MANHATTAN —Summer tends to be a bustling time for the rental market, but things are a little different this year. Many Manhattanites seem to be staying put, real estate experts said.

The number of new rentals in Manhattan dropped 7.7 percent to 4,605, according to a report released Thursday by Douglas Elliman, which found the average rental price rose 1.7 percent to $3,822 a month.

It was the third straight month where the number of new rentals declined from the year before, suggesting more tenants are renewing their leases, said Jonathan Miller, a real estate appraiser who wrote the Elliman report.  

It may be easier for landlords to keep their current tenants so they don't have to risk an empty apartment to renovate, and it may make more sense for tenants to pony up for increases rather than spend even more on moving expenses, he said.

The situation doesn't help the vacancy rate, which fell from 2.23 percent last year to 1.94 percent, according to the Elliman report.

"It's creating somewhat of a log jam," Miller said.

Brooklyn — where the average rent rose 8.2 percent to $3,035 a month — isn't faring much better, where the last two months saw the number of new rentals rise roughly 3 percent, down from double-digit rises in the previous few months, Miller said.

"With rents still near record highs, current city residents have little incentive to move," said Citi Habitats' President Gary Malin, whose firm's report found that the vacancy rate was up slightly to 1.28 percent, up from 1.20 last year.

"While still relatively low, this uptick in vacancy during the peak summer season is a sign that renters have reached their pain threshold," Malin said.

Jess Beck, a television producer who lives in Downtown Brooklyn near the Manhattan Bridge entrance, had been angling to leave the sleek high-rise she's lived in for two years for something cheaper in an area with more of a "neighborhood feel."

But her search is on hold, for now.

"The hassle of moving felt overwhelming at a time when both my husband and I were overwhelmed with work," she said. "Not to mention, the management company who owns our building didn't increase the rent for our new lease."

She'll revisit a possible move next year, she said.

Mark Menendez, Douglas Elliman's director of rentals, said prospective renters "now more than ever" were coming into the office to begin their searches, then opting to keep their own apartments at the last minute.

"They get the renewal letter from the landlord and say, 'You must be crazy.' And then they realize they can't get a better value," Menendez said.

Some Manhattanites who need to move, however, are looking further afield for new apartments.

"Compromise is the word of the day," he said.

Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Greenpoint and Williamsburg have seen steady interest for a while, but Menendez said he has been getting more inquiries for Queens neighborhoods like Long Island City and beyond.

"We're seeing Rego Park, Flushing and places that we usually don't get requests for," he said. "Bayside is pretty hot."

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Poker buffs have long argued that their game is one of skill, not luck. 

Even a district judge agreed last year, letting a man who organized Texas Hold 'Em games in a Staten Island warehouse off the hook.

Poker, unlike lesser games, didn't really violate anti-gambling laws, the judge concluded.

This week the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York disagreed, reversing the decision.

From Forbes:

“The ‘game of skill’ argument to support the legality of poker was a lie perpetrated by Online Poker companies to deceive consumers into depositing money on their gambling Internet sites,” said [Gambling Law attorney Mark] Lavery to FORBES.  ”I think this decision renders the skill argument a dead letter for loophole gambling like online poker and the so-called emerging ‘Daily Fantasy Sports’ craze. This ruling should not have an Impact on the Internet Poker Freedom Act.  That bill tries to legalize what is illegal gambling in almost all states —  online poker.”

Essentially, the court ruled that the whole "luck vs. skill" argument is immaterial. Poker is still gambling under New York state law and federal statutes. 

SEE ALSO: There Are No Signs Of A Slowdown In China's Favorite Gambling Destination

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You would think a $1 million would buy you a decent apartment in a nice neighborhood of New York City.

Maybe last year, but not anymore.

New York City is experiencing a shortage of nonluxury apartments, or units priced under $3 million, according to Businessweek. These nonluxury spaces have previously accounted for 90% of housing inventory in the city, but have plummeted by more than one-third in the last three quarters.

In contrast, the inventory of luxury apartments (the top 10% of the market) fell only 3.9%.

“For the bulk of the market, the 90 percent, it’s probably the most challenging period for a buyer in the 25-plus years that I’ve been observing the market,” Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a residential real estate appraiser, told Businessweek.

Nonluxury apartments are mostly sought after by first-time buyers. And in this market they may have to throw their tight budgets out the window.

The average price of a two-bedroom Manhattan apartment is $1.35 million, and adding another bedroom brings that price up to $2.63 million.

That is a 7.8% price increase from last year .

And just think what that could buy you in the rest of America. The national average for a single family home is $214,200.

Prices are being driven up as a result of a shrinking inventory and developers focusing on ultra-luxury buildings. And current owners are holding on to their properties, waiting for the market to full recover.

But, if you're in the market for a luxury space you're in luck. Prices of luxury apartments are down 8.9% to $5.25 million year over year.

Seems like a few extra million is the only difference between the lap of luxury and a standard two-bedroom.

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Weather forecasters are saying the East Coast could be in for another wind-whipping storm season, but is New York City prepared?

It’s been less than 10 months since hurricane Sandy sent surges of flooding saltwater into city streets and tunnels, devastating coastal residences and shutting down much of Manhattan’s southern tip.

But while the city continues to work tirelessly to clean up Sandy’s ravages – helping more than 20,000 residents rebuild, distributing more than 3 million meals, and clearing nearly 700,000 tons of debris – it is still sifting through a dizzying host of recommendations, both large and small, as it tries to make the nation’s largest metropolis more resilient to future storms.

RECOMMENDED: The 10 most expensive US natural disasters

Yet most of these efforts remain in planning stages – or rather, as discussion topics. To date, city agencies have been able to do little more than shore up existing emergency procedures.

"The City has done an enormous amount of planning, and there are a number of concrete steps that have been taken, including the new evacuation zones and the reconstitution of our stockpile for our shelters," says Christopher Miller, spokesman for New York's Office of Emergency Management. "But some of the larger mitigation efforts will take more time."

