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How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

theatlantic.com

21–30 of 153 posts

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#21
post #3

Is there some legal issue at play here that the article isn't drawing attention to? Why is it a better idea to leave a property vacant than to have a short-term tenant?

Landlords can take tax write-offs for empty properties, so they’re incentivized to sit on empty storefronts until the perfect long-term lease comes along rather than rent to a less ideal shorter-term tenant.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#22
post #19

It became a ghost town because of the elites and their supporters like theatlantic. Manhattan now is just a place where people from the outer boroughs, nj, connecticut, etc come to work and then go home. For a city that pretends to "never sleep", it is just a dead city at night. Queens, brooklyn, etc is more lively and other cities around the world like prague, barcelona, seoul, tokyo, osaka, etc are far more vibrant…

We are seeing the same pressures and bland out in San Francisco

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#23
post #15
post #11

Here's my opinion on what will happen on a longer time scale: Eventually the tourists will stop coming, because there are other parts of town with more atmosphere. Businesses will start moving out to other parts of town because of the cost of rent and lack of customers (due to no residents or tourists), and eventually the "city center" will defacto move. The only people who will lose out are the people who used it to…

I think this is sort of happening in NYC: The center of gravity is sort of moving to Brooklyn since it's cheaper, there's more space, it's more interesting, etc. And depending where you are, Manhattan is still very accessible. Obviously the key NYC tourist targets aren't moving, but anecdotally I am seeing an uptick of tourists in my 'hood. For what it's worth.

Interesting that you mention the shift of the center of gravity. I would add that there are multiple competing shifts. Flushing, for example, has now become a viable, small city within New York City.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#24
post #3

Is there some legal issue at play here that the article isn't drawing attention to? Why is it a better idea to leave a property vacant than to have a short-term tenant?

Right? I thought the golden economic theory we all subscribe to is that if demand is low the price must lower to meet it? Or have we been lied to and there is another hidden principle yet to be named at work for those who have capital and can just sit on it.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#25
post #19

It became a ghost town because of the elites and their supporters like theatlantic. Manhattan now is just a place where people from the outer boroughs, nj, connecticut, etc come to work and then go home. For a city that pretends to "never sleep", it is just a dead city at night. Queens, brooklyn, etc is more lively and other cities around the world like prague, barcelona, seoul, tokyo, osaka, etc are far more vibrant…

The population of Manhattan is higher by over two hundred thousand people since 1980. Your narrative isn't supported by facts.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#26
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you're discovering Marx independently?

Probably. I’ve only read parts of Capital, it’s too dense for me to make good headway on. I’m also heavily informed by the Anarchist Sociologist David Graeber’s book of “Bullshit Jobs, a Theory”. He points out that a significant percentage of jobs—he estimated 40%—don’t even serve an economic purpose, let alone a moral or social one. This is something that capitalism in theory should not allow, which is why I think w…

Recommend reading Bakunin if you are interested in 'anarchist socialism' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin Marx was a pied piper to nowhere IMO and in league with the oligarchs and bankers of his era

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#27
post #3

Is there some legal issue at play here that the article isn't drawing attention to? Why is it a better idea to leave a property vacant than to have a short-term tenant?

Landlords can take tax write-offs for empty properties, so they’re incentivized to sit on empty storefronts until the perfect long-term lease comes along rather than rent to a less ideal shorter-term tenant.

This may be it. Lets take away this write-off option.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#28
post #19

It became a ghost town because of the elites and their supporters like theatlantic. Manhattan now is just a place where people from the outer boroughs, nj, connecticut, etc come to work and then go home. For a city that pretends to "never sleep", it is just a dead city at night. Queens, brooklyn, etc is more lively and other cities around the world like prague, barcelona, seoul, tokyo, osaka, etc are far more vibrant…

We are seeing the same pressures and bland out in San Francisco

I hear LA ( downtown ) is turning into manhattan as well.

The earth is turning into a world of boring stale cookie cutter cities full of starbucks and mcdonalds.

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#29
post #15
post #11

Here's my opinion on what will happen on a longer time scale: Eventually the tourists will stop coming, because there are other parts of town with more atmosphere. Businesses will start moving out to other parts of town because of the cost of rent and lack of customers (due to no residents or tourists), and eventually the "city center" will defacto move. The only people who will lose out are the people who used it to…

I think this is sort of happening in NYC: The center of gravity is sort of moving to Brooklyn since it's cheaper, there's more space, it's more interesting, etc. And depending where you are, Manhattan is still very accessible. Obviously the key NYC tourist targets aren't moving, but anecdotally I am seeing an uptick of tourists in my 'hood. For what it's worth.

I haven't been in Brooklyn for getting on 10 years. Can you elaborate on what popular tourist friendly areas are now about? (I'm in NYC in March '19)

Re: How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town

#30
post #11

Here's my opinion on what will happen on a longer time scale: Eventually the tourists will stop coming, because there are other parts of town with more atmosphere. Businesses will start moving out to other parts of town because of the cost of rent and lack of customers (due to no residents or tourists), and eventually the "city center" will defacto move. The only people who will lose out are the people who used it to…

I doubt it, tourists are fine with packaged experiences and seeing the sights, they'll keep coming, and those in the tourist industry will continue to provide what they seek.
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