It may be a challenge sharing the dais with a former President, but all of the other speakers possessed enormous aplomb, especially Mary Ann Tighe. As far as worrying about the future, Tighe advised that "future approaches with a fair amount of early warning." She added that the New York metropolitan market lags behind the rest of the nation in decline and recovery. All of Tighe's "worst-case" scenario projections, including negative net absorption of "shadow" space, resulted in "equilibrium"--a vacancy rate of 10%.

The market report confirms what industry experts have been predicting, showing slight increases in asking rent and shifting either way in terms of availability. Availability in Midtown is 6.7%, down from 8.8% a year ago; 7.3% in Midtown South, and just over half the "equilibrium rate of 9%" in Downtown.

Former President George H.W. Bush reminisced about his presidency and shared anecdotes about "Bar" and how having two presidents in the family can prove confusing. He would not comment about today's issues, saying that he would leave that "in Jeb and 43's hands." "43" is family lingo for George Jr.