NYCity Snapshot: Spending Takes a Holiday
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CloseDonna Bush, 50, Brooklyn
“We don’t plan to buy any tree. Usually we buy a 40 dollar real Christmas tree.”
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CloseRyan Griffin, 26, Manhattan
“I really had no money. I was like searching the clearance racks, just like scrounging for anything to pull out to give to friends and family.”
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CloseStephanie Coughlan, 29, Brooklyn
“I’m a waitress so of course the tips are tight because everybody’s broke.”
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CloseJohn Leonard, 59, Brooklyn
“I don’t celebrate holidays.”
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CloseAmy Chernoff, 45, Brooklyn
“We’re focused more on holiday traditions and family experiences.”
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CloseNena Área, 47, Manhattan
“There isn’t much money. There isn’t much money to buy gifts.”
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CloseRenee Cooley, 65, Brooklyn
“My charitable contributions have increased this year because my business is doing better.”
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CloseNathaniel Gould, 22, Bay Ridge
“I’d love to go to Vermont with my high school friends.”
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CloseDavid Harwell, 24, Brooklyn
“I would like a job for the holidays, man. That’d be nice.”
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CloseRoss Tice, 32, Brooklyn
“Just some quality time with the people I love and no drama. ….Probably won’t cost anything actually.”
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CloseMichael Cohen, 67, Manhattan
“I am going to spend less due to the general level of uncertainty.”
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CloseTom Colina, 57, Queens
“No gifts, it’s ridiculous! It’s basically rent and food.”
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CloseNatasha Uria, 27, Brooklyn
“I have to spend New Year’s Eve on a plane coming back from visiting my family in Florida because the tickets were too expensive.”
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CloseEmma Goldman, 25, Manhattan
“The economy is affecting my holiday season because I can’t afford to be with my family.”
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CloseCecily Moore, 20, Manhattan
“It’s always a struggle. My extended family lives in Missouri so I kind of have to pinch and save a little bit more to get there.”
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CloseKeith Jones, 45, Manhattan
“It’s making me consolidate everything.”
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CloseDigeorgia Biz, 36, Queens
“Honestly, it’s even better than last year. Maybe, I’m an exception.”
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CloseTim Roper, 26, Manhattan
“It’s the first semester I’m in graduate school so…I’m going to spend less.”
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CloseDennis Moore, 47, Brooklyn
“Major companies basically don’t hire people. They’re just looking to make a profit.”
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CloseAbra Moraweic, 25, Brooklyn
“I would probably be making gifts for my friends, you know, something that I don’t have to spend a lot of money on, but, you know, it still comes from the heart and it still kind of reflects what Christmas or you know, the holidays are all about.”
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CloseEthan Bull, 33, Brooklyn
“Well I had a good year this year, so… spread it around,” said Ethan Bull.
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CloseVincent Marano, 50, Bronx
“My students… want to organize a Christmas party for homeless children, so they are much better than I am at this holiday season, let me tell you.”
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CloseBill Power, 40, Brooklyn
“The economy has hurt me so bad that I am literally starting from scratch.”
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CloseErnest Acosta, 47, Brooklyn
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CloseRichard Cancel, 59, Manhattan
“I try to be happy here. Life is just too short. I appreciate what I have.”
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CloseKesha Young, 37, Brooklyn
‘I’ll be utilizing my imagination to create homemade gifts.”
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CloseAnna Lioliou, 19, Brooklyn
“In Christmas, even if I’m not good with money, I’m always going to spend the right amount in the right people.”
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CloseRick Dinaro, 28, Brooklyn
“The bad economy isn’t going to keep me from getting anything more than I would normally.”
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CloseJodi-Ann Donnelly, 25, Staten Island
“Everybody’s gonna get stuff from here. My mom’s gonna have to deal with skate stuff.”
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CloseDaniel Herrick, 26, Queens
“With me and my family we don’t really go all out…I guess we look at it as a spiritual kind of thing.”
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CloseBilly Rohan, 30, Manhattan
“My family’s from Florida, so it costs almost $1000 to go from here to there, round trip, if you don’t get your ticket in time…It makes you wonder, are you going to stay here in New York and not see your family, just to save money?”
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ClosePatrick Langworthy, 28, Queens
“Instead of buying everybody gifts individually what we decided to do was do a Secret Santa, so everybody only buys one gift and everybody ends up happy and spends less money.”
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CloseMarco Quinones, 47, Bronx
“We might have been able to eat rice and beans and steak, but now it’s just rice and beans.”
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CloseNyeisha Myers, 33, Brooklyn
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“I’m just happy that I have a job, to be out here with the people, to greet them and make a living day by day.”
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CloseMaria Weitman, 55, Brooklyn
“I don’t think people really notice (the cutting back), because you really get more into the spirit of Christmas.”
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CloseLatoya Kennedy, 23, Bronx
“The economy has a affected my holiday plans a little bit. I only work part-time I don’t have a full time job so I’m just working so I can have money to spend on my family and my daughter.”
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CloseEmily Garcia, 21, Bronx
“The economy has affected my holiday plans this year not so bad since I’m working but a little bit shaggy, but so far so good for now.”
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CloseMichael Davidson, 45, Manhattan
“Due to the economic conditions, and not being able to find work, I’m unable able to spend as much as I would during the holiday on a normal basis.”
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CloseKatie Mann, 24, Brooklyn
“I’ll be staying here for Christmas and I’ll probably be making my gifts here as opposed to buying them.”Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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CloseGeraldo Sean Muniz, 35, Brooklyn
“People just seem to be shopping… just on impulse. There needs to be some more personal responsibility.”
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ClosePrincella Jarrett, 46, Brooklyn
“Whether you have the money or not, just celebrate.”
