There’s an interesting article in a 2004 issue of the New York Times about two of our new overlords, Ira Drukier and Richard Born. In what’s really little more than a puff piece, they brag that they are just “two guys with cell phones” who don’t even have any staff. They just go around brokering deals and buying up properties, and then hire separate management teams to gut-renovate and run the places while they kick-back and rake in the dough. (Photo: Drukier and pals)
They seem to think this makes them sound hip and cool and free-spirited, but what it really makes them sound like is speculators. There’s plenty of suits just like them, in other words, guys who only need a cell phone, but most of them trade stocks and bonds, rather than buildings where actual people live. Ira Drukier even states, in an infuriatingly smug little gem: “And what we are doing is real estate, not life and death.” But that’s exactly what it is, Mr. Drukier: our society wouldn’t tolerate it if you were trying to drive up the cost of food, and what you’re doing should be considered not less of a crime. — Ed Hamilton
Living with Legends 
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