In June, Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a massive and far-reaching series of steps the city could take to protect itself from the threat of rising sea levels – as well as the kind of storm surge seen last October. The 438-page report had over 250 recommendations, including systems of levees and flood walls and long-range improvements to the city’s infrastructure – a $20 billion plan Mayor Bloomberg himself called “incredibly ambitious.”

“You have to realize that we're only 9 to 10 months since this all happened, and the universe of New York City can’t change that quickly,” says Dan Wurtzel, president of property management at FirstService Residential New York, which oversees about 600 residential apartment buildings in the city. Nearly 50 were damaged and 75 more lost power in last October’s storm.

But the city has been doing smaller, less-ambitious preparations, such as shoring up its beaches with higher sand dunes, revamping its evacuation zones for more efficient first responses, and restocking emergency supplies for city-wide emergency shelters.

And as the city rebuilds, officials are writing new codes for more hurricane-resistant buildings – especially for older structures. Mr. Wurtzel explains, “If your building is located in a flood zone, you may have to relocate your equipment above the ground floor, or you’ll have to put it in a watertight room. These are things that will probably come into effect, if they haven’t already done so.”

Yet experts continue to say that informing people how to prepare themselves remains a key part of hurricane preparation.

“Last year people had no idea in the Northeast that there is such a thing as a hurricane season,” says Alan Rubin, a government relations specialist with Cozen O'Connor, a New York-based law firm. “So at least now there’s information about it.... I think [the Bloomberg administration] has done a very good job in letting people know the hurricane season is here, what they should do, and people are paying attention to it.”

But Mr. Rubin, also a former vice president with the Miami-Dade Economic Development Agency, where he led major reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, believes that in addition to stockpiling electrical generators, water, and ready-to-eat food supplies, the city should also have a more decentralized structure to deal with the fog of emergency situations.

“We should have command centers in the boroughs that are independent of a central command center, because sometimes those communications are damaged," he says. “You should also be dealing with the utility companies, to make sure that they have set up a separate command center for first responders.”

In the end, however, New York may be at the mercy of Mother Nature this summer. “They took real steps before Sandy last year,” says Wurtzel. “Then the storm hit and it was a mess afterwards."

“The fact remains, if you live near water, and you get a bad storm, you’re going to feel those effects,” he continues. “There’s not much you can do to prevent the water from coming up, and we have to recognize the fact that we may be prone to a very strong hurricane that inflicts damage.”

RECOMMENDED: The 10 most expensive US natural disasters

Related stories

• The 10 most expensive US natural disasters
• Bloomberg details NYC plan to combat climate change (+video)
• Hurricane Sandy released billions of gallons of sewage
• Gov. Cuomo's grand plan post-Sandy: give some of New York back to nature (+video)

Though experts say the likelihood of another Sandy-like storm hitting New York is minuscule, on Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was a 70 percent chance this year’s Atlantic hurricane season would be “above normal,” predicting about six to nine hurricane-grade storms with sustained winds topping 74 mph. More ominously, the agency also said three to five of these storms could develop into major hurricanes, with winds of 111 mph or higher churning up the Atlantic Ocean and potentially threatening US coastal communities.

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“I think if we had another Sandy this summer, I think there’s no question that the city would be better prepared,” says David Reiss, a professor at Brooklyn Law School who teaches the impact of climate change on cities. “But I don't think they've made massive changes to how we do things – they have just dealt with it once, and know what the challenges are, and can be better able to implement and execute [emergency procedures.]”

In May, the city released its “After-Action” report, an extensive review of how well city agencies were able to implement such procedures, offering suggestions for improvements. Among these were improving the city’s 311 and 911 services, expediting the purchase of public safety equipment, and developing more comprehensive power backups for street lights and city residences. But most of these recommendations are simply that: recommendations.

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TripAdvisor just came out with a list of America's top 10 cities for pizza, and even though New York fell to the number four spot, one of the NYC pizza joints still at the top is the legendary Di Fara pizzeria.

When Dom DeMarco started making pizza 47 years ago, he never dreamed he'd be so successful that customers would wait hours for his pies.

But the now-famous Brooklyn pizza maestro says he always had confidence in himself.

Today, New Yorkers and tourists alike continue to flock to his Midwood, Brooklyn pizza mecca, Di Fara. And they do so despite the $5 per slice price, the two-hour waits, the one-hour commute from midtown Manhattan and some run-ins with the Health Department.

Why do they do it? Many say it's the finely calibrated combination of imported ingredients, a super-hot oven and an old-school approach — a formula DeMarco has personally perfected over the years, since no one else has ever made a pie at Di Fara.

Nonetheless, some still question if it lives up to the hype. Watch the video below and decide for yourself if it's worth the trip:

 Produced By Robert Libetti

Music: "Demain je change de vie" By Löhstana David

SEE ALSO: We Ate Balut — The Absolute Strangest Food You Can Find In New York City

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New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the state's for-profit career colleges see "alarmingly little oversight" and some are operating without licenses. 

In a report released this week, DiNapoli also said half of the schools audited by his office ignore reporting requirements on job placement and graduation rates.

"There is alarmingly little oversight of private career schools in New York, leaving too many young adults vulnerable to false promises,”DiNapoli said. “Schools have been allowed to operate without a license for years and some investigations into complaints were left open for 10 years or more. Millions of dollars and the education of thousands of New Yorkers are at stake. The State Education Department has taken some steps to tighten oversight but too many students may be getting taken for a ride if more isn’t done soon.”

The schools are technically under the supervision of the State Department of Education, and DiNapoli took the agency to task for its laxity.

In several instances, auditors found that when unlicensed schools were identified and contacted, SED took no action if the school did not respond.

When career schools apply for a license, the law requires SED to render a final decision within one year. Auditors found that of 148 applications, 66 (45 percent) were in pending status for more than one year and 20 applications were pending for at least two years.

