NYC Feels Left Out

With Barack Obama taking the oath of office this week amid millions of spectators and throngs of A-list VIPs, all eyes are on D.C.—and New York City is feeling jealous. Indeed, with the recession that’s hitting NYC’s finance, media, advertising, tourism, and real estate industries especially hard, the center of power has shifted to Capitol Hill, which is gaining more power by the day. New York has also lost two political stars—Hillary Clinton and Timothy Geithner—to D.C. posts. “When I’m out in bars and restaurants, there is a sheen that is missing…there is a sense that the thrill of paying $20 for a cocktail is over,” one young ad exec told The New York Times.