"CULTURE VULTERING" IN THE BIG APPLE
This is a twice-a-year routine, but it is becoming increasingly expensive. These past three years, I have noted that apartment rentals and restaurants prices have gone through the roof. The modest furnished studio apartment I used to rent for under $ 200 a day, now goes for $ 240 and counting. Museums have joined the inflation carousing and now unabashedly charge $ 18 or more for a visit. This is a particularly sore point for a spoiled museum-goer like me. As a senior citizen in Brazil, I either do not pay or am charged half-price. The ruthless law of supply and demand rules in New York City, and I suspect Manhattan to be the borough of the stealth inflation! Restaurants have always puzzled me, they crop up and vanish overnight. Many cherished and busy landmarks have disappeared inexplicably. One cannot meet in a restaurant unless it has been previously checked. NYC is the city of the 80% fail rate, out of the 1000 r...