Wall Street Journal: As Times Turn Tough, New York's Wealthy Economize

[marmar]

As Times Turn Tough,
New York's Wealthy Economize

Plastic Surgeons, Jewelers, Yacht Builders
Brace for Leaner Times; Saying No to Caviar

By ELLEN GAMERMAN, CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN and FRANCINE SCHWADEL



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.

At luxury boat builder Northrop & Johnson Yacht and Ship, headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, director Kathleen Mullen says a New York investor called this week trying to put off the purchase of a more than $25 million megayacht. The client's debating whether to back out of the deal completely. He'll still have to pay 10%, Ms. Mullen says, since he'd already signed the contract. "He's undecided about what he wants to do," she says. "People have been very shaken."

On Thursday, a New York mother of two young children asked Carol Solomon, the owner of New York Nanny Center Inc., whether she could find a good nanny willing to work for less than the $1,200 a week sought by a candidate she had found elsewhere.

"Based on everything that's been going on with the market," the mother told Ms. Solomon, "I'm concerned about committing to that kind of salary." Ms. Solomon suggested another nanny seeking a more modest salary of $750 a week. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122187131490959185.html?mod=article-outset-box

[Tansy_Gold]

1. OMFG. and what are the REST of us doing without?

Heat? Food? JOBS?

At what point does this madness stop?

[Skidmore]

2. The wealthy have never gotten the connection between

the labor done by the middle class and poor and their wealth.

[Solly Mack]

3. Thank goodness it's only her nanny budget she has to slash

or I'd be really worried for her

[Indenturedebtor]

4. Economize? BWAHAHAHAHAHA I eat soup everyday so I have enough money to eat

That's economizing. Not "OMG my child can't have a nosejob, and I'll have to find a nanny who'll work for the "modest" sum of 38,000 a year!!!!!!!"

What the fuck :wtf: These people have NO concept of how real people live.

On edit: And at least I have enough money to make and eat soup!

[coalition_unwilling]

5. Are we supposed to feel pity

for these scum???

GENERAL STRIKE NOW!

[The Traveler]

6. My heart pumps piss for 'em

I am so overwhelmed with concern for the plight of the rich ... :rofl:

Trav

[CrispyQ]

7. They have supported policies that have killed the middle class golden goose

& now their chickens are coming home to roost. I have no sympathy for these short-sighted, greedy assholes.

If you read the entire article it will make you sick. One woman changed her mind on a pair of $30k diamond hoop earrings. A man was going to spend $50k for an anniversary present for his wife but is now going to spend $20k-$25k instead.

[demodonkey]

8. Yeah $30,000 for diamond earrings and people are dying because of no healthcare...

...no heat, no food, and no jobs.

:grr:

THIS HAS TO STOP.

[Odin2005]

9. The French know how do deal with these types: Off with their heads!!! n/t.

[PsN2Wind]

10. It's so sad

seeing how thin they have to spread the caviar and pate on the canapes now.

[Indenturedebtor]

11. Well I heard that it's not even Beluga! The horror! n/t

[Blecht]

12. I am NOT advocating violence

But maybe the people interviewed for this need to review some history.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/x99elledge/203685582/

[fascisthunter]

14. oh it's inevitable at thi spoint and why we see a police state in the making

it really was all by design...

[arthritisR_US]

13. this has already been posted...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4045102&mesg_id=4045102