DiNapoli found 18 colleges that appeared to be operating without a license. The report doesn't name any of the schools in violation of state rules.

He also noted the SED's scarily ancient technology platform:

SED’s management information systems are based on a mainframe application developed in 1988 that has limited functionality. About 20 databases have been developed over the years for various elements of the program, but they are not integrated with each other or with the mainframe. As a result, it is difficult to obtain all information about any particular school.

The audit covered 491 institutions, a little less than half of which were in New York City.

SEE ALSO: Yes, There Is A Way New York Resembles Detroit

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The Wall Street Journal's Robin Sidel says New York Department of Financial Services has subpoenaed about two dozen Bitcoin merchants as part of an inquiry into their compliance with the state's finance statutes.

Sidel says firms run by Marc Andreessen and the Winklevoss Twins received the notices.

Agency chief Benjamin Lawsky says he's considering setting new guidelines for money transmission laws specifically aimed at Bitcoin commerce.

We recently discussed the effect increased scrutiny from regulators could have on Bitcoin, and why it could end up becoming a victim of its own legitimacy.

So this seems likely to compound the issue.

Click here to read the full story on WSJ.com »

SEE ALSO: An Interview With One Of Bitcoin's Founding Developers

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A federal judge has ruled that the NYPD's stop and frisk program has violated the rights of tens of thousands of New York City residents, the New York Times reports.

In a 195-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that the police tactic, which saw innocent people stopped and frisked with little or no evidence of wrongdoing, violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

Additionally, the Associated Press reports that Judge Scheindlin has appointed Peter L. Zimroth, once a city lawyer and a former chief assistant district attorney, to lead a group that will oversee changes to the policy.

The decision came after four men had sued saying they were unfairly targeted because of their race. The NYPD's policy, known as stop, question and frisk, has seen at least five million people, mostly black and Hispanic men, stopped over the last ten years, the AP reports.

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During a news conference Monday afternoon, a defiant Mayor Michael Bloomberg denounced a federal judge's ruling on the New York Police Department's controversial stop and frisk program, claiming that the policy has saved lives. 

Earlier on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that stop and frisk has violated the rights of tens of thousands of New York City residents. Opponents of the program argue that cops racially profile people, and Scheindlin's ruling says police have stopped innocent people hundreds of thousands of times with no reason to suspect them of wrongdoing, according to The New York Times. Most of those who have been stopped have been black and Hispanic men.

Bloomberg vowed to appeal the judge's decision, arguing that stop and frisk has "made New York City the safest big city in America" and that NYPD officers "don't worry if their work doesn't match up to a census chart."

"As recently as 1990, NYC averaged more than six murders a day," Bloomberg said. "Today, we’ve driven that down to less than one murder a day. ... Stop, question, and frisk, which the Supreme Court of the United States has found to be constitutional, is an important part of that record of success."

NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly called the notion that police officers racially profile people "recklessly untrue" and assured reporters that "race is never a reason to make a stop."

He also said the NYPD is the most "racially and ethnically diverse police department in the world."

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Monday's decision from a federal judge could well mean there will be major reforms of the New York Police Department's controversial "stop and frisk" policy.

The practice, which allows the NYPD to stop, question and frisk people without cause, has been in place since 2002. Mayor Michael Bloomberg today defended the tactic in a press conference, arguing that it was partially responsible for a large drop in the city's crime rates, pointing out that murders are down 50% from 10 years ago.

Groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union argue that Bloomberg's claims are not supported by evidence. Many argue that the practice is unfair to New York City's young black and Hispanic men, who are those stopped most of the time. 88% of those stopped are released without charges.

To get a little idea of what it can be like to be "stopped and frisked," watch this video, released by The Nation last year, which tells the story of a Harlam teenager named Alvin who was stopped in 2011. Alvin decided to record his experience, and was threatened by the police officers, who also called Alvin a "f---ing mutt."

The audio is included in the documentary below around 3 minutes in:

The audio recording is believed to have been one of the only recordings of a hostile stop and frisk in action, but it may not be the last.

Following today's ruling, "stop and frisk" will be reviewed by a court-appointed monitor, and officers from the precincts that had the highest number of stops last year will be forced to wear body cameras to record the stops.

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UPPER WEST SIDE — In the past four months, the city has been taking down restaurants with rogue delivery riders, slapping them with nearly $300,000 in fines for breaking bicycle laws, records show.

A team of six Department of Transportation inspectors has rolled into neighborhoods in every borough but Staten Island, handing out violations to businesses that don’t properly outfit their delivery employees and bikes.

The inspectors have issued 2,965 tickets to more than 700 restaurants since April 24, according to city records. The blitz — an average of 27 tickets a day — is part of the city’s effort to ramp-up enforcement of commercial cycling rules following more than six months of education outreach.

Manhattan received the most violations, with its restaurants getting hit with 1,821. The majority of those penalties went to the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side and the East Village.

Brooklyn had the second most violations — 608 — followed by Queens with 297 and the Bronx with 239.

The restaurants that received summonses ranged from pizza chains like Domino’s to neighborhood staples like Zaytoon’s in Carroll Gardens — and even crowd-pleasers like BLT Burger in the West Village.

The restaurant with the most violations was Wok N’ Roll. Inspectors socked the Upper East Side Chinese eatery with six tickets on May 31, according to records.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told DNAinfo.com in a statement that the goal of the ticketing and her agency’s previous education campaign is to discourage restaurants from valuing speedy deliveries over safety.

“Cutting corners on safety just to make faster bike deliveries short changes every New Yorker,” she said. “Our sustained education effort helped deliver real results, putting equipment in deliverymen’s hands and getting out the message to thousands of businesses that safety isn’t optional.”

One of the city’s great luxuries is having General Tso chicken, a pizza pie or any cuisine imaginable ferried to an office or home at any hour in any weather.