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CloseNick Lancetta, 22, Queens
“Usually we take a trip, me and my mother that is, to Florida to see our family there but actually this year money is a little short so we’re not going to take a trip to Florida.”
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CloseMark Viggiano, 21, Manhattan
“Previously, when I’ve had a job, I’ve been able to spend more money because I haven’t had any other expenses, until now. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to put money elsewhere.”
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CloseLillian Lee, 66, Brooklyn
“I don’t plan to buy, perhaps, the adults any gifts in my family — just the kids.”
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CloseJenny Ray, 19, Manhattan
Jenny – ToilTown by Katie Chow
“As a student, I’m kind of broke anyways. So it’s looking for the best value and the cheapest on everything I can find. I think that’s everybody’s overall sentiment.”
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CloseMaria T. Reyes, 80, Bronx
“These are the first holidays that I’m going to be by myself because of my health.”
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CloseMark Brown, 42, Manhattan
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“It’s going to affect a lot of people this year. Not just me and my family – a lot of people. Especially in New York.”
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CloseJulie Scarola, 27, Brooklyn
“Last year I was employed so it didn’t matter, but this year the economy has been hard and I can’t find a job.”
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CloseTiffany Russo, 29, Manhattan
“As far as spending goes, I feel like a lot of my gift-buying is from, like, Groupon and Livingsocial and it’s more activities like magazine subscriptions that you get deals on.”
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CloseBenny Ehgman, 32, Brooklyn
“Probably won’t do much travelling, because money is so tight. And presents won’t probably be as good this year, or as expensive.”
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CloseMarlon Manswell, 27, Brooklyn
“I’ve already started spending more, I’m helping the economy. Anybody spending is helping the economy.”
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CloseKristina Milnor, 41, Manhattan
“I actually think it’s been a good thing that we’re all gonna scale back a little bit this year.”
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CloseLejaila Troi, 19, Brooklyn
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“I feel like since the economy is so bad that I will want to spend less but I feel like I also have the urge to want to give more.”
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CloseDavid Santiago Jr., 20, Staten Island
“We really didn’t have money for Black Friday, when everything was discounted 70 percent.”
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CloseSarah Stillman, 25, Brooklyn
“[T]here were a ton of layoffs at my firm…so I really feel like I need to watch every penny in case I might be next.”
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CloseYarissa Soriano, 23, Manhattan
“Last year, I probably spent about 300 bucks in gifts. This year, one gift will be $300.”
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CloseDan Attridge, 23, Manhattan
“I think I’ll have to go with sentimental presents, maybe more work involved in finding the right gift that won’t break my budget.”
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CloseDominique Rambert, 22, Brooklyn
“I would love to give my kids a big, big Christmas and buy lots of toys and all that stuff. But I just can’t.”
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CloseJamie Kottis, 28, Brooklyn
“People are going to get my love this year and maybe a free coke,” said Jamie Kottis.
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CloseJamal Wilson, 42, Manhattan
“I’m not I guess like the average American caught up in the materialism of the whole thing.”
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CloseNathan Smith, 25, Brooklyn
“I have a few more people I want to make sure to give some gifts.”
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CloseDesiree Pregnolato, 38, Manhattan
“It’s just better to do something that you love, that you feel passionate about, and maybe make less money.”
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CloseSunil Radia, 33, Brooklyn
http://vimeo.com/32989964
“For us the biggest impact has been on the price of the ticket to visit our families, which is not local here in New York.”
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CloseTamison Doherty, 19, Brooklyn
“So this one encapsulating Christmas event, [my mom] is going to switch us to Sprint, which actually costs less money, but she’s going to get us all iPhones.”
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CloseMiguel Gomez, 24, Manhattan
- “I can tell you what I don’t want…”
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Close“D” Mandell, 43, Bronx
“We don’t even get a Christmas bonus at my job.”
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CloseSerge Rodriguez, 36, Bronx
“I’ve been laid off for about two, three months now.”
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CloseJoanna Smith Rakoff, 39, Manhattan
“For us to fly down there would cost thousands of dollars. And we’ve been looking at fares since October.”Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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CloseNaomi Bonneau, 27, Brooklyn
“I’m not a person who wants gifts. As far as material things, that’s done for. It’s not a priority.”
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CloseClaudia Brathwaite, 67, Bronx
“And when you retire … you’re used to getting paid every week and then the checks just come once a month and you’ve got to do everything with it.”
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CloseLaura Iacono, 26, Queens
“This year I actually went shopping on Black Friday. It was disgusting. These two ladies were getting arrested for, like, shoplifting or beating each other up.”Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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CloseJaci Berwotek, 20, Brooklyn
“I’ve just come up with, like, one gift that I’m going to give to everyone, the same thing, but I’m trying to make it homemade.”
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CloseOnazette Joshua, 19, Bronx
“Usually we help people on Christmas, but now we can’t even do that because we have to help ourselves. So when we had anything left over food-wise, we give it to pantries or whatever. This year, it’s not even happening. It’s sad, actually.”
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CloseRay Torres, 53, Bronx
“A lot of work, not enough money, too many bills,… We are oppressed by this so-called government.”
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CloseRobert Verdugo, 52, Bronx
“There’s no more spirit in New York. ‘Cause I remember back in the 70s, you’d see all the windows filled with Christmas lights. There was holiday spirit.”
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CloseCameron Miles, 30, Bronx
“I’m gonna try to make some stuff this year, just to save a little extra.”
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CloseGladys Silver, 79, Queens
“The economy is affecting me in a way where it may not affect many people, but my husband..we’re in the stock market and he is very concerned.”
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CloseZaire Dinzey, 38, Brooklyn
“Definitely less money, less presents this year… Everything is more expensive, and money doesn’t pay as much as it did before.”
