Securities industry revenue dropped 36% in 2008

It will come as no surprise to learn that revenues for securities, commodity contracts and other financial investment activities decreased 36.1 percent in 2008, from $464 billion in 2007 to $297 billion in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  (I know the chart is hard to read, but it looks cool and you’ll find the specifics below.)

Architect wins condop at 110 Central Park South

James Smiros with paddle in one hand, contract in the other.

James Smiros, an architect from Oyster Bay on Long Island, was the successful bidder Thursday evening for a 1026-square foot luxury apartment in the former Ritz Carlton facing Central Park.

Having been reduced by a third from its original price nearly two years ago, the one-bedroom unit went for $825,000 in a lackluster auction.  That sum was Smiros’s only bid, and the under-bidder dropped out although the increment was a mere $10,000 from a high of $50,000.