But the ease of dialing up a meal or ordering it online, as any New Yorker knows, has also led to two-wheeled terrors toting bags of food barreling down sidewalks and riding the wrong way.

The frequency of bad biking in her neighborhood prompted Councilwoman Gale Brewer to sponsor legislation that gives DOT inspectors the power to hand out tickets to restaurants and cyclists who disobey commercial cycling rules. The legislation passed last fall.

From last summer to this spring, the DOT held forums around the city educating restaurants about the rules and handing out free gear.

Restaurants are required to equip their delivery bikes with bells and lights. Their riders must wear a helmet, a vest identifying their restaurant and a unique ID number. They also cannot use electric bikes, which have become a popular mode of transportation.

When April 24 arrived, the DOT’s six inspectors started issuing summonses by targeting neighborhoods in the four boroughs where communities requested outreach. The program hasn’t launched yet in Staten Island, but the DOT hopes to expand the safety-initiative program in the future.

The inspectors go door to door to restaurants, checking for compliance and respond to 311 complaints. They also conduct inspections at restaurants after observing riders bicycling without the proper gear.

The DOT can issue a summons to the restaurant for failing to equip a bicycle or the cyclist and for failing to post safety rules in their business. (NYPD officers can also hand out tickets for traffic violations) Restaurants must pay $100 for the first DOT summons, but the amount jumps to $250 the second offense.

The enforcement has already received praise.

“Yes, it's better,” Councilwoman Brewer said of the commercial-cyclist conditions in her neighborhood, the Upper West Side.

Brewer said she has noticed fewer delivery workers riding on the sidewalk. She said the vests with the restaurants’ names have also made a difference.

“They can see the name of the restaurant and have some confidence they could call 311 with a complaint,” she said.

She still believes that education needs to continue, especially since new restaurants and employees are always moving in. She said Community Board 7, which covers the Upper West Side, reminds restaurants of the rules whenever they apply for a liquor license or sidewalk café.

Restaurant owners have so far kept quiet about the new penalties and increased oversight. The industry already faces routine health and building code inspections and had to fend off a ban on 16-ounce sodas.

“There is always a fine line between regulation and interference with small business,” said Andrew Moesel, the spokesman for the New York State Restaurant Association. “We understand that there are some bad actors who are making our streets less safe for pedestrians. By and large, the vast majority comply with the bike laws.”

Even restaurants that received DOT violations haven’t complained.

Wok N’ Roll had to pay $600 in fines after receiving six tickets. Its manager, Kim Chew, welcomed the enforcement.

“It’s for our safety,” she said. “I think it’s reasonable.”

But the restaurant still has a few rogue riders.

A reporter spotted a Wok N’ Roll employee on Tuesday hop on an electric bike without a helmet or vest to make a delivery. He cycled the wrong way on First Avenue.

When asked about the employee breaking the rules, Chew said, “Oh, he forgot.”

SEE ALSO: 25 Vintage Photos From The Glory Days Of Aviation

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Boomers have slowly but surely started ditching the suburbs in favor of trendy urban neighborhoods across the country.

More than one million baby boomers moved within five miles of the 50 largest cities in the last 10 years, according to real estate brokerage site Redfin.

They could be looking to downsize to cut costs or just sniffing out a good place to retire, but there's no doubt that boomers are drawn to city life and all the perks that come with it. 

This could mean bad news for younger people looking to settle down. The wealthier and older a community gets, the more likely it will drive up property values and push everyone else out. 

The price for a condominium in the U.S. has risen 11% in the past year, according to the National Association of Realtors, and city rentals can be 200% as expensive as those in the suburbs.

There's no better example of how pricey real estate can change the demographics of communities than New York City.

Toll Brothers, a home building company that builds nationwide, told the Wall Street Journal that in their newest build in Gramercy Park, a trendy, upscale neighborhood in Manhattan, 75% of buyers were boomers. And just over the East River in the hipster haven of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, another property was 35% boomer-occupied.

Already, builders are reacting to older demand, adding perks like high-end fitness centers, club houses, common rooms and wine storage rooms to appeal to their arguably more refined tastes.

New York City leaders have long debated the soaring cost of rent but little has been done to prevent it.

It was enough to get Girls actress Lena Dunham to speak up at a recent fundraiser for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D), who is running for comptroller.

Rising rent prices, she said, will only drive away the struggling artists and young people who give the city its unique flavor. And she's right, said Business Insider politics editor Josh Barro:

"Policies that limit development in Manhattan are the reason that Girls is set in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and not in Manhattan — and they're the reason that people less economically fortunate than the characters on Girls can't even afford to live in Greenpoint.

The irony here is that people lament how the city is changing and losing economic diversity, but policies designed to prevent change actually make the city less affordable." 

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Growing up in Harlem, John Catsimatidis was never thinking of getting into business. While studying engineering at New York University, he delivered groceries at Sloan's Supermaket.  After a couple of years, his boss, Tony sold him his stake in the store. 

As he recalls, "He sold me half the business for ten thousand dollars in notes and said, 'pay me whenever you have it.'"

In less than four years he opened ten more outposts. Not only was he able to pay Tony back, he also succeeded in making  his first million.

Catsimatidis also went on to buy the Gristedes grocery store chain, and turned into a profitable franchise.

Watch below to hear his rags to riches story. Catsimatidis is currently running for New York City mayor in the Republican primaries.

Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis

Additional Camera by Daniel Goodman

SEE ALSO: The Supermarket Tycoon Who's Running For NYC Mayor Tells Us What He Really Thinks Of His Opponents

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Summer in New York City can be unbearable.

Heat radiates off the concrete, making the city feel like it's a solid 20 degrees hotter than nearby suburbs, the overcrowded streets are a sweat-fest, and the subway platforms turn into inadvertent saunas.

So during the dog days of summer, New Yorkers look for any excuse to escape the city.

