Taking Stock of Bonds
December 10, 2008
Give Me Back My Trains
As a customer, New Yorker and, now, shareholder/taxpayer, I want Citigroup to go out and cut costs. But I wonder how they are going about deciding what costs to cut.
Naming rights to a stadium that cost hundreds of millions? Nah, they'll keep that one on the books. A guy named Rubin who seems to have no true title, no set responsibilities [at least publicly acknowledged ones] and seems to have survived all the job cuts even though he was around for some dubious decisions? He gets to keep his millions, too.
This week, though, we learned that a toy-train layout set for up the holidays will be cut out of the bank's budget. According to published reports, the toy train exhibit costs the bank $240,000 to put on. Remarkably, the bank's managers don't seem to have given much thought to the goodwill the exhibit offers.
For many New Yorkers, a visit to the miniature train town has become an annual tradition. The layout--which has been around for just over two decades--offers a fun outlet for parents and children at a time when everyone is watching their pocketbooks. I've visited the layout in the bank's Citicorp Center and was often amazed at the turnout; a wide range of people were brought together and there was pure joy in their faces. It is an event that brings out the best in people and we all know some of the best things in life are the simplest. The Citicorp Center's holiday trains are one such thing.
Amazingly, banks over the years have looked to lure customers by "reaching out to community" and sponsoring events, some of them pretty dubious. When I go see a ballgame I don't care who the sponsors are, or much less notice any of the advertising. When I watch a game on television I don't notice or care about the sponsors. I care about the game. Maybe Citi should reconsider its plan to stake money to a ballpark, a past time increasingly expensive and not meant for the common folks.
Citi also ought watch out for New Yorkers. When you take away something that they have grown to like you're not exactly winning people over. And as everybody knows, you don't mess with tradition in this town.
2 Comments
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Posted by: lymanknap l | August 5, 2010 7:14 AM
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Posted by: folcklord f | July 20, 2010 8:20 AM
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