On the Sidewalks of New York is a weekly feature at Human Events wherein Jacqueline Toboroff, a native New Yorker, will share her observations and candid commentary on the goings-on in our nation’s largest city. Wherever you live, and whatever you feel, there is no escaping the fact that New York City matters.
What’s happening in New York City is so insane with such obvious deadly dangerous outcomes, it can only be viewed as intentional.
Those still confused or charitable, thinking we’re merely governed by incompetents, have completely missed the plot.
The goal is to “reimagine” and entirely transform the best and brightest representation of America; the Empire State. This used to be a place where people came to try and contribute to America and be able, through their own hard work, to rise to the top in the epicenter of opportunity. A radical movement is underway to leave behind Capitalism and a meritocracy (portrayed by the radicals as racist) and step onto the slippery slope leading to Communism and poverty.
One-party rule’s plan is implemented via cashless bail, flying in illegals in the dead of night, allowing non-citizens to vote, emboldening criminals and handcuffing police, taking a wrecking ball to education, and encouraging the youth to get hooked on heroin while wallowing in obesity. In other words, the ideal constituency is dependents who can be controlled.
Why would the Left want to destroy New York City? Land grab.
What happens when the normals leave? What happens when the upper class flees (they’re gone), the upper-middle class gets out of Dodge, and then the middle and lower-middle-class gets in their Hondas and drive to less hostile lands?
Vacancies.
Who decides who or what entities benefit from the windfall? Who appropriates this dearth of real estate?
The New York City Council (a body of 51 members, 46 of which are Democrats) regulates how land is used throughout the five boroughs. Regulation changes must go through the City Council. The City Council has dominion over zoning which controls what property owners can do with their land, including building apartments, factories, and building size. If the Mayor or a developer wants to change the zoning, they must go through a public review process but the Council has the final say. It also manages landmarks, city land, and public facilities. When the City buys, sells, or leases real estate to a business, the City Council is the boss. When the City gives land to a developer who’ll receive tax exemptions, the City Council has the last word.
Because there are only five Republican New York City Council members, New York City residents are at the mercy of the most radical body in our City’s history.
The New York City government is the largest landowner in New York City. It owns 362.1 million square feet of properties and real estate, including buildings that house over 2,000 city employees. The New York City government also owns nearly 5,000 parcels of land.
Following the New York City government, the nine largest New York City land owners are Vornado Realty Trust, SL Green Realty, Tishman Speyer, Blackstone Group, Related Companies, Columbia University, Brookfield Property Partners, RXR Realty, and New York University (which is in the midst of a $500 million expansion in downtown Brooklyn).
The largest private landowner in New York is Columbia University, which owns 209 properties. The next largest private property holder is New York University. Both of these universities teach courses in line with the new radical agenda.
There’s a symbiotic relationship between the New York City government and the nine other largest property holders. It involves political alignment, astronomical sums of money, power, and the mutual benefit of waging war on those just below billionaire status, including the very wealthy who still can’t compete with acquiring multibillion-dollar real estate portfolios and the once vast middle class that’s rapidly shrinking.
New York City beats all other cities in outmigration with an outflow of 342,449 people. Manhattan, the crown jewel, has had the largest population decline among all US counties. But you know what’s weird? Demand for both rental and purchase apartments is off the charts; the increase is double the national rate. What sort of sense does this make amidst such a population nosedive? Who is renting and buying in New York City?
According to the NYC Real Estate Board, international investments make up 17% of all residential sales to foreign nationals. Then, there are the undocumented immigrants, thought to be over half a million residing in New York City. This, coupled with the expanding homeless population and laid-off workers due to COVID shutdowns and an abysmal economy creates a goldmine for the top ten New York City property owners.
The City has just financed more than 66,000 new affordable homes and preserved more than 134,000 homes to create and secure affordability for the” next generation” of New Yorkers.
It’s the abused taxpayers funding the madness. The flight of the New York City tax base has caused the Left to hold out the tin cup to Washington so that other states foot the bill for our dysfunction.
But there’s hope; this past election, Republicans expanded their ranks in New York City’s progressive dominated legislative body due to a strong GOP turnout in a handful of City Council races. The next New York City Council elections are in 2023; let’s flip some more of those Democrat seats!