The Hamptons is a favorite weekend getaway, but a weekend in the Hamptons can feel suspiciously similar to a weekend in New York City (albeit on the beach), as the entire in-crowd shuffles between the city and the island.

But there are places where you can actually get away from the crowds, the scene, and the hustle and bustle. Find yourself in a truly laid-back state-of-mind at any one of these three weekend retreats from New York City.

The Catskills

The Catskills epitomize laid-back retreat.

There are no sceney lounges nor swanky hotels here.

There are, however, farmer's markets serving fresh-off-the-farm produce, quaint small towns, and breathtaking natural scenery--the rolling mountains here inspired James Fenimore Cooper and his famous historical novel, The Last of the Mohicans.

Distance from New York City: Woodstock is just over 100 miles from the city.

Where to Stay in the Catskills

The Emerson Resort & Spais one of the few large luxury properties in the area; it's got a great spa (try their Emerson Signature Massage at $105 for a 50-minute massage, which uses Warm herbal infused oils).

For a more offbeat experience, book a cabin, suite, or trailer at Kate's Lazy Meadow, owned by Kate Pierson of the B-52s. She tried to create her own version of "Love Shack" right here in the Catskills; the eclectic accommodations are retro chic with bright furnishings and kitschy decor.

Where to Eat in the Catskills

The charming town of Phoenicia is home to Brio's Restaurant & Pizzeria, which serves delicious pizza baked in a wood-fired oven plus an array of fresh salads, sandwiches, and more.

For breakfast, head to Sweet Sues, just down the street from Brio's, for hearty portions of mouthwatering pancakes, waffles, omelets, and fresh-out-of-the-oven baked goods.

Woodstock is a vegan's dream: try the Garden Cafe on The Greenfor creative vegan cuisine.

For dinner, try to score a reservation at Peekamoosein Big Indian. The owners here have a serious pedigree (they've served stints at some of New York's best restaurants, including Le Bernardin, Gramercy Tavern, and Atlantic Grill), and chose to open up this homey yet refined restaurant in a restored farmhouse closer to the source of their produce. Try their slow braised beef short ribs--they are melt-in-your-mouth amazing.

The quirky, from-the-land, DIY spirit is alive and well in Woodstock, albeit in a 21st-century guise. Hipsters are the new-age hippies here, peddling hunting jackets and homemade soap, looking for fresh air, peace, quiet, and a proper (seasonal, sustainable) dinner to top it all off. Fathom contributor Anna Balkrishna tells it on a mountain.

CATSKILL MOUNTAINS, New York – You know you're a New Yorker when you measure your love for the city by how easily you can escape it in two hours or less. So when the Boyfriend gave us the assignment to skip town after work on Friday, I immediately suggested Woodstock (two hours and eight minutes away, according to Google Maps). The little Catskills hamlet has everything we love in a weekend getaway: the great outdoors, great food, and just enough local weirdos to keep things interesting.

GET INTO TOWN

Woodstock will forever be associated with the 1969 music festival that happened in nearby Belden, and there's plenty of hippie kitsch around town as a reminder. You know it's serious when the local elementary school has a Flying V guitar statue on the lawn. The wafts of nag champa down Tinker Street even inspired us to seek out a little "counterculture," but that turned out to be surprisingly hard to do. "You gotta go to Saugerties for that," the Boyfriend was told when he tried to buy a legal clove cigarette at the Not Fade Away smoke shop. (Foiled by the Man! Just like in college, except our IDs are real this time.)

If you look past the tie-dye emporiums and energy healers, though, Woodstock has its own laid-back sense of style. Evolve Design Gallery stocks a small but impeccable array of Scandinavian home furnishings, like sleek birch tea trays and textiles. Woodstock General Supply has high-end sportswear that would look just dandy on the streets of Soho — on our last trip, the BF had his eye a beautiful waxed Fjällräven field jacket that was marked 50 percent off. Reward yourself for your efforts with a salted caramel pretzel cone from Taco Juan's, the only Mexican restaurant I know that's famous for ice cream instead of tacos.

GET OUT OF TOWN

Woodstock is located in the midst of Catskill State Park, which means opportunities abound for wearing yoga pants in natural splendor. If you only have one afternoon, drive up Rock City Road to reach a 2.4-mile gravel hiking trail up to the top of Overlook Mountain. I found the ascent "challenging," but resolved to finish once I saw little kids passing me, and was soon glad I stuck it out. At the 2-mile mark, we came upon the burned-out ruin of an old building: The Overlook Mountain Hotel, which was built in 1871 and endured the usual series of fires and reconstructions until it finally succumbed for good in the ‘60s. The remaining stairways and fireplaces, slowly crumbling under the growth of trees, are the best kind of spooky. Just a little further up the trail, you'll be rewarded with a breathtaking panoramic view of the Hudson Valley and the Ashokan Reservoir. Beware of falling rocks and couples getting engaged at the lookout point.

SETTLE DOWN

If you know me, then you know that the BF and I like to strike out on our own when staying in small towns — you can find good deals on cottages like this one on AirBnB. Another cool alternative is the Aspects Inn & Spa, a renovated 1910 colonial house that's been transformed into two private apartments for guests. The downstairs apartment leads directly onto the spa: an airy, light-filled space equipped with hot tubs, saunas, and a 40-foot indoor pool. You can book a massage during your stay; since this is Woodstock, your dogs are welcome to join you.

