my name's vickie brodski. i'm a retailer broker are collier's international. the cost of labor and rent in union square is simply too high, so irthey opening? the main reason so open in union square is for branding. a store in union square is the equivalent of a bill board. by impeding visibility to the retail spaces, you are taking away the number one reason for a store to open in union square. a healthy tenant in a shopping mall usually tries to target a 10 to 12% occupancy cost. because stores in union square are rarely profitable, tenants need to be incentivized by name brand. what you see on the street does not tell the whole story. there's a large amount of sublease and shadow space available. it often takes over two years to lease a space in union square. stores are closing left and right. macy's is in the process of closing their men's store and moving it to their main store while remodelling to make their main store profitable. by discouraging retailers from leasing macy's union square fronti fronting spaces, you are punishing one of the longest stand