We Give Thanks
In the past two days, nine inches of snow have fallen here in Sharon, CT. The terrain, smoothed out by its blanket of white under the heavily laden trees, runs off into a hazy distance under skies of a deep and steely grey blue. The cognitive dissonance of going from a Friday afternoon in a t-shirt to a Monday in layers of down and wool somehow seems to perfectly reflect the angst of this post-election moment. At the same time, I am warmed by the imminent arrival of family and friends from all over to celebrate Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. In that spirit I am happy, as I do every year, to list in no particular order some of the business realities for which I feel grateful this year:
- I am grateful that my daughter Clelia has now been working alongside me at Warburg Realty for three years. She has challenged me to adapt, sometimes painfully, but with her help we have moved our powerful legacy brand strongly into the 21st century, making Warburg an increasingly sought-after destination for a tech-enabled, streetwise new generation of agents.
- I am grateful that, at least for now, expectations of infrastructure spending and lower taxes have worked in tandem with New Yorkers’ natural impatience to unlock our marketplace. Showings and offers both increased dramatically last week compared to the previous month, with no sense that they will let up after the holidays.
- I am grateful to work in a business which surrounds me with beauty and excitement. Selling New York, with its elaborately designed and ornamented buildings standing cheek by jowl with towers designed by some of the world’s great architects, provides a constant feast for the spirit as well as the eyes. From the view of Central Park South and the 57th Street towers over the boat pond on my walk to work through Central Park, to the soaring towers of Central Park West on my walk home, from the townhouses of Park Slope to the cast iron buildings of SoHo, architectural distinction surrounds and buoys us, making our real estate some of the most desired in the world.
- I am grateful that in New York, art and music, like great architecture, are everywhere. The creative impulse, that highest aspiration of the human spirit, nowhere finds more diverse manifestation than here. The drive towards financial success, nowhere more acute than in the canyons of midtown and downtown New York, find balance in the support of creativity both ancient and modern, from the oldest frescoes to the newest art and music collectives. This yin/yang between the intense desire to make money and the passionate support for the more aesthetic pursuits gives the city its unique edge.
- I am grateful for the kaleidoscopic nature of life in this electrifying town. I am delighted to know and interact with Christians and Muslims and Jews, gay and straight, married and single, those who were born elsewhere and those who have been here for generations. I am proud to run a business which allows hardworking people from all over the world to support themselves and their families, clearing wider career paths for them and for their children.
As we gather our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends about us this week, my wife and I are grateful to be at the center of this web of love. And we will work however we can to pass the best possible world on to our grandchildren: a world with less prejudice and fear, with acceptance of the lives and choices of those around us, with respect for the fragility of our ecosystems and our world. I have made these principles the cornerstones of my career in real estate, and I am proud to see them shining through the Warburg name and in the hearts of all those who represent us.