GRILL UP OR EAT OUT

If you have access to an open flame, nothing beats picking up a couple steaks from the excellent Woodstock Meats, along with local organic produce from Sunflower market next door. But if you must eat out, there are plenty of super-fresh cafes to pick from. We gravitated towards the Landau Grill, as much for their outdoor patio seating and dirty martinis as for menu items like the "New Age" Cobb salad (grilled tofu and peppers replace the chicken and bacon) right next to a host of BBQ options. Hands down, though, the must-eat meal in Woodstock is dinner at Bear Cafe. The restaurant is a romantic space that includes outdoor deck seating next to a lovely creek. Bear Café's twists on New American cuisine — grapes in the kale salad, grilled salmon atop delicate coconut curry — are inventive and worth the visit. It's just an added bonus that you might spy any number of famous faces at dinner; when we were there, we snuck peeks at Helena Christensen (she's still gorgeous, in case you were wondering) and some original members of Steely Dan (they're, uh… less so). Clearly, there's room for all of us in Woodstock.

This story originally appeared on Fathom.

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One of the leading real estate database sites, Zillow, just bought StreetEasy, a small competitor focused on New York listings, for $50 million.

The purchase will give the company an advantage in the New York City market over other real estate giants such as Trulia and Redfin.

Watch the report below on why Zillow decided on the acquisition.

Produced by Reuters

SEE ALSO: Why Everyone Is Outraged At The Founder Of Bleacher Report For Making A Website For Women

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A luxury high-rise apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side is set to have a so-called “poor door” — a separate entrance for low-income residents receiving subsidized housing.

The 33-story building — 40 Riverside Boulevard – being developed by Extell Development Company will have 219 condominiums selling for more than $1 million each.

But by including 55 affordable housing units on the first few floors renting at a starting price of $845 a month, the developer could get a tax break, according to the West Side Rag.

With this disparity between the million-dollar condos for purchase versus the units for rent at a phenomenally low price for Manhattan, the developer decided to design the building with separate entrances for those who own condos and those who rent at a price below market value. As one might expect, this “rich door,” “poor door” situation doesn’t sit well with some.

“This ‘separate but equal’ arrangement is abominable and has no place in the 21st century, let alone on the Upper West Side,” Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat, told the West Side Rag. “A mandatory affordable housing plan is not license to segregate lower-income tenants from those who are well-off. The developer must follow the spirit as well the letter of the law when building affordable housing, and this plan is clearly not what was intended by the community.”

Although the building is still under construction, it already has some residents who shared their opinion about the separate entrances with WNYW-TV:

“It should be one door for, I guess, one building and share the access equally – yeah,” said one resident.

“I guess this is a good compromise in order for them to build their building and also provide housing for other people,” added another resident.

That said, it is not entirely uncommon for housing in New York City to have separate entrances such as these. The West Side Rag reports: The city calls this inclusionary zoning.

Of course, the irony is that the poor are excluded from renting apartments in the market-rate side of the building. The “affordable” part of the building is completely separate from the luxury section, with its own entrance and elevator.

The local community board wrote a letter to the city’s planning and housing departments asking them to at least make sure the developer includes measures to “avoid a situation in which the Affordable Housing tenants are relegated to the status of second class citizens.”

Extell said in a statement to 1010 WINS Sunday that the rental units will provide “high quality affordable residences in a beautiful neighborhood – residences we are confident will attract no shortage of applicants.”

In order to be eligible for one of the 55 subsidized rental units, applicants need to make less than 60 percent of the median income — $51,450. Renters will be chosen through a lottery system, according to the West Side Rag.

Watch WNYW’s report about the controversial but legal separation of the two unit styles.

SEE ALSO: Boomers Would Be Wise To Get Out Of The Suburbs

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Imagine if the federal government abolished food stamps and replaced them with need-based price mandates on supermarkets.

That is, supermarkets would be required to make a percentage of their sales at regulated "affordable" prices to needy families. The regulated prices would often be below cost, so supermarkets would raise prices on everybody else to make up for the loss.

Since we don't want any "classist" dietary divisions, the regulated products would span the range of tastes and prices: if rich people are buying lobster, so must poor people, even if that means the program can feed fewer people overall.

Supermarkets would probably complain about the cost of all this, so the federal government would give them compensating tax breaks.

It would also contain their losses by capping participation in the "affordable food program" and creating a waiting list. Once you got in, you could buy cheap food as long as you want it, but until then you'd be stuck waiting and hungry.

Why make this change? Well, food stamps cost money, but this program would have no direct cost to taxpayers. And while food stamps often lead to poor people buying food from cheap supermarkets in poor neighborhoods, this program would end food segregation, ensuring that people of all economic classes eat similar foods from similar sources.

This idea probably sounds insane to you, because it is. But it's roughly the same as New York City's "inclusionary zoning" strategy for providing affordable housing.

We require and incent developers who build market-rate housing to also sell or rent some units in the same developments at cut-rate prices. The idea is that affordable housing shouldn't just be affordable and livable; it should be substantially similar in location and character to new luxury housing. If rich people are getting brand new apartments overlooking the Hudson River, so should some lucky winners of affordable housing lotteries.

Hence the outrage over the "poor door" at a planned luxury condo project that Extell will build on Manhattan's Upper West Side: market-rate buyers will use one entrance, while tenants in the project's affordable housing component will use another. Affordable apartments will also be on low floors and, unlike many of the market-rate units, they won't face the Hudson River.

Getting mad about the "poor door" is absurd. The only real outrage is that Extell had to build affordable units at all.

New York's housing advocates are right about one very important thing: upzonings are a windfall for landowners and the city should be asking for something in exchange for allowing more development. But what it should be asking for isn't luxury apartments with river views to give out by lottery. It should be asking for cash.

That is: Upzone land so more housing units can be built to meet supply. Let developers decide what to build and what to charge for it based on market forces. Charge developers substantial fees to access those newly-created development rights. Collect full-freight property taxes on new property that gets built. Use tax and fee proceeds to pay for projects of broad use to New Yorkers, including housing subsidies.

Even though they are an artifical creation, it is probably best to think about development rights in New York City as a natural resource. If there's oil under your land, the value of the land is the value of the oil less the cost of extracting it. If you have buildable land, its value is what you can sell a developed property for less the cost of construction. When the city upzones land, it creates value out of thin air; the instinct to demand something from landowners in exchange for this creation is perfectly reasonable.

