Temu, SHEIN, TikTok, and CapCut are the top apps downloaded in the US, and TikTok is number one. Temu had a Super Bowl ad touting its low-cost products that are so low that there is no way that they are making money, especially when the products are being shipped from China. They are grabbing eyeballs and customers from American companies like Etsy, Instagram, and Amazon.

I have no idea what conversations are happening behind doors with the CEOs of top tech companies and the US Government, but these companies are not paying taxes. Still, then again, most American companies are not either. Regardless, American companies, which include Mom and Pop stores, are being hindered by these Chinese apps, and Amazon and Etsy are not allowed to operate in China.

Temu is the worst of them. No taxes are paid if the packages they send to the US cost less than $800. Also, they are losing billions a year just grabbing these customer’s loyalty. Over time, this will force some American companies to shut down and lose revenue flow.

Sure, people will be upset if the US says these Chinese apps/companies can not operate in the US anymore because how come they get to operate in our free economy and we can’t operate in theirs? But remember, Americans’ memories are short. After a few weeks, we will all get over TikTok closure and find other apps that keep us entertained and buying.

This is what the Federal government should be working on versus the blame game going inside the walls of Washington without any light at the end of the tunnel to pass bills that make sense for the American economy.

As a country, our Government is defensive vs offensive regarding most things. Insurance companies appear to be more interested in fixing illnesses than being proactive before the illnesses roost. I can’t imagine that the numbers make sense, but that is how insurance operates, and it always has.

We also love the future and are happy to erase the past. Because public education is state-run, each state has a different curriculum. One state might be aware of the horrifying Japanese relocation camps during WW2. In contrast, others never have any Black history in their curriculum, telling the real injustices that have happened and continue to happen.

Over the years, I have seen how the Government has failed so many. Is it just how capitalism works? Is it Federal disinvestment? Or is it a systemic failure by the people running agencies? Who is to blame?

NYCHA is an organization with 13,000 employees. HUDD is responsible for 1/3 of the costs, the state is responsible for 1/3, and the tenant rents cover the other 1/3. Two weeks ago, 70 NYCHA employees were arrested on bribery and extortion charges. Was anybody shocked? This organization oversees people’s housing and needs almost $80 billion to fully restore and renovate all the buildings, proving that NYCHA has been underfunded for decades, so it is not shocking that corruption is taking place.

Although very different, Puerto Rico was finally given capital to rebuild after getting hammered by storms. The first thing that probably popped into anybody’s head after hearing that is how much corruption we think there will be and how much will go into rebuilding.

All of this is decades of underinvestment coming home. The worst part is these are people’s homes. People who live in NYCHA are the backbone of our cities. 17% of NYers live in public housing, which equals hundreds of thousands of people, bigger than Atlanta or Boston.

I am all for foreign investment, but investing at home impacts everything else. Unclear what will happen next at NYCHA, but it would be worth bringing in a separate agency to do a full-on audit to understand the need for 13,000 employees, to look at every single contract to see if the price is competitive and if that work is actually getting done inside the buildings as it is supposed to. Does it make sense that NYCHA is overseen by one group? Should there be divisions by borough and then one group over that?

So many questions should be asked, yet NYCHA woes might be budget-related, but the system is broken, and all sides are accountable, mainly for how NYCHA is expected to be managed. The saying is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” NYCHA is seriously broken, and it is time to take a look from the bottom up with investment from the Government while rethinking how NYCHA should be managed. Getting HUDD out of it would be a first step in the right direction.

Obviously, I am looking at my own backyard. I would assume that the same could be said in every state with public housing. The same goes for any infrastructure that our country has ignored for years. If you buy a house and do not maintain it, one day, the roof implodes. It doesn’t take much to understand how the lack of capital from the Government has created the problems that exist today.

This past week, I went on a girl’s outing for my sister’s birthday. I can’t remember the last time I have taken a vacation like that where I didn’t really work. I realized I needed more of that.  Recharging batteries at my age needs to happen more often.

