Jerry Seinfeld And James Altucher Are Still In A "New York City Is/Is Not Dead" Off
Is New York City dead?
That's been a topic of discussion for the past two months or so since author/entrepreneur James Altucher published this essay on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nyc-dead-forever-heres-why-james-altucher
Jerry Seinfeld responded to this essay in a New York Times op-ed:
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Seinfeld most likely wrote this op-ed in his East Hampton house. Nothing wrong with writing in your East Hampton house that you bought with the money you earned from a great comedy career, but you may not have the greatest feeling on NYC.
NYC is dead kind of became a meme. It seemed like 10000x more people were saying "lmao NYC is NOT dead" than otherwise, but that's how the internet goes sometimes.
>A few people say something the majority disagrees with.
>A lot of people on social media exaggerate the number of people with that take.
As anything goes on the internet, the "is NYC dead?" debate kind of came to an end. Until Jerry Seinfeld was asked about it on 60 Minutes:
(Side note: referring to Altucher as a local comedy club owner is not wrong, but also selling him incredibly short. He's a top-selling author and has been involved with founding 20 businesses. He's not just some rando)
To which Altucher responded:
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Will NYC actually die? Probably not. It's not like it's going to become a ghost land. It does stink that family-owned businesses, such as restaurants and bars, are going out of business left and right. This city was already dominated by corporate-owned entities, but I'm a bit afraid that will get to a point where there is no turning back thanks to this pandemic. I can't tell ya how many closed down businesses you cross on a daily basis that are boarded up with graffiti all over it. The subway needs a bailout. Government workers are getting laid off by the city left and right. Family-owned restaurants are getting closed that will never reopen. The pandemic hit NYC the hardest. It may not feel like that on the Upper East Side or East Hampton, but it's going to have to battle back for awhile. Hopefully, it does. I think both Altucher and Seinfeld want it to.