But windfalls from upzoning are a limited resource: You can charge the developer the value of the windfall, but if you charge more he won't bother to build. And the more you charge in the form of a mandate (such as an affordability mandate that reduces rents generated by a development) the less you can charge in tax.

Let's imagine that the city forces Extell to get rid of the "poor door" and spread the affordable units throughout its new project. Since the affordable units will therefore be on higher floors with better views, Extell will earn a smaller profit. Now, the deal economics are probably so compelling that Extell would build anyway. But all that indicates is that the city could also let Extell proceed with the "poor door" plan and charge them an additional fee, revenues from which could have been used to create more affordable housing elsewhere in the city.

Or, it could simply let Extell build whatever it wants and charge an even larger fee and even more in tax.

The city's choice to impose so many mandates is undermining its tax base. Often, the city awards tax abatements to developers in exchange for building affordable housing. As of 2012, property tax abatements in New York City lead to $2.9 billion in annual lost revenue, about 20% of actual property tax collections in the city. About half of those abatements relate to programs that promote new construction of affordable housing.

That is, even though they are off-budget, New York's inclusionary zoning programs have a very large fiscal cost.

Inclusionary zoning looks like a much worse deal when you realize it's not free. If the city received an extra $10 million to spend on affordable housing, it would be crazy to spend that upgrading the views of existing subsidized tenants rather than helping more people afford more apartments. But that's effectively the choice the city makes by pursuing inclusionary zoning instead of just permitting and taxing market-rate development.

Our country's nutritional support programs recognize that food is a market good and the way you make it affordable is by helping people buy it on the open market even if they have few financial resources. New York would do well to realize that applies to housing, too—and to stop freaking out about the poor door.

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A software engineer wants to teach the homeless how to code, namely, a particular man he passes on his way to work every morning.

"It’s that feeling you get when you know the waiter, the cashier, the janitor is in the wrong place—they are smart, brilliant even. This is my attempt to fix one of those lost pieces," 23-year-0ld Patrick McConlogue wrote this week in a post on Medium. 

But his post has caused a lot of backlash yesterday, with many calling McConlogue's proposal insensitive.

Here's how McConlogue proposes to make it work: Today, he'll to talk to the homeless man and give him two options. The first is $100 in cash. The second is a laptop and some coding books. If the homeless man accepts the laptop and coding books, McConlogue writes that he'll leave for work an hour early each day and teach the man how to code.

UPDATE: The homeless guy accepted the offer. More info here >>

In an interview with Business Insider, McConlogue defended his controversial post. He said there's a high demand for coders and he believes with two months of training, he can successfully teach this homeless man, who he has dubbed "The Journeyman Hacker" until he learns his real name, the skills necessary to be able to code as a profession.

In response to the backlash, McConlogue said he wishes he chose different words for his post. Currently, he has 139 emails in his inbox about it.

"The point of the post is I want to help this one homeless guy I see on my way to work and here's how I think I could do it," he said. "It's all I have to offer. I can't give him more than $100. I can't give him a house."

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Reshma Saujani has been working 18-hour days. It's been more than one year since she married tech entrepreneur Nihal Mehta, and the couple still hasn't taken a honeymoon.

Instead, Saujani's face has been popping up on television sets around New York. Her fundraisers have attracted powerful tech supporters like Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and Square founder Jack Dorsey.

All the hard work is leading up to one monumental day for Saujani, who is running for New York City Public Advocate on September 10. Winning could catapult the career in politics she's always dreamed of. Losing (again) would be a devastating set back.  

Saujani, 37,  appears confident and accomplished in her pursuit to win over voters. But she hasn't always felt that way. Throughout her career, Saujani has overcome a lot. It took three tries before she was accepted into Yale Law School. Her book, Women Who Don't Wait in Line, was written as therapy after she lost a 2010 congressional race. 

Her resilience comes from her upbringing. Saujani's parents were refugees.

Saujani spoke with Business Insider about what drives her to pound down doors, how she's overcome political scandals, and how failure caused her to found an influential high school program, Girls Who Code.

*                  *                  *                  *

Reshma Saujani begins her day at 6 a.m. From there, she's off to Queens, the Bronx, or the Upper West Side to meet voters. Her afternoons are spent visiting senior centers, churches, and women's organizations. Evenings are full of fundraising events, picnics, or house parties to garner support for the campaign. 

Nearly 500 volunteers support Saujani in her mission to become New York City's Public Advocate, and almost all of them are students still in high school or at local colleges like Barnard and Columbia.

"Some of them think they may want to run for office someday," Saujani says. "I have an amazing team, both in Girls Who Code and my campaign, and I think I'm as effective as I am because of the people who surround me."

Saujani grew up in Chicago as the daughter of refugee parents who fled Uganda in 1973 to escape its dictator, Idi Amin.

"My father always tells the story that they took out a map of the United States, got a dart, threw it and [Chicago is] where it landed," she says.

Growing up in the Midwest as an Indian American was "challenging to say the least," she says. That, paired with her father's stories about Uganda, caused her to strive for more and make a dent in politics.

"The Indian community didn't participate in the political process in Uganda, so my father at a very young age always talked to me about the importance of being involved and participating in democracy," Saujani recalls. 

Saujani attended University of Illinois, Urbana. She interned for Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign, where her love affair with politics really began. "You really had a sense that people were participating in a conversation about our country for the very first time [during the Clinton-Gore election," she says.

It took three applications and physically banging on the dean's front door to get into Yale law school, where she'd been dreaming of going since age 12.

"I got rejected, wait listed, and finally on the third time I took a train to New Haven and knocked on the Dean's door and was like, 'You have to let me in,'" she says.

I got rejected, wait listed, and finally on the third time I took a train to New Haven and knocked on the Yale Dean's door and was like, 'You have to let me in.'

