Good morning. It’s Monday. We’ll find out how the changing economy is affecting the stores run by Goodwill NYNJ. We’ll also get details on high-profile endorsements in a high-profile congressional race in Manhattan.
Brick-and-mortar stores have been battered by the online economy, and the city’s affordability crisis has changed shoppers’ habits in other ways as they spend more on everyday expenses like groceries. All that has been auspicious news for Goodwill NYNJ. It operates four stores in the five boroughs, along with two outlets where it sells merchandise by the pound. It says that its revenue is up 16 percent from its last fiscal year, and it has just moved one of its Manhattan shops into a larger storefront. The new location, on a block of West 14th Street that is home to two other thrift stores, is across the street from where Goodwill long took in donations and sold them. Goodwill’s customers are spread across the consumer economy. Some are trying to stretch their shopping dollars as far as they can. But the thrift boom has also brought in millennials and Gen Z shoppers who are sustainability-minded and see buying secondhand as a way to live out that objective. And there are others eyeing the racks: “We’ve got resellers, like actors who are on Poshmark as a side hustle,” said Katy Gaul-Stigge, the president and chief executive of Goodwill NYNJ. For Goodwill, which operates 29 retail locations from northern New Jersey to Albany, N.Y., the New York City stores have upsides and downsides. The upside? The donations that come in. “New Yorkers are the most stylish, most fashion-forward people in the country,” Gaul-Stigge said. “The cool clothes and the amazing style we have in New York gets donated here.” Goodwill NYNJ took in 34.9 million pounds of what it calls “pre-loved clothing and household goods” last year. The downside? Rent. “People believe because we’re a nonprofit, we’re somehow getting some nonprofit backdoor deal on retail space,” said Helen Murphy, a senior vice president of Goodwill NYNJ. “We’re not.” The rent on the new Manhattan space is higher than the rent for the old location across the street, she said. She would not say how much more, but noted that “when we run the numbers, the uptick in revenue will make up for it.” The new storefront is not just bigger; it has a better layout, she said. The donation drop-off point in the old store was on a different floor from the area where the items were sorted and checked before they were taken to the racks for customers. “It was inefficient, having to go up and down all day,” Murphy said. In the new location, everything is done on one floor. And everything on the floor — as many as 3,000 items at a time — is subject to rapid turnover. “If you go on a Monday and don’t find anything you like, on Tuesday the store has turned over,” Murphy said. Several customers in the West 14th Street store said they liked what they saw. Tony Peter, who bought a pair of jeans and a sweater yesterday, said that he had frequented the Goodwill store on First Avenue in the East 60s, but that it “doesn’t have as much selection.” Gaul-Stigge said she hoped to open additional stores in the city: “People say, ‘You had a place on the Upper East Side,’ or, ‘Why aren’t you on the Upper West Side?’ We would love to be.” WEATHER Expect a sunny and windy day with temperatures near 30, which will seem practically balmy after a record-setting 6-degree reading at Kennedy Airport on Saturday. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 19. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING Suspended for snow removal. QUOTE OF THE DAY “What we’ve done in New York shows the clear difference between leaders who intimidate, subjugate and dominate, and those who wield power to actually improve people’s lives.” — Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said, as she accepted the Democratic nomination for another term, that her main opponent would be President Trump. The latest New York news
We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Major endorsements in a House race in Manhattan
It was inevitable that the high-profile contest for the House seat being vacated by Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of Manhattan, would be accompanied by high-profile endorsements. Over the weekend Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, made plans to endorse one of the candidates, Jack Schlossberg, an online political commentator who is the grandson of President John F. Kennedy. Nadler is expected to endorse another candidate — Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a longtime confidant — today. Schlossberg called Pelosi’s endorsement “a shot of adrenaline.” It could help distinguish him in a crowded field that also includes another assemblyman, Alex Bores, and George Conway III, a Republican turned Democrat who was once married to President Trump’s campaign manager but who has become an outspoken critic of the president. Schlossberg’s fans know him as a social media personality whose videos have covered everything from national politics to paddle boarding on the Hudson River. He has also fiercely criticized a cousin, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Schlossberg’s recent posts on X have made fun of Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s hard-line policy on immigration. Schlossberg took in more than $1.1 million in his first seven weeks as a candidate, including contributions from Antony Blinken, the former secretary of state; the actress Bette Midler; and Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of “Saturday Night Live.” Schlossberg’s mother, Caroline Kennedy — the ambassador to Japan under President Barack Obama and the ambassador to Australia under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — also donated to his campaign. Pelosi, who, like Nadler, is not running for re-election after decades in the House, said that Schlossberg’s candidacy “will help Democrats win nationwide.” “This is a consequential moment for the country — faith in our politics is fractured, and trust in government is tenuous,” she said in a statement endorsing Schlossberg. “This moment calls for leaders who understand the stakes and how to deliver for the people they serve.” In September, Nadler dismissed the possibility of a Schlossberg candidacy, saying that his successor should have “a record of public service” and “a record of public accomplishment,” and that Schlossberg “doesn’t have one.” METROPOLITAN DIARY Ready to go
Dear Diary: I was cycling through Downtown Brooklyn on a rainy night, weaving between brake-lit bumpers and horns crying out for free passage home. Stopped at a red light, I jockeyed for space among the riders on e-bikes delivering dinner, batteries duct-taped to rugged frames. I blew a fog of hot breath onto my cold fingers and braced for the Myrtle Avenue hill we were about to climb. The light turned green. “You ready?” a voice beside me said. I turned to see an e-bike rider staring ahead, dripping in his marshmallow puffy, only his eyes showing above a mask. Was he talking to me? As he blasted up the steep hill, I saw who was ready: a skateboarder gripping the bike’s rear rack as water sprayed from the wheels. I cranked hard to follow them. As they crested the peak, the skater let go and swooped left to fly back down the hill, curling wide arcs in the momentary space. The delivery man continued into the dark, never looking back. I wiped water from my eyes and turned onto a quiet side street. — Grace Ballard Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
