As Times Turn Tough, New York's Wealthy Economize

[PfcHammer]

As Times Turn Tough, New York's Wealthy Economize

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122187131490959185.html

A nose job in a hospital with a private nurse in attendance had been something of a rite of passage for Joan Asher's children. But when her fourth and last child was ready for her own rhinoplasty recently, Ms. Asher asked her to postpone it.

The financial markets were simply more out of whack than her 16-year-old's proboscis.

"The other noses were more prominent," the stay-at-home mother from a tony New York City suburb in Westchester County told her 16-year-old daughter. She could get hers done when things settled down.

The financial crisis on Wall Street has New York's well-to-do reeling. The people who fuel the area's economy with their spending on art, fashion, cars, restaurants, plastic surgery and other luxe goods and services are starting to cut back once-lavish budgets. As a result, those who cater to their every whim -- from nanny agencies to jewelers to yacht builders -- are seeing clients tighten their belts on expenses from the millions to the thousands.

:rofl: :nopity:

[AlCzervik]

1. omg this part here, please get me a tissue.

Disappointing Birthday
For her 50th birthday, Annette Pucci, a New York retail manager, planned to treat herself to a facelift by cashing in $15,000 in stocks. But after consulting with her husband, a manger with Consolidated Edison Inc., she realized their stock portfolio had taken such a hit that it was out of the question.

"It was a very big disappointment," Ms. Pucci said. Her consolation: a $1,200 Botox treatment she had this week instead.

Plastic surgeon Z. Paul Lorenc says one patient recently asked him to inject half a syringe of Restylane and save the rest for later to save money. He refused. "Every single patient that I have seen today so far has mentioned that there's uncertainty on Wall Street," Dr. Lorenc said this week. "Everybody's waiting for the other shoe to drop."


My Gawds it's like their own personal 9/11, half a syringe of Restylane?

We need to start a fund for these people.

[aquart]

4. I knew there was trouble when my hair salon asked me what time would be convenient for me.

As funny as you think it is, thousands and thousands of people who depend on the trickle down are in big trouble right now.

People won't die if they don't get their hair cut or colored, or buy Jimmy Choo's. But if they don't, the ones who buy at Payless won't be able to afford those shoes, either.

You sit down and you spend a minute and think about everyone who is going to have to stop buying every extra in order to make rent, fuel, food, and other basic payments.

In the Great Depression, you were rich if you had a pair of brown shoes AND a pair of black shoes.

[AlCzervik]

5. i agree but please, she still got $1200 worth of botox.

[tpsbmam]

15. Thank you.....

I keep saying this and I keep getting responses that indicate people think I'm some kind of trickle-down Reaganite for saying it. This is the realty, folks.

[Generic Other]

2. OMG the rich will be UGLY now

their reptilian faces will emerge!

:silly:

[CoffeeCat]

3. It's really easy to laugh at all of this..

...and it is comical--picturing these people sinking into depression because they can't
just run out and buy a little Tiffany's bauble, to cure the blues.

However, this really is a big deal for the economy.

The rich and the upper-class frequent businesses that are owned and employed by the upper-middle, middle and lower-middle
classes.

Think about how this will impact people who make their living: Giving pedicures, walking dogs, nannying, selling baubles
at Tiffanys, cooking and serving at higher-end restaurants, servicing yachts and expensive cars, giving facials.

Think about all of the boutiques and specialty shops that sell high-end art, jewelry, gifts, shoes, children's clothing,
furniture and jewelry. What about gourmet bakeries, grocery stores? Specialty stores that sell expensive luxuries--
like gourmet doggie biscuits, lighting and flowers--will really have a hard time if these customers don't spend
as much. These businesses are staffed by people who are living paycheck to paycheck. If people stop frequenting
these businesses, workers will be fired and many businesses could go under.

This is the real trickle-down effect. We were never sure that the trickle down of money--ever made it to the
middle class--but the negative trickle down will definitely impact the middle class in this country.