So we went all out. We went to the Aman at Turks and Caicos.  I have wanted to go there for easily a decade. The last Aman we went to was in Utah, and we could see how new ownership was changing things up.  Lots of old-timers were moving on. 

Turks and Caicos beaches are stunning. Should the properties have a bit of a facelift?  For sure, but it isn’t saggy yet.  I hope they do not let things get to that stage. The people who work there are wonderful, but the staff is not as deep, so the service can not be up to the price you are paying. It is not humanly possible. 

We talked about brands on our trip. What happens to the Aman, who a Russian oligarch owns?  All of his properties are frequented by Americans, which is amusing at some level.

Yet, it will be interesting to see how they build out the brand. The Aman can not operate at the level it used to operate at because they are growing, and it is unclear that there are that many humans in the world that can keep all of them afloat at that cost. They will cut corners and become more like a high end Hyatt which is fine, these places are stunning.  The food sucks, and that must be fixed.  

I am curious to see where the Aman ends up and then, of course, who replaces it. There is still an audience for that experience and price, but unfortunately, it is no longer the Aman.

When I was a kid, we hung out at the Montgomery Mall. The mall opened in 1968, and we moved to that area in 1971. I remember first going to the mall and how unbelievable it was that so many stores were under one roof. Sears, Garfinkels and Woodroth and Lothrop were the anchor tenants. Two of these three stores do not exist anymore. Unclear what it was I would do all day, considering I did not have a credit card, but somehow dropping me off at the mall for hours on end appeared to be the thing to do. Perhaps built-in teenage babysitting.

Over the years, the mall evolved, eventually opening a food court, as all good malls do. At one point, cinemas entered, and new stores came and went. Finally, traffic slowly reached the point that the property was worth more than anything else.

1993 the mall was sold to a group, and Westfield took it over. The name has changed, of course, to the Westfield Montgomery. Spending that kind of money would make it seem that having your name on the wall is essential.

In 2018, the time came to completely renovate the place, as in knock it down and start again. Teens hanging out in the mall ceased, and so did endless shopping days at the mall, so the next generation needed to be built. Now, there is a hotel, housing, common areas, a vast complex, an ice skating rink, and tons of stores for food and other items. Having 717 residential units will be the ultimate key to their success.

If you have not been to Domino Sugar Factory, you are missing out on one of the best developments I have seen in a long time. Of course, there are no malls, thank god, but the stores are curated, and there is plenty of rental housing. 30% of that housing went to middle-income housing, and those people were awarded those places in an auction. There is an outstanding green area with plenty of different activities on the water.

We saw a film at 28 Liberty this past weekend that has been completely remodeled with pickleball courts inside, an art area, hanging areas, an Alamo Draft House, and plenty of new spaces to take over. It could eventually be an excellent spot for teenagers to hang out all day after a film.

How we interact and experience retail is changing. It is exciting to see developers begin to rethink their buildings and how people want to engage with them. Housing is also first and foremost, but having a supportive system for everyone living there is the right step towards building new communities, at least for now.

I love films. We have watched almost every film up for the Oscars this year, including foreign films. It was an excellent year for cinema. Perhaps one of the reasons we are seeing better films is the world of cinema is connected globally. Most of my favorite films these last few years have been made in other countries, and we can easily watch them. That was not as much the case a decade ago.

There are a few films that have stuck with me, so I am going to share. American Fiction and the Holdovers are entertaining films with underlying messages and excellent acting. Both are worthy of your time.

Anatomy of the Fall is a legal drama thriller set in France and keeps the viewer engaged from start to finish. The lead female lead character is in two top films this year. Past Lives is about two childhood friends who reconnect after two decades, having known each other as children. As one left to come to the US as a young child and the other grew up in Korea, their impact on each other speaks to everyone’s journey. The Zone of Interest refers to the restricted zone around Auschwitz. It is loosely based on Rudolph Hess, whose dream home is butted up against Auschwitz, where his wife lives raising their children. It is a stunning film that gives insight into the life of the elite Germans during WW2. Haunting. More foreign films are making it onto the list of the year’s top films.

