This article reads like a paean to a place in the author's nostalgic imagination. The NYC of the past that he describes was dirty, filthy, and downright dangerous. I grew up there at the tail-end of that era, and it wasn't a place to glorify. What paid for this crime cleanup and quality-of-life improvements is in part the same wealth he pans. Not to mention that billionaire absentee ownership has almost no impact on housing availability for the average person.
Instead of articles like this I'd love to see one about how to improve housing policy to accommodate a wider cross section of the population, or sensible reforms to tenancy laws that protect the vulnerable while not making it impossible to build new housing.
Instead of articles like this I'd love to see one about how to improve housing policy to accommodate a wider cross section of the population, or sensible reforms to tenancy laws that protect the vulnerable while not making it impossible to build new housing.