We’re staying mostly clear of the fight over the proposed tax on pied-á-teres, because we’re not economists and you mostly come here for jokes about Mike Bloomberg’s resting bitch face and not analysis of political events of the day. That being said, we knew it would be just a matter of time before a pied-á-terre owner defended themselves by calling us ungrateful parasitical maggots, and Toronto’s own Diane Francis did not waste anytime doing just that in an editorial in the Daily News:
We don’t complain, hoist placards or march in front of City Hall demanding more entitlements.
The money we spend, meantime, employs concierges, maintenance and cleaning personnel, masseuses, clothiers, hairdressers, tailors, cabbies, entertainers, vendors, museum curators, chefs, waiters, bartenders, comedians, singers, musicians, actors, artists, athletes and goodness knows who else.
Emphasis ours. The editorial is worth a read, especially because beyond excoriating us for not being thankful, Francis also complains about condo fees as if those go to the city of New York and not her building. Sure we could point out that Francis does contribute to potholes if she takes cabs and that she published this editorial in a paper that has a columnist who called for a tax just like this and that threatening to buy in London or San Francisco doesn’t really jibe with her “I love NYC” claim. But that’s none of our business.