This will cause business failures, higher unemployment and strain for those who rely on these dollars--which
will further trickle down until it reaches everyone.

[crazy_vanilla]

6. puh-leeeze! in my elementary school, 86% of the kids get free lunch

and breakfast. These are, in many cases, their only 2 meals of the day.

I could care less about boutique owners and the overly-made up sales clerks who work for them. Try hauling rocks for landscaping all day long and still being unable to buy food for your children after you pay the rent.

[mitchum]

10. But think of the poor obsequious ribbon clerks!

[CoffeeCat]

16. You're totally missing my point...

I could care less about boutique owners and overly-made up sales clerks, either. It's not like I'm
one of them.

I'm not saying that I have sympathy for them.

I'm saying that when the upper crust contracts--it affect the next class down, which in turn affect
the upper- and middle-classes.

It's all crashing from the top.

I'm pointing out that this will affect our entire economy--not that the Neiman Marcus sales clear is
better than the landscaper.

In fact, I think my point was that this will trickle down and affect everyone...all classes.

[aquart]

22. Well, selfish, how will you feel when out of work boutique owners

Start competing to haul rocks? Will you get the hint then?

BTW, LANDSCAPING IS A DISPENSABLE EXPENSE. A lot of people are going to decide those rocks don't need to move right away because their boutique just went out of business.

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. The effect is trickling down from the wrong sources.

The servant economy is fucking this country up.

Yacht construction, super high-end cabinet shops, McMansions. Screw that.

The middle class can't (and shouldn't) be built around Mercer Island interior decorators and.

The cosmetic surgeon who depends on tiffany's nose job to pay his nurses should work where he's needed, not where it's profitable.

[TahitiNut]

11. Heaven forbid we shut down those plantations! How would the slaves survive???

The apologetics for FEUDALISM are older than you can imagine. Utter idiocy.

[CoffeeCat]

17. I've always respected your opinion, but...

I'm not sure what you're saying.

I'm not sure what is the plantation and who is the slaves?

I was talking about contractions in the upper class economies trickling down
and having a bad effect on the upper-middle class and then reaching down
into the middle class.

[PassingFair]

12. Awwwww! All the suck-ups and sycophants will be looking for real work....

Trickle down needs to die a quick death.

I would rather see the whole country shod
in Hush Puppies than cling to the trickle down
system so that .5 of 1 percent of the population can
wear Jimmy Choo's.

Pump the money into the BOTTOM of the economy, to
people that SPEND 90% of the money that they have.

THAT is what will put America on her feet!

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. BINGO... and by the by we saw this in the 1930s as well

it made local economies fail

Sure, these folks will be able to afford a new car in three years now, instead of this year... but you get it

The dealership cannot afford to loose much business

[Greyhound]

7. But they are tender and can be made tasty with the proper application of spice.

I like the little ones thinly sliced with a garlic butter sauce.

The big fat males are best slow roasted after rolling in a dry rub of savory, be careful to not over do the cloves.

The least satisfying are the older females, They tend to be very tough and stringy, and what little meat they give is usually so full of toxins, plastics, and silicone that they are not worth the effort of preparation. OTOH, the well tanned hide can make interesting accessories.

[mitchum]

9. May I suggest another surgery (French in origin) for the poor poor pitiful rich?

[JVS]

13. That article is useless without pics

[alarimer]

18. Boo fucking hoo.

I hate rich people. Clearly these people do not pay enough taxes.

[Raine]

19. Things are tough all over

doncha know. :yoiks:

[arthritisR_US]

20. awwwwww, pooooor babies. n/t

[Selatius]

21. THEY ARE NOT RICH.

If they are tightening their budgets, then they are not rich at all. They are ants trying to be gods. The people who are worth 100 million or greater are still going to go on vacation and get rhinoplasty and spend lavishly. Some of the biggest hedge fund managers make close to a billion dollars a year.

Those are the people who really run this country. They are still in the driver's seat.