2024, What A Year, Hello 2025
Last week, I have started reflecting on the past year. It is hard to wrap my head around how much I have enjoyed it. Perhaps it is age, maybe it is therapy, but I feel balanced. Our kids are happy and living their own independent lives, and we are the lucky beneficiaries of that. We enjoy each other and mutually respect what we each enjoy doing and how we live our lives, which merge in multiple ways. It is so wonderful. It is the highlight of our year.
The past year of Gotham has been an incredible experience. Being at the helm of a vision and seeing it grow and slowly become bigger than you is a wild ride. Our excellent team will add a few new players next year. I do not want to disrupt the culture. I want an addition to the culture. Next year, we should have six stores where we continue to engage in the community, always putting hospitality first, which is included in our weddings, corporate and party events, and delivery. There will be more art shows, new clothing and product designers, new cannajacent products, new events, and most importantly, top-notch old and new cannabis brands and newly designed Gotham products with the same delicious scents for our candles, lotions, and body washes.
The Public Housing Community Fund has grown, we have brought on new board members, and our impact is starting to be felt. I hope we can continue this trajectory as the outcome of every program, every newly renovated park, and every newly renovated community room impacts all New Yorkers.
I have been working on a documentary for years, and I believe we will move forward on that in 2025, which is exciting.
This past year, we almost completed another carbon-free apartment building that feels very European and will open to tenants in 2025. We made a few other real estate purchases because we couldn’t help ourselves. They will be projects in 2025.
I have been to countless new restaurants in NYC, and the resurgence of new delicious spots is incredible. It reminds me of when David Chang changed the landscape of restaurants. We are eating differently, and the blending of cultures has created delicious, innovative, yet simple food—a new generation of restauranteurs.
The Olympics was a cool experience, and I am so glad we went. Our other travels were just as good, and I am still thinking about Seoul—a few other trips in 2025 are still in the hopper.
The world has shaken off COVID-19, but all the political changes are still unknown on what 2025 will look like. I have come to terms with it, but it does appear to be strange times ahead.
2024 was a very good year, and although political turmoil still hangs over the future, I am quite excited about 2025.