Mort Zuckerman, owner of The Daily News and aspiring owner of the GM Building, offered one depressing prediction after another about the U.S. economy during his keynote address at the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s 21st annual Big Apple Awards on Thursday night at the Rainbow Room.
According to a wry (and rather brilliantly written) press release, available here, Mr. Zuckerman was a bit of a downer:
It only gets better, and by that we mean even funnier:
As the crowd of stylishly dressed public relations professionals shifted in their seats, listening uncomfortably to such emanations, they did brighten up considerably when Zuckerman finally took a breather from his morbid prognostications to compliment the government (even if it’s the current maligned presidential administration) for responding so quickly to the subprime mortgage crisis and the recent collapse of Bear Stearns. They also smiled wanly when Zuckerman soberly praised New York City for its power of resilience, calling it a “global economy” that attracted “50 million visitors last year —far more than Paris, the most visited city in Europe.”
Oh, Mort!