Poor Things takes from Frankenstein and might be one of the most creative films I have seen in a long time. Emma Stone is phenomenal. Her character grows over the film and begins to find herself, which is complex and captivating. One scene might be one of the top scenes ever shot.

There are three foreign films nominated for best foreign film that I continue to think about. The Zone of Interest was nominated for Best Movie and Best Foreign Film, as I mentioned above. Society of the Snow is based on the true story of the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Alps in 1972 and their survival. The other one is Perfect Days, which tells the story of a Tokyo toilet cleaner who goes about his days over two weeks. It is slow, repetitive, and subtle. No matter how simple one’s life appears, everyone has their complexities.

Although not nominated for the Oscars, my favorite film is The Taste of Things. It is a masterful slow crescendo about food, community, love, and culture. It is exquisite. The food scenes dominate the film, I only wish that the theater provided the aroma to what was happening in the films kitchen. I loved this film; it is food for the soul.

I am not providing much context because I am far from a “reviewer of films,” but being able to enjoy this many films in one year and have them all impact me that still resonates is powerful and one of the most amazing things about the movies. As they say, see you at the movies!

On weekend afternoons, Fred and I like to lounge in the den and put on golf or basketball, but golf is definitely more chill, and while Fred naps, I usually get stoned and catch up on reading.

I love watching golf. I attempted to play it in between one of my careers, but it just didn’t stick. I get it, but the whole gestalt doesn’t work for me, although I applaud it.  

The Phoenix Open was this past weekend. It is an entirely different experience than any other open. Stadium box seating is built annually for this event. The concept is that this place is for the people. There is even a rope drop, like skiing, for a run that begins at 715am to get the best seats on the course—nothing quiet and elitist at this golfing event.

For every fan wearing green, WM gives $1 towards giving back, and that adds to the $14.5m that is towards giving back this past year. Charity is what it is all about, and their annual giving is impressive.

When it comes to sustainability, they are up there. It is part of their mission. What does WM do? They are a publically traded waste management company. The Zappos of waste management. The company does things like Zappos, but the principles are the driving force. I was blown away by the CEO, who seems to have led WM into a next-generation company.  Everything he was speaking about regarding charity sustainability and all the people was music to my ears. I was blown away.

These days, there is so much rhetoric that fuels anger that I have come to believe I am in the minority when it comes to empathy. That could be caring about lifting others, making our planet healthier, and doing the right thing without bureaucracy, but it is not something I have seen in a while. Could it possibly be that a publically traded company of this size seems to have done it right? If so, it makes me return to my optimistic self and gives me some faith in our future.

This past week, I spent much time walking the streets of NYC and attending events. The streets are alive. There are many new stores, restaurants, and art galleries.

At the start of the week, I went to the Shoppe Object trade show at Basketball City, where Gotham Goods had a booth. The place was booming, and the energy in the space felt good. It was a successful show, and we are excited about our new products, partnerships, and outlets.

That night, we had dinner at the Grill to celebrate. I love the Grill. It is iconic. The service is top-notch, and the food is delicious. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the Seagrams building, and Philip Johnson was the co-architect. The Grill is landmarked; those shimmering curtains and stunning bar can never change. If we ever have them, our great-great-grandchildren could sit at the same bar or eat in the same room, celebrating an event years from now just as we have done several times. Something about that feels insanely good.

I went to the PAC to see a production and am returning this week. I stopped by the kick-off party to celebrate the new Edie Parker cannabis line carried at Gotham. I walked the streets down to Lower Canal to see Yves Tessiers’ gallery opening at the Shrine. The streets were packed, and so were the events.

We went to Upside Pizza for lunch, and the line was out the door and around the corner.

I went to a Knicks Pacers game on Saturday night and to dinner at 11, where people had no intention of going home.

Spring was in the air this week, which feels strange yet good in February. The city has its share of problems, but a buzz on the streets feels insanely good.

My Grandmother, although she didn’t smoke cigarettes, had small glass holders for cigarettes in her living room. Her apartment was fancy, and in the ’70s, smoking a cig at someone’s home during a dinner party was the norm.

