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Quick show of hands: How many of you celebrated "Real Estate Appreciation Day" last Wednesday? And how many of you even knew that last Wednesday was Real Estate Appreciation Day? It was-Mayor Bloomberg declared it so himself.

So even if we're a little late, let's hear it for the brokers, bankers, developers and slumlords-those great men and women who have accomplished such astonishing things in an effort to make all our lives a little brighter. Let's hear it for the people who'll happily displace thousands of residents to build a stadium to entertain the multitudes, or tear down a cherished, time-honored section of the Coney Island Boardwalk because we'd all like a mall and some nice bistros so much better.

Let's hear it for Times Square and the East Village! Let's hear it for big-box stores! Let's hear it for those people who can sleep comfortably at night while charging $1,750 a month for a shithole studio on Avenue B!

Because, see, all those people raking in all those millions by making it impossible for people like us to live here anymore deserve-no, demand-our gratitude. OK-another quick show of hands. Given the

chance, how would you rather celebrate Real Estate Appreciation Day: by bringing your landlord a nice FTD bouquet, or by tying him up with a bunch of developers and setting the lot of them on fire? Yeah, I thought so.

Something to keep in mind for next year, I suppose.