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Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

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Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#201

Post by jonny_eh »

dmurray wrote: post #170
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #8

> They’re investments, not really meant for living in. They cast these huge shadows and block views—really change the skyline—just so they can stand empty. That is definitely one of the saddest parts for me. These billionaires (many of whom got their wealth in shady circumstances) are just using these condos to park their money. I may think NFTs are insane but at least when people with too much money park their wealt…

I don't get the "billionaires buy property and leave it vacant, because it's more valuable as an investment" trope. Billionaires like to make money with their money. Sure, property prices increase, but rents are significant. If you can make 5% a year from your real estate appreciating, you can make 10% by renting it out. That's the difference between a mediocre yearly return and a fantastic one. Maybe at the absolute…

Billionaires are more concerned with not losing their money than they are with growing it.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#202

Post by lupire »

nindalf wrote: post #134
PoignardAzur wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean... I don't think I've ever planted a tomato in my life, and I don't feel like a hollow shell performing a simulacrum of life? (I have planted potatoes though)

Nah mate, tomatoes are completely different from potatoes. Truly life changing. I pity the 90% who hasn’t planted one. /s

It's the best way to get truly acquainted with the repeated deaths of life forms you care for.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#203

Post by lupire »

paxys wrote: post #18
practicalpants wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealthy people minus a few eccentrics are most certainly not parking their money in NFTs. The crazy $69MM Beeple headline was actually a purchase by an NFT related company from what I understand. Not withstanding unoccupied real estate investments are a problem in every major city. It's usually wealthy foreign investors living far away in particular...e.g. Russia -> London, China -> Singapore/Vancouver, etc. really s…

While not good for the local housing market for sure, the country does gain from a ton of foreign illicit income being converted to its own currency and an easily seizable asset conveniently parked within its borders. Cities and counties can also implement vacancy taxes and such to somewhat lessen this problem.

That's only true of the property actually is siezed (or taxed) and put to good use, which it isn't, because it's not nation vs nation so much as it's global ultra wealthy vs global everyone else.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#204

Post by searchableguy »

Jabbles wrote: post #123
searchableguy wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has done the same recently. They are moving away from skyscrapers. Strict regulation for buildings taller than 250m. No approval for buildings taller than 500m. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3115225/...

That's not really the same thing as Athens at all. 250m is ~60 floors.

I was pointing to the trend of curbing down on skyscrappers instead of a direct comparison.

250m is the limit for strict regulation. Newer buildings tend to be around 100m.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#206

Post by cblconfederate »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #8

> They’re investments, not really meant for living in. They cast these huge shadows and block views—really change the skyline—just so they can stand empty. That is definitely one of the saddest parts for me. These billionaires (many of whom got their wealth in shady circumstances) are just using these condos to park their money. I may think NFTs are insane but at least when people with too much money park their wealt…

TBH they are not very big, in fact rather tiny for luxury homes, so let them have it at the highest price possible. If your idea of high life is a 3 meters greenhouse without even a garden, fine.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#207

Post by [deleted] »

Aunche wrote: post #15

> But despite the breathtaking views, Schmied says the multi-million-dollar condos were dishearteningly dull How many new apartments aren't dull? If you're spending $90 million on an apartment, the last thing you would want is for it to be in the style of some architect's avant-garde idea of beauty. If you want to add personality, you hire your own interior designers to find your own aesthetic.

[deleted]

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#208

Post by leejo »

biztos wrote: post #181
leejo wrote: post #110

> Only 1000 editions of Private Views were published For context this is towards the higher end of a standard print run in the photobook world. Most niche art/photo books will be printed in runs of only 50, 100, perhaps a few hundred, or at most 1,000 so "Only 1000 editions" is actually at the upper end and this is in no way "limited-edition". Unless the project goes viral it's unlikely the book itself will ever be s…

Veering off topic but: there is a photography vlogger named Jared Polin who is producing a crowdfunded photo book and vlogging the process. It’s pretty fascinating if you’re casually interested in niche photo books. https://youtu.be/NloBEbN7qo8

That video gives a good general idea of the costs involved in creating high quality niche photobooks. TL;DW way more expensive than most people realise. Very few photographers make any profit from books however, unless they are very well established. So the emphasis on profit in this video is rather misleading.

There's also a big error/assumption from Jared when he covers why he is self-publishing rather than going to dedicated publisher in that he talks about the publisher giving "an $X thousand dollar advance" - this simply does not happen with photobook publishers, they usually just give you a certain number of copies of the print run to sell yourself.

Even with 1.3million followers Jared probably wouldn't sell the 2,500 copies he is talking about printing here - this is why people go the Kickstarter route as you're pre-selling and can print to demand (plus a few copies on top). People don't really buy art, very few people are willing to drop $50+ on a photobook.

A reason people do go to publishers is that they have the marketing clout to get your book into independent photobook shops, visible at photobook festivals, into award listings, featured in newspapers, online, etc. That's the hard part in self-publishing, and even established publishers go the Kickstarter route if they're unsure about the potential demand for a book.

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#209

Post by allturtles »

bobthepanda wrote: post #99
ZoomerCretin wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This attitude toward change (anti-change) comes from SF and has migrated elsewhere. NYC was the antithesis to this attitude but apparently it's not immune to this line of thinking. NYC created the world's first zoning laws in response to a building casting shadows: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/background.page

This was back from an era where the main contributors to disease were thought to be lack of air and light. The zoning described was actually quite generous by modern standards; you could technically build as much as you wanted as long as it fit the prescribed cake tier shape, and you could build theoretically unlimited height on a certain portion, I believe the center quarter of the lot. There is no city in the US to…

> There is no city in the US today where you could build something as tall as the Empire State Building as of right

I'm not sure what you mean by that. 6 buildings taller than the ESB have been completed in NYC since 2014, mostly residential towers of the sort described in the OP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_N...

Re: Artist faked being a billionaire to photograph New York City’s best views

#210

Post by bobthepanda »

allturtles wrote: post #209
bobthepanda wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was back from an era where the main contributors to disease were thought to be lack of air and light. The zoning described was actually quite generous by modern standards; you could technically build as much as you wanted as long as it fit the prescribed cake tier shape, and you could build theoretically unlimited height on a certain portion, I believe the center quarter of the lot. There is no city in the US to…

> There is no city in the US today where you could build something as tall as the Empire State Building as of right I'm not sure what you mean by that. 6 buildings taller than the ESB have been completed in NYC since 2014, mostly residential towers of the sort described in the OP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_N...

When I say "as of right" I mean that all you need is ownership of the lot in question. The Empire State Building was built only with ownership of the lot it was built on and the owner was legally allowed to build as tall as they want.

Nearly all tall buildings in New York these days are legally built through assembling "air rights." Zoning has predetermined height/FAR limits for all lots, but in certain areas it is possible to sell currently unused rights and transfer them to the owner of another lot. This allows some developers to build taller but keeps overall neighborhood square footage around a prescribed limit. This way, you can build a spiky tower or two here and there on Billionaire's Row (the general name for the area) but the street cannot become a wall of them.

More info on air rights: https://streeteasy.com/blog/what-are-nyc-air-rights-all-abou...

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