In 7th grade, I nabbed one of those cigarettes out of curiosity. I palmed a few and brought them home. I wanted to try one, which I shared with my mom. I remember sitting on her bed, lighting one up, and she said to me, “Now inhale,” and I coughed my head off. The lesson was noted: don’t smoke cigarettes.

I smoked cigarettes off and on through high school, college, and early adult life, but I was lucky to have a random gene where I never became addicted. I could smoke a few a week and then just put the pack down. When I lived in London during my junior year abroad, I smoked plenty, but once I got on the plane to come home, I decided to stop, and that was that.

I started getting stoned in eighth grade, and from the first time, I never understood why it was illegal. Compared to watching my peers tap into their parents’ alcohol on the weekends, finding them wasted or ill, cannabis was a walk in the park. It took the edge off in a good way.

Alcohol and cannabis are probably the top vices. Ends up, I was on to something. Twenty-six percent of Americans aged 18-34 say they prefer cannabis vs. five percent for cigarettes, which is considerable. Over half of Americans used cannabis in the past year, making alcohol numbers go down. It is not shocking that tobacco and alcohol companies are trying to jump into the cannabis space and are spending plenty on lobbying.

All of this added up makes us wonder, what is the Federal Government waiting for exactly?

I began building out the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival in the fall of 2010. My partner, Nancy Hechinger, was a professor at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and believed there were not enough women in tech. I wasn’t convinced about that, but I did believe that women network differently, and they were out there. To back up my theory, I began writing about women entrepreneurs almost weekly from November 2010 through 2016. We launched WEFest in January 2011, which ran for six incredible years.

Between writing about women, investing in women, and running a women’s festival, I got a front-row seat to a new generation of women using technology platforms to enter and build new industries.

I started to wane on writing those weekly women’s posts and began to think about a new medium. It was a group effort, and the move to the podcast Positively Gotham Gal started in November 2016. I kept that going until sometime last year when my career and bandwidth shifted.

I have had the honor of speaking with over 400 women about their careers and putting their stories out in public, and that doesn’t include the countless women I have talked to about their businesses. It has been a gift. There is no doubt that women should be leading the world. The good news is more women are, and it is about time. A lot of change has happened since 2010.

I want to acknowledge this, as the podcast just stopped without a word. I have shifted my time into building out Gotham, chairing the Public Housing Community Fund, and other things. I am still passionate about helping women rise in their chosen careers. At Gotham, most of our team are women. I have also worked on a docu-series about women that has yet to find someone who wants to take it on, but I will get there.

And so, RIP to the blog posts and podcasts highlighting incredible women. I loved doing it. It was just time for me to change into something new.

Perhaps last week, the NY cannabis rollout has finally come to a head, but that is the optimist in me. It is still unclear to me, and most others, how exactly the Office of Cannabis Management was set up during the Cuomo administration and precisely what rules and regs Hochul inherited.

Who actually gets to make decisions, how do they get made, and why is there a void in the leadership? There have been countless lawsuits and inconsistent decisions made. But again, this is what I read, what I hear, and how Gotham has attempted to wade through all of it.

Last week, Hochul finally blew a gasket. She called the rollout of New York State’s cannabis program a “disaster,” and said that it was unlikely the program could be fixed without significant changes to the cannabis legalization law itself. The comments were made in response to questions from the editorial board of the Buffalo News. “It’s not every street corner,” Hochul said, referring to illegal retailers in New York City. “It is every other storefront. It is insane. It is about time.

Regardless of everything that has come before, people inside the walls of this administration should want to make the Governor happy. The taxes and jobs lost over the past two years are unacceptable. That is, first and foremost, as it should be. Gotham Gives is supporting Hospitality Pathways, an organization that serves the cannabis, hospitality, and leisure industries with a program led by Beatrice Stein. Gotham has hired from this organization. People in underserved communities see the opportunities in these new businesses. This last cohort had 700 people apply for 20 seats. These are the jobs that create change. If all of these applicants can see it, why can’t the state get these licenses out so we can hire these people?

I continue to be optimistic but it is not easy.