The Bloomberg Legacy

The Center for an Urban Future has come out with its second annual ranking of national retailers in New York City. It found that, while we're all reeling from the recession, trying to pick up the pieces, the big chains have been going on a plot-buying spree. More than "30 percent of the retailers from last year’s report actually expanded their presence in the city in the past year, despite the sour economy. Dunkin' Donuts tops our list for the second straight year, with a staggering 429 stores."

(Uh. I hate Dunkin' Donuts. Hate their vile food. Hate their nauseating pink and brown color scheme. When the rest of the world pictures The Ugly American, they picture them standing in line at a Dunkin' Donuts.)

Here are the top 10 in 2009. As we all know, each and every franchise was welcomed with open arms by Mayor Mike as A Good Thing For New York. (Yeah! More crap food! More low-paying jobs! More destruction of neighborhood character! More suburban personality!):

Dunkin' Donuts: 429 (up 88!!)
Subway: 361 (up 26)
McDonald's: 258 (up 10)
Starbucks: 258 (up 24)
Duane Reade: 229 (up 13)
Baskin-Robbins: 207 (down 8)
Rite Aid: 195 (down 14)
Radio Shack: 115 (down 1)
GNC: 110 (down 5)
Sleepy's: 108 (up 3)
CVS: 107 (down 1)
Payless: 106 (down 3)
T-Mobile: 96 (up 14)
Burger King: 94 (up 2)
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service: 92 (up 9)
GameStop: 75 (up 6)
Domino's Pizza: 71 (down 3)
Golden Krust: 70 (down 2)
KFC: 69 (down 1)
Walgreen's: 64 (up 16)
Staples: 63 (up 2)

To which we can only say, "Golden Krust?" Also, "Walgreen's means business!"

The above map tells you which neighborhoods are the most saturated with chains. As you can see, much of the chain love goes to Manhattan, because that's the only borough Bloomberg really cares about, and he wants to reward it with beautiful, wonderful outdoor malls.