(Saujani had been introduced to the dean through one of her mentors, so she wasn't a complete stranger.)

It worked, and she graduated from Yale Law School in 2002.

Saujani doesn't offer up information about her start on Wall Street, but her professional career kicked off there. She joined law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell after graduation then went to investment firm, Carret Asset Management, which was later caught in a scandal.

The firm's principal owner, Hassan Nemazee, was convicted on felony charges for $292 million bank fraud. The illegal activity occurred while Saujani worked there. She denied knowing anything about the fraud, and left Carret for another firm.

For a politician especially, a fraudulent employer isn't something you want on your resume. Positioning yourself as a Wall Street supporter, like Saujani did early on in her first campaign, doesn't win over the popular vote either. Earlier this year, Saujani was accused of trying to erase her financial past after her Wikipedia page was heavily edited. Saujani insists she has nothing to hide.

"People know that I worked in financial services like they know my hair is brown or my name is Reshma," she says. "It's never been something that I've hidden or I'm ashamed of." She says the Wikipedia page was edited to merely delete misinformation and add new milestones. "If it was something we were trying to hide, we would have hired some guy from, like, Omaha, to do it and not my staff to make those changes."

As Saujani tells it, her decision to leave Wall Street and corporate America to run for political office was inspired by Hilary Clinton's concession speech in 2008 when she lost the Democratic presidential primary to Barack Obama.

"In it, she said: 'Just because I failed doesn't mean you shouldn't try too,' and I really felt like she was talking to me," Saujani says. "I quit my job and ran for Congress in this upstart race that I had no chance of winning but swore that I did."

Running for Congress was ambitious and foolhardy, especially against a candidate as popular as Carolyn Maloney. Maloney was first elected to City Council in 1982 and to Congress ten years later. Saujani wanted it badly though, and she took heat for using an aggressive tactic that falsely accused her competition of being investigated by the Ethics Committee. Still, the underdog candidate was able to raise more than $1 million from Wall Street honchos, political influencers, and tech executives.

All her hard work wasn't enough though; Maloney won by a landslide. Although the loss to Maloney wasn't surprising, it was devastating for Saujani. 

"When I first decided to run for Congress people said, 'You shouldn't run for Congress, you should run for City Council or for a smaller office,'" Saujani says. "I just don't think that we tell men that. I think that if we're really trying to crash through the glass ceiling, we're really trying to change these abysmal numbers we have for [women in] leadership, we actually have to tell women to take more risks, not less, and to really have them embrace failure."

The painful loss caused Saujani to create some of her most well-known achievements to date.

"I started writing 'Women Who Don't Wait In Line' as therapy," she says. "After I lost my congressional campaign, I was confused about what I could do next. I felt like, 'Wow, I really lost. We ran a really great campaign, we talked about the ideas, we raised resources.' But after I lost, my phone wasn't ringing. Nobody was calling me to say, 'Okay, what do you want to do next?' I often think with men, when they face the same circumstance, there's people there to pick them up."

Saujani decided to try again. Now, in her next race, Saujani is leaning on technology to set her apart from the pack.

Her campaigns have received support from Square CEO Jack Dorsey, Randi Zuckerberg (sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg), Gilt Groupe co-founder Alexis Maybank, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Dorsey, whom Saujani met while he was transitioning from Twitter to Square, threw a fundraiser for her. Saujani's husband, Nihal Mehta, founded an advertising retargeting startup called LocalResponse. He is the biggest cheerleader for her candidacy in the startup community.

Saujani sees similarities between what she's building and the technology founders who have backed her. 

"Campaigns are a lot like startups," she says. "It's like starting a multi-million-dollar business in less than 12 months. I think learning how to build an operation, how to build a team and how to build your message is such a valuable skill set and for me, it's allowed me to talk about the issues that I really care about."

The upcoming election doesn't look promising for Saujani. A June Wall Street Journal poll showed Saujani with just 4% of the democratic vote, behind current City Council rep Letitia James (17%), university professor Catherine Guerriero (16%), and State Senator Daniel Squadron (8%). 

One initiative that will live on even if the September primary doesn't swing Saujani's way is Girls Who Code.

Saujani launched Girls Who Code last summer as an eight-week intensive program where high school women learn the basics of Ruby, HTML, Java, and more. They meet technology leaders like Facebook's Sherly Sandberg and Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo (Saujani says when the girls met Sandberg, they started screaming like she was Beyoncé). The women in the program then help launch clubs at their schools so they can teach others what they've learned.

Saujani says she never would have founded Girls Who Code if she hadn't lost the 2010 election.

"That race showed me this huge technology divide we have in our city," she says. "My district had some of the wealthiest high schools in America and some of the poorest. So I'd see some that would have a robotics lab and others with one computer in the basement or in a church." She says she's had to teach some impoverished teens how to use a computer mouse.

She's a strong believer that tech is at the center of alleviating poverty and transforming New York City's economy. "We have 1.4 million jobs that are open in the computing-related fields and almost 300,000 jobs open in the state and we don't have people to fill them." When Saujani realized that 56% of the work force is women but only 18% of engineers are women, she wanted to help level the playing field. 

Girls Who Code has become a bigger movement than Saujani ever intended. Powerful women in tech, such as eBay CMO Richelle Parham helped her create awareness for it and raise money to fund it. 

Saujani considers the lack of women in engineering and computer science "the most important domestic issue of our time."

I think that the lack of women in engineering and computer science is the most important domestic issue of our time.

And if she does make it into office, she's going to make some changes.

"There's a lot of people who believe that the government cannot innovate. I actually might get there and feel that way, but I feel it is incumbent upon me to win and to make the government innovative, to get these types of programs, and to get computer science education in every classroom," she says.

"If that's the only thing I do as Public Advocate, I will have been successful. Because I believe that every day that goes by as a country, we're in trouble because our kids are so far behind other nations."

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