From Taxi Driver to Real Estate Mogul

From hack to mogul:
David Edelstein (not the film critic)

David Edelstein--the president of TriStar Capital LLC, a leading New York City-based real estate firm that supposedly recently purchased the Chelsea hotel, according to Curbed.com--started out as a Manhattan cab driver, according to this New York Daily News article.

An ex-cab driver who grew up in Bayside, Edelstein borrowed $15,000 in 1981 from a Queens bookie to buy his first building. He paid $75,000 for a five-story walk up on 85th St. and First Ave. owned by two older Italian ladies.

Taxi driving was a night job. He picked up the cab near Shea Stadium. Pocketing $120 per shift, Edelstein learned the city of the late 1970s cold. He watched Amsterdam Ave. from 70th to 80th St. go from drug den to 20-story residential buildings as the city used tax incentives to escape a recession some say was worse than now.

By day, he worked as a real estate canvasser for Nehring Brothers, a Washington Heights-based management company who bought and sold properties. He made $75 per week plus commission going door-to-door meeting building owners. His territory was 59th to 96th St. from Lexington Ave. to the East River. ... READ REST

I love these stories that prove the American Dream is still alive and well.

Comments

The Girl in the Blue Mustang

MSNBC hides crime-scene photo in plain sight. Just watched a repeat of The Girl in the Blue Mustang , on MSNBC's Dateline . I am addicted to those shows: Dateline ID , 48 Hours , On the Case With Paula Zahn . It is amazing how popular this genre has become; you can find a murder docudrama on 24/7 these days thanks to all the channels available on cable. I am old enough to remember when 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 were it – and 13 rarely.

Tom Selleck's 'Fitz Special' Brings Reality to Blue Bloods

PLEASE READ FIRST READER'S COMMENT BELOW FOR IMPORTANT CORRECTION TO THIS POST [THANK YOU, ANONYMOUS] Is it me or does Tom Selleck 's character Frank Reagan (NYC's fictional Police Commissioner) in Blue Bloods remind you of the character A.J. Cooper, which he played on the now-cancelled but former hit show Las Vegas ? Those of you who watched both shows will notice that both character's are wearing the same gun, which I thought was a 1911, but now, after watching an episode of Blue Bloods where it is specifically mentioned, I understand it is called a Fitz Special. (And I have been reading that he may have even worn the same pistol in Magnum P.I. ; Selleck is a gun collector, I bet it is his own piece.) The website wethearmed.com , a weapons-enthusiast site, offers some interesting insight into Selleck's understanding of guns, and the Fitz Special in particular. I quote: "Anyways, as you are all aware I am sure Tom is a real gun guy. I was watching an epis...

What Was Up With Hitler's Mustache?

I could never understand it. Why did he wear it? It looked so ridiculous! I am talking about Adolf Hitler and that toothbrush mustache he wore most of his life. During WWI we see pictures of him wearing the rich, luxurious handlebar that most other German soldiers also wore, but when he showed up in a suit ready to tackle politics he had trimmed the thing down. Well, now I know, and it makes perfect sense: Hitler and other WWI German soldiers had to trim their flowing mustaches to facilitate the wearing of gas masks ; it makes sense that Hitler would wear it from then on, despite the changing styles and jibes from friends who dared to jibe him. His WWI experience was so important to him, it defined who he was and why he did what he did. From Wikipedia a bit more background on that mustache: The Toothbrush moustache (also called Hitler moustache or Hitlerstache, Charlie Chaplin moustache, 1/3 moustache, philtrum moustache,the postage stamp, or soul (mou)stache) is a moustache,...

Requiem for an Editor

Search This Blog