City drags down rest of state in jobs

The job market is growing slowly in New York, but the good news is that it’s growing.

New York added 11,500 private sector jobs in February compared to the month before, keeping pace with the rest of the nation, but still nursing a statewide unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. That’s five points higher than what it was a year ago, and is nearly three points ahead of the nationwide unemployment rate of 6.2 percent.

Dragging the state’s numbers down is New York City, according to the state’s labor department, where unemployment sits at 12.9 percent, compared to 6 percent with the rest of New York.

Year over year, the city lost nearly 627,000 jobs — or more than 15 percent of its work force. The only other region that even came close was Ithaca, where the 6,200 jobs lost there accounted for 11 percent of those holding jobs.

No region was immune to job loss year-over-year, although the Glens Falls area lost only 3.6 percent of its work force, representing 1,500 people.

The biggest job losses remain with leisure and hospitality with nearly 342,000 positions eliminated. Educational and health services is a distant runner-up with 181,000 jobs lost, while transportation and utilities cut nearly 155,000 jobs since last year.

Job statistics are based on a payroll survey of 18,000 businesses by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Broadway gasoline station sold for $5.2M

A newly renovated and reopened gas station on Broadway has a new owner.

A limited liability corporation that shares the same Allerton corporate address as ASC Properties, bought the 6161 Broadway gas station for $5.2 million on March 12. The site was purchased by Park View AH Realty in February 2017 for $3.1 million, and was the site of what appeared to be extensive work for the next two years.

Although the property was advertised as a potential site for 34,000-square-foot residential building, Park View owner Aftab Hussein chose to rehabilitate the existing gas station instead, opening it in late 2019.

The gas station was the site of a Sept. 11 explosion that same year, which temporarily closed down that part of Broadway. No one was hurt by the explosion, which authorities said was caused by digging equipment accidentally igniting chemicals in the soil.

Coincidentally, the gas station is next to The Park, an apartment building at 6155 Broadway that is the former site of The Riverdale Press. That office was the scene of a firebombing in 1989 that gutted the building, but fortunately resulted in no injuries.

Homes sales up in the Bronx

Everything is on its way up for the Bronx — at least as far as real estate is going.

Just under 130 residential property sales were closed in the borough in February, up more than 45 percent from the year before.

Median sales prices followed right along, according to the New York State Association of Realtors — a 45 percent bump to $430,000. New listings were up nearly 20 percent.

Home sales in the state overall were up 24 percent in February, while median prices climbed 22 percent to $360,000.

The state’s most expensive homes are found in Brooklyn with a median price of $632,500.

Originally published April 1, 2021.