“A local business won’t have to outbid a guy in Kansas to get TonysPizza.com.”
Quinn
“A local business won’t have to outbid a guy in Kansas to get TonysPizza.com.”
Quinn
Real estate, from the glass and steel variety to virtual Internet domains, was a hot topic in City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s plans for the city Thursday.
“Mark Twain famously advised, ‘Buy land, they’re not making it anymore,’” Quinn said in the speaker’s annual State of the City address. “Well now we can make more New York addresses — just on the Internet.”
She hopes to bring in new revenue by getting a city-only top-level domain: dot-NYC.
This summer the international body that governs Web addresses, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will start approving applications from states and cities. An average “.nyc” address is expected to cost $10, while a coveted name like “bagel.nyc” or “pizza.nyc” would be sold at auction.
“A local business won’t have to outbid a guy in Kansas to get TonysPizza.com,” Quinn noted.
And to help someone like Tony live here, Quinn proposes converting thousands of unsold apartments to affordable homes for middle-class families.
The idea remains sketchy, but would likely require the city negotiate prices with landlords.
Mike Slattery of the Real Estate Board of New York called the voluntary program a “creative solution” for the “bad market” and thought it could help emerging neighborhoods.
Amy Zimmer