis Philbin]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/19/D8M47ATG0.html

Wall Street Bonuses Flood NYC's Economy

Dec 19 6:27 PM US/Eastern

By ADAM GOLDMAN
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK

When Michael Aaron learned that Wall Street investment banks were going to be shelling out record bonuses this holiday season, the savvy wine merchant uncorked his own plan to make serious dough.

He paid for a double-page advertisement in The New York Times, boasting a rare bottle of 1995 Dom Perignon. The price tag _ $14,950.

"We thought we'd put this temptation out there," said Aaron, chairman of Sherry-Lehmann wine store on Madison Avenue.

The $15,000 bottle of bubbly is just one example of how record Wall Street bonuses this year can trickle through New York City's economy. People are buying multimillion-dollar apartments. They are driving $40,000 BMWs out of the showroom.

A report released Tuesday by the state comptroller said Wall Street is expected to pay out $23.9 billion in bonuses, shattering last year's record by 17 percent.

The impact of such bonuses on the New York economy is profound.

[LesterX]

Wow, $23.9 billion in bonuses. 'Tis the season for the rich to get richer. That's quite the holiday spirit Wall Street's got going. Just think what a portion of those many billions could do for people less fortunate than wealthy investment bankers.

[Richard Tafoya]

Re-posting from the other windfall thread:

A New Yorker responds:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/goldman-sachs-owes-you-mo_b_36328.html

As a New York City taxpayer, I want a refund from Goldman Sachs. And you deserve one, too, before the company cuts checks to shower $16 billion in bonuses throughout its executive suites. We are all paying for the enrichment of the investment bankers and rainmakers who are going to pocket tens of millions of dollars.

...

In the summer of 2005, Goldman Sachs successfully extorted money from New York, threatening to leave the city unless it received tax breaks and low-interest bonds. It did so in a fairly ugly way. Using the specter of September 11th as a club, the company pocketed an unbelievable deal: $1.65 billion in low-interest, triple-tax-exempt Liberty Bonds, enabling the firm to save as much as $9 million a year in financing costs, which would save Goldman about $250 million over the life of the bonds. If that wasn't enough, the city also threw $115 million in sales and utility tax breaks at the company, in return for a commitment to maintain its headquarters in Lower Manhattan and employ more than 9,000 people through 2028; those breaks could rise to as much as $150 million if Goldman adds 4,000 new jobs by 2019.

...

So, here we are now: a company that is taking money out of my pocket and yours is setting aside $16.5 billion in cash to pay out as bonuses--an average pay day of $622,000 per worker. Of course, average really is misleading--the top dogs at the company will reap the big windfalls (CEO Lloyd Blankfein is reportedly in line to cash a check of up to $50 million), with the support staff probably getting a free Metro Card or maybe a nice holiday gift basket, at best.