Jerry Seinfeld slammed comedy club owner James Altucher for his recent statement that “New York City is dead forever”, with the iconic comedian advising Altucher to “wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull together” in a Monday New York Times on -ed.
The comment comes as New York, which had one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the U.S. earlier this year, skyrocketed shootings and homicides. In July, according to the New York Police Department, shootings were up 177 percent from the same month last year. In the first seven months of the year, the number of recorded shootings jumped 72 percent.
“Manhattan is an island off the coast of America. Are we part of the United States? Kind of. And this is one of the hardest times we’ve had in a while,” said Seinfeld, who has since 1976 lived in New York, wrote in the Times.
“But one thing I know for sure: The last thing we need in the thick of so many challenges is what putz on LinkedIn is crying and shouting, ‘Everyone is gone! I want 2019 back!’ ‘Oh, shut up. Imagine. that you’re in a real war with this man on your side, “he continued.
“Listen to him, ‘I used to play chess all day. I could meet people. I could start any kind of business.’ Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.
“He says he knows people who have left New York for Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, Indiana. I’ve been to all these places for many decades. And with all due respect and pleasure, you are … You … Kidding me?!” he wrote.
More than 1.4 million people have left New York in recent decades, according to a December analysis of census data by the Empire Center for Public Policy. As of June 30 this year, some 181,000 more residents had moved out of the state than had moved in the previous year.
In his Aug. 17 for The New York Post, Altrucher claims that “everyone now has choices” for where they live because of working remotely or attending class without going to an office or campus.
“You can live in the music capital of Nashville, you can live in the ‘next Silicon Valley’ of Austin. You can live in your hometown in the middle of anywhere. And you can be just as productive, the same salary create, have higher liveability with a cheaper cost, “Altrucher wrote.
“There will be no business opportunities for years.
“Businesses are moving on. People are moving on. It’s going to be cheaper for businesses to operate remotely – and bandwidth is only getting faster,” he continued. “Wait for events and conferences and even meetings and maybe even office routes to get started in virtual reality once everyone has spread from Midtown Manhattan to the entire country.”
Seinfeld says the city will be able to recover thanks to “real, tough New Yorkers” who are rebuilding it.
“This dumb virus will eventually give up. Same way as you have,” Seinfeld wrote.
‘We’ll continue with New York City if that’s okay with you. And it will surely be when hell is back, “he added.
Altrucher responded to Seinfeld’s piece on social media, calling it a ‘ranticle’.
“Jerry is a good boy, but I wish he saw the true reality of what is happening now,” he wrote.
Jerry is a good boy, but I wish he saw the real reality of what’s happening now. A ranticle will not solve the city’s problems https://t.co/TL5beWw5Hs
– James Altucher (@jaltucher) August 24, 2020
.
