Save $$$ in Property Taxes: Become a diplomatic mission to the UN

The folks in Mongolia hate property taxes as much as NJ does:

The US Supreme Court sided with Bloomberg and NYC last week --- that the government of Mongolia must pay the $ 2.1 million in property taxes their nation of 2,594,100 owes the Big Apple for buildings where they operate diplomatic offices.

Come on, Prime Minister Miyeegombyn Enkhbold: youse guys can certainly come up with that in either dollars or tögrögs, your official currency.

That’s less than a buck a head for every Mongolian man, woman or child! And certainly much less than we pay per head in New Jersey. You guys have a bargain in the Big Apple.

New York City has been trying to collect property taxes from nations that house their employees in the same buildings where they operate diplomatic offices. And there are plenty of these around Manhattan, given the United Nations building in town. Those “countries have tax exemptions for the diplomatic mission section of the properties, but the city says they must pay taxes for the space that houses employees,” according to Fox News.

Mongolia owes a little over a cool 2 mil. India owes over $16 million. And that's a lot of tögrögs or Indian Rupees any way you slice it.

We all have to pay property taxes. Even Mongolia and India. But tax exemptions for the diplomatic mission section of the properties?

This gives me a great idea for NJ property tax payers: Rent your house to a diplomatic mission. They get out of NY, and you get a tax break! It's win-win.

Let’s say you get a small nation to house their diplomatic mission to the UN in your house? That should get you some property tax relief in the form of the diplomatic exemption. Certianly not China, India or Russia ----they probably have huge delegations to the UN and need lots of space. But maybe Chad, Tuvalu, or San Marino can use the help. After all, how many delegates to the UN can a nation of a few thousand have? One, maybe two guys? And they’re probably at the UN most of the time.

So, maybe you can offer the rep from the Palau Islands in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines your garage or the folks from San Marino your back bedroom for a few nights a week. And I am sure the folks from Tuvalu would not mind putting their feet up on your coffee table, chugging down a cool BudLight after a hard day of diplomacy, and listening to the Tuvalu national anthem. So, become an official diplomatic office ----complete with the property tax exemption it comes with.

I am sure you can easily explain that to your town tax collector.

So, Mongolia and India: I am certain that while NYC can give you a little more time to pay your property taxes ---- but after that, we folks in the Garden State will lend them the Sopranos to collect. After all, they're not busy in New Jersey any more.

"The Sopranos" have been whacked

Tonight, they tell us, will be the last episode of "The Sopranos".
I wouldn’t borrow money from Tony to bet on it, ----if there is more money to be made in the future, I am sure he will be back ----but let’s just assume this to be true, that tonight is the end of it all.

"The Sopranos" have been whacked.

Final episodes always have a way of disappointing us. The bigger the show, the bigger the let down. The last episode of “MASH” engendered nationwide parties in homes, bars, even on the streets of NY. The ratings were phenomenal. The show? Pffsst. A big nothing. “Seinfeld”? One of the best sitcoms of all time [second or third to “I Love Lucy” and maybe “The Dick Van Dyke Show”] in its prime, had a last episode that truly bit the big one in a major way.

I think it’s because the writers are responding to the historical moment, rather than being inspired by what brought them there ---true to life experiences. So, they write what they think the public wants to see, and they fail. The hostilities in Korea never really ended. We’re still there after 50 years. Neurotic and self-absorbed comedians still live on the Upper Eastside. I know; I've worked with many of them.

Maybe “The Sopranos” will be different. David Chase seems like a very talented guy, who writes from his gut of inspiration, rather than from what he thinks the public wants to see.

I am a transplant to NJ [from Brooklyn, NY] as well as to “The Sopranos”. I never really watched the show on HBO. We never had HBO or cable for a long time. When I was in law school we did not watch that much TV. So, we cancelled cable as a cost cutting measure.

So, I got to know Tony, Paulie, Big Pussy, Christopher, AJ, Dr. Melfi, Silvio, Carmella, and Meadow all by rented DVD and all out of order.

Chase has whacked a lot of people over the years. Adrianna. Big Pussy. Cousin Tony. Christopher. Bobby. But never Paulie Walnuts. He was not very bright. He was completely without scruples or ethics of any kind. So why does he survive and others get whacked?

Paulie Walnuts: He is loyal to a "T"... and loves his mother.

He's the guy I will miss the most. Loved the name. Loved the hair. The always clueless guy, loyal to a T [literally] and loyal to his mother, real and adopted. He would just as soon shake down a guy for the extra ‘fig’ he owes from a lost sports bet by breaking his knee caps, as break a guy’s leg for not giving his mother the best room in her nursing home.

While Tony’s relationship with his mother sucked and was the basis for his therapy with Dr. Melfi, Paulie loved his mother, and visited her every chance he could. And how can you not love a crime thug who loves his mother? Will he ever rise above ‘capo’ in the family? No, Paulie Walnuts will never be a ‘don’, but he was fun to watch just the same.

Good night, Paulie. I know Chase will never whack you in the last episode. You are a survivor because you love your mother.