So this billboard was always interesting to me.I found out that F.M. is not the initials of one person, but the first two initials of two brothers. Frank and Michael Ring.
The photo below and the cropped version to the right were lifted from New York City Signs - 14th - 42nd Street
I have been trying to learn what I could about F.M. Ring for a while
Forgotten New York just ran a post about them. Not the Ring Brothers, but their old ads.
But yesterday The New York Post ran a story. Talk about crazy New York rich kids. Frank and Michael are now 67 and 71 years old and they did nothing their entire lives except inherit (what it now) $500.000,000.00 worth of NYC real estate. I am not talking Paris Hilton crazy. A little different. Most of their property is empty and undeveloped. Really, according a 2009 article in The Real Deal
"A number of commercial brokers interviewed for this story spoke at length about the fact that Ring leaves his buildings vacant and allows them to fall into less-than-prime condition."..........“We had a number of properties that we felt were best off in that market being sold to a developer. [For tax reasons] being vacant is more valuable,” said Ring, explaining why he has had so many vacancies over time.................Ring said that if he had sold, his company might have invested the sales profits in now dubious-seeming outlets like the stock market or with convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff, or that the firm could have turned around and used the money as a down payment for other properties.
Frank’s management firm, F.M. Ring Associates, is headquartered at 212 Fifth Ave., a mostly vacant, 21-story tower overlooking Madison Square Park. An employee told The Post that Frank, 67, would accept questions only via fax....Michael, 71, is chairman of financial firm The Broadsmoore Group. When reached by phone, he told The Post he wouldn’t speak unless he was paid. “My time is worth $5,000 an hour,” he said. “If you don’t have it, I’m not going to talk.”Below is a document that shows what half a billion dollars in commercial real estate looks like. Maybe I should flash my ID at 212 5th and make a meeting.
Revealing Ring's Portfolio
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If you have what it takes to afford a meeting with them (like $5000 an hour, or is it $10,000 for the two of them?) then we'll all be interested in how the meeting goes.
ReplyDeleteI've always suspected your name isn't really Chicken Underwear.
K
Such a funny title! Mmm...I always wondered what kind of parents name their child, "Chicken Underwear." Jk! Very interesting story in this post.
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