Macy’s Hosts Your Holiday After-partyMacy’s announced this week that they are going to keep eight of their locations, including the Herald Square flagship store, open at all hours of the day and night from December 21 to Christmas Eve. From the Staten Island Advance:
Shoppers will be greeted with the ongoing sales Macy’s has been holding since Black Friday, said spokeswoman Elina Kazan. “The most important thing about being open 24 hours is that it makes shopping convenient to people with different schedules,” she said. “This gives everyone a little extra time.” Company officials have been planning the shopping marathon for months to ensure there is enough manpower and merchandise.
Everyone is saying this is so nice of Macy’s to open the store so everyone, no matter what their time constraints, has a chance to shop. Now, once all the crowds have gone for the day, customers will be able to wade through the dunes of scattered merchandise in peace. What a great Christmas present. And just think of all the homeless people who will have a nice bed of jumbled merino V-neck sweaters!
At Macy’s, A Shopping Marathon [SI Advance]
in other news
Ever-Richer New York Has More Homeless Than Ever
New York’s financial data is all sunshine and rainbows these days. A $3.9 billion surplus has the City Council talking tax cuts, job growth is chugging along (62,300 new ones added in 2006), unemployment is at a slim 4.9 percent. No need to tell you where the housing market is. Great news for everyone! Except for one little thing: According the Coalition for the Homeless’s annual report, released yesterday, the number of homeless New Yorkers increased by 11 percent in 2006, to 35,113. That means, the Coalition says, more New York families are homeless than at any point since the city started keeping records.
the morning line
George and Hillary Want 9/11 Health Care
• The health of 9/11 first responders finally becomes a major political issue; President Bush will address it in tonight’s State of the Union address, and now-official White House contender Hillary Clinton used ground zero to announce her $1.9 billion long-term treatment initiative. [amNY]
• The Sean Bell case began in earnest yesterday, with the 23-member grand jury beginning to parse the evidence in the infamous 50-shot police slaying of an unarmed man. The presentation will take close to a month; detractors say the D.A. is using the occasion for a “minitrial.” [NYP]
• A side effect of being rich and famous is that people think they don’t need to make good on their debts to you. For instance, New Delhi owes New York City $16.4 million (in real-estate taxes for the properties India owns here). Our courts are tempted to tweak the laws so the city can sue. [DNA World]
• “Come on, guys, we can get more mileage out of this antique-dealer-suing-bum story. Angles, think angles.” “How about the bum’s son comes to town to reconcile with him?” “Perfect.” [NYDN]
• And a mass evacuation of New York City will commence today via the Brooklyn Bridge, under the cover of Coast Guard cutters and military helicopters. Luckily, it’s all so that Will Smith can save the earth or become a stockbroker or something. [7Online]
