00:00Tell us about the environment. You are kind of consistently optimistic and have been a lot over
00:06the past year. Is that still the case? I'm very, very optimistic about where we are. Yeah. And
00:13especially the journey we've taken this year to get here. It's been a, you know, it's quite the
00:17roller coaster up and down. And we certainly didn't start the year in the same place, but I
00:22really felt the foundation was there for a very solid end to 2025. But that foundation now has
00:28really created, I believe, an unbelievable ramp at the 26. And I think we're going to have a lot less
00:34of the noise that we heard during 25 and more focus on how this economy is building strength as we move
00:41through 26. I want to go to what Kathy Wild was saying about concern over New York City. She has
00:48a close relationship with many business leaders. She's also part of the mayor's transition team.
00:52Last time you were on with us, it was just after the election. We spent a lot of time talking about
00:55politics, specifically housing because of your construction background. It was a great conversation.
00:59But the New York City side of things, I mean, you've got locations in New Jersey and New York
01:04and Florida as well, but you've got locations here in New York City. So you understand the economy.
01:08What are you hearing from your New York City based clients? Look, I think the economy in general is
01:13very strong, but we are, as you just heard, we are on the precipice of if there are changes that drive the
01:20sentiment to think that New York is not a friendly place to do business, we could see change. And so
01:27certainly that's a concern. We certainly know there's a concern about affordability in New York
01:32City. But overall, I think it's all going to work out. It always has before.
01:37Does it make you optimistic that somebody like Kathy Wild, who has the ear of so many in the
01:43business community, is involved with the incoming mayor?
01:45Yeah, absolutely. And there's others who are joining the team who I think we would all say
01:50we're happy they're there. Look, at the end of the day, I don't think anybody can argue with some of
01:57why this mayor was elected, right? The issue of affordability, trying to make a fairer system
02:03for everyone. I think we could all get around that. How we go about doing that is a different story.
02:08How do we? I know we talked about this with you.
02:10But you know, you're a builder. So that's why we talk about it with you,
02:13because you understand these things. I'm trying to unpack this. I mean,
02:15a builder's not going to build a building if it's not going to be profitable, right?
02:18Look, there's been numerous studies across this country and across various time periods. It
02:23doesn't matter when, how, or where you look at it. There's a really interesting story right now in
02:28the Twin Cities, where, you know, one city is trying to maintain affordability by government control,
02:35and then the other city is doing it by free market. Let's let the builders build.
02:40Yeah.
02:40Because, you know, to me, some of the laws of economics, they're like the laws of physics.
02:46You may like to agree or disagree, but they are what they are. And if we increase supply,
02:52we're going to have lower prices. And that's something I think politicians don't typically
02:57understand. I mean, if you look right now, even in like the rent regulated portfolio,
03:02rent stabilized portfolio in New York City, there's 50,000 units that are unoccupied because
03:09they're uneconomical to put back on the market based on what their rent stabilized at and the
03:14investment needed to get them back in order. You would think that that would be a priority.
03:20We want to get those units back into the marketplace because that would help the, that would help
03:24those who need the help.
03:25So if you were advising a politician, the incoming mayor, perhaps, or I'd love the opportunity to
03:30do that.
03:31What would you, what would you, you haven't talked with him?
03:32Not yet. Um, we'll have our opportunity. So what would be the suggestion to actually
03:37fill those vacant apartments? Oh, there's, there's a number of things we could do, right? We could mean
03:42test for the people that live in rent stabilized apartments. There, uh, there are incentives the
03:48city could provide to entice the builders to be able to invest the, you know, make the investments
03:54they need in each one of those apartments to make them viable since they're vacant, allow for
03:59vacancy decontrol up to some level. I mean, there's, there's, there's a, there's a, so many common
04:04sense things that we could do probably over a dinner napkin, um, that would get those, those
04:09apartments back online in 90 to 120 days. So why is this so hard? I, you know, it's, it's, it's how
04:18politics works. I don't know. And it's a mindset, right? There's a mindset that government can do a
04:24better job than the market can do. When in fact, we've learned over and over and over again here
04:29in the United States, the market generally is able to solve these problems and, and, and in a very
04:34efficient way, uh, mind you. All right. I want to broaden out. We always do like to talk to you
04:38because you have such great exposure to small business and construction generally. Um, how are
04:43both of those areas doing? And, and I'm also curious about small businesses. We had a story this week
04:48about PayPal looking to apply to become a bank and really tap into the small business area. It doesn't
04:53happen overnight. So I'm just curious. You laugh. Do you think that's, uh, I think it's fine. You
04:59know, I, what, what I find fascinating is all these companies that want to be banks because in the
05:05current regulatory environment, it's fashionable, profitable, and whatever to be a bank. Banks have
05:10done really well this year. There, you know, there are other times in history when being a bank is,
05:14you know, is a little bit more difficult than that. And, uh, you know, the banking industry is not
05:19just one particular point in time. It's built to last for very, very long periods of time. And so
05:24we'll, we'll see how they like the regulatory environment at other points. So small business,
05:28small business, I think is doing very, very well today. Again, the noise is out of the marketplace.
05:33Um, people are feeling good. I think one of the biggest things we're hearing, notwithstanding some
05:38of the employment or unemployment, uh, information is that small business is having a hard time hiring
05:43qualified people to fill positions. Um, you know, I think they're, I think they're getting their arms
05:49around what's happening with tariffs. I think they're getting their arms around whether or not
05:53there's real structural inflation in the, in the economy. And it appears there really isn't.
05:58There's been, you know, some price setting that's been going on. Uh, but overall, uh, the vast majority
06:04of the small to medium sized businesses that we represent at ConnectOne are doing quite well. And they,
06:09and they're seeing what's more important. They're seeing pipelines and backlogs that are taking them
06:14into 26, which is one of the reasons I feel so optimistic about where we're headed in 26.
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