House of the Day: 588 5th Street

I have a fan!

Thank you, Minard, for dropping the “super.”

I know I’m rich, and rich in many ways – I have a nice home, a wonderful family and my health. But when people throw the term “super-rich” around, it just bugs me. If I’m super-rich, then what do you call the people who are paying $4k psf to live at 15 CPW or 740, 770 or 778 Park or 834, 998 or 1040 Fifth? And are paying all cash? And have $7 million vacation homes? And could stop working tomorrow with no discernible impact on their lifestyles? There are thousands of those people in NYC. Are they super-ueber-turbo rich? If that’s the case, then fine. I’m super-rich and they’re super-ueber-turbo rich. I just don’t want to be lumped in with those other people because I have zero in common with them and tons in common with people who work hard, watch they’re money and play by the rules to afford a nice home and, what is by national standards, an upper middle class lifestyle (and maybe a rich person’s lifestyle in NYC).

And two more things to set the record straight: (1) I never complained about not having enough money (only about being called super-rich), and (2) I may not agree with your characterization of people in my income bracket, but I do enjoy your architectural musings.

Truce?

look lower, i don’t mean to make this a personal attack. you write well and I like people who write well.
What pisses me off are folks who are, well, rich, who see themselves as struggling. this is a very common NYC phenomenon. the richer the person, the less money they think they have.
Perhaps they talk themselves into believing they are poor because they are actually cheap. There is a huge difference between being cheap and being poor.
There is nothing wrong with being rich. take a deep breath and say out loud: “I am rich and that’s good” then say: “I really should be giving more generously to charity” then say: “I should complain less about not having enough money”.

quote:
going 6 months with zero days off (not even weekends) other than Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fifteen years into my career, I’m still only middle management at my company. I’m not complaining about any of this. That’s just how it is.

all that just to live in a dark, farty old house in brooklyn… okaaaaay. you dont find that a tad sad!? i do

*rob*

Minard, I can’t believe I’m stepping into this, but here I go.

Yes. I agree. People who can afford a $2.5 million house have a lot more money than a lot of other people. But saying that I am super-rich suggests that I lead some kind of “lifestyles of the rich and famous” existence and comes with lots of other baggage. (I’m spoiled. I don’t know how good I have it. I’m a snob. I can’t relate to the plight of the common man.)

I grew up in a 1,300 square foot attached house in Queens. I went to college and grad school and got a job that pays decent money. I’ve worked my way up through the ranks over the years, typically spending 60 hours a week in the office, and at times going 6 months with zero days off (not even weekends) other than Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fifteen years into my career, I’m still only middle management at my company. I’m not complaining about any of this. That’s just how it is.

After all that hard work and some incredible luck in the real estate market (I bought in the ‘90s and managed to sell at a nice profit), I was able afford a $2+ million dollar house in Brooklyn. But that’s where the super-richness ends. Oh wait, sorry – I have two cars, and lots of regular people can’t afford one car. But together my cars have over 200,000 miles on them and are worth less than the least expensive new car on the market.

I’m not cheap. I do take the subway to save money, but also because it’s faster and better for the environment. I like nice things, but I can’t really afford them. I guess I could maybe afford one new car some day, but I’d rather save my money so I can fix up my new but very old house. And I do have to keep working and saving, otherwise it won’t happen.

So maybe being able to afford that house means I have more money than the vast majority of Americans. I don’t deny that I do. But to me, living in a 2,700 square foot house, going to work every day, spending 50+ hours a week in an office, owning two old cars, eating out once or twice a week, and taking one vacation a year that involves a plane ride doesn’t sound super-rich to me. That’s basically what my old friends who still live in Queens do, except their cars are nicer than mine and their houses cost $400,000. Are they super-rich?

At then end of the day, I don’t mind if you point out that I’m in the top x% of income earners or that I’m more fortunate than a lot of other people. I know that. But I don’t like being called super-rich when I know that label comes laced with contempt and a suggestion that I’m an out of touch dilettante who lives a lifestyle completely alien to all but a handful of robber barons and hedge funders.