Retail in the year 2000, and beyond.

Fast forward. Crowds gather in Times Square to ring in the new millennium - New Year's Eve 2000. Part of the backdrop is the new Conde Nast Building at 4 Times Square, Warner Bros.' Studio store at 1 Times Square where the ball will be dropping in seconds, the site for the new Reuters headquarters on the west side of Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets, and the Old Navy store on the entire blockfront of Broadway and 44th Street.

Celebrants are also crowded in front of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Forest City Rather's 42nd Street development, while many others circulate outside AMC's 25-screen multiplex theater and HMV Records in the same project. Happy New Year!

To the west of Times Square, the Clinton neighborhood shows few signs of its former self. The area's residential population has grown steadily in size and affluence, giving rise to a greater variety of dining establishments and an influx of national retailers such as Barnes & Noble. Three new large residential developments on Eighth Avenue between 50th and 54th streets are fully rented.

In addition, The Related Companies' mixed-use development is nearing completion on 56th Street and Broadway. With little available retail space on Ninth Avenue's restaurant row, activity in this district is shilling even further west toward the Hudson River. New apartment towers are set for construction on Tenth Avenue.

Just north of Ladies Mile, on Sixth Avenue between 23rd and 30th streets, several luxury residential towers are under construction. A number of big box tenants are rumored to be considering the retail space in these buildings. Chelsea has supplanted SoHo as the center of New York's art world. This shift has been the catalyst for the opening of cutting edge apparel and accessories boutiques on the side streets as well as on the avenues. Chelsea's Eighth Avenue corridor is attracting mainstream apparel retailers following Banana Republic's lead with their store on Eighth Avenue at 16th Street.

In Midtown, Bear Stearns' new headquarters at 383 Madison Avenue between 46th and 47th streets is under construction and scheduled for occupancy in 2002. An upscale men's wear emporium is stated to lease most of the retail space. Grand Central Terminal's $175 million renovation is complete, with the station's new retailers like Banana Republic and Kenneth Cole doing a brisk business. Grand Central's new restaurants are keep the area buzzing with nighttime activity.

At Rockefeller Center, Christie's Auction House is holding a sale of important 20th Century masters in its new 300,000 square-foot facility. The center's new crop of retailers has invigorated one of Manhattan most significant retail and commercial complexes.

A few blocks north, on Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, the National Basketball Association's retail store and museum has become a major New York City tourist attraction. Just as popular, is The Gap's 40,000 square-foot superstore on 54th Street and Fifth Avenue, which debuted in mid-1998. It has become the chain's top grossing store, triggering speculation that the company would further expand into Central Park.

On 52nd Street and Third Avenue, Marriott Courtyard has opened a hotel in the tower floors of the office building at 866 Third Avenue, making this a more active retail corridor. A few blocks north, across the street from Bloomingdale's, plans have finally been solidified to build a retail, hotel and residential tower on the site of the former Alexander's Department Store.

After much community protest, a multiplex cinema has finally opened on North Moore and Varick Streets in Tribeca. While the number of fashion boutiques and home furnishings stores continue to proliferate, Tribeca is not becoming another SoHo.

SoHo, as popular as ever, has seen its key retail arteries continue to broaden, with activity on Broadway moving southward, stepping just short of Canal Street.

The Union Square area is jumping with 24-hour a day activity, fueled by United Artists multiplex theaters, Virgin Megastore, and Circuit City, all in Related's 14th Street retail and residential development. Many of the customers are students from New York University's new dormitory buildings nearby.

The northern boundary of the Broadway/NoHo retail corridor has now pushed up to 14th Street. There are no retail vacancies,

Rudy Giuliani will not be running for reelection in 2001 because of term limits. However, he promises that before his current term is up, a developer will be selected for the Coliseum site.