Magazine N°157

NEW YORK: JUST CROSS THE BRIDGE

New York will always be New York! Will it? Well, that's not the impression you get when you've been away from the city for... let's say two years, maybe three. You'd have to be awfully insensitive not to see that the city has undergone a radical metamorphosis, starting with its famous skyline. Where are the ramshackle buildings of the East Village? Where are the crudely decorated bars and restaurants where the world's roundness was happily made and unmade? Where's the unique, extravagant, free-spirited, crazy and ultra-creative atmosphere that was, not so long ago, the ordinary Manhattan scene, especially in the Downtown and Village areas?

Of course, New York is still a fast-paced city: people go out a lot, sleep very little, rush and squeeze at rush hour, build new towers, set up corporate headquarters, beat the financial world like never before and take a keen interest in culture. But there's something about Manhattan that's a little too conventional, a little too right. Whose fault is that? It's largely the fault of prices, particularly property prices, and consequently rents, including those of the little neighbourhood shops that used to make the city so cosy, but which are now being forced to close their doors for good. Isn't the equivalent of a three-bedroom Midtown apartment selling on plan for 3.9 million dollars? The gentrification of Manhattan is blatant, and the flight of the working classes inevitable.

Another major phenomenon is the power of the service sector and new technologies, which make it possible to work from just about anywhere. As a result, the young, the bohemian and the creative willingly exile themselves to the other four boroughs, without really choosing their corner, and settle wherever they find what fits their budget. The immediate consequence of this is that the mood-setting bands have been shattered, with some living scattered across Queens or the Bronx, others on Staten Island and still others in Brooklyn. Which doesn't exactly do much to shake up traditionally flat neighbourhoods. Except perhaps Brooklyn, and especially Williamsburg, a neighbourhood that was reborn a few years ago, when warehouses that needed converting were still affordable, and brought with them ad hoc boutiques, trendy restaurants, bistros and trendy co-working spaces. As a result, the bohemian spirit has crossed over to the other side of the bridge, bringing back the natural creativity of the capital of capitals. In short, New York will always be New York!
Serge Barret, Editor-in-Chief
In this issue

TRAVEL DIARY Jean-Marie Périer, a thousand and one round-the-world tours
NEWS : aircraft, railways, hotels, meetings/businesses, conventions, throughout the world
TECHNOLOGIES
RGPD: what will the right to portability mean for business travellers?
Start-ups tackling the baggage problem
NOMADE : digital shopping
AIR - Strategy Overhead lines: the great lottery
HOTELS - Urban residences long stay in lifestyle mode
BUSINESS DISTRICT Astana: a promising adolescence
BUSINESS DESTINATION : NEW YORK
INCENTIVE :
Wide Angle : Occitanie: a cultural melting pot
Theme Glasgow: Mackintosh impervious to fashion
Focus on - Safety duty of care: "this is not an exercise".
MANAGEMENT
Corporate payment Payment solutions: the new deal
Mobility greener travel for employees
Company fleets the car becomes a second office
SHOPPING : business class shopping
DECIDEUR Wade Jones, CEO of Sabre Travel Network